1 . Would you take a trip if you couldn’t use your cellphone? A new tour company called Off the Grid is asking travellers to put their cellphones away and not even use them for photos. The company founder, Zach Beattie, is developing his business, using money he saved from a tech job at a mapping company. He’s hired guides for every trip but will help lead the first few himself.
The first trip is to Lisbon, Portugal, in July. It takes 7 to 10 days, with small groups of up to 16 people. Prices range from $1,500 to $1,650, including accommodations, meals and ground transportation. The plan includes at least three excursions (远足) and two social events, with an emphasis on unique experiences over bucket-list sightseeing. The tour also includes surfing lessons, yoga on the beach, a day of sailing and dinner with a local family.
“When you’re somewhere new, there’s a lot to see and a lot of cool and interesting people to meet,” Beattie said. “Your phone can distract (使分心) you.” The phone ban won’t be enforced quite as strictly as it seems at first glance. “We want it to be voluntary,” he said. “We’re not collecting phones and throwing them in a locked trunk. It’s held by you, but put in your pocket, and you state your intentions for the week, whether that’s checking your social media once or twice a day or a total blackout.”
Tour-goers also get a “dumbphone” without Internet access that’s loaded with numbers for group leaders and other participants, both for emergencies and to promote socializing. Participants may bring regular cameras, but Beattie is hiring a photographer for each tour so there will be plenty of photos to remember the trip. Once the trip is over, participants will have access to those photos for use in social media posts.
1. What can be learned about Zach Beattie?A.He set up his business at his own expense. |
B.He is always guiding every trip personally. |
C.He forbids tourists to take along cellphones. |
D.He used to earn his living in a tour company. |
A.The trip features sightseeing. |
B.Participants live in homestays. |
C.Air ticket is covered in the cost. |
D.Tourists experience water sports. |
A.Lock their phones in a trunk. |
B.Post their photos on social media. |
C.Free themselves from their phones. |
D.Shift their focus onto dumbphones. |
A.Take photos. | B.Access the Internet. |
C.Record the trip. | D.Contact group members. |
2 . China has set new rules limiting the amount of time children can play online games. The rules limit children to just three hours of online game playing a week. That is one hour between 8 p. m. and 9 p. m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday most weeks.
Li Zhanguo has two children aged 4 and 8. Even though they do not have smartphones, they enjoy playing online games. Like many other parents. Li is happy with new government rules. But experts say it is unclear if such policies can help prevent addiction to online games. Children might just get addicted to social media instead. In the end, experts say, parents should be the ones to set limits and support good practice.
There has been a growing concern in China about gaming addiction among children. Government reports in 2018 found that about one in ten Chinese children were addicted to the Internet. The new rules are part of an effort to prevent young people from spending too much time on unhealthy entertainment. That includes what officials call the “irrational fan culture”
Under the new rules, the responsibility for making sure children play only three hours a day as largely on Chinese gaming companies like Net Ease and Ten cent. Companies have set up real-name registration systems to prevent young users from going past game time limits. They have used facial recognition technology to check their identities. And they have also set up a program that permits people to report what is against the law. It is unclear what punishments gaming companies may face if they do not carry out the policies. And even if such policies are performed, it is also unclear whether they can prevent online addiction.
A specialist treating Internet addiction expects about 20 percent of children will find ways to break the rules by borrowing accounts of their older relatives and find a way around facial recognition. In his opinion, short-video alps such as Douyin and Kuaishou are also very popular in China. They are not under the same restrictions as games.
1. When can children play games according to the new rules?A.Between 8 p. m. and 9 p. m. On Friday. | B.Between 8 p. m. and 9 p. m. On Tuesday. |
C.Between 10 p. m. and 11 p. m. On Saturday. | D.Between 10 p. m. and all p. m. On Thursday. |
A.the new rules can stop children’s addiction to social media |
B.companies are more responsible for kids ‘ obeying the rules |
C.the new rules will help prevent children playing online games |
D.parents play a greater part in limiting the time of online games |
A.Design an advanced program. | B.Use facial recognition systems. |
C.Set up real-name registration systems. | D.Borrow accounts of their older relatives. |
A.Rules Limiting Short-video alps | B.Rules Limiting Video Game Time |
C.Rules Banning Irrational Fan Culture | D.Rules Breaking Addition to Social Media |
3 . People duck responsibility for reasons ranging from simple laziness or a fear of failure, through to a sense of feeling frightened by the scale of a problem or a situation. Whatever the reason, if people fail to take responsibility, they’ll fail in their jobs, they’ll fail their teams, and they’ll fail to grow as individuals. All of this makes it important to address the issue.
Signs of not being responsible
There are several signs to watch out for. These include:
Lacking interest in their work, and in the well-being of the team
Blaming others for mistakes and failures
Missing deadlines
Avoiding challenging tasks and projects, and not taking risks
Regularly complaining about unfair treatment by team leaders and members and engaging in self-pity
Avoiding being dependent on others for work, advice and instructions
Lacking trust in team members and leaders
Ways to encourage responsibility
Start by talking
Your first step is to talk to the individuals concerned. Are there circumstances that are contributing to the situation, or problems that you can deal with?
Communicate roles, responsibilities and objectives
Your people need to know clearly what their roles and responsibilities are. Ensure that you have an up-to-date job description for each team member, and be as detailed as possible about every responsibility that they have.
Re-engage people
Your people will be more engaged if their work is supported with their values. Talk to them to find out what they are. Then, illustrate how their daily tasks and responsibilities go with those values.
Give plenty of praise
Finally, be sure to give your people plenty of praise when they do take responsibility. And help them improve by providing them with regular, effective and fair feedback.
1. What will happen if John fails to take responsibility?A.He can complete his jobs. |
B.His teams may suffer. |
C.His growth will continue. |
D.He will lose his life. |
A.“It’s not my fault.” |
B.“I’ll have it completed tomorrow.” |
C.“It’s tough, but I can manage it.” |
D.“I need resources to solve the problem. ” |
A.Let him know their specific tasks. |
B.Get them to find out the values of work. |
C.Praise them for their good jobs. |
D.Have a chat with him to find out problems. |
Why does one person get selected for a promotion while others with equal skills, education and experience get passed over? In my opinion, a person’s proven willingness to behave
More than 40 years ago, Dale Miller conducted
Many young people wants
Therefore, some of them are considering
For the above reasons, I suggest that young people be
6 . More than 170,000 people in California are unhoused. Even as the state has poured resources into fighting against the problem, the number of people without homes has ticked upward in recent years. On the surface, the state has one key advantage for people without a reliable roof over their heads: relatively consistent and livable weather. So one of my first thoughts when I heard news of a horricane attacking Los Angeles was just “What will happen to the city’s homeless population?”
City agencies quickly took action. As it became clear that the Los Angeles region could experience an extreme downpour and subsequent flooding, outreach teams fanned out across the river bank and dam areas across the city that have become home to a significant unhoused population, offering support to move them into shelters and motels (汽车旅馆).
Despite that, it’s obvious that the effects of climate change will hit the most vulnerable (脆弱的) hardest. We see this globally as extreme weather events hit countries that have contributed the least to the problem.
The most notable connection between climate change and the US housing crisis is the threat extreme weather poses to unhoused people. More unhoused people are affected as climate change drives increasingly unpredictable weather. People without homes know how to respond to expected seasonal events. But events like a near-hurricane in Los Angeles or a wildfire in ‘Maui can catch populations with limited access to information off guard.
Another link worth considering is the way in which climate change creates more homelessness and further stresses on housing systems. Hurricane Katrina, for example, displaced 800, 000 people. Four years later, 12,000 people remained without shelter.
Housing has been — and will continue to be — a key issue in Maui too as it recovers from the wildfire that killed more than 100 people. Maui has already had a housing crisis, the result of a high cost of living driven in large part by the tourism industry. And, now, many more are left looking for places to stay. Ashley Kelly, the chief operating officer at Hawaii’s Family Life Center, said: “Finding housing for any new clients is just not possible right now.”
1. What contributes to the increase of the unhoused population in California?A.Its mild weather. |
B.Its inclusive local culture. |
C.Its limited basic facilities. |
D.Its relaxed state policies. |
A.They built dams to prevent flooding. |
B.They moved homeless people to safe places. |
C.They sought low-cost housing from city agencies. |
D.They surrounded the river bank to keep people away. |
A.Mysterious. | B.Exceptional. | C.Changeable. | D.Difficult. |
A.Ways of Americans relocating disaster-affected populations. |
B.The significance of timely weather updates for the homeless. |
C.The link between climate change and the housing crisis in the US. |
D.Approaches of homeless Americans to dealing with natural disasters. |
1. 新青年应具备的品质;
2. 新青年应该如何做。
注意:
1. 词数80左右;
2. 内容充实、行文连贯;
3. 题目已给出,不计入总词数。
Chinese Youth of the New Era
Dear fellow students,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 . According to Americans for the Arts, more than two-thirds of U.S. adults say that the arts “lift me up beyond everyday experiences.” Still, only 30 percent attended a concert of any type in 2017; 23 percent visited an art museum; six percent attended a literary event. Fewer than half actively created art of any kind.
What has caused this phenomenon is that we do not have time for art — we are weighed down by our day-to-day responsibilities. Maybe you like to play a little background music while you work but most of us rarely, if ever, went to see a live performance, let alone visited a gallery. And reading poetry? Perhaps not since high school.
Too often, we let the realities of life get in the way of the arts, which can feel insignificant by comparison. But this is a mistake. The arts might be the single most in-depth experience you will ever be given to explore the nature and meaning of life. And if you make time to consume and produce art, you will find your life become fuller and happier.
Some philosophers address the problem of life consumed by work and material pursuits. They argue that art provides relief from this routine, expanding our perspective and bringing us closer to true reality.
Think of a time when you heard a piece of music and wanted to cry. Or recall your fast heartbeats as you stared at a delicate lifelike sculpture. Chances are that it probably stimulated (刺激) a sudden awakening, much like the shock from a lungful of pure oxygen after breathing in smoggy air.
If you are among those who feel that art is “pure pleasure to experience and participate in,” you might see it the same way you see eating out, or skydiving: as a luxury (奢侈品) item in your limited budgets of time and money. As such, it probably gets the same sort of treatment as any minor hobby. Don’t make this error. Treat art more like exercise or sleep: a necessity for a life full of deep satisfaction.
1. What does paragraph 1 focus on?A.The opinion of U.S. adults about art. |
B.The types of art that U.S. adults engage with. |
C.The mismatch between value and behaviour as to art. |
D.The connection between everyday experiences and art. |
A.Art reveals the nature of life. | B.Art gives way to material pursuits. |
C.Life without art is meaningless. | D.Background music is a kind of art. |
A.Art awakes people’s talents. | B.Art improves physical health. |
C.Art brings us closer to nature. | D.Art makes life fuller and happier. |
A.Art: A Habit, Not a Luxury | B.Art: A Bridge, Not a Barrier |
C.Art: A Decoration, Not a Reality | D.Art: A Pleasure, Not a Burden |
9 . As you read this, pause to reflect on your recent interactions. As a politician, husband, and father, I encounter various spoken language styles: analytical or chatty, formal or informal, pointed or gentle, cooperative or decisive. Talk is the currency of politics. It is our way of negotiating, debating, and persuading. Talk is also the currency of learning-how we develop our ideas, deepen our thinking and share our feelings.
That’s why I want speaking skills, sometimes called “oracy”, to play an important part in Labor’s plans for a reformed school curriculum (课程).
Employers value speaking skills equally with reading and writing. The ability to speak well and express yourself should be something every child should master. But the curriculum doesn’t allow us to provide this. This is short-sighted. An inability to express your thoughts fluently is a key barrier to getting on and doing well in life.
Oracy is in part about good public speaking and debating skills, but in reality, it’s about teaching young people to make strong arguments, choose wise words, understand their audience, form meaningful social connections, and use facial expressions and body language to convey their message. Above all else it’s about finding your voice. To work out who you are and what you believe. If reading opens up a world of imagination and possibility, then speaking and listening opens up a lifetime of empowerment-a chance for those who feel invisible in their own country to be heard. It is about the confidence to speak out, to call out injustice or harm.
And the other side of speaking is listening, which can also be taught. Listening, truly listening, develops tolerance and understanding. And as parents we can play our part. We’ve all been there, at mealtimes, silent as we all stare at our devices. Our job, all of ours, is to get off our screens and give young people, and adults, the gift of listening.
So, oracy―speaking and listening―needs to be placed firmly at the heart of school life.
1. How does talk help a politician?A.It deepens his wishful thinking. |
B.It enhances his analytical skills. |
C.It strengthens persuasive power. |
D.It provides emotional support. |
A.Employers underestimate the value of speaking. |
B.Academic pressure makes students poor-sighted. |
C.Spoken language is regarded as least important. |
D.Oracy should deserve more attention at school. |
A.By sharing different opinions. |
B.By clarifying the definition. |
C.By describing personal experiences. |
D.By employing the concept. |
A.Set a good example for their children. |
B.Balance screen time and mealtime. |
C.Have oral face-to-face communication. |
D.Disconnect from the virtual world. |
A recent survey has found that many people suffer from sleep problems. Some are
So, if you have trouble getting a good night’s sleep, it might be time