1 . A study found that of young Danes who played video games in English, those who did so regularly outside school scored higher on English vocabulary tests than their peers who did not.
With video games, “all of sudden English becomes an instrument, something that's very useful for them in order to progress in the game, "says the author of the study, Signe Hannibal Jensen, professor at the University of Southern Denmark. This changes kids' focus from "learning to learn", as in a classical school setting, to "learning to play".
It makes sense that “the very things that we can't drag out of students in school are the kinds of things that they're doing for fun on their own outside school,” says Steven Thorne, a professor of second language acquisition at Portland State University. “You're sharing an activity. You're sharing a passion,” he says.
The language learning isn't only effective in learning English. From Internet-spotty central Pennsylvania, Fiona Girotti explained how her love of K-pop led her to turn to an online gaming platform she used to learn Korean. She says learning grammar online is tough, and gaming isn't a direct replacement for in-person- instruction. “But you get good at conversations, sentences, and things you can say to anyone,” says Fiona.
And her online language practice is working. When Ms. Girotti listens to pop now, she can understand many words. It's not really the same as being in class, though. “Of course, classes are structured. When you're just me, earning independently, you don't really understand the grammar,” she says. She uses a grammar app on her phone to understand tricky sentences.
Dr. Thorne notes that video games are not a perfect solution. "Some gaming environments are very language heavy and language rich. Others don't really require much language at all,"he says. He warns that gaming isn't always good, and players can become dependent on games. But combine a quality, communication-dependent game with the 15 hours a week kids spend gaming, and learning will come out of that, he says.
In the future, video games might become a more practical option among the instruments language learners already use, including phone apps, podcasts. YouTube videos, and in-person instruction Jonathon Reinhardt, an associate professor at the University of Arizona and president of the Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium(CALICO), says it makes sense that gaming would increasingly enter into more formal classroom settings. “What we're going to see is generation who grows up with games and recognizes their potential as learning objects,” he says. “They have the skills and the abilities to build these sorts of things.”
1. How do video games help learn English according to Signe Hannibal Jensen?| A．They can encourage players to learn English | B．They can help players learn English grammar. |
| C．They can provide an easy way to learn English. | D．They can improve players' focus while learning. |
| A．Students should take online language courses. | B．Students should do activities independently. |
| C．Students can hardly have fun at school | D．Students are willing to learn for fun. |
| A．It is not necessary to learn grammar in class |
| B．K-pop contributes to foreign language learning. |
| C．Online gaming can help improve spoken language |
| D．Video games can be as efficient as in-person instruction |
| A．Worried. | B．Confident. | C．Negative. | D．Careful. |
2 . There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degree of health, wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy and the other becomes unhappy. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, events and the resulting effects upon their minds.
People who are to be happy fix their attention on the convenience of things: the pleasant parts of conversation, the well prepared dishes, the goodness of the wine and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the opposite things. Therefore, they are continually dissatisfied. By their remarks, they sour the pleasure of society, offend many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind was founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be pitied. The intention of criticizing and being disliked is perhaps taken up by imitation. It grows into n habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it realize it had effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit.
Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious results in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others; nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at getting some advantages in social position, or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone start, step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public objections, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their wrong doings. These should change this bad habit and be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.
1. People who are unhappy .| A．always consider things differently from others |
| B．usually are affected by the results of certain things |
| C．usually misunderstand what others think or say |
| D．always discover the unpleasant side of certain things |
| A．have a good taste with social life |
| B．make others unhappy |
| C．tend to scold others openly |
| D．enjoy the pleasure of life |
| A．we should pity all such unhappy people |
| B．such unhappy people are dangerous to social life |
| C．people can get rid of the habit of unhappiness |
| D．unhappy people cannot understand happy persons |
| A．prevent any communication with them |
| B．show no respect and politeness to them |
| C．persuade them to recognize the bad effects |
| D．quarrel with them until they realize the mistakes |
| A．describes two types of people in our 1ife who have negative effect on others |
| B．give some examples to laugh at the unhappy people in our society |
| C．suggests the unhappy people should get rid of the habits of unhappiness |
| D．tells people get away from unhappy people and how to be happy in life |
3 . As online technology advanced, web sites, podcasts, and blogs became powerful sources of information that allowed everyone to stay updated on any subject imaginable. Although all of these information sources remain popular, there's a new king of media and it's online video.
There are many reasons why online video has increased suddenly over the past few years. The first is increasing data speeds. It wasn't until recently that people everywhere had fast enough online connections to enjoy high-definition （高清）videos. However, once faster Internet speeds were provided, people quickly fell in love with online videos. The second reason why online videos have become so popular is convenience. Watching videos requires less effort and energy than reading through paragraphs of text after a day of hard work. Videos also seem to provide more satisfaction, as people prefer to connect with people they can hear and see, as against the words of some author whom they know little about.
Advancing digital technology has also helped, as it has made sharing videos easier and more convenient than ever. High-powered smartphones and more affordable video cameras allow anyone to easily record an event or give a few comments about a scorching topic that is on their mind. Meanwhile, sites like YouTube, Vimeo, and Ustream allow users to quickly upload their videos and share them with friends, family, and the general public if they wish.
Last but not least, advertising. Companies have made it easy for people to get rewarded for creating popular videos. Some people with large enough fan bases can even make a very wealthy living by uploading a few videos every week.
The future also looks bright for companies who post online video ads. In fact, new software allows them to watch viewers' emotional reactions to their content through the users' webcams （网络摄像机）.They'll be able to see whether users laugh, cry, or feel bored during videos, so they can adjust their ads. This should prove extremely helpful, as there will be millions of videos competing for viewers' attention.
1. Why do some people prefer watching videos to reading after work?| A．It helps them review the news. |
| B．It helps them get information with relative ease. |
| C．It provides them more information. |
| D．It helps them save time. |
| A．Unusual. | B．Future. | C．Hot. | D．Social. |
| A．It will enable them to better understand what customers enjoy. |
| B．It will let more viewers see the advertisements they make. |
| C．It will cause viewers to create more popular videos. |
| D．It will make people like their videos. |
| A．Online Video: The New King of Media |
| B．Online Technology is Developing Fast |
| C．Online Video: A New Advertising Trend |
| D．Online Technology is Closely Related to People |
4 . Nowadays people rarely read for enjoyment, even though reading books used to be one of most people's recreations. It was an escape from the surrounding world, away from technology. However, these days has seen a sharp decline in how much time people spend reading books, news articles, short stories, and many other macro-reading materials.
Social media that have come out, such as Twitter and Facebook, have shortened the amount of time we need to read and process information. Twitter's character limit quickly summarizes information for readers so they do not have to bother opening and reading a longer article. Five minutes on Twitter can catch people up on their news for the rest of the day. Twitter and other social media sites can be regarded as micro-reading, which is a technology that takes bits of articles and summarizes them in a few brief sentences.
But Twitter isn't always able to thoroughly summarize a topic. A headline or summary can be misleading if the reader does not know the context. This can lead to misinterpretations of what an article is actually about.
The other day I was criticized for one of my columns. The criticism was strange, because it was barely connected to the article. When I countered their argument f saying that this opinion wasn't related to the article, they said they didn't read the story, only the headline.
As a columnist, I spend a good amount of time writing these columns and I hope people can read them with great attention. There are points that I am unable to sum up in a single line. If readers don't bother to read the article and only read the headline, they are not going to get the point of the piece of writing. This is why, as a society, we can't fully rely on social media for all of our information.
1. What can we know about most people in the past regarding reading?| A．They spent less time. | B．They read for pleasure. |
| C．They read digital books. | D．They read very quickly. |
| A．headlines and summaries are misleading for writers |
| B．micro-reading sometimes fails to summarize a topic |
| C．articles in a column seem to be easy to be criticized |
| D．people have trouble in selecting reading materials |
| A．They can read the articles carefully. | B．They will express personal opinions. |
| C．They can rely on news on social media. | D．They will make a summary of the points. |
| A．Why Do We Read Less? | B．Is Social Media Good? |
| C．How Is Information Got? | D．Is Micro-reading Enough? |
5 . China dropped its decades-long, one-child policy several years ago to allow each family to have two children. This change has put 270 million married women of childbearing age in the position of choosing between family and work. The employers also face big challenges as more female workers will have two maternity leaves(产假）for a total of seven to eight months.
In a survey published by classified advertising website Ganji.com, career women who might be considering having a second child were asked what kinds of pressure they might expect. More than 76 percent of the women who were questioned mentioned concerns about the financial burden of raising two children, while more than 71 percent said it would be difficult to balance career and family. In addition, nearly 56 percent said that having a second child would definitely have a negative effect on their career.
Another survey conducted by Chongging-based human resources website job.cg.qq.com found that over 70 percent of job seekers believe that having a second child would make females less popular in the job market, although two-thirds of the employers said the policy will make no difference in their employment of staff.
Feng Lijuan, a senior expert on human resources at 51 job. com, a leading Chinese job finding platform, said she would not say “there is prejudice against career women”. Feng said Chinese women shoulder more family responsibility. “It is not only about maternity leave; a female employee might only fully get back to work after three to five years after having her first child.”
Wang Yixin, a senior employment adviser, said the positive side is that more companies are trying to attract more talents by providing support to career women: “Different from before, it is not only employers choosing employees. Many talents, including professional career women, also choose employers,” said Wang. “According to our survey, many large companies are very open to their employees’ choice of. having a second child.”
1. In Paragraph 1, the end of one-child policy has great effect on ________.| A．women | B．women and families |
| C．bosses | D．women and employers |
| A．have no effect on career women |
| B．have a positive effect on women's career |
| C．have a negative effect on women's career |
| D．have both positive and negative effects on career women |
| A．There isn't prejudice against career women. |
| B．The effect is only limited to maternity leave. |
| C．There is much more prejudice against career women. |
| D．Women can't fully come back to work for a long period. |
| A．Responsibilities of Career Women |
| B．Effects of Two-child Policy on Women |
| C．Disadvantages of Raising Two Children |
| D．Different Attitudes of Employers to Women |
It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams and the great speed of modern life, but behavior on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel. It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver’s seat is another matter.
Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense. It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to hit back when forced to face rude driving. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarreling and fighting. A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and becomes so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such behavior of politeness is by no means enough. Many drivers nowadays don’t even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.
However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. A Typical example is the driver who waves a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may not be able to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to.
An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages (堵塞) that give rise to unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately, modern drivers can’t even learn to drive, let alone master the roadmanship. Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take (互谅互让) from all road users. It is high time we took this message to heart.
7 . What’s the point in dining out when we can have whatever meal we want delivered to our homes as we watch movies on our giant flat-screen TV? According to statistics from Technomic, 86% of consumers are using off-premise (非经营现场的) channels at least once a month, and a third of consumers are using it more than they did a year ago.
Most restaurants companies are chasing these trends simply to keep up with quickly changing consumer demands. Fazoli’s has spent the past two years investing in its drive-through, carry-out, catering and delivery businesses, and has launched a new loyalty app aimed at making carry-out orders easier. These efforts have paid off so far — off-premise sales are up 18.5% over last year for the company, said Jennifer Crawford, director of off-premise sales at Fazoli’s.
But, she noted that sales aren’t the only benefit to giving priority to these channels. “The off-premise channel is a great opportunity to communicate and connect with a new consumer group,” Crawford said. “Many of our off-premise guests have not dined in a Fazoli’s or experienced our menu. With options like third-party delivery and online ordering, we have the capability to tap into potential new guests.”
Sales lifts and new customer potential are great rewards, to be sure. But that doesn’t mean carrying out off-premise channels comes without challenges. Crawford said a big one is the lack of control and maintaining the guest relationship. “When a guest dines in, we can provide a level of service that improves the consumer dining experience,” she said. The lack of control extends into the digital experience, as third-party apps can also be an issue. “Orders are not often processed properly due to the drop-down (下拉式) menus and default (默认) orders in third-party software,” Crawford said. She added that staffing issues can also arise when heavy delivery periods overlap restaurant busy hours and maintaining food quality and integrity (完好) during delivery time is tricky for certain dishes.
Nevertheless, Crawford believed the juice is very much worth the squeeze. “Across the industry, dine-in traffic continues to decline or remain flat. If brands are not driving sales through catering, carry-out and delivery, they are missing out on income,” she said.
1. Why does Fazoli’s invest in off-premise channels?| A．Because it wants to lead the latest changes. |
| B．Because it wants to see the potential of its consumers. |
| C．Because it wants to survive in the changing consumer trend. |
| D．Because it wants to communicate and connect with its new consumers. |
| A．It is challenging to maintain quality and integrity of dishes during delivery. |
| B．Third-party apps cannot offer as good an experience of ordering as restaurants. |
| C．Third-party apps may get out of control when consumers experience online ordering. |
| D．During heavy delivery periods, more staff is always needed to deal with busy dine-in traffic. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Doubtful. | C．Ambiguous. | D．Cautious. |
| A．What challenges off-premise channels create. |
| B．Why restaurants are prioritizing off-premise channels. |
| C．How important off-premise channels are for restaurant. |
| D．How restaurants are adapting to the rise of delivery business. |
8 . In the past five years, about 2.8 billion of school textbooks were sold per year, with total spending of 20 billion yuan ($3 billion), news magazine Outlook Weekly reported, citing data released recently by the National Press and Publication Administration.
If these textbooks are reused for one year, the costs saved can be used to help build around 40,000 Hope Schools in impoverished regions.
The figures show that in 2018, the number of retailed textbooks for primary and secondary schools was 2.93 billion copies, totaling 25.99 billion yuan. If all of them are reused, a total of over 20 billion yuan will be saved per year.
Zhao Dehua, in charge of a company recycling resources, said many college graduates sell the textbooks they have accumulated over the years at an average price of 1 yuan per kilogram. As these textbooks are mostly used to produce recycled paper, the cost is even higher than that of raw paper as the processing procedure of recycled paper is complicated.
At present, free textbooks related to music, art and P.E for the nine-year compulsory education have been reused, but account for less than a fraction of the total number of textbooks. Because of the supply chain obstruction, which increases the costs to match supply with demand, the lack of sound platform and service supporting system for the second-hand textbook trade, most of the textbooks used for compulsory education and higher education end up as waste.
“Every year, second-hand booksellers collect textbooks at a price of about 4,000 yuan a ton, which is more than twice the price of ordinary waste paper, but the number of people who come to collect second-hand books is still few,” Zhao Dehua said.
Besides, the incomplete policies and regulations might bring second-hand book sales platforms and sellers to legal risks.
“Establishing the system of textbook recycling can not only save resources, but also help to cultivate students’ consciousness and sense of responsibility,” said Zhu Pin, deputy head of a school of nine-year compulsory education in Jiangxi province. The school has set up a system for reusing the textbooks and the books are disinfected every week.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 4?| A．College students sell textbooks in order to make profits. |
| B．Recycled paper is mainly used for environmental considerations. |
| C．The cost of recycled paper is greater than that of raw paper. |
| D．Certain groups of collectors tend to choose second-hand textbooks. |
| A．It is blocked because of lack of funds. |
| B．The supply of recycled textbooks is not adequate to meet the demand. |
| C．The regulation of second-hand textbooks has not been carried out yet. |
| D．A large number of second-hand textbooks are not used properly. |
| A．The school frees recycled textbooks from bacteria regularly. |
| B．The school proposes regulations for wasting second-hand textbooks. |
| C．The school calls on students to participate in the system of textbook recycling. |
| D．The school requests the government’s support. |
| A．Textbooks recycled for less waste |
| B．Recycled textbooks used for compulsory education |
| C．Reusing textbooks good for environment and wallet |
| D．Reusing textbooks good for collection |
9 . When we’ve got children, it’s typical of us to give careful thought to how much TV the children are watching and that they’re exposed to. Are we being overprotective about the effect reality TV is having on our child? The answer is “No”. Or rather, there’s increasing evidence that these programmes can have a profound influence on young people.
A recent research indicates that some reality TV shows can be every bit as damaging for teenage girls as too many cartoons are for kids — perhaps even worse. The truth is that reality TV is anything but reality — but that’s not necessarily what our children believe. A study for the Girl Scout Research Institute in the US found that eight out of ten girls aged between 11 and 17 who regularly watch reality shows believe these programmes describe real life. In fact, much of reality TV is a heavily manipulated view of what’s really happening, and the worst of it strengthens the sort of female stereotypes women have spent decades trying to remove.
Many of the women on reality TV shows are acting out lives as teenage mothers or drama queens. Strong, hard-working, purposeful young women with ambitions beyond their looks are rare in these programmes. There’s a widespread emphasis on the value of women being about how they look and dress, which gives young viewers the message that being a woman is all about style and appearance, not what you do or stand for.
Cultural critic and writer Jennifer Pozner describes reality TV as “the contemporary negative reaction against feminism”. Imran Siddiquee, Director of Social Media and Outreach, is concerned that these programmes show the worst stereotypes of womanhood and “normalize” them in what appear to be everyday settings. “ They offer such a limited view of what it is to be a woman, and all over the world young girls are addicted to it,” he says.
Siddiquee does recognize, however, that many girls themselves value reality TV. Some say it encourages them to think about situations different from their own. They also point out that some shows feature women running their own successful businesses. “It’s important to acknowledge that there are some useful elements in reality TV,” Siddiquee says. “But many girls need to be inspired to think more critically about some aspects of these shows so they’re not manipulated by them and so their behaviour doesn’t change because of them.”
We should encourage our children to be critical thinkers and help them develop their media literacy. Whether reality TV is changing our children’s views, or whether they are attracted to programmes that agree with their beliefs, it’s vital we recognize that their viewing habits could strengthen these unbalanced ideas.
1. This passage is most probably intended for .| A．Teenage girls. | B．Parents. | C．Media workers. | D．General public. |
| A．It is too true to life for audience to believe in. |
| B．Actors and directors lack a sense of innovation. |
| C．Its contents and views are rather artificial. |
| D．It has caused controversies among teenagers. |
| A．Genuine accounts of females and their work. |
| B．Ways to gain more popularity among peers. |
| C．Distinction between true life and TV dramas. |
| D．Tips on how to become stylish young girls. |
| A．Situations where teenagers are attracted to certain TV programmes. |
| B．Reality TV shows’ impact on young girls and parent’s guidance. |
| C．The way to help children to have the habit of critical thinking. |
| D．The stereotypes of women on TV and audience’s reaction. |
10 . A simple piece of clotheslines hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors. On one side stand those who see clothes dryers as a waste of energy and a major polluter of the environment. As a result, they are turning to clotheslines as part of the "what-I-can- do environmentalism”
But on the other side are people who are against drying clothes outside, arguing that clotheslines are unpleasant to look at. They have persuaded Homeowners Associations(HOAs) across the US to stop outdoor clotheslines, because clothesline drying also tends to lower home value in the neighborhood. This has led to a Right-to-Dry Movement that is calling for laws be passed to protect the choice to use clotheslines. So far, only three states have laws to protect clotheslines.
Matt Reck, 37, is the kind of eco-friendly person who feeds his trees with bathwater and reuses water drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But several days ago, the HOA in North Carolina told him that a dissatisfied neighbor had telephoned them about his clothesline. The Recks paid no attention to the warning and still dried their clothes on a line in the yard "Many people say they are environmentally friendly but they don't take matters in their own hands," says Reck. The local HOA has decided not to take any action, unless more neighbors complain.
North Carolina lawmakers say that stopping clotheslines is not the right thing to do. But HOAs and housing businesses believe that clothesline drying reminds people of poor neighborhoods. They worry that if buyers think their future neighbors can" even afford dryers, housing prices will fall.
Environmentalists say such worries are not necessary, and in view of global warming, that idea needs to change. As they say, "The clothesline is beautiful Hanging clothes outside should be encouraged. We all have to do at least something to slow down the process of global warming.
1. Supporters of clothes dryers are trying to stop clothesline drying because .| A．clothes dryers can save money | B．clothes dryers are energy-saving |
| C．clothesline drying reduces home value | D．clothesline drying is not allowed in US |
| A．He is a warm-hearted man. | B．He is an impolite neighbor. |
| C．He is an inexperienced gardener. | D．He is a man of social responsibility. |
| A．Housing businesses. | B．Environmentalists. |
| C．Homeowners Associations. | D．Reck's dissatisfied neighbors. |
| A．Opposing Opinions on Clothesline Drying | B．A Way to Save Energy and Money |
| C．Different Varieties of Clotheslines | D．A Lost Art to Be Discovered. |
