1 . A lot of people are experiencing hunger, so communities and organizations across the U. S. have put up community fridges in their city. The fridges offer free food to the neighborhood. Anyone can take or donate food.

The spread of COVID-19 has brought more attention to America’s hunger problem. It has also made it worse. Food shortage doubled because people lost their jobs, according to a study by Northwestern University. The loss of a job, high costs of living or not living near a store that has healthy, affordable food can all cause food shortage.

Now, there are more than 160 new community fridges in cities across the country. The fridges come with special challenges. They need electricity and looking after. Also, food safety rule should also be considered. Some experts feel the fridges cover up more important questions. Yet the community relationships they create can make a difference.

Mark Bucher, owner of a restaurant in Washington D. C, wanted to help make sure no child went hungry in his community. He created a program called Feed the Fridge. Restaurants make meals which go into 19 fridges around the city. In return, the restaurants get the money that is donated to the program. This is an example of mutual(相互的)aid. Delano Hunter, a partner of Bucher, said “The fridges are a way of providing meals, in a respectful way, to those who need them.”

However, community fridges cannot fix all the problems. Andy Fisher, an expert on food shortage, believes the problem is how the United States thinks about hunger. “People think it can be solved by handing out food,” Fisher said, “this ignores the problems that create hunger.”

Fridges are short-term solutions. I expect one day long-term solutions can be found. For now, the fridges bring life back into communities at least.

1. What advantage do the community fridges bring?

A．They improve the food safety.

B．They lower the high cost of living.

C．They connect the people in the neighborhood.

D．They provide affordable food to the community.

2. What’s the purpose-of Mark’s program?

A．To attract more people to donate the food.

B．To offer food in a respectful way to adults.

C．To help the restaurant to make more money.

D．To prevent kids in his community from hunger.

3. What does the author think of the “community fridges” program?

A．It acts as a short-term solution to hunger.

B．It raises the living costs of the needy.

C．It removes hunger forever.

D．It brings no trouble now.

4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Restaurants help American community a lot.

B．Various problems are caused by COVID-19.

C．Many American people are experiencing hunger.

D．Community fridges strengthen ties during COVID-19.

2 . It’s been an hour, and your phone hasn’t pinged as you expected. You sent off a text, expecting a quick reply. With each minute passing, you get increasingly anxious. “How hard is it to take two seconds and say you’ll respond later?” You think. Then, the longer you wait, you start to worry. What if your friend is angry with you, and your message isn’t welcome? What if he (she) is hurt?

While some people mind much less about how quickly a friend responds, many people ride an emotional roller coaster (过山车) when a message isn’t immediately answered. It’s driven by the effect of 24/7 “digital availability (可得性)”, a social expectation that a receiver is always around and should immediately shoot back a reply.

There are many reasons message-senders can get easily annoyed when their phone doesn’t sound with a rapid reply. Our phones give us an illusion of proximity (近距离错觉): a friend in another place feels only a simple text away. Yet senders don’t know what’s going on with the person at the other end of their message. So, when a text goes unanswered, “some people get really upset, because they’re putting their own anxieties into the situation,” says Jeff Hancock, a professor of communication.

Part of what can strengthen these continuous, uncomfortable feelings is that there’s no widely agreed-upon etiquette (礼节) for behavior in a world of 24/7 digital availability; we don’t have a universally accepted rule on how long people can take to reply to a message before it becomes “rude”.

In the end, is there anything you can do? Maybe yes, maybe no. Feeling that immediacy — and the unpleasant feelings that come from it — may just be life in the 24/7 connected world. However, if you have a friend whose communication patterns are driving you crazy — whether as a sender or receiver — perhaps an honest chat might be in order. At the same time, if you find your blood boiling the next time someone leaves your message unanswered, the best solution may be to just put down the phone for a while — being connected 24/7 causes great pressure already.

1. What does the underlined word “pinged” in Paragraph1 probably mean?

A．Had a repair.

B．Got an update.

C．Needed a charge.

D．Received a reply.

2. Why do message -senders easily get annoyed without getting a quick reply?

A．Their friends are faraway.

B．Their messages aren’t welcome.

C．They can’t bear the receivers’ rude behavior.

D．They’re affected by the social expectation for an early reply.

3. What’s the author’s advice to relieve the unpleasant feelings?

A．Leave the messages aside.	B．Lead a 24/7 connected life.
C．Set a time limit for response.	D．Change the communication patterns.

4. From which column of a newspaper is the article probably taken?

A．News.

B．Business.

C．Society.

D．Education.