In America,
Humankind’s growing need for food is running up against thousands of other species’ need for space. By 2050, humans may need to clear an additional 3.35 million square
3 . On Feb. 21, four students were standing on the side of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu when a driver going 110 miles per hour lost control of his car and it crashed into the parked vehicles.12 people were killed at the scene, including 2 drivers.
This kind of traffic death shouldn’t be called an accident. In Los Angeles, we seem to have accepted constant carnage (屠杀) in our streets in exchange for maximizing driver speed and convenience. The official responses to proven traffic dangers are mere gestures, if even that.
Los Angeles is a uniquely deadly city with a death rate that is four times the national average. Unsurprisingly, it’s also a city that has been designed with one thing in mind: a concept called level of service, which grades streets on how well they serve those in automobiles. To many Angelenos, that makes sense — to design our streets for car traffic, which is the way many get around the city. Unfortunately, we don’t recognize that there’s a trade-off. We can either have streets bettered for free-flowing traffic, or we can design streets for people to move around safely outside of cars.
City leaders consistently choose for the easy but deadly option. In one recent example, a resident asked the city’s Department of Transportation to block drivers from using Cochran Avenue at Venice Boulevard as a cut-through street, as they were speeding through a quiet residential neighbourhood. The department responded by suggesting a “speed awareness campaign” in which neighbours put up yard signs urging drivers to slow down.
People don’t drive based on signage, but they drive on the design of the street. The trunk roads of Los Angeles such as Venice Boulevard all need to be revised so that people are prioritized over cars. This would include narrowing travel lanes (道), building bike lanes, and banning right turns at red lights. These measures would make drivers feel like they’re in a city and not on a highway. A recent John Hopkins study says this would have substantial safety benefits.
With more than 7,500 miles of streets in the city of Los Angeles, they won’t all be rebuilt anytime soon. But with each road construction project, or each crash, we should be revising streets to make them safer for all road users.
The solution to traffic jam isn’t to make more space for cars. It’s to design the streets to be safe enough for alternatives such as biking, walking and mass transit, especially for the 50% of trips daily in Los Angeles that are less than three miles. The solution to protecting people dining outdoors isn’t crash barriers. It’s a street design that forces drivers to go slowly. The problem is carnage in the streets, and we know the solutions.
1. Why should the traffic death in Los Angeles be called “constant carnage”?A.The traffic accidents happen quite often. |
B.Too many people are killed in the traffic accidents. |
C.The drivers’ speeding is to blame for the traffic death. |
D.City leaders’ consistent choice contributes to the traffic death. |
A.Balance. | B.Guideline. | C.Conflict. | D.Resolution. |
A.To widen travel lanes. | B.To add more crosswalks. |
C.To arrange more traffic police. | D.To punish speeding drivers. |
A.Drivers first or walkers first? | B.Traffic death or constant carnage? |
C.More warning signs or safer designs? | D.More narrow lanes or speedy highways? |
The dinner party is
People from different generations often live and work together. Sometimes they’re happy being together, other times they’re not. One of the reasons for their unhappiness maybe a generation gap. A generation gap is the difference between two or more generations—not the differences between their years but the differences between the generations’ ideas, attitudes, and interests. Of course, people can have differences and still be happy together, but according to the experts, communication between the generations helps everyone get along.
Good communication between the generations starts in the family. These days many families are changing their communication style. They are moving from a “one-way” style to a “two-way” style of communication. To show this change, let’s compare two families:
The Smith family uses the “one-way” style of communication. Mr. and Mrs. Smith show interest in their children, but they don’t discuss problems of feelings. The parents make all the rules and decisions. They don’t ask for their children’s opinions. They explain their decisions to their children, but they don’t discuss them. The explanation is clear and the children understand. The communication goes one way: from the parents to the children.
The Jones family uses the “two-way” style of communication. Mr. and Mrs. Jones show interest in their children and ask for their opinions. They discuss problems and express their feelings. The family makes rules and decisions together after a discussion. The communication goes two ways: from parents to children and from children to parents.
Better communication between generations at home means better communication between generations at work and in the community. When people from different generations understand each other better, they learn from each other more. This helps them form stronger bonds, work together more easily. As a result, people of all ages can team up effectively and come up with new ideas in different parts of life.
1. What is a generation gap?2. Where does good communication between the generations begin?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
If Jack’ parents discuss with him where to spend their summer vacation, they use the “one-way” style of communication.
4. To bridge the generation gaps, what other suggestions would you make besides better communication? (In about 40 words)
Group-Chat Culture Is Out of Control
For better or worse, we might be in the Age of the Group Chat. In a recent survey, most people said they felt stressed out by group messages, which can feel like a part-time job.
Connection is wonderful. Grexts, short for group texts, have the feature of imitating the casual back-and-forth of a dialogue, and the result can be more dynamic and fun than a two-person thread. Having a chat going also means you have a space to share your updates throughout the day, a reminder that you’re part of something.
Some researchers call this “ambient(周围的) virtual presence”: Even when you’re alone, you’re not alone. One researcher compares this phenomenon to echolocation(回声定位), the process that some animals, such as bats and dolphins, use to locate objects: They produce a continuous sound and use the resulting echo to sense their surroundings. Humans might use technologies such as group chats in a similar way—as a call-and-response, taking in information about their social networks and locating themselves within those webs.
But taking in too many signals can be overwhelming. Professor Bayer argued that group chats can create a “waterfall type of effect”, where messages keep flooding in and adding up. Eventually, you’re underwater. Another researcher suggested that different chat members all bring their own personalities, communication styles, and expectations for group norms. Without a standard etiquette (礼仪), people have varied opinions about what degree of responsiveness is required—which can cause real tension.
Grext anxiety is hard to resolve because it isn’t just about the group-chat or even mobile technology in general; it’s about the tension between being our own person and being responsible to others. Ultimately, most of us do want connection, even if it involves some duties.
1. What is the feature of Grexts?2. How might humans use group chats like echolocation?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
▶Without a standard etiquette, people have different ideas about what messages should be answered.
4. Please describe how another mobile technology affects your relationship with others. (In about 40 words)
When Kylie
8 . Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO)
We’ve all felt it; that uncomfortable feeling when you look through your social media feed and see photos of friends having a better time than you, or that feeling when you read about a friend’s amazing job that you chose the wrong life path. This feeling is called FOMO, or fear of missing out.
Although people have felt FOMO for hundreds of years, the growth of social media seems to have made the phenomenon (现象) worse. For many, it has now become habit to compare your life with others’ lives — or rather the highlights of their lives; something that previous generations could not do so readily. This skews your sense of normal and brings about feelings like hate, envy and dissatisfaction. What’s more, marketers have made use of FOMO phenomenon as a means to drive sales. Sales that last a limited time and pop-ups that show other people buying all take advantage of our FOMO.
Since the FOMO phenomenon was recognised, it has been increasingly studied by scientists eager to discover its trends and influences. Scientists at Carleton and McGill University discovered that negative FOMO feelings were experienced more often towards the end of the day and at the end of the week and that FOMO was experienced more by people carrying out obligatory (强制性的) work, like jobs and study.
This is not to say that people only experience FOMO when they join in an mundane (单调的) activity. In a follow-up study, researchers found that participants who specifically selected one activity over another experienced FOMO when reminded about the other activity, even if their chosen activity was sociable and enjoyable, and if the other was unsociable. Moreover, they experienced FOMO whether they were reminded about the other activity through social media or in conversation.
Interestingly, although FOMO is widely connected with teenagers and young adults and those who use social media, research has found that people of all ages experience it. Researchers at Washington State University found that it is more closely linked to factors like loneliness and low self-respect. However, for those people, social media can make the problem worse.
Some researchers recognise an upside to FOMO, saying that it can drive you to take action, connect with others and get out of your comfort zone. More often than not, though, FOMO leads to increasing loneliness and even FOJI, fear of joining in, in the belief that your own insights or contributions will not be valued.
A rising counter-culture to FOMO, though, is JOMO — the joy of missing out. This includes the pleasure and satisfaction of a night in, doing what you enjoy best, turning off your phone notifications and living in the moment, focusing not on what you lack but on what you have.
1. What does the underlined word in paragraph 2 probably mean?A.Influences. | B.Reflects. | C.Causes. | D.Strengthens. |
A.results in JOMO and FOJI in the end |
B.makes people eager to join in sociable activities |
C.is more often felt by those with low self-respect |
D.has come into being since the social media appeared |
A.Offering customers good bargains in the sale. |
B.Comparing the goods with the ones in other shops. |
C.Showing an advertisement about the quality of the goods. |
D.Reminding customers that many people have bought the goods. |
Emojis
“It’s so cute!” “I want one!” Since such posts spread on social media, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics mascot Bing Dwen Dwen