1 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. stems     B. insecure       C. squeezed     D. individual       E. glued     F. spreading G. head     H. simply        I. distracting        J. spacious     K. originally

You’ll Often Walk Alone

There has been a quiet pandemic (流行病) developing while most people’s attention has been on Covid-19. The lockdown has worsened a problem that has been     1     in many developed nations for decades: loneliness.

Part of the problem     2     from contemporary employment. Globally, two in five office workers feel lonely at work. This rises to three in five in Britain. Gig-economy (零工经济) jobs can leave people with     3     incomes and without the companionship of colleagues. The pandemic has made it more difficult to make, and maintain, friendships, particularly for new employees. Even before the crisis, the hope that     4     offices would encourage greater camaraderie (友情) proved to be false. Many people find the chatter     5     and withdraw with noise-canceling headphones. They then email colleagues who are sitting only a few desks away.

Perhaps loneliness relates to human history. Mass urbanization is a relatively recent development; if the history of human existence was     6     into a single day, the Industrial Revolution did not occur until almost midnight. For much of that time, humans lived in small groups of hunter-gatherers; cities may just overwhelm the senses. Ms. Hertz points her finger at a recent development: social media. The internet has led too much cyber-bullying (although it has also been a source of companionship during the lockdown). And people     7     to their smart phones spend less time interacting socially.

Some changes in behavior are owing to     8     choice. Before the pandemic no one was stopping people going to church or taking part in sports. They     9     preferred to do other things. Indeed, one reason for the decline in communal activities is that men choose to be with their families rather than     10     to the bar; American fathers spend three times as much time with their children as they did in the 1960s. That is surely a welcome development. So recreating a communal society may be difficult.

2 . 选用适当的单词或短语补全短文。

friendship     self-centered   percent     website     smartphone   online   anything   real-life

Some people believe that the Internet has many negative aspects. Talking to people    1    or having a    2    with someone you only talk to on the Internet isn’t a replacement for    3    communication. While it can connect you with other people who use a    4    , face-to-face contact with others is important to help you maintain healthy relationships. This argument is thought-provoking because it shows that people still need face-to-face communication with others today. In addition, spending too much time on the Internet can make you    5    because you can become obsessed with popularity and gaining followers. Finally, you need to be careful with various    6    because you can never be 100       7    sure that    8    you read online is true.

3 . Choose the correct options.

Have you heard the     1     phrase / phase “Six Degrees of Separation”? It is the idea that we all know everyone else in the world through about six people. I recently signed up to a     2     bimonthly / biweekly newsletter that is emailed on the first and last Friday of every month. It has lots of interesting articles on famous experiments.

In the latest newsletter, they decided to try to recreate the experiment that originally proved the theory of how we all have this large     3     network / netting of people. They emailed a     4     random / ransom group of people and asked them to participate. This small     5     simple / sample of people were then sent a     6     protective / package to pass on to a stranger by sending it to someone they knew. They sent it along to someone who then sent it to a person he or she knew, starting a     7     chain / chase.

In the next issue, the newsletter will     8     release / return the results. I can’t wait to see if the theory is proved!

4 . Complete her story with the correct form of the words and phrase below.

household   crime   epidemic   social bonds   frequently   consequence   closely-knit

Recently, a radio show highlighted an interesting story about the power of community spirit. It was about a small town in America called Roseto. In the 1950s, heart attacks were an     1     in the USA, but researchers found Roseto had much lower rates of heart attacks than other places in the country. The town was very safe and had a very low     2     rate.

When they looked deeper into the reasons for this, they found that Roseto was a very     3     community.     4     typically consisted of three generations living together and the people visited each other     5    , respected elderly people and organised lots of community events.

Unfortunately, over the years, the community changed as the younger generation rejected traditional     6     and moved to outskirts of the town. As a     7    , health problems and crime increased. The link between health, happiness and community is really clear through this story.

5 . Use the correct form of the phrase below.

personal interests and needs                       learning materials                    call for mobile devices                                        find directions                         set up the latest technologies                              for short                                 put in          solve real-world problems

The Use of Apps

In the survey among our classmates, all students use software applications (called apps     1    ). They typically use apps on smartphones or     2    .

Students agree that apps can help them take part in a whole range of activities. They usually use apps to search for learning resources, find popular restaurants,     3     taxis,     4     to certain places, and order food.

Educational apps are the type of apps most frequently used arming our classmate. They allow them to beam at their own pace anywhere. They can choose online teachers and subjects according to their     5     . Also, they can share     6     with other users of the same app.

Nearly one third of the students have tried apps with     7     like VR, AH and MR. They believe that new technologies can be used to help people     8     . What students dislike is that in order to use apps these days, they are often required to     9     an account and     10     personal information. They worry about the safety of this.

6 . Choose the correct options.

In a recent interview, Mayor Janine Fraser spoke about the influence of the media. She said the increase in Internet news and     1     microchanneling /microblogging sites gives us a variety of opinions and views.

According to Mayor Fraser, “I was sent an email recently from a citizen who was     2     witness/witnessing to a police officer breaking the law. The policerman threatened this person with a fine for speeding. The person used his /her mobile phone to secretly record and     3     upload/download this conversation to a news site. Thanks to this, we had evidence to punish this policeman. Another great example was a local worker who used a blog to     4     outline /output how the     5     component/corporation he worked for was illegally polluting the environment.” On the negative side, she did mention that the ability for     6     advertising /advertisements companies to monitor people through website usage and comments is a cause for concern.

“The Internet is an     7     interactive/interactively tool that works in both ways. People should be aware that when they use the Internet they are     8     broadcaster/broadcasting their preferences to lots of different companies. We need to be cautious and protect ourselves. ”

7 . Choose the correct options.

Back in my days, the     1     subjective/objective of education was reading, writing and mathematics and after that nothing else mattered. Schools were not expected to     2     distribute /contribute to the development of young people as     3     well-rounded/well-being individuals. It was seen as the     4     responsibility/responsible of the family to provide     5     overall/moral education and teach their children to have good character. Besides, it was believed that just by following the law, people would become good     6     citizens/audiences.

Nowadays, the     7     definition/demonstration of education is understood in much broader terms. It is clear now that the true     8     principal/priority of education is to develop the whole person rather than just provide information to learn. Certainly, reading, writing and maths are still     9     care/core subjects but there are other important skills and abilities to acquire, such as     10     autonomous/automatic learning and initiative, judgement and     11     integration /integrity, creativity and     12     critical/civil thinking. Likewise, activities outside of the classroom can help develop children’s personalities and characters. We now also know that parents and other family members can     13     stimulate/accumulate their children’s interest in learning and have an important role to play.

8 . Complete the passage with the expressions in the box.

not eco-friendly       create opportunities for new businesses disturb the wildlife       help the local economy higher carbon emissions       provide more jobs       use up natural resources

As tourism develops, people are becoming increasingly concerned about the environment. Here in our city, there is a heated discussion about whether a hotel should be built at White Beach. The owner of the company thinks the hotel would attract more tourists, which will     1     and     2    . However, the local people worry that building the hotel is     3     and will     4    , in particular the turtles which lay their eggs on White Beach. But they also admit that building the hotel will     5     for people living in the area. Even though the owner of the company guarantees that the design will be in harmony with its beautiful surroundings, the local people are still concerned that the hotel may     6    . Increased tourist numbers will also mean more cars and aeroplanes, which in turn means     7    .

10 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. wound     B. fundamentally   C. argues     D. virtue     E. mirrors   F. universally G. judged       H. simply        I. adopted       J. fascination       K. similarly

Jenny Carter an NHS coordinator is an “extreme night owl,” one of an estimated 8.2% of the population whose natural inclination(倾向)is to fall asleep well after midnight. Left to her own devices, she’d prefer to go to bed around 3 a.m. and wake up about noon.

Why do night owls exist? There is no single     1     accepted theory, but evolutionary biologists think that communities with more variation in chronotypes(睡眠类型)may have been more likely to survive.

Another theory is that variation is     2     how genetics works. Right from birth, our personal biological clocks are already     3    . Genetics establishes a person’s chronotype. Colin Espie, professor of sleep medicine at the University of Oxford, says this     4     differences in hair eye and skin color or height.

Natural night owls are     5     different from insomniacs or people who stay up until the early hours because of family or work circumstances. Being a night owl isn’t a problem.

But this isn’t always well understood. Jessica Batchelor is a medical writer who feels most productive at 11 p.m. “I can’t tell anyone when I went to sleep, woke up, showered or ate a meal without being     6    ,” she says “I struggle with feelings of guilt and shame.”

This mentality is rooted in our agrarian(耕地的)past when farm work had to begin at dawn.

Our culture mistakenly associates sleeping little and rising early with     7    . It is often extolled(颂扬)as a habit of successful people: for instance in the     8     with Margaret Thatcher’s four-hour rest, or articles about “sleepless-elite” CEOs who start their days with a 4 a.m. jog.

Actually, there is nothing wrong with staying up late as long as you’re getting a good amount of sleep every night;     9    , early risers have no special biological advantage. What research has not disproved, however, is that morning people tend to get more done.

The productivity expert Laura Vanderkam     10     that people should consider switching their schedule not because it’s necessarily better but because it’s practical.

Waking up earlier to work out, make headway on a creative project or enjoy a stress-free cup of coffee can help make it easier to accomplish more without sacrificing time for yourself.