1 . Culdesac, which describes itself as “the first car-free neighborhood in the Us”, admitted its first 36 residents in Tempe, Arizona, US, earlier this year. The $170 million neighborhood, with its white buildings and narrow walkways, is expected to hold around 1, 000 people when the full 760 units are completed by 2025. Similar projects in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Houston, Texas, are also underway.
In a country as car-dependent as the US, Culdesac is no lack of foresight (远见). Although some densely populated (人口密集的) coastal Us cities like Boston and New York City are walkable and have ample public transportation options like taxis, buses and light rails, the majority of Americans are entirely dependent on cars to get around.
This dependence on cars doesn’t come cheap, unfortunately. In a 2023 study, the American Automobile Association said that it costs an average of about 89,000 yuan per year to own and maintain a car in the US.
So, what is stopping Americans from abandoning cars and accepting relatively cheaper choices like e-bikes? In a word, unsafe roads that prioritize cars over people. According to a 2018 report by WHO, the US traffic accident death rate is about 50 percent more than similar nations in Western Europe. At the same time, walkers and cyclists in the US are often blamed for being hit by drivers rather than the other way around.
Still, there’s hope. By choosing a new car-free way of living, US projects like Culdesac can provide another way of living that’s both healthier and more affordable and, in turn, influence others to live a better way as well. As Vanessa, a resident of Culdesac, said, “For some, cars equal freedom, but for me, it’s limitation, Freedom is being able to just simply walk out and access places. “
1. What can we learn about Culdesac from the text?| A．It is expected to hold only 1, 000 people, | B．It is the world’s largest car-free neighborhood, |
| C．It will be finished by the end of this year. | D．It is thought to be forward-thinking. |
| A．Enough. | B．Possible. | C．Similar. | D．Special. |
| A．Maintaining a car is cheap. | B．E-bikes are not widely available. |
| C．Road conditions are unsafe. | D．Drivers are respected by others. |
| A．Limiting freedom of movement. | B．Making local residents feel safer. |
| C．Encouraging people to explore their communities. | D．Promoting a cheaper and healthier way of living. |
2 . Two hours of screen time a day is enough to “dumb down” children or result in depression or physical illness, a global study has found.
The global study analyzed data measuring screen time, physical activity, mental health indicators and physical illness reported by 577, 000 children aged 11, 13 and 15 from 42 rich countries. It found that screen time—not including school work—averaged 6. 3 hours for boys and 5. 4 hours for girls.
The Australian-led study shows girls experience unhealthiness after just two hours watching screens including television, social media or online gaming. However, boys are more likely to be physically active, they can safely spend twice as much time on screens each day before suffering health problems.
Dr Khan said too much time spent watching TV, gaming or on social media could lead to “reduced learning abilities”. “If you spend more time on screens you are likely not to do well in your study performance.”
“We also found there were some benefits during the first hour of daily screen use, but bad effects on mental health kick in after 75 minutes in girls and 105 minutes in boys,” Dr Khan said. The solution to mental health the study found was an hour of physical activity, and no more than two hours a day using screens, apart from schoolwork. That is to say, children need to balance screen time with “green time” outdoors. Children who exercise or play outdoors regularly are healthier and happier, the study shows.
Melbourne dad, Tom Hindhaugh, said he tried to reduce screen time for his son, Patrick, 13. “Clearly we need those screens for homeschooling. Technology is the necessary way kids can communicate and hang out with each other,” he said. “But we need to get children outside and moving. Physical activity is the key for their health, whether it’s walking, riding a bike or kicking the football.”
1. What does the study focus on about children?| A．Their screen time. | B．Their health habits. |
| C．Their gender difference. | D．Their school performance. |
| A．Boys perform no better in study than girls. |
| B．Boys are better at physical activity than girls. |
| C．Girls spend more time on school work than boys. |
| D．Girls are more likely to suffer ill-health than boys. |
| A．The balance of school work. | B．The proper time of daily screens. |
| C．The advantage of green time. | D．The necessity of regular activities. |
| A．To express parents’ concern. | B．To show a successful example. |
| C．To support the writer’s opinion. | D．To present an education method. |
3 . Editor’s note: An increasing number of Chinese people, especially the young, are more willing to celebrate Western festivals. Should we celebrate foreign festivals? Forum (论坛) readers share their opinions. You’re welcome to add yours.
Dinah (China)
I enjoy the happy atmosphere of both Chinese and Western festivals. As long as it is meaningful for me, I will celebrate it with my boyfriend, and my parents! I like Western festivals and often celebrate them without even knowing the origins of them. Why? Because what I really appreciate is just the happy atmosphere.
SharkMinnow (Canada)
Western Festivals are more like parties or games for some Chinese. Also, spending money = good for economy. Most Chinese don’t take Western festivals as seriously as their own. It’s like a game or party in my eyes. A way to blow off steam and have fun (and spend money).
Travis (UK)
As an Englishman teaching here in China for two years, my friends have got used to, and enjoy when I celebrate my festivals. My school also likes it as well, although this year they asked me not to scare the teachers so much on Halloween. My Chinese friends enjoy taking part in my festivals, as they also learn more about my culture, and the history that goes with it…
Leesinchina (US)
Cherish your own festivals. It would be a pity if the Chinese accepted these Western days — first, because they have absolutely nothing to do with traditional Chinese culture. Second, they are a big trick by the big stores to get more money out of you. Stick to your own festivals — they actually mean something to you — rather than following western customs for no good reason.
1. What matters most according to Dinah?| A．The atmosphere when celebrating festivals. |
| B．The people with whom to celebrate festivals. |
| C．Celebrating Chinese festivals with her family. |
| D．Celebrating Western festivals in a good atmosphere. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Indifferent. | C．Neutral. | D．Negative. |
| A．How should we celebrate festivals? |
| B．Should we celebrate foreign festivals? |
| C．Why are more young people celebrating foreign festivals? |
| D．Are more Chinese people willing to celebrate foreign festivals? |
| A．A newspaper. | B．A debate. | C．A website. | D．A text book. |
Gather together a couple of good friends and take a leisurely walk through the streets—this is what many youngsters in China enjoy doing when they pay a visit
The origins of Citywalk can be traced (追溯) back to London, England. Strictly speaking, this form of urban tourism
Up to now, the Citywalk trend
In short, Citywalk not only offers
| A．103. | B．127. | C．134. |
6 . Children seem to care so much about their names. A study shows that most of young people wish their parents had given them a different name.
Some people choose to change their names when they grow up. Many people in show business don’t use the names their parents gave them. Have you ever listened to Joanne? No? The answer could be “yes” if we call her stage name instead! You may never heard of Margaret. But if we tell you her stage name, you might know her as a famous dancer.
In many cultures, there are special ideas about how to choose a name. For example, many people choose a name that has been in their family for many years. It tells the child where he or she comes from.
Choosing a good name isn’t easy. Many parents search books that tell them the meanings of names. They could choose a name that carries a message. For example, Edith means “valuable gift”. Amanda means “love”. And Fara means “joy”.
Names like these tell family and friends how happy they are with their new baby. Other names can say something about the events during the birth of the child. In Africa, a first born son may have the name Mosi and the name Ama means “born on Saturday”.
Is every boy called Curitis polite? And is every girl called Mahira quick and full of energy? No parents can tell what kind of person their child will grow up to be. Just because parents name a boy Fahim, it doesn’t mean he will be clever. All they can do is hope.
1. What can we know about the study?| A．Young kids don’t care about their future. |
| B．Most of young people care about their names. |
| C．Most girls want to change their names. |
| D．Most parents want to rename by themselves. |
| A．To prove some people hope to be renamed. |
| B．To introduce a famous dancer to readers. |
| C．To introduce her true name. |
| D．To tell the benefit of name. |
| A．Kids always want to rename. |
| B．It is hard to change kids’ names. |
| C．Parents aren’t sure if their kids will like the name. |
| D．Parents want to choose a meaningful name. |
| A．Names can never influence our lives | B．Your parents’ wish is behind names |
| C．Love your parents, love your name | D．Methods to choose a suitable name |
7 . People who are at your age, like your classmates, are called peers. When they influence you on your decision or action, it’s called peer pressure. All of us, at some point in our lives, have had to deal with peer pressure.
Recent studies have shown that peer pressure might cause an upside to you. It can make you reflect on your actions and make changes to your ways to become a better one. Observing others working hard to reach their goals will definitely encourage you to make a great effort to achieve something positive. When a teen knows that his teammates are practicing hard to become better players then it will directly affect his own performance. He will put in twice the time and energy to raise the level of his game and ensure he has a place on the team.
Having a group that brings positive peer pressure can also help you pick up healthy habits that can shape both your personality and your future. For example, when a child knows that some of his friends regularly read storybooks, he may get into the habit of reading. Seeing that his friends exercise daily, even he may take up the habit.
Just as some influences can be positive, some can be negative too. Peer pressure sometimes can make a fall in your self-confidence. Some kids give in to peer pressure because they want to be liked, or because they worry that others might make fun of them if they don’t go along with the group. The idea that “everyone’s doing it” can influence them to leave their better judgment behind. Besides, it is common for teenagers to think that nobody understands them and that the whole world is against them. The influence of peer pressure is such that it keeps them completely away from their family and friends who mean well. They just shut themselves off and fall into bad company.
It’s likely that you’ve experienced the impact of peer pressure in different areas, ranging from the clothes you wear to the music you listen to. Sometimes it can be hard to resist(抵抗) and you may feel forced to do something you’re uncomfortable with. So being aware of and carefully choosing the influence of peers that will lead to healthy and happy experiences is a lifelong process.
1. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．A quick reaction. | B．A positive influence. |
| C．A serious challenge. | D．A possible conflict |
| A．Peer pressure can get teenagers to become less self-confident |
| B．Peer pressure can provide a positive model for teammates |
| C．Peer pressure can get teenagers to make fun of their peers. |
| D．Peer pressure can help teenagers improve relationship with family members |
| A．Just follow the trends ranging from clothes to music. |
| B．Accept it all because it is hard to resist. |
| C．Stay clear-minded and choose the influence wisely. |
| D．Fit into a healthy and happy lifestyle. |
| A．Science. | B．History. | C．Opinion. | D．Entertainment. |
8 . In the days before the Internet, critical thinking was the most important skill of informed citizens. But in the digital age, according to Anastasia Kozyreva, a psychologist at the Max Planck Institute of Human Development, and her colleagues, an even more important skill is critical ignoring.
As the researchers point out, we live in an attention economy where content producers on the Internet compete for our attention. They attract us with a lot of emotional and eye-catching stories while providing little useful information, so they can expose us to profit-generating advertisements. Therefore,we are no longer customers but products, and each link we click is a sale of our time and attention. Toprotect ourselves from this, Kozyreva advocates for learning the skill of critical ignoring, in which readers intentionally control their information environment to reduce exposure to false and low-quality information.
According to Kozyreva, critical ignoring comprises three strategies. The first is to design ourenvironments, which involves the removal of low-quality yet hard-to-resist information from around. Successful dieters need to keep unhealthy food out of their homes. Likewise, we need to set up a digital environment where attention-grabbing items are kept out of sight. As with dieting, if one tries to bank onwillpower not to click eye-catching “news”, he’ll surely fail. So, it’s better to just keep them out of sightto begin with.
The next is to evaluate the reliability of information, whose purpose is to protect you from false and misleading information. It can be realized by checking the source in the mainstream news agencies which have their reputations for being trustworthy.
The last goes by the phrase “do not feed the trolls.” Trolls are actors who internationally spread false and hurtful information online to cause harm. It may be appealing to respond to them to set the facts straight, but trolls just care about annoying others rather than facts. So, it’s best not to reward their bad behaviour with our attention.
By sharpening our critical ignoring skills in these ways, we can make the most of the Internet while avoiding falling victim to those who try to control our attention, time, and minds.
1. What can we learn about the attention economy from paragraph 2?| A．It offers little information. | B．It features depressing stories. |
| C．It saves time for Internet users. | D．It seeks profits from each click. |
| A．To discuss the quality of information |
| B．To prove the benefits of healthy food. |
| C．To show the importance of environments. |
| D．To explain the effectiveness of willpower. |
| A．Reveal their intention. | B．Turn a deaf ear to them. |
| C．Correct their behaviour. | D．Send hard facts to them. |
| A．Reasons for critical thinking in the attention economy. |
| B．Practising the skill of critical ignoring in the digital age. |
| C．Maximizing the benefits of critical ignoring on the Internet. |
| D．Strategies of abandoning critical thinking for Internet users |
9 . I recently had a conversation with a friend who was feeling very upset about work. Why? He thought his manager didn’t like him. He rarely heard much from his manager, and when his manager said something, it was about correcting some aspects of his work or giving him some constructive advice.
Not surprisingly, given my friend’s understandably anxious view of these workplace dynamics (动态), he was afraid of his annual performance evaluation. He was worried that his boss might even tell him that he wasn’t needed anymore. Accordingly, he considered looking around for another job — not because he really wanted to, as he liked the kind of work he was doing, but because he suffered from the kind of management.
The evaluation day came, and to his great surprise, rather than being harshly critical, his manager told him that he was doing a fine job and gave him a promotion.
The sad truth is, this kind of phenomenon is by no means unusual in the workplace. One recent survey showed that nearly half of the employees have considered leaving a job “due to lack of recognition”. Another similar study found 46 percent of the employees left a job “because they felt unappreciated”.
The good news is that, in this case, the damage was repaired before it was too late — before my friend was out the door and his company began the expensive and time-consuming process of hiring a new employee. But as the research noted above shows, workplace problems related to recognition and appreciation are as common as the office air we breathe.
This conforms with my personal experience; during my decades of corporate management, I saw similar appreciation issues all the time. When a job isn’t done well, nobody deserves anything, of course. But when a job is done well, if you’re an employee, it’s entirely natural to expect at least a bit of appreciation. So if you’re a manager, it’s a good idea to show some. It’s that simple.
1. What phenomenon does the author want to describe through his friend’s case?| A．Unclear rewards and punishments. | B．Employee-management misunderstanding. |
| C．Unfair promotion in the workplace. | D．Fierce competition among new employees. |
| A．His company hired a new employee. |
| B．He continued to work for the company. |
| C．His company simplified the evaluation process. |
| D．He repaired the relationship with his colleagues. |
| A．Results from. | B．Separates from. |
| C．Agrees with. | D．Contrasts with. |
| A．Defend employees’ rights. | B．A friend’s unforgettable experience. |
| C．Acknowledge employees’ work. | D．Misunderstanding between employees. |
10 . I decided to write the article on British Sign Language (BSL) being taught in school. This is because both of my parents are completely deaf which means they can’t hear at all and another reason I decided to do this topic is because I have realised how much of a problem it has become.
It might come to a surprise to learn that nearly all communication is non-verbal (非语言的) and only a little bit is verbal. Over half of the non-verbal communication is body language. Deaf pupils often struggle (挣扎) in school because they can’t get proper help from their teachers as they might not understand each other.
Sign Language is a language that uses hand gestures and body language. These are different ways of communication that deaf or hard of hearing people use to communicate with people. Some deaf people are what you might call “mute”, which means they use Sign Language but don’t use speech. Other deaf people may use speech, most of whom either use hearing aids or have a cochlear implant (人工耳蜗) which can help them hear.
By teaching BSL it would open doors for the deaf community and it would reduce a lot of language barriers (障碍) between deaf and hearing people. The more people learning BSL through education means that it would give deaf people more options for further education and good jobs. By teaching Sign Language in school it can help deaf awareness (意识). With young people growing up and learning it together there wouldn’t be a problem with getting jobs.
I think that deaf awareness is better than it used to be but it still isn’t good enough. In the end teaching Sign Language will be the best for everyone. There would be less language barriers, which means communication will be easier between hearing people and deaf people.
1. What made the author write the text?| A．His own hearing problem. | B．The difficulty of the deaf. |
| C．The school’s sincere invitation. | D．His parents’ encouragement. |
| A．They are too shy to ask for help. |
| B．Their classmates use body language. |
| C．Their teachers are unwilling to help them. |
| D．They have difficulty communicating with others. |
| A．We should offer deaf people good jobs. |
| B．Schools should teach British Sign Language. |
| C．Schools should provide further education for the deaf. |
| D．Young people should learn more about Sign Language. |
| A．It is nearly close to success. | B．It still needs to be improved. |
| C．It isn’t understood by hearing people. | D．It’s bad for breaking language barriers. |
