1 . Whether you're a citizen, consumer or investor, it is fast becoming a key life skill to make out greenwashing, a word meaning a company claims that its products are environmentally friendly but actually not green at all. Misleading or not proved claims about benefits to climate can make it harder for people to make informed decisions. They can also weaken real efforts by companies to clean up their act and deal with the climate crisis.
The basic problem is a lack of clarity. Indeed, when it comes to spotting greenwashing, it can actually be more helpful to focus on the color grey—because it is the many grey areas that have helped make greenwashing appear in particular places. These grey areas might be around measurements, definitions, best practice, standards or regulations. Even the language we use is very imprecise, leaving lots of room for vagueness, confusion or complete cheating. For instance, what do words such as “green”, “sustainable” and “eco” even mean? You have no standards, measurements or definitions to judge by.
These problems are increasingly important when it comes to the greenwashing of investment products, such as pensions and investment funds. In recent years, there has been a sharp rise in consumer demand for funds that invest according to environmental, social and governance criteria, often referred to as ESG funds. According to the financial data provider Morningstar, the value of assets(资产) held in UK funds grew from £29bn at the beginning of 2017 to £71bn by the end of 2020.
With that much money at risk for high profits, misleading claims can effectively hamper the flow of money and resources into really green new plans and businesses, preventing global efforts from dealing with the climate emergency. “I describe it as the 'teenage years' of responsible investing, with a lot of experimentation, and a lot of people trying out new things.” says Ashley Hamilton Claxton.
1. Which of the following can be called greenwashing?| A．A product that is claimed to benefit the climate. |
| B．A product that can been washed in a green way. |
| C．A product that is absolutely environmentally friendly. |
| D．A product that is claimed to be green while not the case. |
| A．The product's description is not clear. |
| B．The language isn't grammatically right. |
| C．There are no such words as “sustainable”. |
| D．The company doesn't say it's “green” and “eco”. |
| A．put | B．clarify | C．stop | D．divide |
| A．Much money enables high profits |
| B．Responsible investing is still at its early stage. |
| C．More money is invested in real green businesses. |
| D．A lot of people are unwilling to try out new things. |
2 . A new front has opened in the battle to dominate digital entertainment. Netflix announced earlier this summer that it was investing into video games. Last month it acquired game developer Night School Studio for a secret sum. Amazon, which has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into gaming, finally had a hit with new online game New World.
The video game industry has become one of the world’s most popular and profitable forms of entertainment. Video games generated nearly $178 bn in global income last year, according toa market research or on That fire is estimated to outweigh $200 bn by 2023.
For Amazon and Netflix, adding games to their platforms could attract more subscribers. Or at the very least dissuade existing ones from leaving. After a jump caused by pandemic in users, Netflix dropped 430,000 subscribers in the second quarter but regained some of these in the third quarter. Netflix has said in the past that in the “attention economy”, it competes against videogames just as much as video streaming services.
But gaming is a difficult market to enter. For every successful game, there are thousands of failures. Netflix hones to translate the success of shows like Stranger Things into video game hits. But good games need more than recognizable names. Development requires different infrastructure and talents.
Just ask Disney. The entertainment king shut down its games studio in 2016 and transformed into a licensing model. Also, Amazon spent near $1bn acquiring video-streaming service Twitch, launched gaming streaming service Luna and canceled at least four video games before New World.
Established game makers such as Sony and Microsoft all make money from selling games and consoles (游戏机). Free-to-play mobile games get users to make in-game purchases. Netflix’s plan is to add games for free and as a loss leader to win more subscribers.
The sweet spot may not be in making games at all. Apple and Google sell and distribute games from their app stores and take a cut of as much as 30 percent from each sale. No wonder established game makers are more concerned about middlemen than new entrants.
1. What does the underlined word “dissuade” in Paragraph 3 mean?| A．forbid. | B．discourage. | C．release. | D．protect. |
| A．To show the success made by the two companies. |
| B．To indicate the difficulty in subscribing to video games. |
| C．To compare video gaming services with video-streaming services. |
| D．To prove the challenge in making money through gaming industry. |
| A．It will attract subscribers to buy its game. |
| B．It wants to profit from its game consoles. |
| C．In-game purchases are its sweet spot to make money. |
| D．It uses free games as a hook to attract more subscribers. |
| A．Objective. | B．Supportive. | C．Critical. | D．Unconcerned. |
3 . Early surveys of employees and employers found that remote work did not reduce productivity (生产力). But a new study of more than 10,000 employees at an Asian technology company between Apr. 2019 and Aug. 2020 paints a different picture.
The firm uses software installed on employees’ computers that tracked which applications or websites were active, and whether the employees were using keyboards or mouses. The research concluded that the employees were working hard. Total hours worked were 30% higher than before COVID-19, including an 18% increase in working hours outside normal working hours. But this extra effort did not translate into any rise in output.
The interesting thing is why this happened. The academics were able to analyze how much time the employees spent in “collaboration (合作) hours”, defined as various types of meetings, and how much time they had as “focus hours”, when they could pay attention to their tasks. Despite working longer hours, the employees had less focus time than before COVID-19. Instead, all their extra time was taken up by meetings.
One possibility is that managers are less certain of their team’s devotion and are holding more meetings to check on them. Another is that managers call so many meetings to prove their own existence when they are not in the office. However, the academics suggest the greater need for meetings is the result of the greater difficulty of coordinating(协调)employees when they are working remotely — another sign that the process is inefficient.
This seems a raw deal for the employees. They received no more money for the overtime. Although they saved time spent traveling between home and the office, this did not balance the extra hours spent in meetings.
Not all workers behaved the same way, however. Those who had worked at the company the longest tended to be more productive, suggesting that they found it easier to manage the difficulties of home-working. Employees with children worked around 20 minutes a day more than those without, showing an even greater fall in their productivity, probably because they were distracted (分心) by child-care duties.
It is hardly surprising that there would be some problems involved with remote working. The practice was, after all, carried out suddenly. The way to improve the efficiency of remote working is simple: fewer meetings, shorter meetings.
1. What does the underlined part “a different picture” refer to?| A．Employees prefer working remotely to working in an office. |
| B．Employees working remotely enjoy more flexible working hours. |
| C．Employees working remotely work harder than those in the office. |
| D．Employees working remotely work longer but have no increase in output. |
| A．Endless meetings. |
| B．Lack of devotion. |
| C．Decreased attention to tasks. |
| D．Unwillingness to collaborate. |
| A．People who have no need to take care of the kids. |
| B．People who are more focused when working in the office. |
| C．People who can handle the negative aspects of remote working. |
| D．People who can maintain a balance between their work and lives. |
| A．Increased productivity of remote working. |
| B．Doubt about the efficiency of remote working. |
| C．Advantages and disadvantages of remote working. |
| D．Ways to improve the efficiency of remote working. |
4 . Society tells us we should socialize to the fullest, and that those who are surrounded by people are the most successful and the happiest. These days, we’re almost always connected, whether in person or through our phone screens and online social networks. But there’s something to be said for solitude (独处) Being alone “ doesn’t necessarily mean ” being lonely”. In fact, spending time by yourself is an essential element of self-care.
Around the globe, different cultures have wide-ranging perspectives on what it means to spend time alone. If you live or have spent time in the United States, you’re probably aware that Americans tend to reject solitude. For many younger people, weekends are packed with social activities, ranging from brunch with friends to dinner parties to game nights to drinking at bars and everything in between.
The United States isn’t the only place where you’ll find a heavy emphasis on social time. Across the Atlantic, the United Kingdom is known for being an extremely extroverted (外向型的) country. A survey of Brits found that more than half had never done and would be unwilling to do activities like going to theme parks or seeing live music alone. Most Brits spend almost twice as much of their leisure time socializing with others a as they do being alone.
The home can be a place of rest, relaxation and recharge-that is, if you live by yourself or have the space to be alone in your home. The country in which people are least likely to live alone is India, at about 4 percent of the population. China is also quite fond of multiple-person households, with only about 10 percent of people living by themselves. In more collectivist cultures like these, many aspects of life revolve(围绕) around community. Thus, spending time alone isn’t as ingrained (根深蒂固的) as a social convention in places like these, and the good of the group takes priority over the needs of one person.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．People can benefit more from solitude. | B．People tend to socialize more nowadays. |
| C．Bring alone generally equals being lonely. | D．Being alone enables people to be carefree. |
| A．Imaginative and wild. | B．Sensitive and energetic |
| C．Outgoing and sociable. | D．Optimistic and dutiful. |
| A．By making a summary. | B．By drawing comparisons. |
| C．By explaining a concept. | D．By providing examples. |
| A．Because they share a specific culture. | B．Because they lack some local customs. |
| C．Because they possess enough home Space. | D．Because they give priority to their own needs. |
5 . It seems as if social media platforms have taken over our lives. According to a study, there were over 3.6 billion social media users in 2021. And that number is only expected to grow.
Although social media platforms have helped to keep friends and family connected, there is also a dark side to social media. To put it simply, it is a money making machine. This is partially because of social media influencers. A social media influencer is someone “who can shape audience’s attitudes through blogs, tweets, and the use of other social media”. You may be asking yourself, “Why would they want to do this, though?” The answer is simple: to make money. Social media influencers make money by promoting brands among their followers. In fact, influencer marketing is so profitable that the study reported that the industry is expected to reach $15 billion in value in 2022.
Social media influencers are now being called out because some of their actions have started to negatively impact the environment. One man in particular, who goes by Steve to remain anonymous (匿名的), noticed that some online influencers failed to follow rules when they went to national parks or public places. This included things like leaving garbage behind, or using drones (无人机) to take pictures from the sky.
Because of this, Steve made it his mission to stop social media influencers from hurting the environment with their bad behavior in order to get the “perfect shot”. In 2018, he made the account “Public Lands Hate You” to name and shame influencers who failed to follow the rules made to protect the environment. The account now has over 85 thousand followers.
He hoped that it could help some influencers find the light and right their wrongs. Steve said, “If everybody thought just a little bit more about their small actions and the impact those actions have on the environment and the people around them, I think that a lot of our bigger problems would be much more easily solved.”
1. What feature of social media influencers is mainly shown in paragraph 2?| A．Good communication. | B．Chasing profits. |
| C．Creative shows. | D．Volunteering service. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By offering data. |
| C．By making comparisons. | D．By explaining reasons. |
| A．To win wide attention and attract more fans. |
| B．To get the influencers aware of their wrong deeds. |
| C．To make public places inaccessible to influencers. |
| D．To inform the influencers of the places for perfect shots. |
| A．Well begun is half done. | B．Practice makes perfect. |
| C．Every bit of effort counts. | D．Actions speak louder than words. |
6 . With the rapid development of technology, people’s pace of life has sped up. But not everyone enjoys the fast pace of life. Often, the more tightly people schedule their tasks, the more likely they are to lose their original direction and fail to see the real meaning of life.
First of all, the fast pace of life makes a person feel too tired to stay sharp. Once they have just completed a task, another task is waiting and this wears them out.
However, some people think that living a fast life improves work efficiency.They think that keeping a slow pace is just an excuse for lazy people not to work,and encourages procrastination (拖延).
| A．So procrastination can’t be avoided. |
| B．After all, there is a limit to humans’ ability. |
| C．From m y point of vie w, this statement is one-sided. |
| D．Next, the fast pace of life brings great pressure to people. |
| E．Finally, the slow pace of life offers people more free time. |
| F．Imagine how pleasant it would be to enjoy a nice slow life. |
| G．In my opinion, we should calm down and slow our life down |
7 . When lock downs began in March, the retailer (零售商) saw customer behavior go through five years’ worth of evolution in just five weeks, says White Side. Consumer needs changed on almost a daily basis early on. First, toilet paper and cleaning supplies were the focus. Then there was a shift to at-home activities and personal grooming (梳妆) and finally to home improvement. “We saw that the pandemic was changing the way that customers shop,” says White Side. “And we knew that we had to deliver something that allowed them to get access to goods quickly.”
The brand responded with innovations like two-hour Express Delivery and the Walmart membership program. Meanwhile, existing innovations like digital payment service Walmart Pay and road side pickup were more valuable than ever because they provide con tactless experiences. White Side says Walmart also considered its role in U. S. Communities during an unusual summer, which was the beginning of a virtual camp and the transformation of 160 parking lots into drive-in movie theaters. “We’re really proud to be a company that is focused on being there for our customers in any way we can, not just for their day-to-day supplies, but as a partner in their life,” she says.
This past February, Walmart debuted its first official Super Bowl ad, which showcased the convenience of road side pickup with famous faces like Buzz Light year, martins from Mars Attacks.
In April, with the pandemic darkening the national mood, Walmart launched an ad featuring Walmart employees singing the Bill Withers song “Lean on Me” as a message of hope. The company has now achieved great success, with the e-commerce sales rising 97 %.
“We’re going to continue to evolve how you engage with Walmart,” says White Side. “We’re going to continue to evolve how we tell our story through our customers and through our associates with the aim of creating those emotional connections that go beyond just buying stuff.”
1. What’s the root cause of the retailer’s innovation?| A．Pandemic lock downs. | B．Customers’ behavior. |
| C．Supply short ages. | D．Customers’ beds. |
| A．The retailer’s rules. | B．Innovative digital payment service. |
| C．The road side pickup. | D．Walmart’s new marketing strategies. |
| A．A delivery worker. | B．A music composer. |
| C．A movie promoter. | D．A marketing officer. |
| A．Being there for the customers. | B．Focusing on changing. |
| C．Achieving commercial success. | D．Removing dark mood. |
8 . Welcome to the anti-climax, the often-experienced but seldom-discussed downside of achieving life’s milestones. In psychology, the belief that achieving our goal will bring us a lasting feeling of happiness is called “arrival fallacy”, which plays a big part in the feelings of emptiness that follow it.
It’s a feeling that’s all too familiar for Katie Ford, a veterinary surgeon. To gain an extra qualification, she put in countless hours of study and made lots of sacrifices along the way, but now instead of celebration and pride, she feels emptiness and confusion, which have the potential to develop symptoms of depression and low mood.
If you find yourself in a similar situation or you suspect working towards your milestones may be a letdown when you reach the finish line, there are steps to help get rid of anti-climax. First, instead of rushing for it to be done, slow down to enjoy the doing, and remember that lots of things in our lives are never truly done, but constantly evolve just like we do. Another vital step is acknowledging the small wins. We have lots of stepping stones to a big goal to pause on, so celebrate how far you’ve come from the first one, and look forward to the many stones in front. Third, anticipating anti-climaxes in the lead up to big milestones can also lessen their impact. Anti-climaxes are just as common as post-holiday blues, so we’d better normalize them.
Rather than downplaying your milestones or moving straight to the next, mindfully cherish the moment, recognize your progress and reward yourself positively. That way, you won’t fall into the fallacy of having “made it”. Instead, you’ll see that you are happily “making it” along the journey that is an entire lifetime.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in the first paragraph refer to?| A．The belief. | B．Achieving our goal. |
| C．Arrival fallacy. | D．A feeling of happiness. |
| A．To explain a rule. | B．To clarify a concept. |
| C．To draw a conclusion. | D．To make a prediction. |
| A．Whether you fall victim to anti-climax. |
| B．Whether you empathize with Katie Ford. |
| C．How you can protect yourself from anti-climax. |
| D．How you can identify the symptoms of anti-climax. |
| A．To help us how to deal with anti-climax. |
| B．To set readers thinking about anti-climax. |
| C．To remind us of the danger of anti-climax. |
| D．To discuss the necessity of preventing anti-climax. |
For the past few years, several Internet buzzwords (流行语) have gone popular, “
“I still remember some 10 years ago, my weekends were spent
Such a phenomenon is very common in our competitive society. Many parents are extremely afraid that their children will get off to a slow start, so they would rather do
10 . Live-stream marketing: A rural rags-to-riches story?
For many years, quality agricultural products were unable to sell in faraway provinces.
In Yunnan Province, southwest China, live-stream marketing is currently the most popular way of pushing local products to consumers across the country.
| A．There arises a question. |
| B．Government policies and guidance should follow up. |
| C．The expansion of 5G technology is a vital contribution. |
| D．The biggest barrier is lack of efficient marketing channels. |
| E．China has a tradition of intensive cultivation and a huge rural population. |
| F．But we should establish a complete supply chain based on strict standards. |
| G．Once back they can introduce more digitally advanced approaches to agricultural management. |
