1 . Recently, a coalition of business and advocacy groups from around Washington gathered to kick off a campaign to enact a carbon pricing program in the capital.Known as the Climate and Community Reinvestment Act of D.C., the plan would place a new tax on all fossil fuels bought or sold, with the hope of ultimately discouraging the use of these polluting energy sources.
The big-picture goal of this campaign is admirable: to address the ever-deepening crisis of climate chaos by dissuading the continued use of coal,oil and gas. But unfortunately, the approach —one based in a world of financial markets, trading schemes and encouraging new public revenue streams —is inherently flawed. Simply put, carbon pricing is a false solution to climate change and a distraction from real, effective climate solutions we must urgently pursue.
To date, there is insufficient evidence to indicate that carbon taxes lower greenhouse gas emissions. In fact,the opposite is true. Recently Food & Water Watch reviewed the British Columbia carbon tax program, often cited by advocates as an example of success. From 2009(the first full year of the tax)to 2014, emissions from taxed sources grew by 4.3 percent.And in the seven years after the carbon tax took effect, total gasoline sales increased by 7.37 percent.
Supporters of such plans like to focus on a deceivingly (貌似地) simple notion that increasing the price of a consumer good will automatically reduce its use. But this just isn’t the case when it comes to the purchase of necessities. People must heat their homes in winter, and they must commute to work, regardless of the cost.
Those backing the D.C.carbon pricing plan like to note that revenue from the new tax would go toward investment in clean energy sources. But only 20 percent of the generated funds would be allocated in this manner. The rest would be shared out in tax breaks for businesses and rebates (退还款) for consumers, another factor undercutting the belief that increased costs up front would change consumer behavior in the long run.
Regardless of what many well-inattention activists and community leaders want to believe, there is no convenient, market-friendly solution to our terrible climate condition. The latest science indicates that in order to avoid the worst effects of deepening climate chaos, society must transition completely to clean, renewable energy by 2035.
1. What did Food &.Water Watch find out about carbon tax program?| A．Carbon taxes could reduce greenhouse gas emissions |
| B．Carbon emissions grew at a lower rate than gasoline sales. |
| C．Carbon taxes program was generally regarded as a success. |
| D．Carbon tax program made little difference to carbon emission. |
| A．Funds gained will benefit clean energy sources. |
| B．Consumers will use less of a good when its price increases. |
| C．Increased cost will have little effect on the use of necessities. |
| D．Consumers’ reliance on fossil fuels will decrease dramatically. |
| A．ruining |
| B．weakening |
| C．highlighting |
| D．securing |
| A．The faulty Carbon Tax. |
| B．The Climate Change Myth. |
| C．The Call for Clean Energy. |
| D．The Causes of Carbon Tax. |
2 . Two and a half millennia ago, Socrates complained that writing would harm students. With a way to store ideas permanently and externally, they would no longer need to memorize. However, studies today have found that writing on paper can improve everything from recalling a random series of words to better understanding complex concepts.
For learning material by repetition, the benefits of using a pen or pencil lie in how the motor and sensory memory of putting words on paper reinforces that material. The scribbling (涂鸦) on a page feeds into visual memory: people might remember a word they wrote down in French class as being at the bottom-left on a page.
One of the best-demonstrated advantages of writing by hand seems to be in note-taking. Students typing on computers wrote down almost twice as many words directly from lectures, suggesting they were not understanding so much as rapidly copying the material. However, handwriting forces note-takers to process and organize ideas into their own words. This aids conceptual understanding at the moment of writing, resulting in better performance on tests.
Many studies have confirmed handwriting’s benefits, and policymakers have taken note. Though America’s curriculum from 2010 does not require handwriting instruction past first grade (roughly age six), about half the states since then have required more teaching of it. In Sweden there is a push for more handwriting and printed books and fewer devices. England’s national curriculum already includes the teaching of basic cursive writing (连写体) skills by age seven.
However, several school systems in America have gone so far as to ban most laptops. This is too extreme. Some students have disabilities that make handwriting especially hard. Nearly all will eventually need typing skills. Virginia Berninger, professor of psychology at the University of Washington, is a longtime advocate of handwriting. But she is not a purist; she says there are research tested benefits for “manuscript” print-style writing but also for typing.
Socrates may or may not have had a point about the downsides of writing. But no one would remember, much less care, if his student Plato had not noted it down for the benefit of future generations.
1. According to the text, why does writing on paper have benefits for learning?| A．It provides visual enjoyment in class. |
| B．It improves the effect of memorization. |
| C．It promotes the motor and sensory ability. |
| D．It helps to remember the information forever. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By providing statistics. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By making classification. |
| A．Difficulties faced by the disabled. |
| B．Unreasonableness of forbidding typing. |
| C．The research-tested benefits of typing. |
| D．The longtime advocacy for handwriting. |
| A．To thank Plato for his efforts. |
| B．To defend Socrates’ point of view. |
| C．To show people’s indifference to typing. |
| D．To confirm the importance of handwriting. |
3 . After working an extra shift, Dr. Jessica Gold returned home feeling burned out and submitted herself to the urge to watch TV and sleep most of the day. As Generation Z would say, she was “bed rotting”. The phrase describes staying in bed all day, just like “rotting” (腐烂) there, according to Gold, a professor at Washington University. It is similar to having a lazy day, but it is more of an immobile term with less activity. She said, “It is OK as long as you understand why you are doing it and turn to other activities as well.
“Lying in bed for more than a day is concerning and could lead to different mental health issues, ”Gold added, “The urge to rot in bed all day, especially if it happens more seriously, is likely about something more than just catching up on sleep or needing a day to do nothing, but avoiding the feelings, stress or pain of being awake. This sort of behavior has been linked to symptoms (症状) of depression and anxiety.”
Bed rotting could be affecting more than just your mental health — it could also have a negative impact on your sleep. “Bed rotting is exactly the opposite of what we want people to do,” said Baron, associate professor of family and preventive medicine. “As a general guideline, if you are not asleep within 30 minutes during the night, you should get out of bed, ” said she.
Bed rotting after a long day is normal, but if it is affecting your work, social life or other important activities, then you should turn to professionals, Gold suggested, because they can help you get to the root cause and get you to learn to do something that you may think of as hobbies.
Recharging activities can energize us and better prepare us for the unavoidable stress we face daily. “Some options include hanging out with a friend, seeing a film or exercising, said Rego, a psychologist from New York, “If you don’t want to leave the house, try activities like reading a book or journaling instead of just lying down.
1. What can we learn about ”bed rotting“?| A．It is favoured by Generation Z. | B．It is an active attitude toward life. |
| C．It is acceptable if it is controllable. | D．It is the same with having a lazy day. |
| A．The impact of bed rotting. | B．The trend of bed rotting. |
| C．The cure for bed rotting. | D．The prevention of bed rotting. |
| A．Bed rotting makes for stress relief. | B．Bed rotting results from lack of sleep. |
| C．Bed rotting contradicts good sleep habits. | D．Bed rotting refers to part of the sleep cycle. |
| A．Adopting a regular exercise routine. |
| B．Engaging in some relaxing activities. |
| C．Seeking professional mental health services. |
| D．Watching other digital devices rather than TV. |
4 . Want to know what is coming soon to a cinema near you? Probably not a 1.5-hour-long movie, as in the old days. On October 20th comes Killers of the Flower Moon. At nearly three and a half hours, its length is nearly double that of the average film last year. Even movie fans struggle to concentrate for that long and some viewers even nod off. Afterwards there is a mad dash for the toilets. When does watching a film become such a slog?
The Economist analyzed over 100,000 feature films released internationally since the 1930s, the start of Hollywood’s golden age, using data from IMDb, a movie database. The average length of productions rose by around 24%, from one hour and 21 minutes in the 1930s to one hour and 47 minutes in 2022. For the ten most-popular titles, the average length grew to around two and a half hours in 2022, nearly 50% higher than in the 1930s.
One driver of this trend is that studios want to squeeze the most out of their costly intellectual property (知识产权), but they are competing with streaming platforms for eyeballs. The hope is that a spectacular, drawn-out “event” movie will draw audiences away from the small screen and into cinemas. This approach has often paid off: Avengers: Endgame Marvel’s three-hour superhero masterpieces, was the highest-grossing (票房最高的) film in 2019. Last year long movies series made up most of the highest-grossing films in America.
Another explanation for longer films has to do with directors’ growing influence. Who would dare tell the likes of Mr. Nolan to cut out his masterpieces? Moreover, streaming platforms, which do not have to worry as much about the length because viewers can pause whenever they like, may attract big names by promising them sufficient fund and creative freedom. Netflix funded and released three-hour The Irishman in 2019, a film that would have benefited from a decisive editor, Irish or otherwise.
1. The underlined part “a slog” in paragraph 1 refers to a(n)___.| A．pleasure | B．effort | C．conflict | D．feast |
| A．The average length affects the popularity of films. |
| B．Great advances have been made in film industry. |
| C．Hollywood starts a golden age of feature films. |
| D．The average duration of movies has stretched. |
| A．Competition for the target audience. | B．Thirst for more classic productions. |
| C．Influence of streaming platforms. | D．Preference for decisive editors. |
| A．Movie Enthusiasts | B．Movie Marathons |
| C．Movie Production | D．Movie Influence |
Live streaming (直播) has gone popular in China. Many have turned
Chinese authorities have introduced a set of updated regulations (管理) on live streaming industry
The document also calls for cooperation to carry
It all began with a video showing a professor at a Chinese university several months ago. Standing before a classroom which
Actually, the word “princess” carries much
“The popular phrase, ‘Princesses, please xx’, was appreciated by the youth, not only for its humor but for the
While many of recent Chinese Internet phrases
7 . Going against the tide of flocking to well-known tourist destinations on vacation, a growing number of holidaymakers in China tend to spend their leisure time at lesser-known attractions. Reverse tourism (逆向旅游) has appeared as a new trend among young holidaymakers in China.
According to data from an online travel agency, the number of rooms booked at hotels in less-traveled cities during the holiday was up 30 percent year-on-year. Bookings for four-star or five-star hotels in less-traveled places all increased ten times at a minimum. Some lesser-known scenic spots posted double-digit (两位数的) growth during the holiday. Baimaiquan Park in Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province, received 52,100 visits in the seven days, up to 15.78 percent year-over-year.
Besides crowds, some vacationers chose less-traveled places to save on the cost of trips to popular destinations. In addition, lesser-known attractions are not as “commercial” as developed ones and are able to offer more actual experiences and natural encounters.
Essentially speaking, total relaxation is becoming a real expectation for many people when they travel. Changes in demand may be the fundamental reason for the popularity of reverse tourism. COVID-19 is another key factor fueling reverse tourism. As preventive measures continue, traveling has an unpredictable quality. Travelers have thus become more cautious and tend to choose local attractions or places with fewer tourists.
“The rise of reverse tourism is not a bad thing,” said Zhengzhou Daily. It means that vacationers now have more options, which brings more possibilities to the tourism market. More importantly, it noted, the trend is set to force popular destinations to improve themselves instead of resting on their past honor.
Jiang Han, a senior researcher, said that reverse tourism will become one of the future directions for the market. To give a real boost to the tourism market, Jiang suggested that more efforts be made to tap the potential of underestimated, lesser-known destinations. It is necessary to dig deeper into the local customs and highlight the local characteristics to improve the quality of local tourism.
1. What do the statistics in paragraph 2 tell us?| A．The popularity of travel agency in China. |
| B．The high income of hotels during holidays. |
| C．The contributions of tourism to the economy. |
| D．The increasing trend of reverse tourism in China. |
| A．The impact of COVID-19. |
| B．Holidaymakers’ changing needs for travel. |
| C．The lower cost of heading to less-traveled places. |
| D．The lack of innovative improvements in famous attractions. |
| A．It will drop with the recovery of economy. |
| B．It benefits both tourists and the tourism market. |
| C．It is beneficial to spread local culture to tourists. |
| D．It blocks the development of some popular resorts. |
| A．Upgrading the supporting facilities in tourist areas. |
| B．Improving the management rules of tourist attractions further. |
| C．Exploring the potential and features of lesser-known attractions. |
| D．Promoting the local characteristics of China through online media. |
Chinese coffee giant Luckin Coffee hit 10,000 stores in China in June, surpassing (超过) Starbucks
Founded in 2017, Luckin Coffee burst onto the Chinese coffee scene to challenge Starbucks through
In the quarter ended June 30, Luckin Coffee opened 1,485 new stores,
The Chinese coffee chain expanded to Singapore in its first international attempt and has opened 14 stores in the city-state so far.
9 . Housing officials say that lately they are noticing something different: students seem to lack the will, and the skill, to deal with ordinary conflicts. “We have students who are mad at each other and they text each other in the same room,” says a teacher. “So many of our conflicts are because kids don’t know how to solve a problem by formal discussion.”
And as any pop psychologist will tell you, bottled emotions lead to silent discontent (不满) that can boil over into frustration and anger. At the University of Florida, emotional conflicts occur about once a week, the university’s director of housing education says, “Over the past five years, roommate conflicts have increased. The students don’t have the person-to-person discussions and they don’t know how to handle them.” The problem is most dramatic among freshmen; housing professionals say they see improvement as students move toward graduation, but some never seem to improve, and they worry about how such students will deal with conflicts after college.
Administrators guess that reliance on cell phones and the Internet may have made it easier for young people to avoid uncomfortable encounters. Why express anger in person when you can vent (发泄) in a text? “Things are posted on someone’s wall on Facebook like: Oh, my roommate kept me up all night studying,” says Dana Pysz, an assistant director at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It’s a different way to express their conflict to each other, consequently creating even more conflicts as complaints go public.” In recent focus groups at North Carolina State University, dorm residents said they would not even deal with noisy neighbors on their floor.
Administrators point to parents who have fixed their children’s problems in their entire lives. Now in college, the children lack the skills to attend to even modest conflicts. Some parents continue to interfere (干涉) on campus.
1. What is the main reason for many roommate conflicts?| A．Students are not good at reaching an agreement about the problems. |
| B．Students are not satisfied with each other. |
| C．Housing directors are not responsible for them. |
| D．Students are not strong-willed. |
| A．Students, especially freshmen, should bottle up their dissatisfaction. |
| B．Students in Florida sit down and have a person-to-person talk once a week. |
| C．Not all students are able to handle conflicts by the time they graduate. |
| D．The number of conflicts among roommates has decreased in the past five years. |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Indifferent. | C．Supportive. | D．Unclear. |
| A．They should be involved in their children’s life on campus. |
| B．They should deal with their children’s problems in their whole lives. |
| C．They should constantly contact the administrators of the college. |
| D．They should teach their children the skills to tackle the conflicts. |
10 . Farming is destroying the planet, but there could be a much more environmentally friendly way to feed ourselves: using renewable energy to turn carbon dioxide into food. “This is becoming a reality,” says Pasi Vainikka at Solar Foods, a company that is building the first commercial-scale factory that will be able to make food directly from CO2.
There can be no doubt that immediate attention to find greener ways to grow food is required. Conventional agriculture, including organic farming, causes damage to the environment in many ways. It requires a lot of land, leading to habitat loss and deforestation. It is also the source of a third of all greenhouse gas emissions and releases other pollutants. It isn’t very efficient, either. Crops typically transform less than 1 percent of light energy into usable biomass (生物量).
Instead, Solar Foods plans to avoid photosynthesis (光合作用) altogether, and grow bacteria that use hydrogen as their source of energy. At the factory, renewable electricity will be used to split water to produce hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen will be added to large containers, where the bacteria grow, along with CO2 and ammonia (氨气). The end result will be a yellow powder called Solein.
Solein is made of bacterial cells and is up to 70 percent protein. It can be used as an ingredient in all kinds of foods. “We are aiming at replacing animal-sourced proteins, which we think have the highest environmental impact,” says Vainikka.
Compared with plant crops, Solein will use 100 times less water per kilogram of protein produced, 20 times less land and emit a fifth as much CO2, according to Solar Foods. There are other benefits, too: factories could be situated anywhere in the world and production won’t be affected by weather conditions.
“With Solar Foods and other companies scaling up their systems, this is truly beginning a new era of agriculture,” says Dorian Leger at Connectomix Bio in Germany. “I think these trends are exciting and will help bend the carbon curve as well as lead to improved global food supply security.”
1. What is the author’s purpose in mentioning conventional agriculture in paragraph 2?| A．To demonstrate its influence on crops. |
| B．To compare different farming methods. |
| C．To provide an example of agricultural types. |
| D．To highlight the urgent need for alternatives. |
| A．Its storage condition. | B．Its production process. |
| C．Its ingredient materials. | D．Its investment potential. |
| A．it is protein-rich |
| B．it is resource-efficient |
| C．its production is weather sensitive |
| D．its production is location-independent |
| A．The prospect of Solein remains to be seen, |
| B．Solein can help achieve global food safely. |
| C．Solein will dominate the agricultural development. |
| D．The use of Solein may help reduce carbon emissions. |
