1 . LEGO is to begin selling braille (盲文) bricks to help blind and partially sighted children learn to read the touch-based alphabet (全部字母).
After the first announcement of its braille bricks in 2019, LEGO has announced that shoppers would be able to buy the accessible kit for the first time. Up until now, the LEGO Foundation has given out the kits free of charge, as part of a pilot program, to organizations specializing in the education of children with vision impairment (障碍).
While some view braille as old-fashioned, given modern technology that can turn written text into spoken word, blind adults say they like to read with their fingers while listening to other things.
The European Blind Union says knowledge of braille leads to improved spelling, reading and writing, contributing to higher levels of education and better employment opportunities for those who are vision impaired.
Dave Williams, who works for the Royal National Institute of Blind People, which acts for blind and partially sighted people, said, “Who would want a greeting card read to you? And there are things like board games.” And he added learning braille with LEGO helped give those who could not read print independence.
Lisa Taylor, mum to seven-year-old Olivia, said, “Olivia first discovered LEGO braille bricks at school and they had such a big impact on her curiosity about braille. Before then, she found it hard to get started with the symbols but now she’s improving all the time.”
1. What can be inferred from paragraph 2?| A．LEGO is the first firm to put braille into use. |
| B．LEGO began its sell of braille bricks in 2019. |
| C．LEGO integrates old tradition with modern technology. |
| D．LEGO has donated braille bricks to certain organizations. |
| A．Reading with their fingers. | B．Listening to a greeting card. |
| C．Writing with new technology. | D．Learning from past experience. |
| A．By improving their social skills. | B．By bettering their reading ability. |
| C．By helping them develop independence. | D．By awakening their curiosity about braille. |
| A．To express users’ satisfaction. | B．To start a new topic. |
| C．To erase doubts about LEGO. | D．To compare different opinions. |
2 . Ignoring message is frowned upon (皱眉) in this always-on times. And according to most people, dropping out of communication is blamed as “ghosting”, which in the years since the term became widespread, has become a deadly killer of digital communications.
But in these exhausting times, when so many are overburdened with family responsibilities, stress, grief and anxiety, perhaps we should let go of the outdated, demanding requirement to participate in endless back-and-forth conversations. As Daniel Post Senning of the Emily Post Institution said, “You have to be a civil and decent person, but you don’t have to give your time and attention to everyone who asks for it.”
In an era when we understand more and more the importance of rest and time away from screens, triaging (优先选择) can be necessary for our peace of mind and relationships with the people in our lives: When we are on vacation. When it’s after 7 pm. When we are at the dinner table. When we are exercising. If you don’t reply immediately to a message during one of these times, don’t apologize. Just reply when you can. Or don’t.
Is triaging a blanket permission to fall into unexplained silence or become a bottleneck to your colleagues’ work? No. Instead, establish boundaries with your work colleagues frankly so that they don’t panic when they can’t reach you.
It’s also worth asking yourself who is putting the pressure on for immediate response. Perhaps it’s not the message sender, but you.
1. Which statement do most people agree with?| A．Giving full attention to whoever asks for it is a must. |
| B．Dropping out of a conversation equals killing other people. |
| C．It’s considered improper to cut off from an ongoing conversation. |
| D．It’s highly advised to carry on conversations despite heavy burdens. |
| A．By listing figures. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By comparing facts. | D．By stating reasons. |
| A．Barrier. | B．Milestone. | C．Opportunity. | D．Masterpiece. |
| A．Important Emails: Send Them Quickly | B．Urgent Calls: Answer Them Immediately |
| C．Unfriendly People: Avoid Them Carefully | D．Unnecessary Messages: Ignore Them Directly |
3 . A shocking eruption has ended Iceland’s lengthy volcano warning as a flash of light burst across the evening sky and the lava (岩浆) flowed out quickly in a breathtaking show of the Earth’s power. But the eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 50km southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, wasn’t expected to give out large amounts of ash (灰尘) into the air.
By early Tuesday afternoon, the size of the volcanic eruption continued to diminish. The lava flow, which reached as high as 30m, was also falling and was a quarter of what it was at the time of the eruption.
The November evacuation meant few people were near the site of the eruption and authorities had warned others to stay away. Nonetheless, residents of the evacuated fishing community had mixed emotions as they watched orange flames touch the dark sky. More than a month after the evacuation, many were still living in temporary (临时的) accommodations and did not expect to ever be able to return to live in their homes. “The town might end up under the lava,” said Ael Kermarec, a tourist. “It’s amazing to see, but there’s kind of a bittersweet feeling at the moment.”
University of Bristol Professor Matthew Watson said that the eruption was expected to continue getting weak, but he had no idea how long it could last. “Residents should strictly follow travel advice because new eruptions can quickly put people in harm’s way. This style of eruption is among the most impressive ever seen, and there will be a strong pull for tourists and locals,” Watson said. “It’s just something from a movie.”
Residents were evacuated and a state of emergency was announced in Iceland more than a month ago. However, the uneasy waiting game still continues.
1. Which of the following best explains “diminish” underlined in paragraph 2?| A．Keep growing. | B．Be destroyed. |
| C．Get dangerous. | D．Become smaller. |
| A．He couldn’t see the breathtaking show. | B．He forgot to share the feeling online. |
| C．He was worried about the town. | D．He wasn’t ready for a new life. |
| A．It may draw people to the site. | B．It will threaten wildlife. |
| C．It attracts many movie lovers. | D．It drives tourists to leave. |
| A．Playing games is an approach to killing time. |
| B．It will be a long time before the disaster ends. |
| C．Local residents will return home in one month. |
| D．Authorities should announce a warning early. |
4 . The topic of China’s “slash youth” has fueled heated debate on social media recently, drawing attention to the diverse pursuits of the younger generation.
The s lash youth, which could also be called slashers or slash-generation — means those who refuse to be defined or bound by just one personal identity. They are keen to present themselves as multiple and sometimes different identities, such as a nurse and model, a teacher and stand-up comedian, and an engineer and band player. Rather than material comforts, they pursue meaningful achievement.
A diverse career can enable them to develop new experiences and talents as well as social and professional networks, leading to greater flexibility in life and work, recognition and satisfaction.
A study on “slash youth” published in the China Youth Research magazine analyzes the background of this phenomenon: with part of modern society’s structured organization and stability norms (规范) broken, flexible labor markets and structural unemployment has appeared, removing the sense of job security of the young people in employment. Young people also face the problem of self-realization, including the sense of powerlessness, lost sense of value and lack of self-identity in the profession, which forces them to re-find the meaning of work.
“The ‘slash life’ shows that our society is becoming more and more diversified and inclusive, and it welcomes everyone’s self-fulfillment,” said Shi Yanrong, an associate researcher from Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences. “Young people no longer have to rely on work and money for their sense of self-worth. They tend to create their own identities.” The researcher added that against the background that people have multiple interests and are willing to pay for these interests nowadays, the “slash life” of the youth would drive the growth of a new economy, just as animation culture affected the market.
1. What do we know about the slash youth?| A．They tend to undertake multiple careers. |
| B．They are keen to pursue material comforts. |
| C．They enjoy posting themselves on social media. |
| D．They can easily adjust themselves to challenges in life. |
| A．The importance of flexible labor markets. | B．Reasons for the appearance of slash youth. |
| C．The pursuit of the youth in their profession. | D．Causes of losing self-identity among the youth. |
| A．It boosts the rise of a new economy. | B．It helps increase people’s independence. |
| C．It inspires young people’s creativity at work. | D．It enables young people to earn high incomes. |
| A．To provide career guidance. | B．To analyze a cultural difference. |
| C．To introduce a social phenomenon. | D．To share a unique life experience. |
To boost the city’s post-pandemic economic recovery, the government of Harbin has made special efforts to take advantage of the winter months to attract visitors from the south of the country. During
As such, thanks to the snowball effect of social media, Harbin appears to have become the
Over the past 20 years, Harbin’s population has contracted by about 2 million. Its withering (凋零的) economy is dominated by State-owned companies,
6 . Today, the world celebrates the United Nations International Day of Older Persons (UNIDOP) under the theme “Resilience (复原力) of Older Persons in a Changing World”.
The number of older persons worldwide is projected to reach more than 1.5 billion in 2050. All regions will see an increase in the size of the older population between 2022 and 2050. Less developed countries excluding the least developed countries will be home to more than two-thirds of the world’s older population (1.1 billion) in 2050. Yet the fastest increase is projected to take place in the least developed countries, where the number of people aged 65 or over could rise from 37 million in 2019 to 120 million in 2050 (about 225%).
As to the “Silver Generation”, all countries have to bear increased pension (养老金) and healthcare costs as people live longer. But including the elderly in a productive way in the national economy has become a major problem for many countries. Many young families also struggle to care for their elderly parents or give it up altogether. Meanwhile, though older persons continue to meaningfully contribute to their political, economic, social and cultural lives, their contributions and experience are largely ignored.
The 2022 theme of UNIDOP serves as a fillip, something that jogs your memory and makes you think about the significant role older people play in taking up global challenges and contributing to their solutions. UNIDOP 2022 is also a call for action and opportunity to hear older persons’ voices and show their resilience and contributions in society.
Age is just a number and only a state of mind. Indeed, what matters is ageing elegantly, accompanied by good health. It is meaningless to live to 85 or 90 if one is limited to bed, unable to move around. But this could be a thing of the past in the light of rapid medical advances, which will give mobility and a new life to the elderly. I believe there will come a time when one’s actual age doesn’t really matter anymore in both a physical and mental sense.
1. Why are the figures used in paragraph 2?| A．To clarify the gap between rich and poor. |
| B．To show the growth in the older population. |
| C．To explain the correctness of the UN statistics. |
| D．To analyze the reasons for population ageing. |
| A．It is a double-edged sword. |
| B．It is a force to be treated seriously. |
| C．It is a huge burden to young families. |
| D．It is a by-product of the economic development. |
| A．Reference. | B．Guideline. | C．Reminder. | D．Platform. |
| A．Age affects both physical and mental health. |
| B．Age is not a number but a mental state. |
| C．Age does not matter in the medical field. |
| D．Age pales by comparison with health. |
7 . Researchers from University of Southern California (USC) may have found the biggest influencer in the spread of fake news: social platforms’ structure of rewarding users for habitually sharing information. The study involved 2,476 active Facebook users ranging in age from 18 to 89. They were asked to complete a decision-making survey about seven minutes long.
Surprisingly, the researchers found that users’ social media habits are closely related to the amount of fake news they shared. Frequent and habitual users spread six times more fake news than occasional or new users. Just 15% of the most habitual news sharers in the research were responsible for spreading about 30% to 40% of the fake news. Users’ habits were more influential in sharing fake news than other factors, including lack of critical reasoning.
The research team wondered: What motivates these users? As it turns out, much like any video game, social media has a reward system that encourages users to stay on their accounts and keep posting and sharing.
Users who post and share frequently, especially eye-catching information, are likely to attract attention. Due to the reward system of social media, users form habits of sharing information that gets recognition from others automatically, without considering consequences such as spreading misinformation.
Then, the team tested whether social media reward structures could be designed to promote sharing of true over false information. They found that incentives (鼓励) for accuracy rather than popularity doubled the amount of accurate news that users share on social platforms.
“We know from previous research that some people don’t process information critically, which influences their ability to recognize false stories online,” said Gizem Ceylan, who led the team. “However, our new study shows that the reward structure of social media platforms plays a bigger role when it comes to misinformation spread.”
1. What does the USC research mainly focus on concerning social media?| A．Its reward system. | B．The users’ age group. |
| C．Its attraction to users. | D．The reason fake news spreads on it. |
| A．A new user. | B．A heavy user. |
| C．An occasional user. | D．An uneducated user. |
| A．The popularity of their posts. |
| B．The easy access to information. |
| C．The encouragement from other users. |
| D．The immediate money reward from the platform. |
| A．Sharing of misinformation is unavoidable. |
| B．People shouldn’t use social media frequently. |
| C．Lack of critical reasoning is a common problem. |
| D．Social media reward structures should be improved. |
8 . Do you like to shop online? Or do you prefer' to go into a store and look at a product?
One common shopper strategy is "show rooming." This means that customers go into a store, look at the product and talk to a salesperson.
The number of online shoppers is rising, but not as fast as retailers (零售商) first thought. People still like to go into stores.
In order to keep customers coming into stores, managers need to train salespeople well. In-store shoppers want salespeople to give them a lot of attention, be polite, and know a lot about the product.
What products do shoppers like to buy online?
However, online shopping doesn't work for every product. People prefer to shop for food in a store. If you're buying a new car, you can research prices online.
| A．Maybe you like to do both of these things. |
| B．But you still need to drive the car. |
| C．At the top of the list are electronic products. |
| D．You may pay a higher price than you expected. |
| E．You shall know what your purpose to buy something is. |
| F．Teens especially prefer to shop at a shopping center. |
| G．Then they use their smartphones or other mobile devices to find a better price. |
9 . More than one-third of the world’s food is wasted or thrown away, most of which ends up in landfills, producing very large amounts of planet-warming greenhouse gases. Now, many studies show that it is becoming harder to grow enough food to feed an increasing population due to climate change and soil degradation.
But one of the most promising and simplest solutions lies in the problem itself: this wasted food — if composted (堆肥) — could slow climate change and improve soil quality. Higher-quality soil also continues to absorb more carbon from the atmosphere, helping to improve plants and contributing further to fighting climate change. Returning one ton of organic matter to each hectare of soil would increase the production of cereal crops each year in Africa, Asia and South America by millions of tons.
While it is true that people can compost in their yards, community gardens, or even on their kitchen counters, larger-scale efforts, including infrastructure (基础设施) and incentives (激励) for consumers, would take it to the next level. Imagine if consumers could just leave unwanted food in a roadside bin for pickup, or drop it off at a local store, earning a few cents a bucket, just like what has been offered for recycling bottles or newspapers.
Moreover, in the case of composting, the payment incentive system would be sustainable because the end-product of compost can be sold to farmers, making it an economically workable model, something that is often lacking in recycling, especially for certain materials, like many types of plastics.
Eventually, more widespread composting of food would pave the way for solutions to additional waste challenges, such as the disposal of packaging and clothing. This will have other positive effects as well; if more consumers compost, companies will be more inspired to make and use compostable packaging, clothing, and other products. While more compostable items are starting to emerge today, additional composting will further drive demand and innovation, and offer a game-changing solution for the planet.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．The uneven distribution of food around the world. |
| B．The burden of population growth on the planet. |
| C．The urgency of properly dealing with wasted food. |
| D．The great impact of climate change on food. |
| A．A good system is needed to carry out it effectively. |
| B．It would take a long term to have an effect. |
| C．It is only workable on a small scale. |
| D．It may raise people’s awareness of reducing food waste. |
| A．It is highly profitable. |
| B．It is easy to carry out. |
| C．It is a sustainable economic cycle pattern. |
| D．It is more effective than other recycling systems. |
| A．How Wasted Food Could Be Reduced |
| B．How Wasted Food Could Save the Planet |
| C．How Wasted Food Could Impact Humans |
| D．How Wasted Food Could Become a Business |
When you are surfing the Internet, you can be anyone or anything. Avatars are a key part while people use the Internet to communicate. and express themselves. The first simple 2D avatars
