1 . Can you really find out where someone is from based on how they queue (排队)?And why — across the world — do some queues seem to take forever, while others, even of the same waiting time, seem to go relatively quickly?
Richard Larson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor and a world expert on queues, as well as various social scientists, believes how you queue does, in fact, often give away your origin. In the United States, how people queue even depends on which city they are from. “One of my findings is that you can tell a lot about the social culture of citizens by watching their micro behavior in queues. People in Boston, New York and Washington D. C. all queue in different ways,”he says. “In Washington, people queue at a random point in a sidewalk. These are government workers who know that the bus stops at this place at 4:05, so they queue up dutifully — first come first serve. I have never seen any such behavior in New York or Boston.”
No matter how “good” the queuers are, though, scientists agree that for the queue to function, it needs to be fair. As long as people are served in the order they are lined up, queue anger can be avoided.
This is the idea behind the winding queue behind ropes or barriers where, when you reach the front, you are directed to the next available server. It’s no faster than having individual lines all the way through. But it does mean that no one arriving after you will get served before you.
The final moments of the queue are also important. Research by INSEAD business school professor Ziv Carmon and Princeton University psychology professor Daniel Kahneman found that if our wait ends on a happy note — for instance, if the queue speeds up at the end — we will view that experience more positively, even if for most of the time we were very uncomfortable, quietly cursing (骂) the person in front.
1. How does the author introduce the topic?| A．By analyzing facts. | B．By presenting findings. |
| C．By raising questions. | D．By making comments. |
| A．Some people get more pleasure from queuing up than others. |
| B．The way you queue is a reflection of your cultural background. |
| C．People from Washington behave better than those from Boston. |
| D．The understanding of social distance varies from place to place. |
| A．Queuing patiently. | B．No pain no gain. |
| C．Queuing randomly. | D．First come first serve. |
| A．One should take a positive attitude towards queuing. |
| B．It is a good idea to keep queuing until the last moment. |
| C．Waiting in a queue is anything but a pleasant experience. |
| D．The movement speed of a queue might make a difference. |
2 . In recent years, China’s second-hand economy has been growing steadily. One second-hand book platform by the name of Duozhuayu, meaning catching more fish, has gained a lot of followers in just a few years. Here at the book store in Beijing, bookworms are filling up the space for books still in good condition and also at reduced prices. The company operates with a model of buying, repairing, sterilizing (消毒) and selling used books.
Their service has caused more young Chinese to cast away old thinking of refusing used things and to explore the value of used things. “For second-hand items, people used to think they are of low quality. But the kind of second-hand items that truly circulates (传播) well is of high-quality. Books belong to that category. Here we believe that truly valuable items are worth buying twice,” Chen Tuo, co-founder of the company said.
The company hopes for a win-win situation in the market, where buyers could deal with used books more conveniently and buyers could buy them cheaply. The sharing of books also means more choices for readers than those offered by regular bookstores. According to Chen Tuo, the bookstore also has a feature online that allows customers to put a particular book on demand, and the system will inform you if it becomes available.
The store relies heavily on data that keep records of books being accepted or refused. “From sales data in the past year, we’ve observed that books about psychology, finance and self management were among the most popular while books related to tourism didn’t sell that well. These data really help us make better decisions,” Chen said.
In a society where traditional books face competition from e-books, the bookstore hopes to popularize physical books, and to improve customer experience. Now with two offline stores in Beijing and Shanghai, the bookstore is adding more second-hand items to their lists, including kindles and clothing. The company says recycling is not just for economy, but for a lifestyle worth trying.
1. What can we learn about Duozhuayu in paragraph 1?| A．It sells fish products. | B．It is becoming popular. |
| C．It is a newly-built bookstore. | D．It mainly serves young people. |
| A．Understand. | B．Develop. | C．Compare. | D．Quit. |
| A．They can tell which books are the best. | B．They show how often people visit it. |
| C．They reflect people’s reading preferences. | D．They can make decisions for the owners. |
| A．Second-hand book platform brings new life to used books |
| B．Second-hand book platform is faced with a difficult situation |
| C．Second-hand book platform is changing people’s reading habits |
| D．Second-hand book platform meets the needs of different readers |
3 . Remember making friends in the lunchroom? For many of today’s teens, friendships can start online. A just-released report from the Pew Research Center finds 57 percent of teens have met a new friend online, and nearly 29 percent say they’ve made more than five friends in digital spaces. Only one in five teens have actually met an online friend in person.
Where in the digital world do teens meet new friends? Among boys who have made a friend online, video games are a hot spot—57 percent made a friend while gaming over online networks. As for girls,78 percent who made a friend online met on a social media site.
The report also finds that the majority of teens on social media use it as a way to stay connected with the friends they already have. Seventy percent say it makes them feel more connected to their friends’ feelings.
But there are challenges. Most(88 percent)of teen social media users believe people share too much information about themselves. Teens also report feeling pressure to post content that makes them look good to others, and having had someone post things about them that they can’t change or control.
Still, not all interactions are virtual. “Teens still spend substantial amounts of time with friends in-person, especially at school,” said Amanda Lenhart, Associate Director for Research at the Pew Research Center and the lead author on the report. In a press release Lenhart noted, “But mobile phones, social media, and for boys, online video gaming, have become deeply enmeshed(陷入)in creating and maintaining teen friendships. In many instances, these technologies makes teens feel closer and more connected to their friends.”
As for the top way, teens stay in touch? That’s no surprise—the report finds 88 percent of teens text their friends, with 55 percent of those texting daily.
1. What does the report find about today’s teens in paragraph 1?| A．One third of them make friends online. |
| B．They make five friends online on average. |
| C．20 percent of them meet friends personally. |
| D．Over half of them gain new friendships online. |
| A．Social media. | B．A hot spot. |
| C．The Pew Research Center. | D．The lunchroom. |
| A．By playing video games | B．By texting each other. |
| C．By phoning each other. | D．By posting messages online. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Negative. | C．Objective. | D．Unconcerned. |
4 . There is a popular saying in the English language: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Well, that is not true. Unkind words, name-calling or even the so-called “the silent treatment” can hurt children as much as being physically hit, sometimes even more so. A recent study of middle school children showed that verbal (言语的) abuse by other children can harm, the development in the brain. The study was a project of researchers at Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts. Researcher Martin Teicher and his team studied young adults, aged 18 to 25. These young men and women had not ever been treated in a cruel or violent way by their parents. The researchers asked the young people to rate their childhood exposure to verbal abuse from both parents and other children. Then the researchers performed imaging tests on the brains of the subjects.
The images showed that the people who reported suffering verbal abuse from peers in middle school had underdeveloped connections between the left and right side of the brain. The two sides of the brain are connected by a large bundle of connecting fibers called the corpus callosum. This was the area that was underdeveloped.
The middle school years are a time when these brain connections are developing. So, unkind, hurtful comments from children or adults during this period have the greatest effect. The researchers tested the mental and emotional condition of all the young people in the study. The tests showed that this same group of people had higher levels of fear, depression, anger and drug abuse than others in the study.
The researchers published their findings online on the American Journal of Psychiatry's website.
Parents cannot control what other people say to their children, but they can prepare their children.
1. Why does the author use the popular saying at the beginning?| A．To show the power of words. |
| B．To introduce an opposite view. |
| C．To prove the author's argument. |
| D．To show ancient people's wisdom. |
| A．They were hurt by unkind words. |
| B．They performed poorly in imaging tests. |
| C．They had their brain slightly damaged. |
| D．They experienced no physical abuse at home. |
| A．Comments on the findings. |
| B．Approaches to further studies. |
| C．Suggestions to parents. |
| D．Different opinions on the matter. |
| A．Unkind words hurt the brain. |
| B．Verbal violence should be stopped. |
| C．The way we speak matters. |
| D．Words are worse than sticks and stones. |
5 . The vast majority of parents expect their children to grow up to be healthy, happy, and productive members of society.
The standards of perfection for parents these days are extremely high. Perfect parenting expectations begin with a drug free natural birth. Once our young are born we must breastfeed each baby for years. If we can’t breasted, we must at least feed on demand.
These standards are unreasonable. They’re also crazy. Parents can’t be perfect. Why? Because we’re human and so are our children.
| A．We must make our own baby food. |
| B．They are pushing themselves too far. |
| C．Robots would be much easier to parent. |
| D．There is only unlimited devotion to our children. |
| E．A good enough parent meets the needs of their children. |
| F．Parents have no enough time to live up to these high standards. |
| G．To meet those goals, parents are told that they must spare no effort. |
6 . The traditional Chinese Shaoxing opera has a long history, but these days it seems that young people don’t show much interest in it.
Nowadays, as pop music and online films are popular with the public, Shaoxing opera is struggling for its survival. The market of the opera is becoming smaller. It remains popular only with the older generation. According to Zhejiang provincial cultural department, the most of fans of Shaoxing opera, China’s second largest traditional opera, are above 40 years old. And many teenagers know nothing about Shaoxing opera and have never been to the theatre.
Yang Jianxin, head of the department, said, “Now, young people are crazy about other art forms but not the traditional operas. The largest problem for Shaoxing opera today is how to become acceptable to the young.”
Actually, not only Shaoxing opera but also many other traditional Chinese operas are in danger. That’s really worrying. Luckily, people are trying to protect them. For example, Kunqu has been listed as one of the Masterpieces (杰作) of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO since 2001.
In 2006, Shaoxing opera, for the first time in history, entered the pub (酒吧). It was really a good try to attract the youth. Besides, a Shaoxing opera group opened a Shaoxing opera blog on the Internet to invite people, especially the young, to express their opinions about this traditional art form.
1. What is the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic. |
| B．To show young people’s preference. |
| C．To recommend Shaoxing opera. |
| D．To talk about the history of Shaoxing opera |
| A．The market of art is closed to it. |
| B．Theaters don’t accept it any longer. |
| C．The young generation have got tired of it. |
| D．Modern art is becoming increasingly popular |
| A．Modern arts. | B．Chinese operas. |
| C．The Masterpieces. | D．Shaoxing opera and Kunqu. |
| A．Anxious. | B．Satisfied. | C．Hopeful. | D．Bored. |
7 . Kids, parents, teachers and health experts are calling for traditional school uniforms to be replaced with sports uniforms five days a week.
Matthew Mclaughlin and a team of researchers, found in a recent survey four in five parents and six in ten teachers support a change in uniform policy allowing students to wear sports uniforms every day. The research also showed 62 percent of primary school students and 72 percent of secondary school students would prefer to wear a sports uniform five days a week. “We think sports uniforms should be worn five days a week and that would be a saving of $167 for primary students and $363 for secondary students in Victoria,” Mr. Mclaughlin said. “Sports uniforms are cheaper than traditional uniforms. Most sports uniforms consist of a tracksuit, a polo shirt with school logo, sport shorts and trainers.”
He said older students strongly agreed they would be more active wearing sports uniforms due to traditional uniforms being “too uncomfortable”. “The sports uniforms make it easier for students to engage in more physical activity. An example of this is girls being able to play on monkey bars without having to worry about exposing their underwear while going upside down. They can already see from a young age that this sets them apart from the boys.”
Geoff Roberts said his school’s students had been wearing an “active wear uniform” since the start of the year. “It’s incredibly popular with students. It’s everyday comfort, easy to wash ane dry and gender diverse,” he said. It had increased the students’activity levels at lunch and recess.
Independent Schools Victoria chief executive Michelle Green said independent schools set their own uniform policies and had adopted a wide range of approaches. “Some don’t prescribe（规定）a uniform at all,” Ms Green said. “In recent years there has been a trend among many schools toward more flexible and in some cases more informal policies on uniforms. This has included gender neutral options and uniforms that don’t restrict physical activity, particularly for girls.”
1. What do the numbers in Paragraph 2 refect?| A．The support from parents for schooling. | B．The urge to change school rules. |
| C．The demand for more exercise. | D．The recognition of sportswear. |
| A．They can do activity more conveniently. | B．They can develop a sense of confidence. |
| C．They can be more active in class. | D．They can have a feeling of belonging. |
| A．It is informal to wear sports clothes. | B．Uniform policies are becoming flexible. |
| C．Uniforms are suitable for every student. | D．Girls suffer a lot from wearing uniforms. |
| A．Change your school uniforms at once | B．Choose suitable clothes for school |
| C．Abandon school uniforms for sportswear | D．Wear sports uniforms for more exercise |
1. What is the main topic of the talk?
| A．Furniture. | B．Technology. | C．Old days. |
| A．He makes things. | B．He repairs things. | C．He sells things. |
| A．He still loves it. |
| B．He will throw it away. |
| C．He will care little about it. |
9 . When you go to a grocery store, you expect to pay for your goods with money. But students at a high school in Texas, us, opened a store that runs on good deeds.
In November, students from Linda Tutt High School in the city of Sanger opened a grocery store that enables students to buy necessities(必需品) using a point system. The store aims to support families in need.
In our school district, a good many students are considered economically disadvantaged," explained Anthony Love, principal of Linda Tutt. "“About 3.6 percent of our students are considered homeless. We thought it important to support them and their families and make sure they had food on the table."
Students earn points by contributing positively to the school. For those students from poor families, the point system has provided a way for them to shop for their families. "They can earn points for doing chores around the building or helping to clean," Love said.
The number of points for each item was actually decided by the students. “So we walked through here and decided that a can of green beans was one point," said Paul Juarez, the director of First Refuge Ministries.
Juarez said that he hopes the idea gets implemented(实施) in other areas. “It gives us a picture of what can be. So if we can do this inside other schools, it will do a whole lot to help other small towns."
In addition to the financial benefits, students also learn about supply, management and customer. service, and such, lessons could prepare them for. future jobs. ; The grocery, store's student manager, Hunter Weertman, said he has already learned important life skills from his experience at the store.
The store practice was also welcomed by Thomas Muir, Sanger's mayor. “We all had our first jobs and it taught us how to work, and what you got for your work," he said,“I think this will do that for them too, and also meet an immediate need."
1. Why did the students open the grocery store?| A．To learn to manage money. | B．To support poor families |
| C．To finish their research project. | D．To provide students with necessities |
| A．By shopping for their families | B．By doing chores at home. |
| C．By doing good deeds at school. | D．By volunteering in the community. |
| A．The point system can only be used in schools. |
| B．The practice has set a good example for other schools. |
| C．The Customer service at the store needs improvement. |
| D．The number of points should not be assigned by students. |
| A．It helps students gain work experience. | B．It improves students' learning abilities. |
| C．It inspires students to do volunteering. | D．It guides students in career choices. |
10 . Looking for a place to take a rest，sip a cup of coffee and have a furry companion? Welcome to animal-themed cafes.
In recent years，the combination of pets and catering has become incredibly popular in many cities throughout China. While many cafes started out offering the company of cats and dogs，others are expanding their range. Some cafes include animals like squirrels，raccoons and even capybaras.
In reviews，internet users have commented that their main reason for visiting these businesses is to interact closely with animals they have only seen from afar.
“The customers love animals. They are curious about these pets and want to raise one at home，but circumstances don’t allow it，”said pet cafe owner Tian Rui，Liu Jing，a Beijing resident who works in finance，loves pigs，but her parents would not endorse her getting one as a pet. The 24-year-old had to admire the animals through videos and images. But now，she can have close contact with an adorable pig every weekend in a pet cafe.
Also，these pet cafes serve as a shelter for those who find comfort in being around animals. “In this place，you can get close to the cute little ones in a very comfortable way without having to worry about safety and hygiene(卫生)—overall，it is an extremely comfortable experience，”said Zhao Ming from Tianjin，30，a frequent pet cafe visitor.
Animal lovers also expect the pet cafes to change people’s attitudes toward pets. Animals like ducks，pigs and sheep have been served as food for many years. People hardly see them as pets. But the pet cafes help shift their attitude from seeing them as playthings to regarding them as family members or close friends.
“Whether at home or in stores，these little animals are there for companionship and they bring warmth to our hearts. They care and understand just like family members. They give us much more than the love we give to them，”Zhao said.
1. Why do people visit pet cafes?| A．To pursue inner peace. | B．To appreciate animal images. |
| C．To experience a clean environment. | D．To have close contact with animals. |
| A．Believe in. | B．Approve of. | C．Prevent. | D．Suspect. |
| A．change our views of animals |
| B．teach us how to look after pets better |
| C．show us the importance of having pets |
| D．remind us to value our family and friends |
| A．Cafes Enjoy Great Popularity | B．Ideal Shelters for Lovely Animals |
| C．Animals Turn into Companions | D．Animal Lovers from Different Cities |
