1 . It seems that people are gradually losing their smartness as smartphones become increasingly important assistants in their lives. As we rely too much on technology instead of our brains, many people have lost three basic abilities.

The first skill many people have lost is remembering phone numbers. Because phone numbers are stored in smartphone contacts, there’s now no need to dial a number or look at it again. This is fine until you need to call someone for help, only to find your phone is not around.

And some people may also have lost their sense of direction because some apps can guide people anywhere they want. People get so dependent on them that when they can’t use their smartphones, they get lost and anxious.

But the worst lost skills may be social ones, meaning that some people are becoming socially inept (无能的). People often bury themselves in their smartphones. As we’re too absent-minded by what’s happening in the virtual (虚拟的), some of us have lost conversational skills and sometimes can’t even tell whether a person is happy or not.

Last August, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, studied 51 students aged 11 and 12 who had over five hours’ screen time every day. Their task was to tell the emotions(情绪) of 48 pictures of faces that were happy, sad, angry or scared. The children made an average of 14.02 mistakes at the beginning. But after a five-day camp without electronic (电子的) products, they made only 9.41 mistakes on average.

Luckily, people still have a chance to get these abilities back. You should try to keep your parents’ numbers in mind for emergencies. You should also pay more attention to street signs and stores, which will help you to draw a mind map and stop you from getting lost. And the easiest solution to social skill loss is to take a break from electronic products.

1. The underlined sentence in the second paragraph implies that ______.

A．you are able to turn to others for help

B．others are able to call you anytime and anywhere

C．others are unable to get in touch with you by smartphone

D．you are unable to get in touch with others without your smartphone

2. The experiment shows that without electronic products, one could ______.

A．recognize more facial expressions correctly

B．lose the sense of direction frequently

C．tell different emotions immediately

D．tell more pictures of faces easily

3. Using smartphones too much, people will probably ______

A．have no sense of numbers

B．fail to find the places where they want to go

C．lose face-to-face communication skills

D．weaken their senses of hearing and sight

4. What’s the writer’s attitude towards electronic products?

A．Subjective(主观的)	B．Critical(批评的)
C．Supportive(支持的)	D．Optimistic(乐观的)

2 . It was 3:12 a. m. when nine-year-old Glenn Kreamer awoke to the smell of burning. Except for the crackling of flames somewhere below there was not a sound in the two-storey house at Baldwin, Long Island. With his father away on night duty at a local factory, Glenn was worried about the safety of his mother, his sister Karen, 14 and his 12-year-old brother Todd. He ran downstairs through the smoke filled house to push and pull at Karen and Todd until they sat up. Then he helped each one through the house to the safety of the garden. There, his sister and brother, taking short and quick breaths and coughing, collapsed on the lawn.

The nine-year-old raced back into the house and upstairs to his mother’s room. He found it impossible to waked her up. Mrs. Kreamer, a victim of the smoke, was unconscious, and there was nobody to help Glenn carry her to the garden. But the boy remained calm and, as a fireman said later, “acted with all the self-control of a trained adult.”

On the bedroom telephone, luckily still working, Glenn called his father and, leaving Mr. Kreamer to telephone the fire brigade and ambulance service, got on with the task of saving his mother.

First he filled a bucket with water from the bathroom and threw water over his mother and her bed. Then, with a wet cloth around his head he went back to the garden.

He could hear the fire engine coming up, but how would the firemen find his mother in the smoke-filled house where flames had almost swallowed up the ground floor? Grasping firmly a ball of string(线绳)from the garage, Glenn raced back into the house and dashed upstairs to his mother’s room. Tying one end of the string to her hand, he ran back, laying out the string as he went, through the hall and back out into the garden.

Minutes later he was telling fire chief John Coughlan: “The string will lead you to mother.” Mrs. Kreamer was carried to safety as the flames were breaking through her bedroom floor.

1. Why did Glenn run downstairs first?

A．He wanted to find out what was happening.

B．He was worried about his mother’s safety.

C．He wanted to save his sister and brother.

D．He went to see if his father had come back from work.

2. What did Glenn do to protect himself?

A．He put a wet cloth around his head.

B．He threw water all over himself.

C．He hid himself in the bathroom.

D．He rushed out to the lawn.

3. Who called the fire brigade and ambulance service?

A．Glenn.

B．Glenn’s father.

C．Glenn’s sister.

D．Glenn’s neighbor.

4. How did Glenn help the firemen to save his mother?

A．By throwing water all over her and her bed.

B．By carrying her to safety with his brother.

C．By pushing and pulling at her.

D．By tying a string to her hand.

5. Glenn saved his family because_________.

A．his father had taught him to do so on the phone

B．he had learned something about first aid

C．he had dealt with the emergency calmly and wisely

D．he had followed his mother’s instruction

3 . Nowadays, the Internet is usually one of the first places a lonely heart turns to as the following story shows.

A 63-year-old retired woman in Zhengzhou, Henan province made headlines two days after she posted an advertisement on her Wechat page, in which she said she wanted to find a young female companion for a trip to Sanya, China’s Southern Hainan island.

In the advertisement, the Chinese dama (Chinese term for middle-aged and elderly women) surnamed Li said she is in good health, and she is particularly looking forward to a sea trip this winter.

“I have a daughter who works outside, and I don’t want to disturb her. But I’m afraid of traveling alone, so I am looking for a sweet, happy young woman, preferably aged between 19 and 25 to travel with me.”

At the end of the advertisment, dama Li extended her sincerity by saying she would cover all the expenses of the trip, including accommodation（食宿）and air tickets, plus an iPhone 7 as a bonus gift. Li said all she wants is just to find a sweet “daughter” who could help her take a lot of photos. But Li’s recruitment (招募) has also received many online arguments.

1. Why did the retired woman post the advertisement on her Wechat page?

A．To show she was very rich.

B．To tell her daughter she was lonely.

C．To receive as many likes as possible.

D．To hire a young female companion for a trip.

2. What can be inferred from this article?

A．Some people don’t agree with what the woman has done.

B．Many young girls want to be the woman’s companion.

C．The woman’s daughter is unwilling to travel with her.

D．What the woman did is just for fun.

3. What is the best title for this passage?

A．The Internet is a good place for people to turn to

B．Lonely mother hires “daughter” for a trip

C．Traveling alone is not encouraged

D．Daughter should care for mother

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

More and more people in China nowadays prefer homestays rather than traditional hotels. Encouraged by her great experience of homestays in France, Maggita, 30, considered short-term hire (短期租用)     1       her first choice in her future trips. She later went back to her hometown Shanghai and ran a “shared     2     (accommodate)” business.

The short-term hire idea has been a win-win business model. For     3     (traveler), they can rent a special room at a reasonable price and also enjoy a firsthand experience of the local culture, compared with     4    (tradition) hotels. For owners, they can gain much with daily rental. Recently Maggita     5    (quit) her last job in an IT company and become a host of some 20 homestays, which enables     6    (she) to earn a monthly income of around 40,000 — 50,000 yuan.

In recent years, China has seen many homestay booking websites such as Xiaozhu and Tujia. Chen Chi, the founder and CEO of Xiaozhu, said the model is to share rooms or apartments that are not in use with people     7     need them. Instead of the traditional view that Chinese people feel uncomfortable living with strangers, Chen Chi found that a large number of travelers got along well     8     house owners.

However, experts have pointed out a series of problems     9    (bring) about by the fashion. Experts suggest that the online websites should closely work together with communities and local police stations     10     (improve) the services.

6 . Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets. When connected electronically, they are away from physical reality.

People have been influenced to become technology addicted. One survey reported that “addicted” was the word most commonly used by people to describe their relationship to iPad and similar devices. One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol.

The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve their quality of life. They have successfully created a cultural disease. Consumers (消费者) willingly give up their freedom, money and time to catch up on the latest information, to keep pace with their peers or to appear modern.

I see people trapped in a pathological (病态的) relationship with time-sucking technology, where they serve technology more than technology serves them. I call this technology servitude. I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence because of uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money.

What is a healthy use of technology devices? That is the vital question. Who is really in charge of my life? That is what we need to ask ourselves if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about their use of technology. When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology. Mae West is famous for proclaiming the wisdom that “too much of a good thing is wonderful.” But it’s time to discover that it does not work for technology.

Richard Fernandez, an executive coach at Google acknowledged that “we can be swept away by our technologies.” To break the grand digital connection people must consider how life long ago could be fantastic without today’s overused technology.

1. What does the underlined word “allure” (Para 2) most probably mean?

A．Advantage.

B．Attraction.

C．Addiction.

D．Attention.

2. According to the passage, what is technology companies’ aim?

A．To attract people to buy their products.	B．To provide the latest information.
C．To improve people’s quality of life.	D．To serve their consumers better.

3. Which of the following is a healthy relationship with technology?

A．Stepping away from technology completely.

B．Spending much time on electronic devices.

C．Following the latest high-tech trends.

D．Making use of technology wisely.

4. What’s the author’s attitude towards people’s overusing high-tech devices?

A．Positive.

B．Objective.

C．Negative.

D．Doubtful.

7 . Mobile phones are everywhere in big cities. It seems that _________ can survive without one. Mobile phones are a great _________ to stay connected with friends and family. _________, it is important to remember that there are certain times _________ you should not be using your phone, especially as a student, during school.

_________ you are in class, you should not be sending your friends text messages _________ taking phone calls. Your classmates and teachers should not have to deal with this _________ behavior(行为) . Aren’t you at school to learn?

In the United States, students would never be allowed to _________ their mobile phones during class. If you were to send or _________ a text message you would probably be kicked __________ class. It is very disturbing to hear a lot of tones and ringing during __________. There are many more rules for mobile phone use in America and it is to __________ respect for those around you.

As a teacher in China, I have to __________ students using mobile phones every day. I have told my class to __________ their phones, but many students do not listen. __________ to be connected all the time seems to be more __________ than the desire to learn.

It’s easy to understand __________ it is so tempting(诱惑人的) to have your phone on during class. It seems so easy just to send a short text message; it’s not hurting anyone, is it? But you may actually be hurting __________ when you do this. Your teacher knows when you use your phone and may give you a __________ grade. Sending a text message also takes your attention away from what’s going on in class, you may __________ something important.

1.

A．one

B．somebody

C．someone

D．no one

2.

A．way

B．road

C．means

D．path

3.

A．But

B．However

C．So

D．Therefore

4.

A．which

B．that

C．when

D．where

5.

A．After

B．Before

C．Because

D．If

6.

A．or

B．and

C．as well as

D．instead of

7.

A．nice

B．kind

C．polite

D．rude

8.

A．have

B．take

C．use

D．send

9.

A．receive

B．accept

C．make

D．get

10.

A．of

B．off

C．out

D．out of

11.

A．school

B．class

C．office

D．home

12.

A．ask

B．suggest

C．show

D．answer

13.

A．do

B．deal

C．suggest

D．deal with

14.

A．turn on

B．turn down

C．turn off

D．turn in

15.

A．Desire

B．Wish

C．Hope

D．Expect

16.

A．possible

B．important

C．necessary

D．impossible

17.

A．why

B．what

C．that

D．whether

18.

A．himself

B．herself

C．ourselves

D．yourself

19.

A．lower

B．higher

C．better

D．upper

20.

A．forget

B．remember

C．miss

D．leave

8 . After two years of working from home, we have adapted to communicating digitally, in short bursts of time. Remember in Before Times you could head to the gym after work and then get dressed for dinner and a night out? The pandemic(疫情) has changed this. Our social batteries have run out of charge. It’s been a long time since we had to perform our social role for an extended period.

For 23-year-old Jennie, the excitement of her friends and family to restart their social lives has left her astonished. “At the minute my parents are planning a trip abroad and I keep postponing getting back to them with a date,” she explains. “They don’t know it’s because of all of this. Just the thought of being in a room full of people is scary, it’s like going back to school.”

Heather Garbutt, psychotherapist of The Counselling & Psychotherapy Centre says communication is key to recharging your unused social battery. “Take it slowly and don’t immediately organise a large get-together,” she advises. “Go for a walk with somebody for no more than half an hour and gently get used to being with people again. It may actually be a shock to our system which has been shut down to some degree to cope with absence. We may have that longing to be with others, but that doesn’t mean we are free from anxiety. It would be good to start off with a conversation about what it’s going to be like when you are all together again.”

She says finding some casual topics to discuss also works. Understand that many of you may feel a bit awkward after being physically apart for so long. It’s a bit like learning to walk again after you’ve broken a leg. It may all be off-balance to begin with but you will find a new steadiness with practice. Whatever happens post-pandemic, your loved ones can’t judge if you want to take it easy and not engage in the festivities immediately. We are recovering from a post-pandemic stress disorder, after all.

1. What has become of us after two years of working from home?

A．We are addicted to chatting with people online.

B．We may feel it impossible to go back to normal.

C．We are quite looking forward to being with people.

D．We may find it hard to communicate with others like before.

2. What can we learn about Jennie from Para 2?

A．She is excited to see her friends again.

B．She is not on good terms with her family.

C．She is not good at communicating with people.

D．She is anxious about meeting people face to face.

3. What does Heather Garbutt advise us to do to get reconnected?

A．Pay a visit to a close friend and stay over.

B．Hang out with your friends for several hours.

C．Have a brief chat about your future get-together.

D．Ignore those who are anxious about connecting with others.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．How Can We Restore Our Social Batteries?

B．When Can We Speed Up Our Reunion Plan?

C．What Can Help Repair Our Social Networks?

D．Why Did the Pandemic Mess Up Our Social Life?

9 . A new study of 8, 000 young people in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that although love can make adults live healthily and happily. It is a bad thing for young people. Puppy love （早恋）may bring stress for young people and can lead to depression （忧郁症）. The study shows that girls become more depressed than boys, and younger girls are the worst of all.

The possible reason for the connection between love and higher risk of depression for girls is "loss of self"According to the study, even though boys would say "lose themselves in a romantic relationship", this "loss of self" is much more likely to lead to depression when it happens to girls. Young girls who have romantic relationships usually like hiding their feelings and opinions. They won't tell that to their parents.

Dr Marian Kaufnian, an expert on young people problems, says 15% to 20% young people will have depression during their growing. Trying romance often causes the depression. She advises kids not to jump into romance too early. During growing up, it is important for young people to build strong friendships and a strong sense of self. She also suggests the parents should encourage their kids to keep close to their friends, attend more interesting school activities and spend enough time with family.

Parents should watch for signs of depression - eating or mood changes - and if they see signs from their daughters or sons, they need to give help. The good news is that the connection between romance and depression seems to become weak with age. Love will always make us feel young, but only maturity （成熟）gives us a chance to avoid its bad side effects.

1. What's the main idea of the passage?

A．Puppy love may bring young people depression.

B．Parents should forbid their children's love.

C．Romance is a two edged sword for adults.

D．Romance is good for young people.

2. Which of the following is more likely to have depression?

A．Young people who have a strong sense of selfishness.

B．Young boys whose parents watch for their behavior.

C．Young girls who always hide their feelings and opinions.

D．Careless parents whose children are deep in love.

3. What’s the author's attitude towards puppy love?

A．Confused.

B．Disapproving.

C．Interested.

D．Afraid

10 . Kids and science seem to be made for each other!

The basic science is a combination of thought and experiment called the scientific method. It’s where you start with an idea, create a way to prove or disprove your idea, and show what you learned based on facts. Learning to follow this process helps you think logically and carefully. These important thinking skills can be used in many areas of study. To give a child practice with these thinking skills is like giving vitamins to a developing mind.

One of the greatest things we can teach our children is to love learning. Learning science is a great way to do so. Children are easy to be interested in science. Because much of science is hands-on, it attracts most children. Nothing makes a child sit up and take notice like the “WOW!” of a great science showing.

Science opens doors to many subjects at school. Building love for science can be helpful in other areas of study. For example, one cannot love science for very long without becoming good at its language-math! So science encourages children to study math. An interest in science is an interest in how things were once understood compared to how they are understood now. Thus studying science lends itself easily to studying history. And after you do an experiment, you need to write a lab report. Therefore, writing becomes an important part of science.

Science is the basic thing for much of our life. The science of farming shows how our food is produced; biomedical science keeps us healthy; even our beds these days are designed according to scientific facts. We almost eat, sleep and breathe with the help of science! When we prepare the next generation of voters, creators and policy makers, it is important to make sure they are not only comfortable but also good at science.

1. According to Paragraph 2, what does learning the scientific method mean to kids?

A．Learning to do experiments.	B．Learning many areas of study.
C．Helping them develop thinking skills.	D．Refusing any ideas that are not logical.

2. Which of the following statements would the author agree with?

A．Science is too difficult for children.	B．Children usually consider science boring.
C．Science can arouse children's interest in learning.	D．Children who are careless shouldn't learn science.

3. What happens to a child who works hard at science at school?

A．He usually has no time for other subjects.	B．He usually loses interest in other activities.
C．He is usually bad at such subjects like history.	D．He is likely to learn many other subjects well.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Why Kids Should Learn Science	B．Why Science Is Important
C．How Kids Can Make Use of Science	D．What Kids Should Learn at School