1 . According to the most recent census (人口普查) figures, nearly half of women between the ages of 15 and 44 don’t have children. Half of women is a lot of women, and yet, advertisers continue to behave as though they don’t exist. “The majority of marketing talks to adult women like they are all moms or want to be mothers,” Adrianna Bevilaqua, chief creative officer at M Booth, a public relations company, told The New York Times.

Industry experts explained to The Times that the absence of childless women in marketing materials is likely the result of inertia (惯性). Advertisers have long targeted moms because they buy their goods. In 2015, American moms were in charge of $3.4 trillion worth of spending decisions, which makes them the largest consumer group in the United States.

While they might not have the collective spending power of moms — many of whom, I suspect, would be very happy to give up some   power of choosing laundry detergent (洗衣粉) in exchange for power of choosing something else with equal pay — childless women also have the potential to improve a business’ bottom line. One report has found that they spend twice as much on beauty products as women with children, and spend 60 percent more time abroad. The Times also notes that they spend 35 percent more on groceries than moms.

Of course, advertising has had a long time to adapt to the ongoing change in gender (性别) roles, and still, brands has made sexist ads that many find degrading (降低品格的). And even when brands do try to get with the times, as is the case with Dove and Pantene, many women still think them unpleasant. These critics are angry about the way such campaigns overstate female empowerment when, in reality, such empowerment is far from being fully realized.

Earlier this year, ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi researched moms’ understanding of their representation in advertising and found that they weren’t happy either. They surveyed nearly 8,000 women from around the world, the majority of whom responded with feelings of frustration (挫败) at the outdated mom images, including the busy mom and the saintly (神圣的) and perfectionist mom we so often see. Above all, they resented the view of motherhood as a job. “Motherhood is about being, not doing,” said Mary Mills, worldwide director of strategic intelligence from Saatchi & Saatchi, when describing the findings.

So as it turns out, both childless women and moms are motivated by the same desire. They want advertisers to let go of motherhood as an all-consuming identity for women and instead present them as the varied and unique beings they’ve long known themselves to be.

1. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Few American women do not want to have children.

B．Moms are happy because they are targeted by advertisers.

C．Moms were the largest consumer group in America in 2015.

D．Half of American women have no children according to the recent census figures.

2. What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．Childless women spend mainly on beauty products and travel.

B．A report about women’s spending power has been produced.

C．Moms spend less on groceries than childless women.

D．Childless women’s spending power is not lower than that of moms.

3. What does the underlined word “resented” mean in Paragraph 5?

A．Respected.	B．Hated.
C．Misunderstood.	D．Formed.

4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Moms’ representation in advertising has been researched by ad agencies.

B．Most American women want to be seen as unique beings.

C．Advertisers should pay attention to childless women.

D．Advertisers misunderstand moms’ images.

2 . Ridgewood is a small town 20 miles from Manhattan, New York. It is a quiet town, perfect for raising children away from the rapid pace of the city. However, besides hours of homework, many Ridgewood children have too many after-school activities — from swimming to piano classes. Some kids compare their life to that of a New York general manager who has an 80-hour workweek.

Children's schedules filled with homework and activities made a lot of townspeople worried, so the town decided to start a movement called “Ridgewood Family Night — Ready, Set, Relax!” The mayor (市长) made a public statement, calling for a town-wide night for families to do nothing. And schools and clubs agreed to support the movement so families could relax and get together.

Some parents like to talk about their childhood, one without so many scheduled after-school activities. As kids, they just went out to play with neighborhood friends after school. However, almost all these parents take their children to their regularly scheduled activities. These fathers and mothers feel it is their duty to make sure their children are prepared to survive in today's high-pressure work environment. They are afraid that their children can't enter the “right” universities and won't succeed in a more and more competitive world.

However, it seems that Family Night worked, at least to a certain degree. Cars moved freely around Ridgewood's normally busy downtown streets. Some families ate supper together for the first time in months. One family watched home movies of when the children were little, baked cookies and played games together.

At first, some people were excited that they could take back their lives. But sadly, few families now believe that one night will change them. Nearly all of the townspeople are sure that they will fall back into the old habit.

1. How can people benefit from Family Night?

A．They can learn and share knowledge.

B．They can rest and enjoy family time.

C．They have more time to discuss family matters.

D．They have enough time to talk about schoolwork.

2. What can we learn about the movement?

A．It is held once a week.

B．It was partly successful.

C．It first started in Manhattan.

D．It needed the mayor's support.

3. How do most Ridgewood people look at Family Night?

A．It won't change their lifestyle.

B．It will help take back their lives.

C．It can't be accepted by the public.

D．It may help break kids' bad habits.

3 . Americans are buying more products and services than ever before through the Internet. And experts say the popularity of online sales is likely to spread to other countries. Online sales now represent as much as 10% of all retail sales in the United States. This has led traditional stores to seek new ways to keep their customers loyal.

Lynne used the Internet to buy everything she needed for her wedding and holiday gifts for her husband and stepdaughter. Other than food, 90% of her purchases were made on her home computer. “I find that, by being able to go online, choose the things that I need, and have them delivered to me right at my doorstep, I eliminate all the driving, all the crowds, all the noise of that, and I usually get a better selection.”

There are a lot of people like her. Experts say American online shopping hit records in both November and December. 57% of Americans have bought something electronically. Store owners worry that this growing amount of online sales will hurt their business. Cornell University marketing professor Ed Melaughlin says they can keep their customers by selling goods like clothing, which buyers may want to see and try on before purchasing. The stores could also offer things that are difficult to ship. Besides, some stores can please customers by offering to repair electronic products.

Bill Martin is the founder of Shopper Trak. His business helps stores learn about their customers. He said, “There is still a lot of emotion in the buying decision, you know, that takes place. Often you need that last sense of ‘Boy, this is exactly what I want’ before you are ready to part with money, and you can’t always get that online. It’s a rather cold process.”

While online shopping worries some business owners, the only worry for delivery services like FedEx and UPS is keeping up with the number of packages. UPS Manager Dana Kline says her company is very busy at this time of year. UPS is so busy that it has filled 55, 000 temporary worker positions during the holiday season.

1. The example of Lynne is mentioned in the passage to show ________.

A．online business has changed many Americans’ life

B．online sales will replace traditional sales sooner or later

C．traditional stores can't offer enough food to their customers

D．traditional stores find new ways to keep their customers loyal

2. The underlined word “eliminate” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by “________”.

A．include	B．decrease
C．discourage	D．avoid

3. From the passage we can infer ________.

A．UPS has filled more worker positions than FedEx

B．business owners are concerned about delivery services

C．FedEx is keeping up with UPS on the number of packages

D．delivery services are facing more and more pressure from online sales

4. The purpose of this passage is to tell us ________.

A．the challenge online owners are faced with

B．the challenge e­commerce causes to traditional sales

C．the difference between online sales and traditional sales

D．the trouble that customers often meet when purchasing online

4 . The spread of Western eating habits around the world is bad for human health and the environment. These findings come from a new report in the journal Nature.

David Tillman, a professor of ecology at the University of Minnesota, America, examined information from 100 countries to identify what people ate and how diet affected health. He noted a movement beginning in the 1960s. He found that as nations industrialized, population increased and earnings rose, more people began to adopt what has been called the Western diet.

The Western diet is high in sugar, fat, oil and meat. By eating these foods, people began to get fatter and sicker. David Tillman says overweight people are at greater risk of non-infectious diseases like diabetes (糖尿病)and heart disease.

Unfortunately, when people become industrialized, if they adopt this Western diet, they are going to have these health problems, especially in developing countries in Asia. China is an example where the number of diabetes cases has been jumping from less than one percent to 10 percent of the population as it began to industrialize over a 20-year period. And that is happening all across the world, in Nigeria and so on.

And, a diet bad for human beings is also bad for the environment. As the world’s population grows, more forests and tropical areas will become farmland for crops or grasslands for cattle. We are likely to have more greenhouse gas in the future from agriculture than that coming out of all forms of transportation right now.

Mr. Tillman calls the link between diet, the environment and human health, “a dilemma”, a problem offering a difficult choice. He says one possible solution is leaving the Western diet behind.

1. David Tillman believes that          .

A．diet, the environment and human health are closely connected

B．the Western diet is the only choice as nations industrialized

C．people in tropical areas are more likely to have heart disease

D．traditional diet is more balanced than the Western diet

2. According to the passage, more greenhouse gas might be given off in the future from       .

A．transportation	B．developing countries
C．agriculture	D．developed countries

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Nigeria has the largest number of diabetes cases.

B．Overweight people are at higher risk of infectious diseases.

C．The examined information comes from developing countries.

D．Industrialization contributes to the spread of the Western diet.

4. What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．Call on us to protect the environment.

B．Warn us of the danger of the Western diet.

C．Remind us of the importance of health.

D．Advise us to have a balanced diet.

5 . A new study, which was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found that heavy use of platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat was associated with feelings of being separated from society among young adults—basically the opposite of what we are led to believe.

Study co-author Brian Primack and his team surveyed 1,787 U. S. adults aged 19 to 32 and asked them about their usage of 11 social media platforms. They also asked participants questions related to social isolation, such as how often they felt left out. The participants who reported spending the most time on social media—over two hours a day—had twice the odds of perceived（感知到的）social isolation than those who said they spent a half-hour per day or less on the same sites.

According to Tom Kersting, psychotherapist and author of Disconnected, the key to understanding these results lies in our understanding of “connections.” “Humans are social —emotional beings, meaning that it is in our DNA to be connected, face-to-face, with other humans,” he told Reader’s Digest. “Although people think being on social media all the time makes them ‘connected’ to others, they are actually ‘disconnected,’ because the more time one spends behind a screen, the less time one spend face-to-face.”

“Part of the issue of loneliness is that the majority of people who use social media aren’t just posting, they are also viewing,” Kersting continued. “They are spending a lot of time looking at everyone else’s posts, where they are and what they are doing. The constant exposure to everyone else’s ‘perfect’ life experiences causes feelings of being left out.”

So what’s the answer? It’s simple, says Kersting. “The solution to this is resisting the temptation to look at everyone else’s life. Just focus on your own life, where you’re going, what you are grateful for, and what you want to accomplish in this world.”

1. What is the finding of the new study?

A．Humans are social-emotional beings.

B．Social media platforms are overused by the young.

C．Social media strengthens interpersonal relationship.

D．Heavy use of Social media can lead to loneliness.

2. How did the team conduct their research?

A．By asking questions.	B．By experimenting.
C．By distributing forms.	D．By media reporting.

3. Who might have a strong feeling of social isolation?

A．Those who use a single social media platforms.

B．Those who spend three hours a day on social media.

C．Those who don’t spend time on social media.

D．Those spending a half-hour per day on social media.

4. What does Kersting suggest people do to avoid feelings of social isolation?

A．Never compare with others.	B．Make more fiends on the internet.
C．Choose a travel destination.	D．Set up a clear goal for the future.

6 . “Fast fashion” means clothes that are inexpensive but look like the latest designs. One reason for the success of fast fashion is social networking. A report by the investment research firm Bernstein found that millennials — people born in the 1980s and 90s — wanted to wear a variety of clothes in the photos they posted on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. As a result, many businesses that offer trend, low - cost clothes are growing.

But the situation is changing now. Maxine Bedat, a woman who is in her early 30s, looks in her closet full of clothes, but she has nothing to wear. She says she hates always shopping for what is in style . Instead, she says, she wants to buy fewer clothes that she can wear over and over. Other people want the same thing, she says.

So Ms. Bedat and a business partner, Soraya Darabi, started a “slow fashion” clothing company calltd Zady. “Slow fashion” means clothes that last a long time. They are often classic colors and shapes, and are made from natural materials that are biodegradable (可生物降解的) over time.

The terms “fast fashion” and “slow fashion” are related to “fast food” and “slow food: fast food is still popular in the US, but many restaurants increasingly offer higher - quality, more expensive and relaxed meals.

Like slow food, slow fashion also aims to use sources that are good for the environment and workers. Maxine Bedat says people in her generation want to know where their clothes come from and who is making them. To answer millennials’demand for information about the products they buy, Ms. Bedat’s company, Zady, includes details about the history of the brands. It also describes the process in which the clothes are made. Ms Bedat says Zady aims to tell shoppers where their clothes come from, where they go, and how they impact the world.

1. What can we know about millennials from Paragraph 1?

A．They tend to buy clothes with lower price.

B．They all like to share photos on the Internet.

C．They spend money in buying the latest designs

D．They show their interests in wearing different clothes.

2. What makes Mexine Bedat establish Zady?

A．She has nothing to wear.

B．She likes the classic clothes.

C．She longs for “slow fashion” clothes.

D．She prefers clothes with natural materials.

3. Like “slow food”, “slow fashion” should ________.

A．be high - quality and expensive

B．be friendly to the environment

C．tell the shoppers the history of the brands

D．describe the process of making the clothes

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．How “fast fashion” becomes popular.

B．“Slow fashion” is becoming popular now.

C．Many businesses are selling trendy and cheap clothes.

D．The differences between “fast fashion” and “slow fashion”.

7 . One of the most striking findings of a newly research in the UK is that of the people interviewed, one in two believes that it is becoming more difficult to meet someone to start a family with.

Why are many finding it increasingly difficult to start close relationships? Does modern life really make it harder to fall in love? Or are we making it harder for ourselves? It is certainly the case today that contemporary couples benefit in different ways from relationships. Women no longer rely upon partners for money or status. A man doesn’t expect his wife to be in sole (唯一的) charge of running his household and raising his children.

But perhaps the knowledge that we can live perfectly well without a partnership means that it takes much more to persuade people to abandon their independence.

In theory, finding a partner should be much simpler these days. Only a few generations ago, your choice of soul mate was limited by geography, social convention and family tradition. Although it was never clear, many marriages were essentially arranged. Now those barriers have been broken down. You can approach a builder or a brain surgeon in any bar in any city on any given evening. When the world is your oyster (牡蛎), you surely have a better chance of finding a pearl.

But it seems that the old conventions have been replaced by the limitation of choice. The expectations of partners are raised to an unmanageable degree: good looks, impressive salary, kind to grandmother, and right socks. There is no room for error in the first impression.

We think that a relationship can be perfect. If it isn’t, it should be ended. We work to protect ourselves against future heartache and don’t put in the hard emotional labor needed to build a strong relationship. Twelve-hour work at the office makes relaxed after-hours dating difficult. The cost of housing and child-raising creates pressure to have a stable income and career before a life partnership.

1. What is a contemporary family like in UK today?

A．Couples share the burdens.

B．Men begin to depend on women.

C．Women are responsible for housework.

D．It is difficult to take care of a family.

2. Why do people preserve their independence?

A．To live alone happily.

B．To have more choices.

C．To avoid marriages.

D．To ignore traditions.

3. What makes it hard for people to date?

A．Mental headache in dating.

B．The pressure to survive.

C．Bad luck in finding a partner.

D．The faith between life partners.

4. What is the author trying to inform us in this text?

A．Perfect marriages conflict with independence.

B．People should spend more money on marriages.

C．The expectations and reality separate the lovers.

D．Independence is much more important than love.

8 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.

Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t

even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. ＂Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,＂ he explains. ＂The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.＂

In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. ＂It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,＂ says Dunn. ＂But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.＂

Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. ＂Small talk is the basis of good manners,＂ he says.

1. What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?

A．Addiction to smartphones.

B．Inappropriate behaviours in public places.

C．Absence of communication between strangers.

D．Impatience with slow service.

2. What is important for successful small talk according to Carducci?

A．Showing good manners.	B．Relating to other people.
C．Focusing on a topic.	D．Making business deals.

3. What does the coffee-shop study suggest about small talk?

A．It improves family relationships.	B．It raises people’s confidence.
C．It matters as much as a formal talk.	D．It makes people feel good.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Conversation Counts	B．Ways of Making Small Talk
C．Benefits of Small Talk	D．Uncomfortable Silence

9 . Nowadays, social media like Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Twitter are becoming more and more popular. People have completely made social media part of their daily lives. As a result, many people have developed an Internet personality.

The Internet personality I am talking about is the one we shape on our social media sites. We are always posting information about ourselves for other people to know even when it can be completely untrue. Some people even go so far as to spend money in buying flowers or “likes” or buying a very expensive camera for their friends to take photos of them. I find it unbelievable. The time and energy spent on these silly things can only make us want to be accepted by more people.

Social media are also a modern cause of depression: People see the perfect lives of others and consider their own imperfect lives as bad. Even kids deal with this. They don’t realize that the reason why they struggle to love themselves is that they spend all day receiving untrue information.

I find that many people spend more time and energy in making sure that their online personality is worth accepting rather than caring for their real presence. So many times I have seen confident and beautiful girls on social media. But in the real world, they are extremely shy. They hardly talk to anyone and spend all their time using the phone.

Social media have gone so far as to even negatively affect marriages. This is because of the fact that there are now “Instagram husbands”—people whose use is to take perfect photos of their partners throughout the day. They spend a lot of time doing that whether they like it or not. Needless to say, social media likely influence relationships in a negative way.

I think everyone should stop using social media at least for a few months to experience the difference it makes to them. They may find life is very different and much better.

1. What does “the Internet personality” in the passage refer to?

A．The hope to develop a better personality.

B．The personality developed through social media.

C．The true personality shown by us on social media.

D．The information we get about others on social media.

2. Why are social media a modern cause of depression?

A．We may read some upsetting news.

B．We have to try very hard to be accepted.

C．We can’t really find much useful information.

D．We feel sad about ourselves through comparing.

3. What does the example given in Paragraph 4 show?

A．Shy people can also become confident.

B．Social media make people become more energetic.

C．Social media make people ignore their true presence.

D．People today don’t consider their presence important.

4. What’s most probably the author’s attitude towards people’s using social media?

A．Uninterested.	B．Negative.
C．Uncertain.	D．Supportive.

10 . A new study of 8,000 young people in the journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that although love can make adults live healthily and happily，it is a bad thing for young people. Puppy love（早恋）may bring stress for young people and can lead to depression. The study shows that girls become more depressed than boys, and younger girls are the worst of all.

The possible reason for the connection between love and higher risk of depression for girls is “loss of self”. According to the study, even though boys would say “lose themselves in a romantic relationship”, this “loss of self” is much more likely to lead to depression when it happens to girls. Young girls who have romantic relationships usually like hiding their feelings and opinions. They won’t tell that to their parents.

Dr Marianm Kaufman, an expert on young people problems, says 15% to 20% young people will have depression during their growing. Trying romance often causes the depression. She advises kids not to jump into romance too early. During growing up, it is important for young people to build strong friendships and a strong sense of self. She also suggests the parents should encourage their kids to keep close to their friends, attend more interesting school activities and spend enough time with family.

Parents should watch for signs of depression—eating or mood changes—and if they see signs from their daughters or sons，they need to give help. The good news is that the connection between romance and depression seems to become weak with age. Love will always make us feel young, but only maturity(成熟) gives us a chance to avoid its bad side effects.

1. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Romance is a two-edged sword for adults.

B．Parents should forbid their children’s love.

C．Puppy love may bring young people depression.

D．Romance is good for young people.

2. Which of the following is more likely to have depression?

A．Young people who have a strong sense of self.

B．Young boys whose parents watch for their behavior.

C．Careless parents whose children are deep in love.

D．Young girls who always hide their feelings and opinions.

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Lacking love can lead young people to grow up more quickly.

B．The older a woman is, the less likely she seems to lose herself in romance.

C．Parents should help their children to be aware of the signs of depression.

D．Early love makes young people keep close to their friends and parents.

4. What’s the author’s attitude towards puppy love?

A．Confused	B．Disinterested
C．Disapproving	D．Scared