1 . The other day, my sister and I were sitting in a restaurant, trying to have a conversation, but her children, four-year-old Willow and seven-year-old Luca, would not stop fighting. The arguments-over a fork, or who had more water in a glass-never stopped.
Then my sister reached into her handbag, produced two shiny iPads, and handed one to each child. Suddenly, the two were quiet. They sat playing games and watching videos, and we continued with our conversation.
After our meal, as my sister stuffed the iPads back into her bag, she said, “I don’t want to give them the iPads at the dinner table, but if they keep them occupied for an hour so we can eat in peace, I often just hand them over. I’m afraid it’s bad for them. I do worry that it makes them think it’s OK to use electronics at the dinner table in the future.”
Dr. Gary Small, director of the Longevity Center at the University of California, Los Angeles says that the brain is highly sensitive to stimuli (刺激物), like iPads and smartphone screens, and if people spend too much time on one technology, and less time interacting with people like parents at the dinner table, that could prevent the development of certain communication skills.
“Conversations with each other are the way children learn to have conversations with themselves, and learn how to be alone,” said Sherry Turkle, a professor of science, technology and society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She fears that children who do not learn real interactions, which often have imperfections, will come to know a world where perfect, shiny screens give them a false sense of intimacy (亲密) without risk. However, they need to be able to gather themselves and know who they are. So someday they can form a relationship with another person without a panic of being alone. “If you don’t teach your children to be alone, they’ll only know how to be lonely,” she said.
1. What did Willow and Luca fight about?A.iPads. | B.Little things. |
C.Delicious food. | D.Interesting things. |
A.Provide their children with various technologies. |
B.Teach their children communication skills. |
C.Talk to their children at the dinner table. |
D.Limit their children’s screen time. |
A.Children are afraid of taking risks. |
B.Children try to escape from the real world. |
C.Children can’t live without electronic devices. |
D.Children can’t deal with companion-less situations. |
A.To tell a true story. | B.To discuss a phenomenon. |
C.To give practical suggestions. | D.To compare different opinions. |
1. Why do white-collar workers turn to farming?
A.To get cheaper vegetables. | B.To reduce stress. | C.To learn farming skills. |
A.Buy more land. | B.Grow some rice. | C.Raise some animals. |
A.A popular lifestyle. | B.A monitoring system. | C.An animal farm. |
注意:
1.观点明确,逻辑清楚,表达充分连贯,语言准确;
2.写作词数应为80左右;
3.开头已为你写好,不计入总词数。
Dear editor,
Recently there have been lots of discussions about whether it is necessary for primary school to learn English.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Yours,
Li Hua
4 . Even before the Internet brought unlimited consumer options directly into our homes, choice had long been seen as the driving force of capitalism (资本主义). The possibility of consumers to choose between competing providers of products and services decides which businesses will grow rapidly and which will bite the dust. The competitive environment caused by consumers’ free choice supposedly drives innovation and efficiency, delivering a better overall consumer experience.
However, recent experiments on consumer behaviour have suggested that too many options can lead to a range of anxieties in consumers—from the fear of missing out (FOMO) on a better opportunity, to the loss of pleasure in a chosen activity (thinking “why am I doing this when I could have been doing something else?”) and regret from choosing poorly. The raised expectations presented by a broad range of choices can lead some consumers to feel ill-informed and indecisive when making a purchasing decision.
Fortunately, randomness offers us a simple way to overcome the choice-related anxieties. When faced with a multitude of choices, many of which you would be happy to accept, throwing a coin may be the better option. This “randomized” strategy can help us to focus on our true preference and sometimes making a quick good choice is better than making a slow perfect one, or indeed making no decision at all.
It’s important to remember that you are not required to follow the randomized decision blindly. The suggested choice is just designed to put you in the position of having to seriously consider accepting the specified option, but doesn't force your hand one way or the other.
For those of us who struggle to make decisions, it’s comforting to know that when struggling with a selection, we can get out a coin and allow it to help. Even if we resolve to reject the outcome, being forced to see both sides of the argument can often kickstart or speed up our decision-making process.
1. Which is closest in meaning to “bite the dust” in paragraph 1?A.Survive. | B.Fail. | C.Adapt. | D.Benefit. |
A.too many options could make consumers more anxious |
B.more choices usually led to better consumer experiences |
C.companies are more innovative in a competitive environment |
D.customers could make better decisions with enough information |
A.Focus on our true preference. | B.Delay the decision indefinitely. |
C.Accept the randomized strategy. | D.Throw the coins more than once. |
A.Economy. | B.Politics. | C.Health. | D.Psychology. |
5 . ①A group of 41 states and the District of Columbia began a legal case against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, insisting that the company knowingly used features on its platforms to cause children to overuse them. The accusations in the lawsuit raise a deeper question about behavior: Are young people becoming addicted to social media and the internet? Here’s what the research has found.
②David Greenfield, a psychologist and founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction in West Hartford, Conn, said the devices tempt users with some powerful approaches. One is “intermittent reinforcement,” which creates the idea that a user could get a reward at any time. But when the reward comes is unpredictable. Adults are easily influenced, be noted, but young people are particularly at risk, because the brain regions that are involved in resisting temptation and reward are not nearly as developed in children and teenagers as in adults. Moreover, the adolescent brain is especially accustomed to social connections, and social media is all a perfect opportunity to connect with other people.
③For many years, the scientific community typically defined addiction in relation to substances, such as drugs, and not behaviors, such as gambling or internet use. That has gradually changed. In 2013, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the official reference for mental health conditions, introduced the idea of internet gaming addiction.
④A subsequent study explored broadening the definition to “internet addiction.” The author suggested further exploring diagnostic criteria and the language, for instance, noting that terms like “problematic use” and even the word “internet” were open to broad interpretation, given the many forms the information and its delivery can take.
⑤Dr. Michael Rich, the director of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, said he discouraged the use of the word “addiction” because the internet, if used effectively and with limits, was not merely useful but also essential to everyday life.
⑥Greenfield agreed that there clearly are valuable uses for the internet and that the definition of how much is too much can vary. But he said there also were obvious cases where immoderate use disturbs school, sleep and other vital aspects of a healthy life. “Too many young consumers can’t put it down, ” he said.“ The internet, including social media like Meta, are the drugs affecting the mind.”
1. What was Meta accused of?A.It added problematic features to its platform. |
B.It started a discussion to mislead young people. |
C.It tempted children to use social media too much. |
D.It conducted illegal research on its parent company. |
A.their under-developed brain |
B.the random pattern of rewards |
C.their desire to be socially connected |
D.the possibility of escaping from reality |
A.Addiction is something about behaviors instead of substances. |
B.The online language can be interpreted from a broad perspective. |
C.Current diagnostic criteria of “internet addiction” isn’t satisfactory. |
D.There should be an agreement on the definition of the word “internet”. |
A.proper use of the internet does good to children |
B.the internet is to blame for disturbing healthy life |
C.there are cases against immoderate use of the internet |
D.the word “addiction” is improperly used on the internet |
6 . Humans have made the world less friendly to birds in many ways. One obvious example of this can be found in metal spikes (尖刺), or anti-bird spikes in buildings to prevent birds from landing and even nesting. However, a handful of birds have struck back.
Auke-Florian Hiemstra, a biologist researching animal architecture at the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, Netherlands, studies how wild animals use materials made by humans. He has seen nests that include some unusual materials—things like plastic flowers and sunglasses. But he was surprised when seeing a picture of a magpie (喜鹊) nest, the top of which had anti-bird spikes.
Researchers had learned that the smart species, magpies and crows (乌鸦), were stealing anti-bird spikes as a nest-building material. The two species appeared to use the anti-bird spikes in slightly different ways. For the crows, the spikes seemed purely structural, a material used to fashion a solid foundation. But for the magpies, there was an additional layer of intention: They appeared to use the spikes like humans do-rounded covering over their nests to keep other birds from landing.
One recent study reported that nests with man-made materials have been found all over the world and that the man-made materials include all kinds of man-made materials, including knitting needles, candy wrappers, spiky wires, and cigarette ends. Although magpies and crows haven’t been documented doing this, other birds have. Scientists aren’t sure if birds are using artificial materials because they’re better, or simply because they’re easy to find. What is noteworthy is that human-made materials in bird nests can cause injuries. For example, anti- bird netting, often placed over garden plots, is known to be dangerous for birds, which often end up being entangled in it.
For Hiemstra, while the new discoveries are fascinating, he also highlights a broader issue: the unfortunate popularity of anti-bird spikes. “It’s kind of sad to keep fighting against nature instead of accepting it as part of the city,” he said.
1. Why was Hiemstra surprised when seeing the photo of a magpie nest?A.A magpie decorated its nest with plastic flowers. |
B.Magpies and crows are as intelligent as humans. |
C.Magpies and crows cooperated to build the nests. |
D.The magpie nest was equipped with metal spikes. |
A.Crows use them for fashion. |
B.Magpies use them for defence. |
C.Crows use them to keep off other species. |
D.Magpies use them to strengthen the nests. |
A.Discovered. | B.Frightened. | C.Released. | D.Trapped. |
A.Support birds’ using man-made materials. |
B.Accept anti-bird spikes as part of the city. |
C.Disapprove of humans’ using anti-bird spikes. |
D.Stress the popularity of anti-bird spikes in birds. |
1. What does the study focus on about the community colleges?
A.Their student numbers. | B.Their admission policies. | C.Their training arrangements. |
A.It offers fewer credits. | B.It opens expensive classes. | C.It isn’t needed for many jobs. |
A.Inaccurate. | B.Surprising. | C.Expected. |
A.The school fees. | B.The remote classes. | C.The college headmasters. |
8 . As students return to school this fall, many of them— perhaps especially those from historically disadvantaged student groups will be starting the academic year with achievement levels lower than where they were at the beginning of summer break. This phenomenon is sometimes referred to as summer learning loss. We review what is known about summer loss and offer suggestions for schools looking to solve the problem.
The recent studies on summer loss have been rather comprehensive. One study found that students, on average, lost between 25-30 percent of their school-year learning over the summer; additionally, black and Latino students tended to gain less over the school year and lose more over the summer compared to white students.
However, an analysis of the national study found little evidence of overall loss over the summers after grades K and 1, and the summer loss gaps widened in some subjects and grades but not others. Von Hippel and Hamrock re-analyzed two earlier data sets and concluded that gaps “do not necessarily. . . grow fastest over the summer”. Thus, it seems summer loss occurs, though not universally across geography, grade level or subject.
Schools want to address the issue of summer learning loss not only because it may widen achievement gaps, but also because it “wastes” so much of the knowledge students have gained during the school year. Summer loss also undoubtedly increases the amount of time teachers have to spend “re-teaching” last year’s content.
Traditionally, educators and policy makers have relied on conventional summer school programs to solve summer learning loss. Not surprisingly, research suggests that programs are more effective when students attend consistently and spend more time on task academically. Regardless of the design, these policies should offer engaging options for students over the summer so that summer learning programs do not feel like punishment for students who would rather be enjoying summer vacation. Doing so would set more students up for success as the school year gets underway.
1. What’s the author’s aim by writing Paragraph 1?A.To raise a question. | B.To make a comparison. |
C.To analyze the figures. | D.To illustrate an example. |
A.Immigrant students experienced the most summer loss. |
B.White students did not lose learning over the summer. |
C.Summer learning loss after grades K and 1 was alarming. |
D.Summer learning loss seemed to vary in grades and subjects. |
A.It may narrow achievement gaps. |
B.It may cause repetitive work for teachers. |
C.It may stop students gaining more knowledge. |
D.It may increase teachers’ new teaching content. |
A.The conventional programs are ineffective. |
B.Students should do all academic tasks. |
C.More choices should be provided for students. |
D.The programs are punishment for many student. |
9 . According to the World Economic Forum, by 2050, soft skills such as complex problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, and emotional intelligence will be among the most important ones required in the workplace
The modern workplace is interpersonal. Skills such as active listening, cooperation, presenting ideas clearly and communicating with colleagues effectively are all highly valued in the modern workplace.
Customers and clients demand soft skills. Thanks to the development of online shopping, consumers these days have a huge number of choices as to where to buy the desired items. Online shopping makes convenience and low prices quite easy to come by and customer services what really affects customers' choosing a particular business.
The future workplace will rely on soft skills. Advance in technology, such as artificial intelligence, have caused tasks that required hard skills to decline, making soft skills a key differentiator (区分) in the workplace. An authoritative study predicts that soft skill-intensive occupations will account for two-thirds of all Jobs by 2030.
A.They are also useful in our personal lives |
B.Soft skills are helpful to career development |
C.The term “soft skills” covers a wide range of skills |
D.Thus it is vital to have good communication with customers |
E.But it's difficult to teach soft skills and tack the improvements |
F.Strong soft skills contribute to a productive and healthy work environment |
G.Perhaps you are wondering how they play a big role in our professional lives |
10 . Artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly good at fooling people. A series of photos showing former US president Donald Trump being aggressively arrested by police have caught people’s attention. They were fake but very convincing.
Created by the AI program Midjourney, the photos were highly realistic, from the characters’ movements to the surroundings. However, many details can give away the fact that they are made by AI. The Washington Post’s technology writer Shira Ovide shared her tips. The main idea is to spot the problems-anything that would look strange in a photo.
AI software has a history of generating human hands incorrectly. It sometimes can create hands with more than five fingers. This is because AI isn’t sure what a “hand” exactly is, according to Popular Science. The data AI uses to learn often show hands and fingers in various gestures, which can be very confusing for AI.
AI-generated images also usually contain details that are against reality. To spot this, focus on items like accessories. For example, people in an image may be missing earrings or one part of their sunglasses. If there’s text in an image, such as a newspaper or poster, it’s usually garbled (篡改), even though the text may look realistic from a distance.
Another thing AI is terrible at handling is the background. If there’s a crowd in the image, people’s faces in the background are usually blurry — or they don’t have faces at all!
The development of AI-generated art also raises alarm bells about how these fake images could be used to spread misinformation. “I think misinformation is going to hit an all-time high,” Jamie Cohen, a digital culture and AI expert in the US, told New York Post. Generating an AI artwork is to “create reality”, Cohen argued, adding that, being able to tell whether the work is real or not requires high media literacy (素养) skills. “The world may not be ready for how realistic the images have become,” Shane Kittelson, a US researcher, told The Washington Post.
1. Why are Donald Trump’s photos mentioned in the first paragraph?A.To draw more people’s attention. |
B.To make people convinced of the news. |
C.To show the AI-generated images were fake. |
D.To prove that it’s easy for AI to cheat people. |
A.It is unable to recognize human hands. |
B.The data it uses to learn contain errors. |
C.It doesn’t fully understand human hands. |
D.It has insufficient data about human hands. |
A.AI artworks may not be reflective of true creativity. |
B.It’s high time to address the risks posed by AI works. |
C.AI artworks will replace traditional art forms in the future. |
D.Detecting real art demands strong media literacy competence. |
A.AI is tricking people with highly realistic photos. |
B.AI-generated art make people worried about fake images. |
C.AI is terrible at handling the background. |
D.The world may not be ready for AI. |