1 . After receiving several complaints (投诉) from the customers, the owner of an Italian restaurant in Mooresville, North Carolina, has taken the decision to forbid(禁止) children under the age of five. Although facing criticism in social media, he says that business has grown greatly.
The owner describes his restaurant as a traditional and wonderful restaurant, but young children cry, scream or play on iPads at full volume (音量). It disturbs other customers and clearly doesn’t fit in too well in a wonderful meal. So the owner, Pasquale Caruso, set up a “no child under five” rule in January 2020.
“Some customers complain, get up and leave because children are bothering them, and the parents are doing nothing,” Caruso told the newspaper. “It starts to feel like it isn’t the Caruso’s anymore, that it’s a local pizzeria instead." Caruso added that he didn’t like taking this kind of decision, but in the end, he had to do what was best for his business. Since then, people have been voicing their opinions on the restaurant’ s unofficial Facebook page.
“You have forbidden small children. Then who are the next: blacks, Jews, native people? Shame on you!” one Facebook user called John commented. But for every critical comment, there are some that congratulate Caruso’s for taking such a brave decision. “Thank you for taking a stand,” some people wrote on its Facebook page.
“I’m the parent of 5. Don’t bring little ones to a nice restaurant or expect them to quietly sit still for an hour. They CAN NOT DO IT,” one person posted. Caruso said the online support for his controversial (有争议的) rule is reflected in the success of his business. The number of customers has risen from 50 a day to around 80.
1. The controversial rule of the Italian restaurant is that ________.A.he doesn’t accept complaints from customers |
B.children under 5 are forbidden in this restaurant |
C.customers cannot come in with their iPads |
D.a child area will be built in the restaurant |
A.do their homework | B.eat pizzas from other shops |
C.make a lot of noises | D.talk with their parents in a low voice |
A.Most of people go against his behavior. |
B.His restaurant gets into trouble. |
C.He has to stop his rule at once. |
D.There are more customers than before. |
A.A strange restaurant in Italy |
B.The trouble from young parents |
C.Pasquale Caruso’s brave decision |
D.The impolite behavior in restaurants |
2 . Success is something we are told to celebrate when we achieve it. However, it might come as quite a surprise to many of us. Sometimes, we feel guilty (内疚) when we do become successful.
You’re the First in Your Family To Achieve This Level of Success.
If you are the first person in your family to become successful, you may feel superior (有优越感的) to the others.
You Worry Success Came Too Easily
We have so many messages in our culture about having to work hard to succeed.
We associate success with lone hours at work over a desk, or keeping practicing a skill. But sometimes, we get lucky. We have succeeded before many years of hard work and effort. This can also lead to feelings of guilt.
Many Other Talented People Are Less Successful
If you become successful, you might feel guilty because you know others are still struggling.
A.Many of us spend endless years in its pursuit. |
B.They are just as talented, and work just as hard! |
C.You may feel that you put yourself above them. |
D.If you’ve experienced the feeling, you’re far from alone. |
E.You know why one equally-talented person does not achieve success. |
F.It’s because you might worry you didn’t put in enough effort to the success. |
G.We suggest the young work hard when they aren’t taking work seriously enough. |
3 . Perhaps you’ve heard the old saying “curiosity killed the cat.” It’s a phrase that’s often used to warn people — especially children — not to ask too many questions.
In addition to this, there’s the fact that we all now connect so deeply with technology, particularly with our phones. The more we stare at our screens, the less we talk to other people directly.
The final — and perhaps most worrying — way in which technology stops us from asking more has to do with algorithms, the processes followed by computers. As we increasingly get our news via social media, the big data find out what we like and push more of the same back to us.
A.Yet it’s widely agreed that curiosity actually makes learning more effective. |
B.All too often we accept the images of people that social media provides us with. |
C.That means we end up inside our own little bubbles, no longer coming across new ideas. |
D.We are always encouraged to challenge our pre-existing beliefs |
E.In science, basic curiosity-driven research can have unexpected important benefits. |
F.However, curiosity is currently under the biggest threat, coming from technology. |
G.It is still not known why learning gives us such pleasure |
4 . The best racecourses (赛马场) are in all corners of the country, which means it’s accessible for all fans of the sport.
Cheltenham
There are big festivals throughout the year, but nothing comes close to excitement levels when the Cheltenham Festival is approaching. It is the home of National Hunt racing, and every year millions of fans are glued to the racing on the track watching the competition. The biggest race of the meeting is the Cheltenham Gold Cup, held annually on the Friday of the meeting.
Aintree
While the biggest National Hunt meeting of the season takes place at Cheltenham, it could be argued that the race that draws the inexperienced viewers to the sport is the Grand National. The race is an important part of British life, as everyone makes a habit of watching the race annually with friends and family.
Ascot
For lovers of flat racing, Ascot meetings are a must. The biggest of the season is Royal Ascot, which is one of the most unique of the season as Queen Elizabeth attends it herself. There are 26 days of racing throughout the year at Ascot, which also includes National Hunt meetings as well as flat. However, one of the other big race days comes as the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes takes place. This is one of the most fashionable race days on calendar, as all visitors entering certain zones must be wearing a top hat.
Newmarket
There are two racecourses at Newmarket, the Rowley Mile and the July Course. The mentioned course is the home of one of the biggest races of the season. The July Course is only in operation during July and early August, with the featured race being the July Cup.
1. What do we know about Cheltenham Gold Cup?A.It’s the biggest game in July. |
B.It draws new viewers more. |
C.It takes place on a yearly basis. |
D.It features the Cheltenham Festival. |
A.Cheltenham. | B.Aintree. | C.Ascot. | D.Newmarket. |
A.To compare Britain horse race cultures. |
B.To inform readers of recent horse races. |
C.To advertise the biggest horse races worldwide. |
D.To introduce some of the best Britain racecourses. |
In my first attempt to get control over my technology use, I set my phone to vibrate rather than ring. Soon after, another problem appeared. The act of continually checking the phone became a habit. I knew then that using only tips to permanently reform digital life is difficult. We should go past the notification settings (通知模式) on our devices or apps and consider the more essential topic of why we use so many apps in the first place. What all of us who are struggling with these challenges need is a technology usage philosophy, something that explains from the ground up which digital tools we allow into our lives, why, and under what conditions.
Cal Newport, a professor of computer science, defines Digital Minimalism (极简主义) as a “philosophy of technology use in which you focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected activities that strongly support the things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else.”
To do so, however, we cannot passively allow the tools and apps provided by the internet age to control how we spend our time or how we feel. Instead, we must take steps to draw the positive aspects of these technologies while sidestepping the negative aspects.
1. What does “its danger” in the first paragraph refer to?A.Feeling depressed. |
B.Getting distracted in a discussion. |
C.Giving up private moments. |
D.Losing control of your digital life. |
A.To make a comparison. |
B.To explain a phenomenon. |
C.To bring in a better solution. |
D.To clarify misunderstandings. |
A.Ignoring the side effect of digital tools. |
B.Devoting your screen time to valuable things. |
C.Spending more time selecting information. |
D.Getting away from entertainment apps. |
A.Reforms in life. |
B.Technology challenges. |
C.Apps and social media sites. |
D.Technology usage philosophy. |
6 .
Researchers at Syracuse University in New York tried to answer that question. They came up with some surprising answers. People who post selfies and use editing software to make themselves look better show behavior connected to admiring themselves too much, the Syracuse researchers said.
Other findings from the study include: There are no major differences on how often men and women post selfies and how often they use editing software.
The Newhouse School's Associate Professor Makana Chock worked on the study. She said, posting selfies on social media is not all that different from what people have done for many years. On trips, our parents and grandparents used cameras to take photos. Before social media, people would bring back photos to show friends and family. You had no choice but to look at them. If you are a nice person, you commented about how nice everyone in the photos looked, especially children and the person showing the photos.
On social media, it is a different experience. People can decide not to look at photos of their friends and family even if they click "like" even "love" under the Facebook selfie.
A.Why do people take "selfies?" |
B.That was the old way of "clicking" like. |
C.Different people have different opinions about it. |
D.Such people think very highly of themselves, especially how they look. |
E.Both cameras and phones are useful tools to record people's experiences. |
F.But men desire to be seen as popular more than women when posting selfies. |
G.There are other reasons, besides admiring themselves, why people post selfies. |