注意:写作词数应为80左右;
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2 . Recently, a new kind of tourism has sprung (出现) up in China. Called “special forces (特种兵) style tourism”, this new kind of tourism is mainly about visiting many places of interest in a short period, most often on weekends. Most of these visitors are college students.
Yu Yinghua, a college student in Shanghai, is one of them. The 22-year-old started the “special forces style tourism” in March after she was attracted by such experiences of some travel bloggers. “After staying a long time at school, I’m hungry to take trips in my spare time,” said Yu, “Now it’s time! Spring has come and we can go out to enjoy the beautiful natural scenery.”
Most of her trips were inspired by understanding from her daily life, such as a place mentioned in a chat with friends. “But making a plan spot in the city, she was able to find a lot of information and learn more about these sites. That would help her save time when traveling on-site and enjoy the sites better.”
Unlike Yu who traveled in nearby cities, Chen Junjun, a doctoral student in Shanghai likes to travel far to get rid of academic stress. In April, the 24-year-old took a two-day trip to Xi’an, Shaanxi province. During her trip, she visited all the scenic sites in the city. “With many academic responsibilities, such a trip can bring color to my life.” said Chen.
Even so, the 24-year-old added that such tourism is not suitable for everyone. Chen said that it’s labor-consuming (耗费体力的) as visitors have to visit as many sites as possible in a short period. To some degree such trips are not as flexible (灵活的) as days-long trips in which you can change your plan as you like. “Thus, a great deal of energy and a calm mind are needed for this kind of tourism,” said Chen.
1. What do we know about Yu Yinghua?A.She was hungry in her travel. | B.She only visited one site in a trip. |
C.She used to serve in special forces. | D.She made a travel plan in advance carefully. |
A.To use up her energy. | B.To paint some colorful drawings. |
C.To reduce her study pressure. | D.To take some academic responsibilities. |
A.Stressful. | B.Time-consuming. |
C.Frightening. | D.Money-consuming. |
A.A travel guidebook. | B.A report on special forces. |
C.A guidebook to a city. | D.An introduction to a travel style. |
3 . New research finds a link between poverty and poor decision making. The findings may explain why poor people sometimes make bad choices that continue their hardship.
Earlier studies have found the poor less likely to escape poverty. But there has been little research on why the poor make decisions that make their lives harder. Until recently, Eldar Shafir, a psychologist and his team did two experiments. One took place at a shopping center in New Jersey. The other was carried out among sugar cane (甘蔗) farmers in rural India.
The New Jersey experiment involved individuals with low paying jobs and others belonged to the middle class. All the volunteers were asked what they would do if their cars needed repairing.
The volunteers were given two imaginary situations. In the first, the car repair cost $150. In the second, $1,500.
“In the first, the poor and the rich performed equally well.”
“And when the repair cost $1,500, the poor performed significantly worse.” The poor lost about 13 IQ points on average. This is about the loss experienced when a person has not slept for one night.
The scientists then wondered if the same person reacted differently when he was rich and when he was poor. Once a year when the harvest comes in, the India sugar cane farmers earn most of their money, which often does not last through the year.
“So they find themselves basically rich after the harvest when the income comes in and poor just before the harvest.”
The researchers gave them tests similar to the ones taken by the people in New Jersey. They tested the Indian farmers before the harvest and after.
And the results were much the same as with the mall shoppers.
“They performed much more slowly and made many more mistakes when they were poor than when they were rich.”
Mr. Shafir says the results support 50 years of research that shows all humans have limited mental power to deal with things in life.
“And so the insight here is that, having not enough of something in a way makes it harder to make good decisions for everything else.”
1. What is true about earlier studies?A.They were done by economists and psychologists. |
B.They found it hard for the poor to become rich. |
C.They explained why the poor make poor decisions. |
D.They showed the poor care little about their wealth. |
A.they had not slept for one night |
B.it was just an imaginary situation |
C.the increased price affected their decision |
D.they didn’t take the second situation seriously |
A.are smarter when they are poor |
B.earn money all through the year |
C.earn a lot of money so they think they are rich |
D.feel rich after the harvest and poor before the harvest |
A.It is hard for the poor to rid their poverty. |
B.The poor will become much poorer. |
C.Poverty weakens brain power. |
D.Different experiments and their findings. |
4 . Feeding America: by the Numbers
41.2 million Americans are food insecure, which means they don’t know when or how they’ll get their next meal.
13 million American children face hunger—That’s l in 6 kids. 1.5 million old soldiers receive food stamps (食品救济券).
27% of families with incomes above the poverty level are short of food. 18.7% of Mississippians are short of food (Highest rate of all states). 5. 4 million old people now face food insecurity in America. 8. 7% of Hawaiians are food insecure (Lowest rate of all states).
$1 donated (捐赠)to Feeding America will buy 10 meals for people facing hunger in America.
Want to Do Something?
One way to stop the hunger is through neighborhood food banks. They need three things: money, your time and food. If you plan to donate food, here are what food banks need most:
●Apple sauce
●Boxed meals
●Canned beans
●Canned chicken
● Canned chili
●Canned fish
●Cooking oil
●Dried herbs and spices
●Nuts
●Peanut butter
● Whole-grain cereal
Note:Avoid food with glass packaging (包装)because they can be broken in transport. Trusted Media Brands—Readers’ Digest’s parent company—has become an official media partner of Feeding America. See how you can help our efforts at feedingamerica. com.
1. How many kids are facing hunger in America?A.5.4 million. | B.13 million. |
C.41.2 million. | D.78 million. |
A.Boxed meals. | B.Canned chicken. |
C.Glass bottles of milk. | D.Oil used for cooking. |
A.To show readers the problems of food safety. |
B.To ask readers to help the poor out of poverty. |
C.To inform readers of serious food shortages in America. |
D.To encourage readers to donate food or money to food banks. |
5 . Anyone who has messy children, lazy partners or naughty flat mates will be impressed by the resourcefulness (足智多谋) of Katrina Neathey, the co-owner of a cleaning company in West Sussex. She has made her three teenagers sign an agreement to help keep the house tidy. Any infraction of the agreement, for example, littering up their bedroom with magazines and drinks, or failing to put their dirty plates in the dishwasher, will come with a 5 pounds' fine or removal of their phones.
It is one way of setting up a cleaning rota (轮班表) that people might stick to. “Cleaning is teamwork,” says Lynsey Crombie, also known as the Queen of Clean. She suggests getting everyone in the household together to find out what people like doing. “In our family, my husband is better at mowing the lawn. I love cleaning rooms. Someone else might like folding the towels. You let everybody do what they're good at, or enjoy, so there's more chance they'll actually do it.”
Crombie is not a fan of fines. For her children, she takes away their phones or turns off the Wi-Fi. For other adults who aren't joining in, she suggests keeping asking them to take action.
If you aren't sure what is required to keep the dirt at bay, there are many checklists online that you can print out to share the daily, weekly and monthly tasks. You can stick it on the fridge, and then everyone knows where they stand. If it's not working, have another chat, such as “What do you dislike?” “How can we improve it?” Ironig out problems is all about communication.
1. What does the underlined word “infraction” in Paragraph 1 mean?A.change. | B.inobservance. |
C.explanation. | D.discussion. |
A.By dividing tasks in terms of interest. |
B.By sticking to the cleaning rota strictly. |
C.By setting up a role model herself. |
D.By offering the family timely help. |
A.Fines work well among adults. |
B.Ways to motivate people vary. |
C.It's hard to push adults to take charge. |
D.It's good to remind people of their tasks. |
A.To advertise a great cleaning company in West Sussex. |
B.To encourage people to develop teamwork spirit at home. |
C.To call on housewives to handle lazy partners resourcefully. |
D.To introduce ways of inspiring family to share housework. |
What would you do if the Internet suddenly disappeared? A recent survey has shown that
The research also showed that more than 70 percent of these people said that they were not
More and more people are getting broadband(宽带) and high speed net
With the cost of getting online going down and internet speeds increasing, many net refuseniks begin to reconsider the
7 . BE A GOOD TOURIST
Tourism can be both good and bad. Yes, it brings in money for the local economy and creates lots of jobs for locals.
Another big problem in some places has been tourists disturbing the local people and life. Some tourists wander around and take pictures of local people without asking for their permission. For example, Chiang Mai University in Thailand and Yonsei University in South Korea have great numbers of tourists visiting their campuses and walking through their libraries and other public areas, taking pictures of students and disturbing their studies. I have three words for tourists like this: please be considerate.
The number of problems from tourists is endless: walking in large groups without considering others who need to walk by, crossing roads without observing local traffic laws, and many more. The only way to solve the issue of the terrible tourist is to make sure that you are not one!
A.Just think from other aspects. |
B.Have fun in a way that does not disturb others. |
C.But it may also bring some problems. |
D.Be the best, kindest, most polite tourist possible. |
E.I have three words for people like this: please stop it. |
F.One growing problem is tourists who want to prove that they have visited someplace. |
G.Pass kindness along to future generations. |
8 . In so many ways, cyberspace (网络空间) mirrors the real world. People ask for information, play games, and share hobby tips. Others buy and sell products. Still others look for friendship, or even love.
Unlike the real world, however, your knowledge about a person is limited to words on a computer screen. Identity (身份) and appearance mean very little in cyberspace. Rather, a person’s thoughts—or at least the thoughts they type—are what really count. So even the shyest person can become a chat-room star.
Usually, this “faceless” communication doesn’t create problems. Identity doesn’t really matter when you’re in a chat room discussing politics or hobbies. In fact, this stress on the ideas themselves makes the Internet a great place for exciting conversation. Where else can so many people come together to chat?
But some Internet users want more than just someone to chat with. They’re looking for serious love relationships. Is cyberspace a good place to find love? That answer depends on whom you ask. Some of these relationships actually succeed. Others fail.
Supporters say that the Internet allows couples lo gel lo know each other intellectually (智力地) first. Personal appearance doesn’t get in the way. Bill others argue that no one can truly know another person in cyberspace. Why? Because the Internet gives users a lot of control over how others view them. Internet users can carefully change their words to fit whatever image (形象) they want to give. In a sense, they’re not really themselves.
All of this may be fine if the relationship stays in cyberspace. But not knowing a person is a big problem in a love relationship. With so many unknowns, it’s easy to let one’s imagination “fill in the blanks.” This unavoidably leads to disappointment when couples meet in person. How someone imagines an online friend is often quite different than the real person.
So, before looking for love in cyberspace, remember the advice of Clifford Stoll: “Life in the real world is far richer than anything you’ll find on a computer screen.”
1. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?A.It is possible that people can’t find true love online. |
B.Appearance and identity is of little importance for relationship online. |
C.A shy person will surely become talkative online. |
D.Internet users are encouraged to create images in cyberspace. |
A.Cyberspace mirrors the real world. |
B.Don’t judge a book by its cover. |
C.Inner beauty is more important than appearance. |
D.Things are not always what they seem. |
A.The online friend. | B.One’s imagination. |
C.Love relationship. | D.The real friend. |
A.He is against it. | B.He supports it. |
C.He cares little about it. | D.He is interested in it. |
9 . Happiness is not a warm phone, according to a new study exploring the link between young life satisfaction and screen time. The study was led by professor of psychology Jean M. Twenge at San Diego State University (SDSU).
To research this link, Twenge, along with colleagues Gabrielle Martin at SDSU and W. Keith Campbell at the University of Georgia, dealt with data from the Monitoring the Future (MtF) study, a nationally representative survey of more than a million U. S. 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-graders. The survey asked students questions about how often they spent time on their Phones, tablets and computers, as well as questions about their face-to-face social interactions and their overall happiness.
On average found that teens who spent more time in front of screen devices — playing computer games, using social media, texting and video chatting — were less happy than those who invested more time in non-screen activities like sports, reading newspapers and magazines, and face-to-face social interactions.
"The key to digital media use and happiness is limited use," Twenge said. "Aim to spend no more than two hours a day on digital media, and try to increase the amount of time you spend seeing friends face-to-face and exercising — two activities reliably linked to greater happiness."
Looking at historical trends from the same age groups since the 1990s, it's easy to find that the increase of screen devices over time happened at the same time as a general drop-off in reported happiness in U. S. teens. Specifically, young peopled life satisfaction and happiness declined sharply after 2012. That's the year when the percentage of Americans who owned a smartphone rose above 50 percent. By far the largest change in teens' lives between 2012 and 2016 was the increase in the amount of time they spent on digital media, and the following decline in in-person social activities and sleep.
1. Which method did Twenge's team use for the study?A.Calculating students' happiness. |
B.Asking students certain questions. |
C.Analyzing data from a survey. |
D.Doing experiments on screen time. |
A.By making a comparison. |
B.By giving an example. |
C.By making an argument. |
D.By introducing a concept. |
A.To draw a conclusion from the study. |
B.To offer some advice to the readers. |
C.To prove social activities' importance. |
D.To support the researchers' finding. |
A.Quitting Phones Equals Happiness |
B.Screen Time Should Be Banned |
C.Teens' Lives Have Changed Sharply |
D.Screen-addicted Teens Are Unhappier |
10 . The United States of America is faced with serious traffic problems. Too many cars travel on the freeways to and from the city. This heavy traffic causes delays and lots of pollution from cars that are using their engines but not moving anywhere. Many cars going nowhere is called a “traffic jam”.
While many cities in the United States have traffic problems, some of the worst are in Los Angeles, California, which is a big city with a large downtown area. One of the reasons why there is so much traffic is that few people use public transportation to get around.
Experts say one possible solution to the traffic problems in Los Angeles would be to make people want to use the public transportation system of buses instead of their own cars. People say the buses should be made easier, faster, less costly and more dependable than driving a car.
One suggestion is to reduce the cost of taking the bus. Also, Los Angeles could make the buses easier for people to use. The buses could travel to more places in the city. And there could be more special lanes on the freeways that only buses could drive in. These changes would make taking the bus faster and easier than driving a car.
Other experts have said that the best way to ease traffic problems is to charge people money to drive on the freeways. These charges, or tolls, would be for the most crowded roads. The tolls would be in effect during the times of a day when most people drive to work and home. These times in the morning and late afternoon are called “rush hour”. People would try to avoid driving on these roads, which would decrease the amount of traffic. Also, the money collected from these tolls could be used to improve the roads and public transportation system.
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?A.Money charged when driving cars. |
B.Causes of the heavy traffic jams. |
C.Reasons to take public transportations. |
D.Solutions to solving traffic problems. |
A.Because it is a very big city with a large population. |
B.Because most people like to get around by car. |
C.Because public transportation is very popular there. |
D.Because there are not enough roads there. |
A.buses can travel to more places in the city |
B.private cars can run much faster on them |
C.buses seldom get stuck in the traffic jams |
D.passengers can get on and off the buses easily |
A.less air pollution would be produced |
B.there would be no traffic jam |
C.the freeways would be more crowded |
D.the number of cars on them would be smaller |