1 . The curb cut (下斜路缘) is a convenience that most of us rarely, if ever, notice. Yet, without it, daily life might be a lot harder — in more ways than one. Pushing a baby stroller (婴儿推车) onto the curb, skateboarding onto a sidewalk or taking a full grocery cart from the sidewalk to your car — all these tasks are easier because of the curb cut.
But it was created with a different purpose in mind.
It’s hard to imagine today, but back in the 1970s, most sidewalks in the United States ended with a sharp drop-off. That was a big deal for people in wheelchairs because there were no ramps (斜坡) to help them move along city blocks without assistance. According to one disability rights leader, a six-inch curb “might as well have been Mount Everest”. So, activists from Berkeley, California, who also needed wheelchairs, organized a campaign to create tiny ramps to help people dependent on wheels move up and down curbs independently.
I think about the “curb cut effect” a lot when working on issues around health equity (公平). The first time I even heard about the curb cut was in a 2017 Stanford Social Innovation Review piece by PolicyLink CEO Angela Blackwell. Blackwell rightly noted that many people see equity “as a zero-sum game.” Basically, there is “a prejudice that intentionally supporting one group hurts another.” What the curb cut effect shows, Blackwell said, is that “when society creates the circumstances that allow those who have been left behind to participate and contribute fully, everyone wins.”
There are multiple examples of this principle at work. For example, investing in policies that create more living-wage jobs or increase the availability of affordable housing certainly benefits people in communities that have limited options. But the action also provides those people with opportunities for better health and the moans to become contributing members of society — and those benefits everyone. Even the football huddle (围成一团以秘密商讨) was initially created to help deaf football players at Gallaudet College keep their game plans secret from opponents who could have read their sign language. Today, it’s used by every team to prevent the opponent from learning about game-winning strategies.
So, next time you cross the street, or roll your suitcase through a crosswalk or ride your bike directly onto a sidewalk, think about how much the curb cut, the design that benefits one group of people at a disadvantage, has helped not just that group, but all of us.
1. By “might as well have been Mount Everest” (paragraph 3), the disability rights leader implies that a six-inch curb may become ______.| A．as famous as the world’s highest mountain | B．an almost impassable barrier |
| C．a connection between people | D．a most unforgettable matter |
| A．it’s fair to give the disadvantaged more help than others |
| B．it’s impossible to have everyone be treated equally |
| C．it’s necessary to go all out to help the disabled |
| D．it’s not worthwhile to promote health equity |
| A．Reading machines for blind people helped build the navigation system in the car. |
| B．The four great inventions of ancient China spread to the west. |
| C．Your reaching out to the disadvantaged contributes to more people doing it. |
| D．A butterfly flapping its wings in one country leads to a Tornado in another country. |
| A．Everyday items are originally invented for people with disabilities. |
| B．Everyone in a society should pursue what is in his or her interest. |
| C．A disability rights leader changed the life of his fellow men. |
| D．Caring for disadvantaged groups may finally benefit all. |
2 . A group of middle-aged dads formed a dance team to perform at their kids’ school but unexpectedly gained popularity on social media, having over 300,000 followers—one of them is famous actor Hugh Jackman. The “Outta” Puff Daddys first came together in 2012 in Brighton for a surprise performance at their children’s annual dance show.
Having never danced professionally before and ranging in age from 42 to 60, the dads were taught by their kids’ street dance teacher for the surprise performance. They received a good reception, so they decided to carry on permanently.
Paul Jukes, 48, said dancing together has enabled the members to get through unemployment and anxiety. “Even though I’m the leader and artistic director of the team, I’m not normally the most confident guy.” said Jukes, whose team name is Jukebox. “If we’re in a party situation, we’re off at the side, but when we’re together those inhibitions (拘束感) are lost, and we just accept life to the fullest.”
The dance team members remember the moment when they surprised their kids at the dance show. “We performed at the Brighton Dome which seats 2,000 people, so for our first live dance performance, it was quite something. We took the roof off,” Jukes said. “The noise was crazy and of course, the kids in the audience were blown away. They were shouting, ”Hang on a second; that’s your dad.“ Most people might think our kids would be embarrassed by us but none of them had that feeling. All our families and kids were really supportive and really loved it. And it has been considered cool by them to have such a large following on Instagram.”
The team has to adapt to its members’ changing bodies as they get older, but that has not stopped them from continuing to dream big. “We take care of and support each other to make sure what we do is achievable,” said Jukes. “One of our members is 60 years old now and he’s just excellent.”
1. What is special about the dance team?| A．Its members are inexperienced. | B．It helps with school dance instruction. |
| C．It regularly posts videos on social media. | D．Its members are guided by famous dancers. |
| A．It has inspired him to take up new hobbies. |
| B．It has improved his health and leadership skills. |
| C．It has strengthened his relationship with his family. |
| D．It has helped him build confidence in a difficult time. |
| A．They were amazed and proud of their dads. |
| B．They were embarrassed but showed understanding. |
| C．They considered following Jukebox on social media. |
| D．They joined their dads to complete the performance together. |
| A．Dancing is beneficial to people of all ages | B．Talented dads celebrate their kids’ interest |
| C．Middle-aged dads prove age is just a number | D．A dance team is winning popularity among adults |
3 . Demographic changes, such as aging populations and declining birth rates, pose challenges as well as offer opportunities for industries and countries. To overcome the challenges and seize the opportunities, especially to achieve long-term economic sustainability, economies need to enhance policies promoting innovations.
Now many countries in East Asia are facing the aging population and declining working-age population problem. Compared with other advanced countries, Japan encountered the population aging problem at a slightly earlier stage, starting in the mid-1990s. As Japan’s percentage of elderly population to the total population increased, it impacted the country’s economy, leading to a contraction in domestic demand and decline in both production and consumption, and restricting the growth of economy.
Some innovative companies have actively increased outward FDI (Foreign Direct Investment), providing cost advantages from inexpensive overseas labor to maintain their cost competitiveness. However, the global economy is facing the challenge of declining trade owing to the protectionism practiced by certain countries. Consequently, the chances of boosting growth through outward FDI may be limited.
Developing artificial intelligence is another solution to the negative impacts of the demographic changes. AI and robotics will play a crucial role in stimulating productivity and innovation by making payment for the decline in the working-age population, and the following increase in productivity will in turn raise the demand for labor by creating new employment opportunities.
AI, robotics and other advanced technologies give rise to new tasks within their fields and across other sectors. Therefore, it is necessary to employ cooperation policies to support corporations that promote innovations by increasing investment in research and development, facilitating the growth of new companies, and building a perfect system to protect intellectual properties. Since AI and robotics may replace certain jobs, it is essential to address the potential challenges they may create in the labor market and work out strategies to ensure a balanced and comprehensive transition.
1. What do we know about demographic changes from the first two paragraphs?| A．There is no need to worry since the changes offer opportunities. |
| B．The changes won’t affect the long-term economic sustainability. |
| C．Japan is the only advanced country facing the changes at present. |
| D．Things should be done to overcome the challenges posed by the changes. |
| A．Push. | B．Decrease. | C．Pause. | D．Change. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Intolerant. | C．Objective. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Withdrawing investment in research and development. |
| B．Adopting policies that encourage innovation of corporations. |
| C．Establishing new companies to protect intellectual properties. |
| D．Creating potential labor market for more possible employments. |
4 . Were it not for my mask’s rubber covering over my nose, no doubt his warm, fishy breath would have made the experience complete, as an adult male Atlantic grey seal (海豹) inspected me to the waters that bathe Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. This was a close and magical swimming-with-seals encounter filmed for BBC Two’s Springwatch four years ago.
My job is to get people to love and connect with nature, but the experience still left me feeling both excited and conflicted. Is it possible that we get a little too close, and love nature a little too much? Certainly, for anyone working in wildlife media and tourism, the reality is that habitats and many species often can’t handle longtime close contact with humans.
Marine mammals they may be, but seals must regularly return to dry land, hauling (牵引) themselves out of the water to rest, digest, and reproduce. Haul-out sites are typically inaccessible beaches or rocky tiny islands after the tide falls away. These safe places become a terrifying drop when disturbed, particularly by walkers, dogs and boats full of wildlife tourists. When frightened, seals prefer escaping into shallow seas or, worse still, hard rocks, risking broken jaws or bones.
In Scotland in February 2021, a ban came into force that stopped the fisheries industry from shooting seals. Prior to this, seals in Scotland could be shot under licence. Seal groups and charities are revising their policies to no longer encourage people to seek out encounters with seals either in or out of the water, especially during the winter months when the grey seal pupping (产崽) season is in full swing.
No matter how much we love seals, remember they are terrified of us, so we really need to enjoy them from a distance. But that is not to say there can’t be a connection. Joining organised surveys helps monitor seals as well as the health of our waters. The marine mammals have much to deal with, including climate change, and we have a lot to learn from these envoys (使者) from the sea.
1. Why did the author film swimming-with-seals encounter four years ago?| A．To get people close to nature. | B．To inspect an Atlantic grey seal. |
| C．To challenge himself in the waters. | D．To promote BBC Two’s TV programme. |
| A．Contradictory. | B．Tolerant. | C．Uncertain. | D．Supportive. |
| A．To define the haul-out sites of seals. | B．To introduce the living habit of seals. |
| C．To prove humans’ disturbance to seals. | D．To present the safety problem facing seals. |
| A．Stopping shooting seals completely. |
| B．Leaving seals alone especially in winter. |
| C．Reducing the influence of climate change on seals. |
| D．Connecting with seals indirectly by protecting them. |
5 . Most of us are aware of “Is the glass half full or half empty?” litmus test. If you pick the former, you’re an “optimist”; otherwise, you're a “pessimist”. It’s not a black-or-white test, but it can measure how one sees life.
According to psychologist Lissy Ann Puno, most of us grow up wanting to be an optimist -- a person who can see the good in any situation and can stay hopeful when facing challenges. For some people, though, life happens and they start to see the glass half-empty instead. Pessimists tend to see the wrong in every situation, and blame external factors and circumstances when things aren’t going their way.
Being continuously fed with bad news and disappointments can turn optimistic children into adults that are critical of almost everything. For some, the shift becomes easier, being raised by pessimistic parents. Others still remain optimistic, thanks to a positive household growing up.
“This is why developing optimism in young children is crucial for their development as adults,” said Lissy Ann. If adopted at an early age, this powerful personality quality can help children grow into strong adults capable of handling life’s circumstances with confidence, courage, and hope. What parent wouldn’t want that for their children?
“Children are seen as natural optimists,” Lissy Ann said. They come into this world with unbiased eyes and a pure heart that hasn’t been influenced by social expectations, life experiences, severe mental shock, or authority figures yet. Whether a child grows up to be optimistic or not is part genetic and part environmental. “Childhood experiences, parent-child connection, or authority figures will all have some influence,” she said. Although optimism (or the lack of it) could be passed down genetically, it can also be taught.
1. What do people who see the glass half-empty refer to in paragraph 2?| A．People who become pessimistic | B．People who learn the truth about life |
| C．People who see different sides of things | D．People hold onto hope in difficult times |
| A．Factors that affect children’s attitude to life. |
| B．The negative influence of parents over children’s growth. |
| C．The pattern of children’s mental transformation. |
| D．Circumstances that improve children’s personality. |
| A．It leads them to future success. | B．It enables them to be wise in adulthood. |
| C．It makes them mentally strong in adulthood. | D．It helps them meet their parents’ expectations. |
| A．Children are more optimistic than adults. | B．Genetic factors decide how children see life. |
| C．Optimism strengthens parent-child connection. | D．Proper guidance helps raise optimistic children. |
6 . After years of observing human nature, I have decided that two qualities make a difference between men of great achievement and men of average performance — curiosity and discontent. I have never known an outstanding man who lacked either. And I have never known an average man who had both.
Together, these deep human urges (驱策力) count for much more than ambition. Galileo was not merely ambitious when he dropped objects of varying weights from the Leaning Tower at Pisa and timed their fall to the ground. Like Galileo, all the great names in history were curious and asked in discontent, “Why? Why? Why?”
Fortunately, curiosity and discontent don’t have to be learned. We are born with them and need only to recapture them. “The great man,” said Mencius, “is he who does not lose his child’s heart.” Yet most of us do lose it. We stop asking questions. We stop challenging custom. We just follow the crowd. And the crowd desires only the calm and restful average.
Most of us meet new people, and new ideas, with hesitation. But once having met and liked them, we think how terrible it would have been, had we missed the chance. We will probably have to force ourselves to waken our curiosity and discontent and keep them awake.
How should you start? Modestly, so as not to become discouraged. I think of one friend who couldn’t arrange flowers to satisfy herself. She was curious about how the experts did it.
The way to begin is to answer your own excuses. You haven’t any special ability? Most people don’t; there are only a few geniuses. You haven’t any time? That’s good, because it’s always the people with no time who get things done. Harriet Stowe, mother of six, wrote parts of Uncle Tom’s Cabin while cooking. You’re too old? Remember that Thomas Costain was 57 when he published his first novel, and that Grandma Moses showed her first pictures when she was 78.
However you start, remember there is no better time to start than right now, for you’ll never be more alive than you are at this moment.
1. In writing Paragraph 1, the author aims to ________.| A．present an argument | B．make a comparison | C．reach a conclusion | D．propose a definition |
| A．Scientists tend to have varied ambitions. | B．Trial and error leads to the finding of truth. |
| C．Creativity results from challenging authority. | D．Greatness comes from a lasting desire to explore. |
| A．Observe the unknown around you. | B．Develop a questioning mind. |
| C．Lead a life of adventure. | D．Follow the fashion. |
| A．Gaining success helps you become an expert. |
| B．The genius tends to get things done creatively. |
| C．Lack of talent and time is no reason for taking no action. |
| D．You should remain modest when approaching perfection. |
7 . Recently, I pulled a jacket from my wardrobe, paired it with my red trousers and earrings, and hit the town for a book signing event. That night, I found myself unexpectedly satisfied. I got more praise over this jacket than I had got in years. But what made me feel way better was to respond, “Thank you. I bought it at a second-hand shop.”
Not only did I spend minimal amount on a clearly unbelievable find, but I also joined the ranks of consumers turning to circular fashion”-a growing trend in refreshing our wardrobe and producing new clothes in more planet-friendly ways.
As for the clothing industry; it produces close to 10% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions (碳排放) and is a massive consumer of the world's water supplies. To create a single pair of jeans, for example, requires nearly 2,000 gallons of water. And each year, around 8 billion barrels of oil are used to produce artificial materials.
Consumers also contribute to the problem. They buy cheap new clothes, wear them a few times, and then throw them out. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that Americans threw away 16 million tons of clothing in 2018, with only 15 percent recycled--the rest ended up in landfills or being exported abroad.
Something’s got to give. Scientists are working to develop less harmful carbon-negative fabrics, while some leading brands are shifting from linear take-make-waste economies to circular ones in which fewer clothes are made, waste and pollution are vastly reduced, and the used clothing is given new life.
But there’s also a role for the individual in addressing the problem. “Following the circular fashion, you’ll build an affordable cupboard that's better for the planet,” says Gama, co-founder of a company that helps brands scare their recycling and resale programs.
According to ThredUP, the world’s largest fashion resale platform, the U.S. second-hand market is expected to more than double by 2026. “Our resale report data found that over half of the consumers are more opposed to waste, both financially and environmentally, says ThredUP president Anthony Marino.
1. What amazed the author at the book signing event?| A．People thought highly of her books. |
| B．People got attracted by “circular fashion” |
| C．She got others’ recognition for her dressing |
| D．She had the chance to buy second-hand goods. |
| A．The high costs of artificial materials. |
| B．The seriousness of environmental pollution. |
| C．The necessity of producing artificial materials. |
| D．The high environmental costs of the clothing industry. |
| A．Improving the quality of their clothes. |
| B．Researching recyclable clothing materials. |
| C．Promoting a sustainable clothing industry. |
| D．Making their clothes affordable to consumers. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Confident. | C．Objective. | D．Curious. |
1．你遇到的情况；
2．智能手机的利与弊；
3．你的看法和倡议。
注意：
1．词数100左右；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Editor,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
9 . Since the early to mid-2010s, social media apps have made a permanent home in many people’s phones and spending time on social media has become as much of a daily activity as eating food or drinking water. Since so many people — especially kids, teens, and young adults — are on it for much of their days, there is increased concern over what social media is doing to people with its overwhelming (巨大的) information. Many argue that social media is an unhealthy way to pass the time, and false information from online is causing panic and confusion.
While social media may sometimes be linked to negativity, it is not as bad as many make it out to be. In fact, it has given birth to a whole new way to advocate for important movements, and it’s easy to spread one’s message to reach a large audience. For example, the Black Lives Matter movement started with online advocacy and it eventually reached practically everyone around the world during the civil rights movement over the summer in 2020. Activists online can create informational fliers, post resources to further educate people on any given topic, and interact with like- minded people that want to help as well within a matter of minutes without even having to leave the house.
Honieh Hemati, a social activist, agrees that social media can be extremely helpful. “It can be really educational and inspirational. Sometimes it can open your eyes to a new perspective (视角) you wouldn’t have seen yourself,” she explained.
It is unjust to demonize (使妖魔化) social media, when it seems that most issues around social media are user errors, like anyone complaining there are too many people voicing opinions they don’t agree with, or being addicted to social media. It really is up to the individual— how they think of social media, and how they make use of it. People who have any grasp on reality wouldn’t spend every waking second on the phone, and they are responsible for what they post online.
1. What are people worried about in terms of social media?| A．Confusion and panic it causes to young people. |
| B．Difficulty to delete apps once they are downloaded. |
| C．Unhealthy habits of using it while eating or drinking. |
| D．Bad effects it brings about with too much information. |
| A．Harmful. | B．Changeable. | C．Beneficial. | D．Addictive. |
| A．Forbid the young from it. | B．Mind how they see it and use it. |
| C．Be aware of the errors on it. | D．Make the most and best use of it. |
| A．Social Media: Now or Never! | B．Social Media: Demon or Angel? |
| C．Activists: Social Media Are Helpful | D．Teens: Stay Away from Social Media |
10 . 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Zibo city in Shandong province has gone viral on Chinese social media since late February for its local barbecue specialty, and the local government takes the opportunity
On March 31 the Jinan bureau of China Railway
Barbecue is popular in China, but Zibo’s barbecue differs
The barbecue
