1 . Hiring processes can be thought of as a battle between integrity and dishonesty. You might imagine this is a simple fight between truth-seeking firms and self-promoting candidates, and to a certain extent it is. But companies themselves are prone (有倾向的) to bend reality out of shape in ways that are self-defeating.

Start with the obvious wrongdoers: job applicants. When it comes to writing the resume (简历), they tend to massage (美化) reality into the most appealing shape possible. Everyone beyond a certain level of experience is a transformational leader personally responsible for generating millions income; the world economy would be about 15 times bigger than it actually is if all such claims were true. The average British spends four and a half hours a day watching TV and online videos. But each average job candidate is an enthusiast for public welfare, using their spare time only for worthy purposes, like volunteering in soup kitchens.

But the tendency to stretch the truth infects companies as well as applicants. The typical firm will write a job description that invariably describes the work environment as fast-paced and innovative, and then lays out a set of improbable requirements for the “ideal candidate”, someone who almost by definition does not exist. Sometimes, the requirements include an ability to go back and change the course of history.

Too few firms offer an accurate account of what a position actually involves in their job previews, which are supposed to give prospective employees a genuine sense of the negatives and positives of the job, as well as a clear idea of the company’s corporate culture. One effective strategy is to lay out in text or video, what a typical day in the role would look like.

Such honesty can be its own reward. Research has long suggested that realistic job previews lead to lower turnover and higher employee satisfaction. A paper in 2011 by David Eamest of Towson University and his co-authors concluded that favourable perceptions of the organisation’s honesty are the best explanation for why. So a process designed to uncover the truth about job applicants would run a lot more smoothly if firms were also honest about themselves.

1. Why are “leader” and “enthusiast” mentioned in paragraph 2?

A．To present a rule.	B．To clarify a fact.
C．To make a comparison.	D．To explain a phenomenon.

2. What does the underlined word “stretch” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Overstate.

B．Overturn.

C．Overlook.

D．Overestimate.

3. What are job previews expected to be like in paragraph 4?

A．They show a position as it is.	B．They are made either in text or video.
C．They are favorable for bigger firms.	D．They mainly contain negatives of a job.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．Pains and gains of employees.	B．How to get the lying out of hiring.
C．How to be more appealing in hiring.	D．A wrestle between applicants and companies.

2 . To build a prosperous (繁荣的) society, a fundamental understanding of the modern economy as a driving force in today’s world is essential.

What kind of prosperity have we achieved so far? The widespread definition of prosperity focuses on economic power and growth as measures of success. Let’s take a look at history. The Second Industrial Revolution enabled mass production and created a sufficient supply of goods. This has greatly increased the importance of money in its role as “a store of value, ” and “a medium of exchange. ”As a result, we have pursued economic power as the only indicator of prosperity, such as GDP. Waves of globalization and technological evolution have promoted overall economic growth, but have allowed the few who are strong to achieve greater power while exploiting the many who are weak. Consequently, inequality has worsened, and disunity has intensified.

The path to a truly prosperous world requires a shift in focus towards the most suitable happiness for all, in addition to economic power. Defining happiness, however, is a complex task. What makes people happy? The degree to which the same thing creates happiness differs from person to person. Happiness is subjective and complicated. This is a world of “multiple values” where each of us determines worth as opposed to “one fixed price” based merely on an economic perspective. Individuals shouldn’t be defined by a single identity or role but by multidimensional nature as well as multiple roles making independent choices and taking actions for their happiness in different aspects.

Businesses must be pioneers in pursuing not only economic growth but also the happiness of all citizens of society. Companies can contribute through the pursuit of social value as well as economic profit. At the heart of this lies “purpose”. A company’s purpose defines the value it brings to society. The true worth of a company should be determined not just by the return s it creates for shareholders but by the value it creates for society as a whole.

1. What is the author’s attitude to the widely accepted standard of prosperity?

A．Indifferent.

B．Critical.

C．Uncertain.

D．Approving.

2. What is the side effect of technological evolution?

A．The slower economic growth speed.

B．The sharp reduction of job opportunities.

C．The enlarged gap between the rich and the poor.

D．The increasing conflict between different nations.

3. Which statement will the author agree with according to the passage?

A．Happiness is changeable and beyond control.

B．Happiness largely depends on economic power.

C．The pursuit of profit determines a company’s true worth.

D．A prosperous world should be measured by multiple values.

4. Who are the main intended readers of the text?

A．Social psychologists.	B．Enterprise administrators.
C．School educators.	D．Technological researchers.

3 . The UK’s planned ban on sales of new petrol, diesel (柴油) or hybrid (混合动力) cars could start as early as 2032, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said. Last week, the government raised industry concern after bringing the date forward from 2040 to 2035 in order to hit zero-carbon emission targets. But Mr. Shapps told BBC Radio 5 live it would happen by 2035, “or even 2032,” adding there would be consultation.

The main car trade body had previously said the 2035 figure was “concerning”.

The government is setting out its proposals in a United Nations climate summit in November. A Department for Transport spokesperson said, “We are consulting on a range of possible dates to bring forward the end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars.”

“The proposal for this is 2035 — or earlier if a faster transition appears reasonable — as well as including hybrids for the first time.” The UK has set a target of emitting zero carbon by 2050. Experts warned that the original target date of 2040 would still leave old conventional cars on the roads 10 years later. Once the ban comes into effect, only electric cars will be available. Hybrid vehicles are now included in the proposals, which were originally announced in July 2017.

Despite this, Royal Automobile club spokesman Simon Williams said, “While the government appears to be constantly moving forward for ending the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles, drivers should not be worried about choosing a hybrid car now.” “They are potentially the perfect stepping stone for those who want to go electric but have concerns about range (续航), as they aren’t as expensive as a battery electric vehicle. At the moment, they give drivers the best of both worlds.”

How attached are British people to their petrol vehicles? How long until conventional cars go the way of steam engine cars and horse coaches?

1. What is the car industry's attitude towards the ban on the sale of conventional cars?

A．Ambiguous.

B．Indifferent.

C．Worried.

D．Approving.

2. Why does the UK propose to ban the sale of conventional cars before 2040?

A．To remove the concern of main car trade body.

B．To hold back the development of pure battery electric cars.

C．To hold a United Nations climate summit in November.

D．To meet the zero carbon emission target as planned.

3. What is Simon's opinion when people face the ban of conventional cars?

A．It's still a wise choice to choose a hybrid car nowadays.

B．Battery electric cars should be widely used immediately.

C．Drivers should consider about range when choosing a car.

D．People should abandon petrol vehicles as soon as possible.

4. What can we infer about the conventional cars from the last paragraph?

A．They will fall out of use some day.	B．They are as important as horse coaches.
C．They will remain as a family necessity.	D．They may increase your daily expenses.

4 . “Boreout (闷爆) is different from burnout (精疲力竭) in the sense that bored-out employees rarely break down with exhaustion. Bored-out people may be present physically but not in spirit, and people can keep doing this for a good while,” says Harju, who has studied boreout for years.

Workers who realize they’re experiencing boreout may also be unwilling to flag it up as an issue to line managers or human resources. “While the behaviors that feed into burnout — overwork, drive — are appreciated and rewarded by employers, boreout reflects a lack of interest, a lack of motivation,” says Harju. “These are things that are avoided in organizations.”

There are some quick fixes, like taking on work tasks that are more interesting to you. But a 2016 study Harju and her colleagues worked on showed that people who had boreout were less likely to engage in constructive activities like trying to find new, interesting challenges at work.

What happens more often, she says, is that people will just show up at their desks and spend time shopping online, chatting with colleagues or planning other activities. She says that these people aren’t lazy, but are using these behaviours as “coping mechanisms”.

Fahri Ozsungur, an associate professor of economics at Mersin University, Turkey, who was behind the 2021 study on the health effects of boreout, points out that combating the phenomenon isn’t just down to the individual. “Giving meaning to the job is not just up to the employees,” he says. “Instead, it’s up to management to create an office culture that makes people feel valuable.”

If you think boreout is seriously affecting your health either physically or mentally, it may be valuable to ask yourself how you might be able to reselect your career path toward something healthier for you. Seek the advice from advisers, career consultants, friends and family.

“If only people take its suggestion, boreout can make a change into something else: a different career entirely, or a different role in the organization,” Harju says.

1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To introduce the topic of the text.	B．To describe people with burnout.
C．To explain what burnout is.	D．To tell us who Harju is.

2. Why do people prefer not to talk about their boreout?

A．They lack relevant knowledge.	B．They are warned not to talk about it.
C．They may not want it to be known to employers.	D．They fear to be laughed at by their colleagues.

3. What does the underlined word “combating” in paragraph 5 mean?

A．Encouraging.

B．Blaming.

C．Trusting.

D．Fighting.

4. Which of the following may Harju agree with?

A．Forcing employers to increase salaries.	B．Sticking to the job until you adapt to it.
C．Trying spending more time with your family.	D．Considering changing a new job interesting you.

6 . Scroll through social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter or Facebook and you’ll be confronted with picture after picture of perfectly presented and delicious-looking meals. While the smell and taste of food can have an undeniably powerful effect on our appetite, are endless posts of steaming snacks more than just a feast for our eyes?

Our eating habits are influenced by what we see. “There is some evidence that, if you see pictures of food, that visual stimulation can prompt you to feel a desire to eat,” says Suzanne Higgs, a professor in the psycho biology of appetite. “If all your friends on social media are posting pictures or live streaming of themselves consuming fast food, it’s going to set a norm that eating fast food is what people do.” says Higgs.

Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned that food-related content on social media is making us think differently about food. Social media algorithms (社交媒体算法) promote content that users engage with more, so viewing more unhealthy food means seeing more of it on our social media feeds.

“It seems that healthier foods are often seen as boring in comparison,” says Tina Tessitore, associate professor of marketing. “In advertising, you see unhealthy food in social settings—people having a barbecue with friends, for example, while healthy food often focuses more on the nutritional value. If you saw friends eating salad together, it wouldn’t seem so credible,” she says.

But while studies have found that social media can make us think differently about food, and that we typically engage more with content featuring unhealthy food, it’s uncertain yet whether this actually translates to our changes in our behavior in daily life. “If I’m scrolling through Instagram, looking at photos of tasty food, whether I seek out the food depends on how hungry I am, and whether it’s appropriate in that moment,” says Higgs. “And when we do eat, we’re influenced by more than what we’ve seen online,” she adds.

1. What does the author want to tell us in the first paragraph?

A．There are many food posts on the social media.

B．Food posts can not only bring us visual pleasure.

C．The smell and taste of food can stimulate our appetite.

D．Social media can help us establish healthy eating habits.

2. Why are scientists becoming increasingly worried?

A．Because social media will encourage us to eat more.

B．Because food posts may have negative effects on people.

C．Because people may form the habit of viewing unhealthy food.

D．Because people are more willing to browse more unhealthy food.

3. What can be inferred from Paragraph 4 in advertising?

A．More attention has been paid to healthier foods.

B．Having a barbecue is healthier than eating salad.

C．Friends can hardy ever be seen eating salad together.

D．Having a barbecue with friends is popular among teens.

4. Where is the text most likely from?

A．A biography.	B．A fiction novel.
C．An art magazine.	D．A health magazine.

8 . Babies appear to know how to help those in need, according to researchers who studied signs of altruism in almost 100 children.

Researchers who wanted to see whether children would give up their food to a stranger without encouragement found the kids did just that — even when they were hungry.

The scientists recruited 96 19-month-old children. During the experiments, a child and a researcher sat across from each other. In the control group of the first set of experiments, researchers threw a piece of fruit onto a plate where they couldn’t reach, but the child could. They then waited. In contrast, researchers in the test group pretended to drop the fruit on the plate, then tried and failed to reach it. This signaled to the child that the adult wanted the food.

Among the control group, only 4 percent of the children gave the piece of fruit to the researchers, compared with 58 percent, or over half, in the test group.

Next, the team explored if children would still be generous when it was at a cost to themselves. The first set of experiments was repeated with a separate group of kids before their lunchtime, when they were likely to be hungry. Similarly, 37 percent of the test group handed over their fruit, compared with none in the control group.

The experiments were repeated four times. Researchers got similar results each time. Babies with siblings (兄弟姐妹) and babies from Latino or Asian families shared more of the fruit, the team also found.

Carter Morgan, lead professor of the study, said, “We often think of babies as selfish. But here we find that they are willing to help others even when it comes at some ‘cost’ to the self.”

Addressing why children with siblings or from certain cultural backgrounds were more likely to share their fruit, Morgan said, “We believe this partly reflects what social psychologists call ‘ interdependence’, which stresses on the importance of interpersonal connections and adjusting to others. These social experiences that shape attitudes towards sharing appear to have an effect very early in life.”

1. The underlined word “altruism” most probably means ________.

A．generosity	B．creativity
C．friendliness	D．confidence

2. What can be inferred about 19-month-old babies?

A．They know when to have lunch.

B．They understand signals for help.

C．They can classify different fruits.

D．They can express their needs freely.

3. Which graph best explains the findings of the experiments?

A．

B．

C．

D．

4. What can we learn from the text?

A．Attitudes towards sharing change greatly as people get older.

B．Babies from families with an only child are not willing to share.

C．It’s easier to control babies’ selfish desires when they are hungry.

D．Social experiences play a role in affecting babies’ behavior of sharing.

10 . Today, with most of us owning a smartphone that lets us post on social media wherever and whenever we want, oversharing has become harder to avoid. But the tricky thing is that people usually don’t realize when they’ re oversharing. The problem can only be triggered by our friends and family. A survey showed that every two in three people in the US think their friends share too much on social media.

Oversharing can have negative impacts. For instance, it can put your personal information at risk. When you update your status, or simply recall an experience on social networking sites like WeChat, chances are that you are revealing critical personal information.

According to a survey by Visa Canada, 45% of people aged 18-34 “overshare” their financial information online. “Young people shared payment card information via e-mail, loaned out their cards, and didn’t keep their PIN confidential,” reported CBS. This behavior mirrors similar habits of sharing personal information on social media sites. They’re really not totally aware of who has access to this information and who else can be seeing this information and what could be done with it.

“Oversharing contributes to a larger culture in which such behavior is considered acceptable or even desirable,” said Seidman, associate professor at Albright College in the US. Elizabeth Bernstein, a US-based educator, said that “the great increase of overshare is partially because of the wild use of social media as a subconscious attempt to control anxiety. We actually use a lot of mental energy trying to manage the other person’s impression of us by oversharing.”

Moreover, oversharing online can damage effective communication in real life. “Having such easy access to so many people makes communication superficial,” said Chen, a psychologist at South China Normal University. “In the end, the lack of deep communication hurts strong social bonds, particularly friendships.”

1. Why is oversharing hard to avoid?

A．Most people have the habit of oversharing on social media.

B．Close friends and family members are eager to know our updates.

C．Social media welcome oversharing to make profits.

D．Most people are unaware of the problem of oversharing.

2. What does the author think of oversharing?

A．Acceptable.

B．Desirable.

C．Disturbing.

D．Dangerous.

3. How did the author support his/her argument?

A．By sharing his/her personal experience.	B．By analyzing advantages and disadvantages.
C．By giving experts’ opinions and research findings.	D．By presenting some classic cases in history.

4. What message does the author seem to convey in the text?

A．Trying to avoid oversharing on social media.	B．Sharing personal information on social media.
C．Updating your status constantly on social media.	D．Communicating deeply on social media.