1 . When American anthropologist Colin Turnbull published The Mountain People in 1972, he referred to his subjects — a Ugandan group called the Ik — as “the loveless people.” After two years of observations, he decided that they reflected humanity’s basic instincts (本能): cheat, thievery, and pitilessness. But when Athena Aktipis and her colleagues from the Human Generosity Project took a deeper look, they identified a community that shared everything. “Turnbull had visited Uganda during a disastrous famine (饥荒). All he saw is what happens when people are starving.” says Aktipis. But her team revealed that despite living under pressure, the Ik placed a high value on helping one another when they could.

Aktipis believes that altruism is more common and beneficial than evolutionary social science has long thought. “It was assumed that people are designed to only do things to help themselves or their relatives.” she says. By studying the unique, selfless practices that helped nine communities across the world to continue to exist, the experts from the Project are looking to show that we are indeed capable of widespread cooperation.

The Maasai people in Kenya provide one of the project’s main points. They rely on two-way friendships for resources like food or water when they’re in need, without expecting any repayment. Also, a world away, in New Mexico, while folks often help transport cattle and receive support in return, they will assist without repayment if someone faces difficulties, such as an injury or the death of a loved one.

Aktipis believes theoretical frameworks she’s perfected through studying these groups can apply broadly to any interdependent systems. Her big goal is to design social-service systems that support everyone. Take market-based insurance in the United States as an example: It’s priced based on individual risk factors such as health histories and where people live, which means millions of Americans can’t afford it. But in a system built on neighboring, pooled costs (合并成本) would level the burden during collective hardship like natural disasters and pandemics.

1. What did Turnbull think of the Ik people?

A．Heartless.

B．Helpful.

C．Restless.

D．Generous.

2. What does the underlined word “altruism” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Trying to be strong and tough to survive.

B．Making full use of the surrounding resources.

C．Being devoted to themselves or their relatives.

D．Caring about the needs and happiness of others.

3. What does paragraph 3 intend to convey?

A．Friendships guarantee a well-being life.	B．Folks assist each other to get support.
C．Cooperation is a good and natural instinct.	D．People tend to provide resources for free.

4. How does Aktipis intend to apply her findings?

A．By designing a policy for public health.

B．By monitoring individual health histories.

C．By creating a system against collective hardship.

D．By lowering insurance prices for individual victims.

2 . My wife and I have always had a non-negotiable when looking for a place to rent: a gas stove. We love cooking together, and countless food shows have impressed upon us that there is nothing more essential to a tasty meal than a flame.

Then came the shift of work forcing us to move into a new apartment with an induction cooker. Past encounters with the slow and inconsistent heating elements of early electric stoves had soured us to the idea of cooking with electricity, but it took only a couple of days for us to realize that our new induction cooker was far superior: Water boiled at lightning speed; I could set a timer and walk away knowing the heat would automatically turn off.

Our belated switch to induction came amid a rise of horrifying stories about the health and climate risks of gas stoves. Studies have found cooking with gas is like having secondhand smoke in the kitchen. Worse still, the primary ingredient that fuels gas stoves are methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide. That’s why I finally quit using gas stoves and abandoned my prior conviction that I could never live in a home without one.

Don’t get me wrong—there’s still a place for flame, and there’s a reason why barbecued—food is so delicious. Barbecuing food imparts special flavour that you can’t experience with an electric cooker. But dishes that truly require cooking over an open flame are the exception, not the rule.

Changing the fundamentals of our lives is hard. But just as we have stopped commuting by horse, or have replaced a coal fireplace with central heating, it’s time to move gas out of our kitchens. Some might be horrified. The rest of us, though, can step calmly into the future. Hopefully the governments, too, will soon smell the gas.

1. How did the author feel about cooking with early electric stoves?

A．Unpleasant.

B．Concerned.

C．Panicky.

D．Stressed.

2. What can be inferred from paragraph 4?

A．The author regrets giving up gas stoves.	B．Barbecued food is tastier and healthier.
C．It is a common practice to cook outdoors.	D．Gas stoves still have a role to play.

3. What does the author want to convey in the last paragraph?

A．Be open to changes.	B．Be brave in the face of uncertainty.
C．The old should give way to the new.	D．Governments should be gas advocates.

4. What’s the best title of the text?

A．Barbecue: Tasty or Risky	B．A New “Flame” Has Come
C．Gas Stoves: To Leave or to Stay	D．Electricity Has Taken the Lead

3 . With a name like The Daily Orange in America, you will think the Syracuse University student-run newspaper prints a new issue every day. The newspaper began operating at the Syracuse, New York-based school in 1903. But it only prints a new issue three times a week.

Editor in chief Haley Robertson worries about where she will find companies willing to pay for advertising space. She also worries about having to fire friends. And, she searches out former students willing to donate money so the newspaper can send reporters on the road to cover the university’s sports teams. Media executives many years older than Robertson are facing similar problems. The news industry’s financial difficulties have spread to colleges and universities across the US, which brought challenges to these young journalists. Student reporters train for the future in two main ways. They receive a traditional classroom education from professors. They also put what they learn to use in student-run newsrooms.

Chris Evans is president of the College Media Association, or the CMA. He notes that few college newspapers have shut down the way local newspapers in towns and cities across the country have, considering the central role they are playing. But some have had to cut the number of times they publish each week. Some would find a former student for donation or sell enough advertising to cover it.

The University of North Carolina reports that newspaper newsroom jobs across the country dropped from 52,000 in 2008 to 24,000 today. There are other kinds of jobs in the field, of course, but not a very high number of them. Many journalism educators have wondered whether their students can deal with that. Journalism schools should do more than just equip students for possible media jobs, said Marie Hardin, head of Penn State’s Donald Bellisario College of Communications. She said journalism educators need to teach students communication, critical thinking and writing. Such skills are highly sought in many different fields.

1. It can be learnt that The Daily Orange ________.

A．is a national newspaper	B．is seeking sponsorships
C．lacks enough reporters	D．will go fully Internet-based

2. Why do most college newspapers still stick to operating?

A．Because they can get donations from the outside.

B．Because they are popular among towns and cities.

C．Because the CMA provides much support for them.

D．Because journalism students need training chances.

3. What does Marie Hardin suggest to journalism schools?

A．Creating new jobs in the news industry.

B．Improving professional skills of educators.

C．Preparing students for more job options.

D．Encouraging students to turn to other fields.

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

A．Journalism Schools Apply New Teaching Methods

B．US College Student Reporters Face Difficult Future

C．How to Run Traditional University Newspapers Well?

D．Is Transformation of College Newspapers Necessary?

4 . With the rising cost of living, a growing number of adult children are moving back in with their parents. While lots of parents will enjoy the chance to spend more time with their grown-up children, having them move back in can also cause some problems.     1     ?

Sit down and talk

While the situation is clearly hard for the parents, Counselling Directory member Octavia Landy advises them to take a step back. “     2     ,” says Landy. “Talk with your kids. Parents need to find out: How are they? What would they like to happen in their life?”

    3    

When things get heated, it can be easy to just storm off and not really hear each other out. But every effort needs to be made, on both sides, to properly listen. “As parents, you need a cool head,” suggests Landy. “Bring the conversation back to the matter at hand, and listen to your kids.”

Set clear boundaries (界限)

“Boundaries and communication lie at the heart of this difficult situation,” says Landy. “At the moment, it feels as if no boundaries will lead to a sense of anger on your part. Consider what your boundaries look like.     4     . It’s important to check in with your kids on how things are going.”

Ask yourself what you need to feel happy in your home

Landy suggests parents ask themselves what they need to feel happy and safe in their home—and the answer might be a difficult one to come to terms with. “It might mean that you need to ask your kids to leave,” she says. “    5    .”

A．So, what can parents do

B．Put everything in good order

C．Be prepared to listen patiently

D．Are they cheered by the news from home

E．You’d better set a proper time for a family meeting

F．Work together to set basic rules and a timeline to be reviewed

G．If you fear your kids get homeless, then address these fears directly

5 . Launched in 2004 by then-Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook became the biggest social media platform in the world just five years later. It was young people who helped Facebook initially shoot to success, but today’s youth think that “Facebook is for old people”, reported the Daily Star.

In 2015, a survey found that 71 percent of teens aged 13 to 17 used Facebook. But in 2022, that number dropped to 32 percent, reported NBC News. Alex Tani, a 25-year-old from the UK, said that when he started university in 2016, his tutors always set up student groups on Facebook to help everyone stay in touch and interact. But by the time his younger brother went to university three years later, this wasn’t the case.

Today’s younger generation prefers to use other social platforms, such as Instagram, a photo and video-sharing social networking service also owned by Facebook’s parent company Meta, and TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, said NBC News. These two platforms are different from Facebook in that they are mainly image-based and video-based, not text-based. Visual culture is a rising trend and young people have grown tired of reading people’s remarks on Facebook, said Forbes.

Another reason for Facebook’s decline in popularity is AI. According to The Guardian, TikTok’s “most powerful tool” is its algorithm (算法) which predicts what content you want to see. It shares related content with you from people you may not follow based on what you’ve watched before. This saves people the effort of searching for what they like, and so becomes an “escape for them”, said North Carolina State University.

Going forward, Facebook plans to use AI in a similar way as TikTok to show short videos and give users a better platform to discuss video content, said Fortune Media. Only time will tell whether it can stay “young” or remain as a platform used only by “old people”.

1. Why does the author mention Alex’s experience?

A．To compare differences between the brothers．	B．To show Facebook is losing its advantage.
C．To illustrate how Facebook works.	D．To emphasize the importance of Facebook.

2. What feature of social platforms attracts young people most?

A．Protecting privacy.	B．Being text-based.
C．Providing visual enjoyment.	D．Being abundant in remarks.

3. Which word can best describe the future of Facebook according to the author?

A．Misty.

B．Predictable.

C．Promising.

D．Depressing.

4. What’s the best title of this passage?

A．Facebook Struggles for the Favor of the Youth	B．Facebook: The Biggest Social Media Platform
C．TikTok Becomes a Favorite Online Destination	D．AI: A Powerful Tool in Social Media Platforms

6 . In the rich countries of the West, the electric vehicle revolution is well underway. Climate-conscious consumers drive Teslas or Polestars for reasons of morality and fashion. Poorer countries are also experiencing a wave of electrified trend. In Bangladesh, electric three-wheeler taxis, known as tuk-tuks, are rapidly replacing gas-powered ones on the streets. Such electric vehicles are climate friendly, cost effective, and help reduce air pollution.

Yet a glance under the hood (引擎盖) of these vehicles reveals a poisonous secret: each tuk-tuk runs on five massive lead-acid batteries, containing almost 300 pounds of lead in total. Every year and a half or so, when those batteries need to be replaced and recycled, about 60 pounds of lead leak into the environment. Battery recycling, often at small-scale unregulated factories, is a highly profitable but deadly business.

Lead is dangerous, and any exposure to it is harmful to human health. Lead that has entered the environment hurts people on an extraordinary scale. The numerous ways lead enters air, water, soil, and homes across the developing world — and the enormous damage it does to human health, wealth, and welfare — causes one of the biggest environmental crises in the world yet receives little attention.

The World Bank estimates that lead kills 5. 5 million people per year, which would make it a bigger global killer than AIDS, malaria, diabetes, and road traffic deaths combined. On top of the shocking deaths, the social burden of lead poisoning is extraordinary, as is its contribution to global inequality — our research on the cognitive effects of lead poisoning suggests that it may explain about one-fifth of the educational achievement gap between rich and poor countries.

But unlike many challenges faced by developing countries, lead poisoning is a problem that is fixable with some attention and a relatively modest financial investment. Better monitoring, research, and rules can help protect children all over the world from the dreadful effects of lead poisoning and reduce the massive global costs it brings.

1. How does the author describe the lead problem in paragraph 2?

A．By making a comparison.	B．By analyzing hidden causes.
C．By listing convincing numbers.	D．By explaining its working principle.

2. What can we learn from the text?

A．Lead enters rich countries in various ways.

B．Lead poisoning may make poor societies poorer.

C．Exposure to lead doesn’t necessarily harm someone.

D．Lead leaking has caused great panic in both countries.

3. What can be done to solve lead poisoning in developing countries?

A．Fixing these used batteries.	B．Putting certain effort and money.
C．Prohibiting the illegal use of lead.	D．Reducing the cost of recycling lead.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．The Impacts of Lead Poisoning on Human Health

B．The Outcomes of Using Electric Vehicles

C．The Ways to Solve Lead Problem

D．The Global Lead Poisoning Crisis

7 . Hiring processes can be thought of as a battle between integrity and dishonesty. You might imagine this is a simple fight between truth-seeking firms and self-promoting candidates, and to a certain extent it is. But companies themselves are prone (有倾向的) to bend reality out of shape in ways that are self-defeating.

Start with the obvious wrongdoers: job applicants. When it comes to writing the resume (简历), they tend to massage (美化) reality into the most appealing shape possible. Everyone beyond a certain level of experience is a transformational leader personally responsible for generating millions income; the world economy would be about 15 times bigger than it actually is if all such claims were true. The average British spends four and a half hours a day watching TV and online videos. But each average job candidate is an enthusiast for public welfare, using their spare time only for worthy purposes, like volunteering in soup kitchens.

But the tendency to stretch the truth infects companies as well as applicants. The typical firm will write a job description that invariably describes the work environment as fast-paced and innovative, and then lays out a set of improbable requirements for the “ideal candidate”, someone who almost by definition does not exist. Sometimes, the requirements include an ability to go back and change the course of history.

Too few firms offer an accurate account of what a position actually involves in their job previews, which are supposed to give prospective employees a genuine sense of the negatives and positives of the job, as well as a clear idea of the company’s corporate culture. One effective strategy is to lay out in text or video, what a typical day in the role would look like.

Such honesty can be its own reward. Research has long suggested that realistic job previews lead to lower turnover and higher employee satisfaction. A paper in 2011 by David Eamest of Towson University and his co-authors concluded that favourable perceptions of the organisation’s honesty are the best explanation for why. So a process designed to uncover the truth about job applicants would run a lot more smoothly if firms were also honest about themselves.

1. Why are “leader” and “enthusiast” mentioned in paragraph 2?

A．To present a rule.	B．To clarify a fact.
C．To make a comparison.	D．To explain a phenomenon.

2. What does the underlined word “stretch” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Overstate.

B．Overturn.

C．Overlook.

D．Overestimate.

3. What are job previews expected to be like in paragraph 4?

A．They show a position as it is.	B．They are made either in text or video.
C．They are favorable for bigger firms.	D．They mainly contain negatives of a job.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．Pains and gains of employees.	B．How to get the lying out of hiring.
C．How to be more appealing in hiring.	D．A wrestle between applicants and companies.

8 . More than 50 million people in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere follow pastoralism(游牧) as a way of life. The practice has survived for so long because it is designed to change with the environment. Pastoralists move with animals to find new lands and water, leaving behind eaten plants to regrow.

Mongolia is well known for its pastoralism. Agvaantogtokh and his family are herders(牧民). On horseback, he rides with nearly a thousand sheep and goats to help them find water. Sometimes, he and his wife, Nurmaa, stop to help struggling young ones, weak after a difficult winter.

For families like Agvaantogtokh’s, pastoralism is more than a profession. It is a cultural identity that connects generations. At its heart is the human connection to animals. While they consider the animals as their property, they also see them as living beings working alongside them.

Researchers say herders believe in “animal agency”. Agvaantogtokh lets his animals choose the food they eat and where they find water. To him, restricting an animal’s movement and asking it to eat the same thing each day is like putting a person in prison.

In Mongolia, weather extremes are a part of life. When Agvaantogtokh thinks about climate change, he is concerned about humans and animals. Continuous dry and warm weather affects Mongolia. Since 1940, the government says, average temperatures have risen 2.2 degrees Celsius. To keep their practice alive, pastoralists seek ways to modernize. In Mongolia, Lkhaebum recently began using a small vehicle to more easily search for horses. The family uses electricity and has other technologies including a TV and a washing machine. They also use a cellphone to follow the weather and access social media where herders share information.

One of the biggest threats to pastoralism comes from within. Nurmaa and Agvaantogtokh’s 18-year-old daughter studies medicine. Their son spoke about becoming a herder when he was a child, but not anymore. “I won’t regret anything if my child won’t be a herder,” Nurmaa said. “I would like them to do what they desire to do.”

1. What contributes to the survival of pastoralism?

A．Huge pastoralist populations.	B．Adaptation to the environment.
C．Herders’ desire to travel to new places.	D．Slow development of modernization.

2. What does pastoralism mean to Agvaantogtokh?

A．The distinct identity of animals.	B．A poorly-paid profession.
C．An out-of-date lifestyle.	D．The bond between man and animals.

3. What does “animal agency” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Animals’ living in cages.	B．Animals’ eating the same thing.
C．Animals’ struggling in shelters.	D．Animals’ moving around freely.

4. What is a big challenge for pastoralism?

A．Modern technology.	B．No government support.
C．Young people’s disinterest in it.	D．Lack of information exchange.

9 . Smartphones and other digital devices control and consume our attention. This is true for young people. On public transport, they are checking social media or playing an addictive game rather than sleeping. Very few people are reading a book or having a conversation with fellow travelers.

Children today are digital natives. This means they have never known life without internet access. They have been raised on clicks. They jump from content to content without a second thought. In the words of the philosopher Han in his 2021 book Non-things, this kind of nonstop excitement means that we quickly come to need a new exciter. We get used to seeing reality as a source of exciters and surprises. We struggle to focus our attention on any one thing. This will disturb our cognitive (认知) system.

Books can train the brain to deeply focus its attention on one task while mobile devices encourage us to hang over the surface of things, but we do not fully grasp them. When we receive information in large amounts, it stops being meaningful. When faced with a large amount of it, our brains react by blocking the information. But the discarded content does not simply disappear from our minds. Instead, it remains. This prevents us from figuring out what we are interested in. It limits our attention length.

Mobile phone addiction and the way young people learn are both directly connected to the concept of mind wandering. Too much information input makes us switch off and lose attention. And this can be damaging in the long term.

In order to recover attention, the brain needs to take a break. It needs to find time and space where it can be free from constant noise. Adults can make the effort to find these much-needed spaces to focus attention. Children, on the other hand, have not yet gained this. They run the risk of never recovering their attention spans. If we give children and teenagers access to digital devices before they have developed these skills, their attention will be free to wander. It will then become harder and harder for them to focus on a task for the necessary amount of time.

1. What is a common scene among the young on public transport?

A．They are talking with each other.	B．They are usually sleeping.
C．Most of them are absorbed in reading.	D．They are lost in their phones.

2. What does Han think of too much clicking smartphones?

A．It reduces our ability to focus.

B．It weakens our need for fun immediately.

C．It increases our interest in traditional media.

D．It enables us to see reality as a source of surprises.

3. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Mobile devices help us to fully understand books.

B．Smartphone addiction stops us forming a lasting attention.

C．Being exposed to smartphone information blocks our brain.

D．The information we get will disappear soon from our minds.

4. Where is the text probably taken from?

A．A science magazine.	B．A book review.
C．A biology textbook.	D．A smartphone ad.