1 . Twelve-year-old Catherine has a lot of friends—632, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.
But is it possible that Catherine’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe. Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.
Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually meant spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not words with friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.
Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of this time is spent on social media platform.
In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friendships stronger. “There’s definitely a positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie Davis, co-author of The App Generation.
Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual world, we will have little time for our real-world friendships,” says Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University. Rosen also worries that today’s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you don’t need anyone to like your picture or share your blogs. You need someone who will keep your secrets and hold your hand. You would like to talk face to face.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?A.To tell about true friends. | B.To start a discussion. |
C.To encourage online friendships. | D.To summarize(总结) the text. |
A.In any case. | B.In public. | C.In person. | D.In advance. |
A.Unconcerned. | B.Positive. | C.Worried. | D.Confused. |
A.Teenagers need to focus on real-world friendships. | B.It’s easier to develop friendships in real life. |
C.It’s wise to turn to friends online. | D.Social media help people stay closely connected. |
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 . Most children now chat daily either online or through their mobile phones.
Sometimes the online world, just like the real world, can cause problems, such as bullying (恃强凌弱) or arguments.
A.Going online is great fun. |
B.Computer studies are part of schoolwork now. |
C.The language of chat is strange to many parents, too. |
D.There are some websites that are not suitable for the children. |
E.To keep children safe, your management must cover the family computer. |
F.They are connecting to a huge number of other children all over the world. |
G.Surfing the Internet takes up too much of the time that should be spent on lessons. |
Socializing with my friends online is my life. The moment I wake
Social networking
It is common that at parties or at a family holiday, most members fix their eyes on their phones,
What is most worrying is that it is
5 . Every festival has its own meaning. Labor Day, for example, celebrates the value of hard work. Thanksgiving is about showing thanks to people around you. And Valentines’ Day is a time when you express love to your loved ones. But somehow it now seems that all festivals we just care about one thing — shopping. And that can be a big problem.
“In a way, over-consumption (过度消费) is the mother of all our environmental problems,” Kalle Lasn once told CNN. Lasn is the organizer of Buy Nothing Day, a day set up in Canada in 1992 to fight against unhealthy spending habits, and has now become an international event. It’s held on the day, which is known as Black Friday — a famous shopping day in the US and Canada.
You can see the irony (讽刺) here.
Even though the idea of Buy Nothing Day was brought up 26 years ago, we seem to need it now more than ever. It’s just as Lasn said, all the different kinds of pollution in our lives today — bad air quality, the reduction of forest area, endangered animal species, and plastic bags found in the ocean — seem to be the same cause: over-consumption.
The latest example is the Singles’ Day shopping craze of Nov 11, which saw a new sales record. But as Nie Li, a campaigner at Greenpeace, told Reuters, “Record-setting over-consumption means record-setting waste.” And it was reported that last year the Singles’ Day packages left more than 160,000 tons of waste, including plastic and cardboard. The Collins Dictionary has also just named “single-use” its Word of the Year, pointing out the problem that there’re too many things we tow out after only using them once.
So, Buy Nothing Day might only be here for one day a year, but it’s not just to remind us to the a break from shopping on that day, but to change our lifestyle completely, focusing on fun “with people we care about” rather than wasting money on useless things.
1. What’s the authors purpose of writing the first paragraph?A.To express the people’s love for all festivals. |
B.To talk about the meaning of the festivals. |
C.To appreciate the value of the festivals. |
D.To bring out the topic of the passage. |
A.To help people save money. | B.To cut the cost for daily life. |
C.To prevent over-consumption. | D.To set up a new sales record. |
A.Opposed (反对的). | B.Supportive. |
C.Unknown. | D.Neutral (中立的). |
A.Creating a New Lifestyle | B.Buy Nothing Day |
C.Festivals Around the World | D.A Change in People’s Life |
6 . Some people say that city living in the 21st century is stressful and offers no advantages, but I don’t agree with them completely.
With the development of high-tech and the improvement of living qualities, more and more people crowded into the city, which leads to the uncontrollable urbanization(城市化). Because of this, some of the largest cities must be fairly oppressive(压抑的) places in which to live if you are short of money or unemployed. However, for those with much income, a city provides colourful environment which enables people to enjoy their modern life. In that case, I believe the advantages of urban living far outweigh its shortcomings.
Regarding shopping, as for me, rather than click on the Internet to get what I want, I prefer to window-shop. All kinds of shopping malls and supermarkets located in the city centre really content me. What’s more, a large city’s service even covers numbers of the surrounding towns and benefits many people.
In terms of entertainment, city residents are usually spoiled for choice, from amusement park to sport stadium, whoever you are will find exactly what you need. Maybe going to a concert tonight and visiting museums tomorrow. The city always contains various activities and full of energy.
The city also provides better opportunities with so many choices and challenges. Cities with universities offer high-standard education so that graduates from these places always get ideal jobs with considerable salary. Every day in the business district, you can see a fierce competition among those large companies, while there are exactly places that may give birth to talents.
Many people may complain about the traffic jam or pollution in the city, but I think with some useful measures to take, our city will be more habitable rather than stressful.
1. What does the author intend to tell us in the passage?A.City living in the 21st century is stressful. |
B.The city provides more conveniences and pleasures. |
C.City living brings great trouble to the youth. |
D.The city is gradually dying out as a matter of fact. |
A.disposable income and colourful environment |
B.quantities of population and shopping centres |
C.great entertainments and better education |
D.strong measures and fresh air |
A.they have no more choices for amusement | B.they can hardly find what they like to do |
C.there are so many kinds of entertainment | D.they will spend more money in a way |
A.Disappointed. | B.Hopeful. | C.Subjective. | D.Cold-hearted. |
7 . As Internet users become more dependent on the Internet to store information, are people remembering less? If you know your computer will save information, why store it in your own personal memory,your brain? Experts are wondering if the Internet is changing what we remember and how.
In a recent study, Professor Betsy Sparrow conducted some experiments. She and her research team wanted to know the Internet is changing memory. In the first experiment, they gave people 40 unimportant facts to type into a computer. The first group of people understood that the computer would save the information. The second group understood that the computer would not save it. Later, the second group remembered the information better. People in the first group knew they could find the information again, so they did not try to remember it.
In another experiment, the researchers gave people facts to remember, and told them where to find the information on the Internet. The information was in a specific computer folder (文件夹). Surprisingly, people later remembered the folder location better than the facts. When people use the Internet, they do not remember the information. Rather, they remember how to find it. This is called “transactive memory (交互记忆)”.
According to Sparrow, we are not becoming people with poor memories as a result of the Internet. Instead, computer users are developing stronger transactive memories; that is, people are learning how to organise huge quantities of information so that they are able to access it at a later date. This doesn’t mean we are becoming either more or less intelligent, but there is no doubt that the way we use memory is changing.
1. What is the effect of the Internet according to Sparrow’s research?A.We are using memory differently. |
B.We are becoming more intelligent. |
C.We have poorer memories than before. |
D.We need a better way to access information. |
A.To introduce the main topic. |
B.To show the author’s attitude. |
C.To describe how to use the Internet. |
D.To explain how to store information. |
A.Sparrow’s team typed the information into a computer. |
B.The two groups remembered the information equally well. |
C.The first group did not try to remember the information. |
D.The second group did not understand the information. |
A.To keep the information in mind. |
B.To change the quantity of information. |
C.To organise information like a computer. |
D.To remember how to find the information. |
8 . Have you seen people who take pictures of food for more than 10 minutes before eating? How about those who beautify their selfie (自拍照片) so much that they can’t be
Take my friend Chen. Every time we went to a restaurant, she would not take a
Many people care too much about others’ opinions and try too hard to
If they really want an elegant life, they should put more
A.envied | B.admired | C.recognised | D.defeated |
A.exist | B.survive | C.flood | D.spot |
A.bow | B.break | C.breath | D.bite |
A.ordered | B.served | C.offered | D.prepared |
A.messy | B.arranged | C.casual | D.correct |
A.dishes | B.restaurants | C.pictures | D.tables |
A.chance | B.choice | C.excuse | D.reason |
A.months | B.years | C.hours | D.days |
A.comfort | B.please | C.inspire | D.discourage |
A.independent | B.generous | C.responsible | D.confident |
A.rarely | B.hardly | C.exactly | D.nearly |
A.question | B.dislike | C.doubt | D.follow |
A.effort | B.ambitions | C.feelings | D.money |
A.identifying | B.accepting | C.persuading | D.amusing |
A.simplifying | B.ruining | C.beautifying | D.worsening |
9 . Ancient hutongs of Beijing are always popular with visitors to the capital city. But time has not been kind to these old neighborhoods. In the middle of the 20th century, over 3,000 hutongs could be found in Beijing. But owing to a program of rapid modernization, the vast majority of these have been torn down. Today, unfortunately, just 500 remain. Although efforts have been taken to protect the surviving hutongs, many of the homes in these areas have fallen into disrepair and are in alarming condition.
But Beijing architecture firm People’s Architecture Office (PAO) has designed a solution for repairing hutong homes while keeping their traditional character. PAO is putting prefabricated modules (预制模块) in and around the houses, consisting of panels (嵌板) made of steel and glass. The panels fit together to create bright, comfortable space for residents (居民). The modules cost $500 per square meter--one-tenth of the Beijing average of $5, 000 per square meter--and can be installed in a day.
“The units are small,” says James Shen, co-founder of PAO. “It means that we are able to bring them piece by piece into these very narrow hutongs. It also means that we can do building repairs without tearing any of the old buildings down.”
The group recently performed its first installation for a resident, in the Guangcai Hutong. Resident Fan Ke says the module has been transformative, particularly for the additional light it provides. “At first when I lived here, it was always dark,” says Fan. “Now after the repairs, I’m bathed in sunlight throughout the day. I no longer feel caged in.”
She hopes the first installation will be followed by thousands more. The architect says such a program would breathe new life into the hutongs, which, particularly those in central areas, are already seeing more interest from house purchasers. One couple recently spent over $800, 000 on an 11-square-meter home in Wenchang Hutong.
“This kind of solution can help make these older areas livelier,” says Shen. “It can show younger people that you don’t have to move to a brand new modern apartment complex.”
1. What feeling does the author express in paragraph 1?A.Curiosity. | B.Concern. | C.Excitement. | D.Confusion. |
A.They are very big and cheap. |
B.They use traditional materials. |
C.They cannot be torn down easily. |
D.They do not harm the ancient architecture. |
A.They are satisfying. | B.They are in great demand. |
C.They block out the sunlight. | D.They often need repair work. |
A.The Last Hutongs of Beijing |
B.A Growing Need for Hutong Homes |
C.Beijing’s Hutongs Get a Futuristic Makeover |
D.Young People Change Their Attitude to Beijing’s Hutongs |
10 .
Cheating can happen in a lot of different ways.When people cheat,it’s not fair to other people,like the kids who studied for the test or who the true winners of a game were.
Many people like the action of cheating.In their opinion,it makes difficult things seem easy,like getting all the right answers on the test.But it doesn't solve the problem of not knowing the material and it won't help on the next test—unless the person cheats again.
Some people lose respect for cheaters and think less of them.The cheaters themselves may feel bad because they know they shouldn't get that good grade.And,if they get caught cheating,they will be in trouble at school,and maybe at home,too.
Some kids cheat because they're busy or lazy and they want to get good grades without spending the time studying.Other kids might feel like they can’t pass the test without cheating.Even when there seems to be a “good reason” for cheating,cheating isn’t a good idea.
If you were sick or upset about something the night before the day and couldn’t study,it would be better to talk with the teacher about this.And if you don’t have enough time to study for a test because of swim practice,you need to talk with your parents about how to balance swimming and school.A kid who thinks cheating is the only way to pass a test needs to talk with the teacher and his or her parents so they can find some solutions together.Talking about these problems and working them out will feel better than cheating.
1. What does the author think when kids cheat in class?A.It is unfair to other people. |
B.It does harm to their health. |
C.Teachers should punish them. |
D.Teachers shouldn't stop them at once. |
A.Because they think the material in the test is very difficult. |
B.Because they want to do better than the others. |
C.Because cheating can make hard things seem very easy. |
D.Because they have little time to study their lessons. |
A.Some kids can’t pass the test without cheating. |
B.Why kids cheat in the test. |
C.Cheating isn’t a good idea. |
D.Some kids don't spend the time studying. |
A.Cheaters are often thought highly of. |
B.People show no respect for those who cheat. |
C.Parents whose kids cheat are often in trouble. |
D.Kids cheat in the test because of swim practice. |