1 . Accents are a sign of belonging and something that separates communities. Yet we can probably think of people who seem to have lost their accent and of others whose accent stays firmly in place. Given the personal and social importance of how someone speaks, why would anyone’s accent change?
A conscious or subconscious desire to fit in can influence the way you speak. If someone moves from Australia to America to work, for example, they will probably at least change their accent in order to get a better sense of belonging. This may be out of a need or desire to be more clearly understood and to be accepted in a new community. They might also want to avoid ridicule for the way they speak.
For people whose accents do shift, the way they speak may be less important to their sense of identity, or their identity with a social or professional group may be more pressing. Even before we are born, we are exposed to the speech patterns of those around us. We progress through various stages of speech development that result in us having speech patterns similar to those around us.
For others whose accent does not seem to change, it could be because they feel safe in their identity, and their accent is much part of that identity — or that keeping the difference is valuable to them.
Meanwhile, brain damage may result in foreign accent syndrome (FAS), which results from physical changes that are not under the speaker’s control. Suffering from FAS, speakers may lose the ability to speak at all or experience strange changes in the way they pronounce. In some cases, listeners might look down upon a person with FAS as they believe them to be foreigners. It’s no wonder many people unconsciously protect themselves by adapting their speech to those around them.
1. What does the underlined word ”This“ in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．The desire to fit in. | B．The change of career. |
| C．The adjustment of accents. | D．The influence on language. |
| A．The result of brain damage. | B．Their strong sense of identity. |
| C．Their desire to learn about locals. | D．The need to adapt to new environment. |
| A．They may be taken as foreigners. |
| B．They can not help making a sound. |
| C．They suffer from emotional changes. |
| D．They may change accents to gain respect. |
| A．To explain the loss of accents. |
| B．To introduce the history of accents. |
| C．To analyze why accents are lost or kept. |
| D．To show the significance of accent changes, |
2 . It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners 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 a good sense. It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling 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 behaviors of politeness are 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 to 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 that give rise to unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately, modern drivers can’t even learn to drive, let alone master the roadmanship (公路驾车技能). Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users. It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart.
1. Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?| A．Traffic Jams. | B．Good Manners. |
| C．Road Politeness. | D．Modem Drivers. |
| A．Traffic jams. | B．The behaviour of the drivers. |
| C．The great speed of modern life. | D．Terrible road conditions. |
| A．Encourage children to cross the road whenever they want to. |
| B．Beat back when forced to face rude driving. |
| C．Be able to recognise politeness when he sees it. |
| D．Join in a traffic stream quickly however other people feel. |
| A．master the roadmanship |
| B．neglect politeness when they see it |
| C．give a friendly nod in answer to an act of politeness |
| D．encourage old ladies to cross the road whenever and wherever they want to |
3 . Lying to friends and family members may seem like a way to lose their trust.
To study how these two types of lies affect relationships within social groups, researchers created a hypothetical (假定的) mathematical model. The model showed that individuals who tell anti-social lies become isolated (孤立的) within their social networks sometimes.
While the researchers created a hypothetical model, it could be used to understand how lying affects groups of friends in the real world.
| A．Do white lies serve a social function? |
| B．And real-world lies can take many forms. |
| C．What exactly are the “right” reasons for lying? |
| D．But new research suggests this may not always be the case. |
| E．This type of lie weakens the friendships between two people. |
| F．However, individuals who tell white lies don’t have such feeling. |
| G．It could also help scientists understand the influence of lying in online communities. |
4 . Twenty-five years ago, most young Britons wanted a career in law, to be a doctor, or, if they were creative enough, to take up singing. But today, things stand differently.
According to a survey by Tesco Mobile, a UK company, the “dream job” of young people aged between 16 and 25 in the UK is a video blogger (写博客的人), or “vlogger (视频博主)”．The survey, carried out among 1,002 people, found that as many as 40 percent of them put vloggers as their number one choice on a list of ideal careers.
This change is undoubtedly as a result of the Internet and social media.They have made it so much easier to reach the audience of the world, without having to enter a career in show business in the traditional way.
In the past, the biggest stars were trained by the Hollywood studios; now, anyone with a computer camera can become a star. Vloggers are the big stars of today because they are normal people interacting (交流) with their fans about everyday life.
However, what people see is only the bright side of being a vlogger and they fail to notice the fact that only those who are successful earn fame (名声) and fortune. For every success there are hundreds of others who never get off the starting line. There are the dreams that come true and the dreams that remain dreams forever.
Although being vloggers is popular, some young people choose to follow careers that don’t necessarily earn them fame, but allow them to make good use of the Internet to share their hobbies.Young Israeli David Leshaw, for example, runs a business called the Finishers Club.It’s an online platform for runners to keep a record of their races.His job allows him to express his enthusiasm, and is always a learning experience.And that’s enough for him．
1. Why do more and more young Britons choose to be vloggers?| A．Vloggers can earn little fame and money on the Internet. |
| B．There is too much competition in the traditional show business. |
| C．The Internet makes it convenient to become vloggers. |
| D．Anyone with a computer will surely become a star. |
| A．Only a few vloggers can be successful. | B．A vlogger can not earn fame or fortune. |
| C．Being a vlogger is not a good career. | D．Dreams will come true one day. |
| A．Learn from others. | B．Become an online hit. |
| C．Hold running races. | D．Mix jobs with hobbies. |
| A．Most young Britons choose to be vloggers as their jobs. |
| B．The Internet is influencing young Britons’ career choice. |
| C．The Internet is taking the place of traditional studios. |
| D．Young Britons can not find jobs without the Internet. |
5 . In this digital age, people measure their popularity by the number of “likes” and followers they get on social media. But as it turns out, people are happier when their friends are of high quality rather than huge quantity.
Scientists from the University of Leeds in the UK studied data from two online surveys of nearly 1,500 people. Those who took the survey gave details about their age, social interactions, and how satisfied they were with their social lives. The researchers found that those who had a small number of close friends generally tended to be happier than those who had a large number of superficial (关系浅表的) friends.
“Loneliness has less to do with the number of friends you have, and more to do with how you feel about your friends,” said Bruine de Bruin, one of the researchers.
He found that older people tended to have smaller social circles than young people, but the people in these circles tended to be closer to them. He also found that younger people tended to have larger social circles that were made up of “peripheral(次要的) others”— people who are not their true friends, but just the ones they know. These people had no influence on their happiness.
The results of the study show that the opinion society has about old people being sad and lonely might not be accurate.
“The research shows that older adults’ smaller networks don’t decrease their social satisfaction and happiness. In fact, older adults tend to report a better sense of well-being than younger adults,” said Bruine de Bruin.
1. According to the study, people tend to be happier when they ______.| A．have friends of huge quantity | B．have a small circle of close friends |
| C．have a lot of followers on social media | D．make friends with older people |
| A．Older people’s friends seem to be of higher quality. |
| B．Younger people don’t need to make peripheral friends. |
| C．Older people’s happiness has nothing to do with their friends. |
| D．Both older and younger people find it hard to make close friends. |
| A．Sad. | B．Happy. | C．Lonely. | D．Concerned |
| A．Different types of friends in one’s life. |
| B．Changes in people’s happiness levels. |
| C．Interactions between older and younger people. |
| D．The relationship between happiness and the quality and quantity of friends. |
More and more children are suffering from eco-anxiety, which is
The Teach the Future campaign finds that only one in four schoolchildren
It says, Eco-anxiety does have a big effect
7 . The teenage years are probably the most unsettled and stressful years in a person’s life. Teens experience significant physical, emotional, social and cognitive changes. And teens of today face more challenges as they go through more uncertain times of the 21st century.
As teens experience massive physical, social and emotional changes, the challenges are managing social expectations of ideal body images, developing their identity and finding their place in the world. In the past, a teen who was criticized for his or her larger figure or pimpled (有粉刺的) face, might feel embarrassed and dejected in school.
There have been many discussions about new technologies and ways of working, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, which will impact future jobs.
| A．They can also be spread quickly by sharing with others. |
| B．Furthermore, social media has taken bullying to a new level. |
| C．The future has always been a dreamland for teens to anticipate. |
| D．Today, these same sufferings can be expanded by social media. |
| E．Social media, and technological advances are posing new challenges. |
| F．Additionally, social media is a strong tool for a teen to defend himself. |
| G．The challenge for a teen today is preparing for a largely unknown future. |
What’s the price of a family meal? The answer seems to be, “too much”. For instance, in the United States, as is often
So perhaps we had better ask ourselves
But those numbers, impressive
9 . Popularization has in some cases changed the original meaning of emotional intelligence. Many people now misunderstand emotional intelligence as almost everything desirable in a person’s makeup that cannot be measured by an IQ test, such as character, motivation, confidence, mental stability, optimism and “people skills.” Research has shown that emotional skills may contribute to some of these qualities, but most of them move far beyond skill-based emotional intelligence.
We prefer to describe emotional intelligence as a specific set of skills that can be used for either good or bad purposes. The ability to accurately understand how others are feeling may be used by a doctor to find how best to help her patients, while a cheater might use it to control potential victims. Being emotionally intelligent does not necessarily make one a moral person.
Although popular beliefs regarding emotional intelligence run far ahead of what research can reasonably support, the overall effects of the publicity have been more beneficial than harmful. The most positive aspect of this popularization is a new and much needed emphasis (重视) on emotion by employers, educators and others interested in promoting social well-being. The popularization of emotional intelligence has helped both the public and researchers re-evaluate the functionality of emotions and how they serve people adaptively in everyday life.
Although the continuing popular appeal of emotional intelligence is desirable, we hope that such attention will excite a greater interest in the scientific and scholarly study of emotion. It is our hope that in coming decades, advances in science will offer new perspectives (视角) from which to study how people manage their lives. Emotional intelligence, with its focus on both head and heart, may serve to point us in the right direction.
1. What is a common misunderstanding of emotional intelligence?| A．It can be measured by an IQ test. |
| B．It helps to exercise a person’s mind. |
| C．It includes a set of emotional skills. |
| D．It refers to a person’s positive qualities. |
| A．To explain a rule. |
| B．To clarify a concept. |
| C．To present a fact. |
| D．To make a prediction. |
| A．Favorable. |
| B．Intolerant. |
| C．Doubtful. |
| D．Unclear. |
| A．Emotional intelligence is emphasized by all the people. |
| B．People who are highly emotionally intelligent are honourable persons. |
| C．The research we do at present cannot reasonably support popular beliefs of emotional intelligence. |
| D．Emotional intelligence contribute a lot to the qualities like character, motivation, confidence and so on. |
| A．Its appeal to the public. |
| B．Expectations for future studies. |
| C．Its practical application. |
| D．Scientists with new perspectives. |
10 . Before uploading a photo of ourselves to social media, the chances are that we’ll use an app to smooth our skin, enlarge our eyes, and sharpen our jawlines. With a couple of taps on our mobile phones, we can get a quick fix and present the “best” version of ourselves to the world. However, the problem is that when we simply edit out our imperfections, we’re also changing the way we look at ourselves.
Last month, researchers published the article Selfies—Living in the Era of Filtered Photographs. The article analyzed photo editing apps’ bad influences on people’s self-respect and their possibility of causing anxiety about appearance. The researchers also warned that such apps might make the young generation misjudge themselves. “These apps allow one to change his or her appearance in minutes and follow an unrealistic standard of beauty,” the article read.
In the past, people may have compared their looks to those of famous persons. But for today’s young people, beauty standards are most likely set by what they see on social media. “From birth, they are born into an age of social platforms where their feelings of self-worth can be based purely on the number of likes and followers that they have, which is linked to how good they look,” British cosmetic doctor Tijion Esho told The Independent. This is why many young people suffer an identity trouble when it comes to appearance.
“Now you’ve got this daily comparison of your real self to the fake self that you present on social media,” Renee Engeln, professor of psychology, told the HuffPost website. Engeln further pointed out that when people spent too much time making such comparisons, they might become “beauty sick” and find it difficult to accept what they actually look like. “Because between you and the world is a mirror, and it’s a mirror that travels with you everywhere. You can’t seem to put it down,” she told The Washington Post. So when we look at ourselves in a real mirror, we shouldn’t think, “Do I look as good as myself in the filtered photos?” Instead, we should think, “I feel good; I have my health.”
1. Before uploading a photo to social media, what will we probably do?| A．We will probably have an operation to make our eyes look bigger. |
| B．We will probably use a cream to smooth our skin. |
| C．We will probably use an app to fix our photos. |
| D．We will probably edit some text. |
| A．In many ways, photo editing apps are beneficial to people. |
| B．Photo editing apps are likely to cause people’s anxiety about their appearance. |
| C．Photo editing apps can make us more beautiful. |
| D．Photo editing apps help people judge realistic beauty. |
| A．Because they compare their looks to those of famous persons. |
| B．Because beauty standards are set by social media. |
| C．Because their feelings of self-worth depend on their own likes and dislikes. |
| D．Because their feelings of self-worth depend on their appearance. |
| A．feel good about what we actually look like |
| B．spend more time making comparisons of our real self to the fake self |
| C．take a mirror with us everywhere |
| D．try to look as good as ourselves in the filtered photos |
