1 . For the past decade, one of the most linguistically (语言学地), diverse places in the world, square mile after square mile, has been my home: Queens, New York.
The soundtrack outside my door is extraordinary: On any given block, passing voices speak varieties of Polish, Ukrainian, Egyptian Arabic, Mexican Spanish, Puerto Rican Spanish, Dominican Spanish, and all the forms of New York City English they give rise to.
As a person who studies languages: I can usually distinguish them from one another, but understand only a part of what people are saying.
Users of Seke, a language from five villages in Nepal with 700 speakers, live a subway ride away. In certain stores, Albanians, Bosnians, Serbs, and Montenegrins all reunite, using the languages of the former Yugoslavia as if the country still existed. No group has a majority, or even 15. percent of the neighborhood, and most are at just 5 or 10 percent. English acts, for the most part, as a vital lingua franca (通用语). This’ last point is crucial, because a city can be a haven (避难所) for diversity but also an end point.
My neighborhood has its signature sound, but there are several dozen others that are just as diverse, each in a different way.
These are the places where the Endangered Language Alliance, the nonprofit I co-direct, has recorded New Yorkers speaking more than 100 languages that the survey and other data sets say don’t officially exist, and more than 700 in total.
That linguistic portrait makes clear that early-21st-century New York City is a last haven for endangered languages—ones that are being hounded out of existence elsewhere. And this deep linguistic diversity is among the least explored but possibly most important factors in New York’s history and makeup. New York’s soul can be found in the existence of these many, many languages, explaining New York’s particular capacity for tolerance and its ability to “make room” for others.
1. What is the author’s occupation?A.An economist. | B.A historian. | C.A linguist. | D.A reporter. |
A.They are close to disappearing. | B.They are mainly spoken by villagers. |
C.English is the most popular language. | D.Most of them are not officially recognized. |
A.Protected. | B.Threatened. | C.Respected. | D.Accepted. |
A.Language City. | B.The Development of Languages. |
C.Endangered Languages in New York. | D.The Importance of Language Diversity. |
2 . Today, many people are turning to social media for their fitness routines, with TikTok, one of the most popular platforms. Indeed, its fitness category has some 300 billion views. But are the posted works, exercises and challenges really safe and effective?
While fitness influencers can encourage people to become more physically active, which is a positive, the quality and accuracy of their content is a concern, according to a 2023 review in Frontiers in Public Health.
“There are a lot of unsustainable and unrealistic workouts on TikTok, and even some dangerous advice,” said Jess Brown, a certified personal trainer in Westchester, New York. “What’s more, much of the fitness information on TikTok isn’t backed by science or posted by fitness professionals. The workouts are usually generalized to anyone, too, and don’t take into account your health, your family history, your flexibility, your range of motion—the list goes on,” said Monica Jones, a certified personal trainer in Washington, DC.
One of the more popular TikTok fitness trends involves developing your abdominal muscles. These challenges often show an influencer doing one exercise or series of movements that, if repeated daily for a week or two, is promised to result in a sexy six-pack. “No way,” Brown said. “We’ve proven again and again that spot reduction isn’t a thing.”
“Unfortunately, there will always be trends centered around getting fast results, because those grab people’s attention. But it’s important to look at your fitness and health as a lifelong journey, not something you can achieve within 10 to 90 days,” Jones said.
How can you separate quality workouts from dangerous ones? First, check the information of the posters. They should be certified fitness professionals who have experience working with people. You also want a coach who emphasizes improving strength and health, not one who focuses on body type. A quality influencer should encourage mental well-being, self-care and the importance of listening to your body in addition to physical fitness.
1. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?A.The problems of fitness content on TikTok. |
B.The lack of sustainability on TikTok workouts. |
C.The needs for personalized workout on TikTok. |
D.The absence of scientific backing in fitness information on TikTok. |
A.Sustainable workout routines. | B.Long-term health improvement. |
C.Certified fitness professional guidance. | D.Easy exercise with immediate results. |
A.Fitness should be a lifelong journey, not a quick achievement. |
B.Fitness training should be specific to body type and flexibility. |
C.Fitness influencers must prioritize fast results over long-term health. |
D.TikTok workouts must promote mental well-being over physical fitness. |
A.Personalized workout plans. | B.Paying attention to detail in exercises. |
C.Taking a balanced approach to fitness. | D.Certification and reputation in fitness training. |
3 . There is always a lot of talk about what is fair, and what is not.
We definitely have no choice about how we come into this world. We have little choice early in life. But as we grow older, choices exist around. I have long believed that while we have no control over the beginning of our life, the majority of us have the ability to influence the outcomes we attain. Fairness is a state of mind, and most often, an unhealthy state of mind. Our state in life cannot, or at least should not, be blamed on our parents, our teachers, or our society.
I agree that challenges exist. I agree that many have an uphill battle due to the challenges they face.
A.Most people tend to insist that life should be fair. |
B.There is no absolute fairness in life, but it’s relatively fair. |
C.Life is full of examples of people who complain about life being unfair. |
D.In fact, it’s largely based on the choices we make, and the attitudes we adopt. |
E.But I disagree with the attempt to use fairness to solve all problems in the world. |
F.Stories like this are all around us-they are not miracles, nor are they the rare exception. |
G.It doesn’t matter whether we are born with a silver spoon, plastic spoon, or no spoon at all. |
4 . While technology addicts teens to their devices, they are not helpless against the draw of it. Here are five ways educators can support their students’ digital well-being.
Explore design tricks companies use. The technology we use daily is designed to catch and hold our attention. Companies know what keeps our eyes on the screen. To help, teachers can unpack design tricks and explain how companies employ features like auto-play to get users to stay on their apps.
Talk about how technology can increase feelings of anxiety. The decline in youth mental health is associated with an increase in social media use.
Uncover the ways that AI can play a role in misinformation. AI is rapidly transforming the world. Recommendation algorithms (算法), which determine what we do and do not see on our feeds and in our search results, can have very real consequences.
Encourage families to have meaningful conversations with their child. Take the time to share with families the topics and resources you’re teaching in class.
A.Social media is ruining our life. |
B.Connect them with their inner world. |
C.Build their awareness of thinking traps. |
D.This by no means indicates all technology is bad. |
E.They can pull us toward increasingly extreme views. |
F.It turns out adults and kids all pursue digital well-being. |
G.Knowing these can motivate students to get back their attention. |
5 . Twenty-two years ago, I won a Nobel Prize, together with Tim and Leland Hartwell, for our work on how cells control their division.
The prize changed our lives. Suddenly you become a public figure being asked to do all sorts of things: to give lectures, quite often on topics you know little about; to sit on committees and reviews you are not always well qualified to be on; to visit countries you have barely heard of. It is like having a whole new extra job, with upwards of 500 requests a year.
A recent study suggests that in general the extra commitments that Nobel winners take on result in fewer papers after their awards. There may be some truth to this given the extra demands on one’s time, but of course prestigious awards also allow new projects and research to be undertaken.
What effects did the Nobel Prize have on my subsequent career and work? It has certainly helped me to get scientific leadership positions. Within a year of getting the prize I was offered and accepted the presidency of Rockefeller University in New York. Having the prize also helps to get things done. For example, I have been involved in the merging of two separate cancer research charities to form Cancer Research UK. And it has helped me support causes I care deeply about. I became an ambassador for Ukraine education and science to help raise money for schools in that shattered country. Moreover, having a Nobel does help attract high-quality research colleagues. I have just started three excellent new PhD students. It is a privilege for me to be able to pursue curiosity-driven research at this late stage of my career.
However, one thing I am glad to say that the Nobel Prize did not influence was peer review from my fellow scientists, assessing the suitability of my own research for publication, and my grant applications for funding. My rejection rates have remained essentially the same before and after the prize. And that, of course, is exactly how it should be.
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing paragraph 2?A.To share his pride in winning a Nobel. |
B.To express his regret at the changing of life. |
C.To show his self confidence in handling the extra jobs. |
D.To display his overburdened tasks after winning a Nobel. |
A.Competition. | B.Comparison. | C.Combination. | D.Construction. |
A.The special privileges the Nobel winner has. |
B.The positive impacts the Nobel Prize generates. |
C.The great contributions the Nobel winner makes. |
D.The scientific leadership the Nobel Prize provides. |
A.The spirit of science lies in seeking facts and truth. |
B.Winning a Nobel Prize has an impact on peer review. |
C.Extra commitments make Nobel winners less productive. |
D.The approval a Nobel winner receives is equal to rejection. |
1. 粮食的重要性;
2. 如何节约食物;
3. 发出呼吁。
注意: 1. 词数80左右; 2. 可适当增加细节, 以使行文连贯
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your listening.
7 . Street Art is a very popular form of art that is spreading quickly all over the world. You can find it on buildings, sidewalks, street signs and trash cans. Even art museums and galleries are collecting the work of street artists.
Art experts claim that the movement began in New York in the 1960s.
One well-known New York street artist is Swoon. She cuts out paper images of people and puts them on walls or sets them up on sidewalks.
In today’s world, the Internet has a big influence on street art.
A.There are various forms of street art. |
B.Street art has become a global culture. |
C.Street artists do their work for some reason. |
D.Swoon didn’t start her career as a street artist. |
E.It was considered as a very new popular form of culture. |
F.Artists can show their pictures to people all over the world. |
G.Young adults sprayed (喷洒) words and other images on walls and trains. |
8 . In this day and age we live in, our life is taken over by technology. We can’t imagine our life without it, and listening to stories that my mom tells about how she grew up without the Internet or cell phones sounds like a nightmare to me.
Though technology is wonderful and we are used to it and have no desire to be without it, it can be a good idea to sometimes just unplug (拔掉) from it all. Have you ever woken up in the morning just to see you have actually replied to a message to which the reply either doesn’t make sense or you can’t even remember that you did reply? This can be one of the signs that you are allowing technology to take over your life.
It can be very difficult to pull yourself away from the technology and you will feel you are going to be separated from the things or people around and miss a lot, but is it really so bad to at least get away from it at night and make sure you get a good night’s rest? You may feel you don’t need a lot of sleep, but at the end of the day you are making it difficult to concentrate the next day.
So let’s pack away the technology for a few hours at night—you only have to make a few small changes. Turn off your cell phone and switch off your computer at night when you go to bed. If you feel you will use your phone during the night, charge your phone in another room.
Make enough sleep a priority and feel and look good the next day. You may think it is a really silly idea to be without a cell phone or a computer during the night, but once you do it a few times and you get enough sleep and feel refreshed the following day, you will understand why it is a good idea and will try and unplug more times.
1. Why does the author mention his mom’s stories?A.To show life without the Internet. | B.To introduce the topic of the text. |
C.To compare two generations’ life. | D.To analyze the effects of cell phones. |
A.Carefree. | B.Sleepy. | C.Disconnected. | D.Comfortable. |
A.Something important. | B.Something interesting. |
C.Something amusing. | D.Something disturbing. |
A.Sleep is the most important thing in our life. |
B.It is silly without cell phones or computers. |
C.We should try to switch off our electronic products for one night. |
D.Turning off electronic products at night makes us energetic in daytime. |
9 . The mushrooming video screens in buses, taxis and apartment halls in cities like Shanghai are taking away our already rare resource: a place for a moment of peace. Taking a nap or reading a book on buses is less pleasant now, as the LCD screens broadcast news, entertainment and advertisements at unbearable volumes.
You pay the bus fare simply to get a ride—undisturbed—but now you are exposed to this “added value”, whether you like it or not. If it’s a crowded bus, the noise is even more exasperating. More and more Chinese cities have joined Shanghai, regarded as the first to put video screens on buses, disturbing millions of passengers.
Some may like to watch programme aired on buses or in apartment halls. But those who don’t should be equally respected. Because of the bus screens, students cannot focus on reviewing their lessons or preparing for a test. People who like to read or reflect feel unsettled by the noise. Youngsters who like to listen to music on their iPods must increase the volume to fight against the competing audio. If you already feel stressed after a busy day, the bus video advertising certainly increase the tension of both your muscles and nervous system. Bus drivers are surely the worst victims because they have to bear it at least eight hours a day, non-stop.
A high public tolerance for noise pollution has helped bus video advertisers to expand their businesses. But opposition has already started to make its voice heard. Some people have already accused bus companies of breaking their contracts, since their obligation is only to deliver passengers to their destinations.
Shanghai, as a world-class city, should set an example for the country. It should first adopt world-class behavior in its massive public transportation system to return the public a peaceful place.
1. What does the underlined word “exasperating” in Paragraph 2 mean?A.Entertaining. |
B.Encouraging. |
C.Disappointing. |
D.Annoying. |
A.Students. |
B.Bus drivers. |
C.Youngsters. |
D.Office employees. |
A.More use of public transport. |
B.An increase in bus video advertising. |
C.More complaints about bus companies. |
D.Lower public awareness of consumer rights. |
A.Opposed. |
B.Unclear. |
C.Supportive. |
D.Indifferent. |
10 . A teenager needs to have a sense of independence in their life to feel secure (安全的). To some teenagers independence means a lot to them, and I think that some parents don’t allow their teenagers enough independence.
Independence has something to do with freedom. Some kids are not allowed to go anywhere alone, and the only thing their schedule includes is going to school, coming home, going to sleep, and repeating the process the next day. Parents tend to be afraid that their kids can get hurt if they go outside into the world. But if parents control their kids too much, they may never learn to live on their own. The best way for a teenager to learn lesson is through experience. I think it is beneficial for teenagers to have freedom.
Teenagers’ lack of freedom can also stop them from having good friendship at school. Some might say this is a good thing, because it helps them focus more on their school work. I argue that this can only discourage them not to do their school work. Some parents do not allow their children to be around their friends outside the school, thinking that this will get them into trouble. But I don’t think so. Instead, isn’t this a good reason for parents to get their children a cellphone? Cellphones allow teenagers to stay in touch with their parents, and communicate with friends.
Privacy is another issue between parents and their teenagers. Teenagers tend to enjoy relaxation by themselves in their own room. This also gives them a sense of independence. It often annoys teenagers when their parents enter their room when they are not home. I know that my mom always goes in my room when I’m not home, and this has brought me to the point where I have asked many times to get a lock on my door.
1. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?A.Kids know how to live independently. |
B.Some parents allow their kids no freedom. |
C.It benefits teenagers to have freedom. |
D.Kids have a dull routine every day |
A.parents should make it easy for kids to communicate with their friends |
B.good friendships between kids harm their school work |
C.it is unnecessary for a kid to have a cellphone |
D.kids should focus on the school work |
A.Disappointed | B.Lucky |
C.Angry | D.Calm |
A.keep her father from reading her dairy |
B.prevent her mother entering her room |
C.Protect herself from any harm |
D.Stop thieves from going in |