1 . When opening certain mobile apps, users often find disruptive (有干扰性的) open-app advertisements that impact their experience. Open-app advertisements are advertisements that appear in between contents or during transition screens, such as when an app is loading the next page. Some of these advertisements can redirect users to another app if the phone is shaken, causing a lot of frustration for consumers.

These open-app advertisements function as gateways and become more common during online shopping festivals, redirecting users to shopping platforms such as Taobao and JD. Most smartphones have a gyroscope sensor (陀螺仪传感器) to detect shaking, leading to unintentional redirection. Many users not only find it annoying to find themselves on an advertisements page, but also have trouble disabling the gyroscope feature since sometimes their phones lack the choice to do so to avoid this issue.

In response, authorities have introduced detailed regulations on shaking advertisements gateways. A regulation published in December 2022 outlines specific rules for the design of “shake-to-open” advertisements. It says that these advertisements can only be “clicked through” if the phone’s rotation angle exceeds 35 degrees, with an action time longer than three seconds.

Additionally, in February, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology emphasized that pop-up or open-app advertisements should not disrupt users’ experiences. A regulation introduced in May states that advertisements must include a clear button for users to close them.

Government enforcement of these regulations presents challenges, as the number of apps and developers is great. However, this should not be an excuse for internet platforms to break the rules, as this behavior causes far more harm than good. A survey by the Jiangsu Consumer Council showed that over 90 percent of users strongly dislike open-app advertisements, feeling that their rights are being threatened.

While these advertisements might lead to more clicks, the fact is that the advertisements may harm the credibility of the platforms that the advertisements lead to and weaken the users’ willingness to use the platforms. Platforms can achieve a mutually beneficial (互惠互利) solution only if they respect users’ choices and provide suitable advertisements that users are willing to accept.

1. What does the first paragraph mainly talk about concerning open-app ads?

A．The benefits of open-app ads for online shopping platforms.

B．The lack of regulations governing traditional advertising methods.

C．The effectiveness of open-app ads in increasing users’ engagement.

D．The negative impact of disruptive open-app ads on users’ experience.

2. What was regulated in December 2022 about “shake-to-open” ads?

A．They can be clicked through without any restrictions.

B．They can only be clicked through on certain conditions.

C．They should have a clear button for users to close them.

D．They should appear for only three seconds on the screen.

3. How can platforms reach a win-win solution as mentioned in the last paragraph?

A．By ignoring users’ choices.

B．By respecting users’ preferences.

C．By presenting more irrelevant ads.

D．By flooding users with more profitable ads.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．The Preferences of Shopping Platforms.

B．The Challenges of Online Shopping Festivals.

C．The Role of Advertisements in Improving Users’ Experience.

D．The Battle against Disruptive Advertisements on Mobile Apps.

2 . For centuries, artists usually give people an impression: they are the “Starving Artists”, struggling to make ends meet. Henri Murger proved that. He was born the son of a doorman in France. Living in Paris, he was surrounded by creative geniuses and dreamed of joining them, but he grew upset with his failure to earn money.

In 1847, Murger published a book. It’s a collection of stories about poverty, which launched the concept of the “Starving Artists” into the public’s understanding as the model for a creative life. To this day, it endures as the model for what we imagine when we think of the word “artist”.

Today, what we forget is that the story of the “Starving Artist” is a myth. In fact, it is really just an imaginary story. Due to the power of this myth in Murger’s book, many of us just want to become lawyers instead of writers, bankers instead of poets, and doctors instead of painters. Nobody wants to struggle ultimately. Thus, we just keep our passion a hobby instead of a career.

In the early Renaissance, artists did not have reputations for being diligent workers. They were considered manual laborers, receiving small amounts of money for their work. Michelangelo Buonarroti, however, changed all that. He was not only a master sculptor but also the most affluent artist of his time. After him, every artist began to see a “new pattern of doing things”, in the words of Bill Wallace, professor of art history at Washington University. Michelangelo established the idea that an artist could become a new figure in society and have a higher social status, and also that he could become financially successful.

Michelangelo did not need to starve for his creations, and neither do you. When we hear the tales and warnings about what it means to be an artist, we must understand an important truth—you don’t have to starve and you might as well make a living from your creative talents.

1. What concept is presented in Henri Murger’s story collection?

A．Artists are not easy to become well known.

B．Being creative is not a really good thing sometimes.

C．Artists usually experience financial difficulties.

D．One has to be a very creative genius to be an artist.

2. What is described in paragraph 3?

A．People’s imagination of artists.	B．People’s various comments on being artists.
C．Murger’s understanding of artists.	D．The influence of Murger’s books.

3. What does the underlined word “affluent” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Wealthy.

B．Controversial.

C．Starving.

D．Humorous.

4. What’s the main purpose of the last paragraph?

A．To ask people to read more tales.	B．To advise people to make use of their talents.
C．To encourage people to lead a rich life.	D．To tell successful artists an important truth.

3 . Babies appear to know how to help those in need, according to researchers who studied signs of altruism in almost 100 children.

Researchers who wanted to see whether children would give up their food to a stranger without encouragement found the kids did just that — even when they were hungry.

The scientists recruited 96 19-month-old children. During the experiments, a child and a researcher sat across from each other. In the control group of the first set of experiments, researchers threw a piece of fruit onto a plate where they couldn’t reach, but the child could. They then waited. In contrast, researchers in the test group pretended to drop the fruit on the plate, then tried and failed to reach it. This signaled to the child that the adult wanted the food.

Among the control group, only 4 percent of the children gave the piece of fruit to the researchers, compared with 58 percent, or over half, in the test group.

Next, the team explored if children would still be generous when it was at a cost to themselves. The first set of experiments was repeated with a separate group of kids before their lunchtime, when they were likely to be hungry. Similarly, 37 percent of the test group handed over their fruit, compared with none in the control group.

The experiments were repeated four times. Researchers got similar results each time. Babies with siblings (兄弟姐妹) and babies from Latino or Asian families shared more of the fruit, the team also found.

Carter Morgan, lead professor of the study, said, “We often think of babies as selfish. But here we find that they are willing to help others even when it comes at some ‘cost’ to the self.”

Addressing why children with siblings or from certain cultural backgrounds were more likely to share their fruit, Morgan said, “We believe this partly reflects what social psychologists call ‘ interdependence’, which stresses on the importance of interpersonal connections and adjusting to others. These social experiences that shape attitudes towards sharing appear to have an effect very early in life.”

1. The underlined word “altruism” most probably means ________.

A．generosity	B．creativity
C．friendliness	D．confidence

2. What can be inferred about 19-month-old babies?

A．They know when to have lunch.

B．They understand signals for help.

C．They can classify different fruits.

D．They can express their needs freely.

3. Which graph best explains the findings of the experiments?

A．

B．

C．

D．

4. What can we learn from the text?

A．Attitudes towards sharing change greatly as people get older.

B．Babies from families with an only child are not willing to share.

C．It’s easier to control babies’ selfish desires when they are hungry.

D．Social experiences play a role in affecting babies’ behavior of sharing.

4 . Millennials (千禧一代) may have been the first generation to come of age online, but their Gen Z successors (接替者) have truly grown up with it — and hardly ever log off.

A 2018 Pew Research Center survey found that 95 percent of teenagers have access to a smart phone; 45 percent say they use the Internet almost constantly. For many of them, social media has been a space for self-expression, entertainment and connection.

But as social media use has risen among teenagers, so have rates of depression, and anxiety. Though it is not a direct relationship, there is evidence that some platforms have worsened young people’s meatal health issues; for instance, research documents from social media showed that Instagram worsened body-image issues for one in three teenage girls.

A March 2022 study published in the scientific journal Nature found that the relationship between social media use and mental health varied by age, but that there were two windows where social media use was more likely to have a negative effect on the well-being of adolescents: at the start of puberty (青春期) and again around age 19.

Emma Lembke, a 19-year-old student at Washington University in St. Louis, experienced those negative efts firsthand. That’s why she started the Log Off Movement in June 2020. The project aims to encourage dialogue among young people who are feeling the negative effects of social media and want to adjust their relationship to it. In a phone interview, Ms. Lembke spoke about the movement she started, the upsides and downsides of social media, and how she has worked to loosen its hold on her well-being.

1. What can be inferred about the survey?

A．Social media lessen body-image anxiety.

B．Social media have become a trend to teenagers.

C．95 percent of adults have their own smart phones.

D．One third of teenagers use the Internet frequently.

2. Who might be negatively affected most according to Nature?

A．A 5-year-old child.	B．A 13-year-old student.
C．A 26-year-old journalist.	D．A 40-year-old manager.

3. Why did Lembke start the Log Off Movement?

A．To draw attention of the public.	B．To share her sorrowful experience.
C．To inspire interactions among the youth.	D．To recall the ups and downs of social media.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Millennials Are in Need of Further Concern.

B．Young People Benefit from Modern Science.

C．Social Media Look like a Double-edged Sword.

D．A New Student Movement Wants You to Log Off.

5 . Recently, Facebook has changed its corporate name to Meta. The company said it would better include what it does, as it broadens its reach beyond social media into areas like virtual reality (VR). The CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the existing brand could not possibly represent everything that they’re doing today, let alone in the future. He also revealed the company’s plans to build a “metaverse (元宇宙)” — an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment.

The term “metaverse” was invented by author Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash, a science fiction published in 1992. In the work, the metaverse is a sort of 3D virtual world. It’s not simply a virtual reality game but is a persistent and shared virtual world. Or rather, the metaverse is a whole universe of shared virtual spaces seemingly linked together — you could, essentially, teleport (瞬移) between them.

Metaverse combined at the very least five technologies — they are social media, online game, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and cryptocurrency (加密货币). Those technologies will bring users to an interactive world. AR and VR are vital for Metaverse. VR serves to present the virtual world visually and then AR will provide the audio and sensors for people to be able to interact. With Metaverse, Facebook will offer not only a texting service but also a multi-perspective virtual touch that feels like a real thing.

Facebook said that it plans to create 10,000 jobs in Europe over the next five years to work on metaverse-related endeavours (活动). The company also has introduced Oculus-branded virtual-reality headsets, and it joined with Ray-Ban to develop smart sunglasses that went on sale for $299. “Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards,” Mark Zuckerberg said. “I view this work as critical to our mission because delivering a sense of presence — like you’re right there with another person — that’s the highest goal of online social experiences,” he said.

1. Why has Facebook changed its corporate name?

A．To lead the gaming industry.

B．To cover its extended business.

C．To improve its corporate image.

D．To attract investment for its new plans.

2. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The introduction to the VR game.

B．The future with 3D virtual world.

C．The origin of the word “metaverse”.

D．The importance of the novel Snow Crash.

3. What do we know about Metaverse?

A．It has a wide range of applications.

B．It offers people deeply interactive experiences.

C．It enables people to enjoy a free texting service.

D．It uses the five technologies to explore the universe.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．There will be fierce competition in the metaverse market.

B．Facebook will focus on designing virtual devices.

C．Metaverse will be the center of online experience studies.

D．Facebook will be devoted to developing the metaverse.

6 . Destination Unknown

Cheap "blind box" plane tickets become a popular choice for travel.

A promotion offering $15 plane tickets is being advertised by an online travel platform. While such a low price sounds amazing, there is just one rule.     1     Labeled as a "destination blind box" on the site, tickets are bought through a rather simple booking procedure. Passengers provide their travel information, select a departure airport and then pay their money to book the ticket.     2     But once they "lock in" their tickets, there's no money going back.

"Plane ticket blind box" is now a hot topic on the online platforms. Henry Fan, a marketing expert said, "I believe young people are a big target group for this promotion, because they not only enjoy the thrill of the unknown, but also like to show off their lives through these types of commercial activities.     3     What matters is that it suggests that one has 'adventurous' and 'life-loving' qualities."

Many netizens share the screenshots (截图) of tickets they have drawn.     4     Some others claim it is too rare to draw a ticket that is ideal.

"If it wants to be a profitable activity, the release of the tickets must have been planned ahead and is not as random as it seems.     5    The marketing campaign may also be aimed at the fast sale of some tickets from less popular airlines that were originally not that expensive. If they sell a large quantity of tickets, the company may still earn a profit even though the price is low," said an expert in tourism.

A．It will not have popular airlines.

B．It doesn't matter if they finally go or not.

C．The promotion has become a hot topic on social media.

D．The upcoming holiday is expected to be a major travel period.

E．If the date and destination are unsuitable, users may ask for a refund.

F．Some even teach the booking procedure under the free canceling policy.

G．The purchaser is not told where the flight is heading or when it will take off.