1 . Binge-watching (刷剧) is when a person watches more than one episode of a show in a row. With developments in the speed and connectivity of the Internet, increases in technology and the rise of on-demand entertainment companies, people can now have their favorite shows stream (流播) directly to their television at their convenience.
This behavior is nothing new. In fact, binge-watching has been officially listed in dictionaries since 2015. The entertainment companies recognize this behavior and many take steps to encourage it. Often, instead of releasing each episode on a week-by-week basis, an entire series will become available concurrently. Once the episode finishes, many platforms will display pop-ups with “you might like” suggestions, or will automatically play the next episode.
However, recent research suggests that out of the more than half of British adults who watch more than one episode of a show back-to-back (一集接一集地), almost a third have admitted missing sleep or becoming tired as a result; and 25% have neglected their household chores (家务活). Next we’ll be missing work!
Bingeing has other connections — binge eating, binge drinking and binge smoking. All of them are often associated with a lack of control and a possible route to addiction. Lindsey Fussell, consumer group director, said, “The days of waiting a week for the next episode are largely gone, with people finding it hard to resist (抗拒) watching multiple episodes around the house or on the move.” If people find binge-watching hard to resist, are we witnessing the birth of a new type of addiction?
The countless number of information and entertainment that television and online media can bring us is, many would say, a good thing. However, when the activity begins to bleed into other areas, causing us to stop functioning, then it becomes a problem. So, what’s the answer? Moderation! Neither a tiny amount, nor too much. After all, as the old proverb says, “A little of what you fancy does you good.”
1. How did the writer develop the first paragraph?| A．By giving a definition. | B．By telling a story. |
| C．By listing some examples. | D．By analyzing the cause and effect. |
| A．For convenience. | B．At the same time. |
| C．In detail. | D．Free of charge. |
| A．people can’t control their feelings | B．people can’t resist the temptation of Bingeing |
| C．people have no patience to do work | D．people are addicted to waiting for a new episode |
| A．To keep online media from stopping functioning. |
| B．To enjoy entertainment as much as possible. |
| C．To learn life lessons from the episodes. |
| D．To watch episodes in a moderate way. |
2 . Most children now chat daily either online or through their mobile phones.
Sometimes the online world, just like the real world, can cause problems, such as bullying (恃强凌弱) or arguments.
| A．Going online is great fun. |
| B．Computer studies are part of schoolwork now. |
| C．The language of chat is strange to many parents, too. |
| D．There are some websites that are not suitable for the children. |
| E．To keep children safe, your management must cover the family computer. |
| F．They are connecting to a huge number of other children all over the world. |
| G．Surfing the Internet takes up too much of the time that should be spent on lessons. |
3 . Many kids help out around the house with chores such as emptying the dishwasher, putting laundry away, and taking out the trash. In exchange, some kids get allowances or other rewards such as extra computer time.
But some people do not think that kids should get rewards for doing chores. Susie Walton, a parenting educator and family coach, believes that by rewarding kids, parents are sending a message that work isn’t worth doing unless you get something in return. “Running any kind of household is a team effort,” Susie said. “A home is a living space for everyone in the family. It’s important for kids to see that we all have responsibilities in the house, and that families decide together how they want their home to look, and how they are going to keep it looking like everyone wants it to look.”
Other people believe that getting a cash allowance or other rewards motivates kids to do chores, and it also teaches them real world lessons about how we need to work to earn money. There are also new applications that give kids points and digital gifts that can be redeemed (兑取) either online or in the real world. With the Chore Monster app, kids earn digital points by completing chores that they can turn in for real-life rewards such as extra Xbox time or a trip to the mall. “Our goal is to encourage kids to earn rewards.” says Chris Bergman, founder of Chore Monster. “Kids need positive reinforcement to help motivate them.”
What do you think? Should kids be rewarded for doing chores? Or should kids help out around their homes without getting anything in return?
Write a 200-word response. Send it to tfkasks4you@timeforkids. com. Your response may be published in a future issue of Time For Kids. Please include your grade and contact information of your parent or teacher if you want your response to be published. The deadline for responding is 18 February.
1. How does the author start the passage?| A．By stating his own experiences. | B．By presenting some facts. |
| C．By comparing different views. | D．By listing some evidence. |
| A．Kids should be rewarded for doing chores. |
| B．Parents decide what kids can do for the family. |
| C．Kids have the responsibility to share housework. |
| D．Kids can get extra computer time for doing chores. |
| A．Chris Bergman’s opinion on raising kids. |
| B．Main reasons why kids need encouragement |
| C．How to motivate kids to try new applications. |
| D．The advantage of rewarding kids for doing chores. |
| A．To invite readers to express their opinions. | B．To present the author’s viewpoint about parenting. |
| C．To call on readers to reflect on their behavior. | D．To inform readers of two different opinions. |
In recent years, Internet voting has become
Lin Yue, a high school student, is invited to vote in the “Best Police Officer”,
Wu Hua is invited by his uncle to vote for his cousin in the “Future Singer”. He
5 . Walk into any waiting area and you will see people of all ages on the phone. It is rare to see people sitting and simply thinking while waiting for the next part of the day or night. We have also observed people playing with their mobile phones while having dinner with others or in the presence of their families. It seems that everyone is experiencing FOMO (fear of missing out) or a strong addiction to electronic devices.
Why do adults, middle school students, and even young children turn to electronics while waiting? A recent study by Hatano et al. (2022) found that in different cultures people underestimate how enjoyable and attractive simply thinking might be. In a series of studies on university students in both Japan and the United Kingdom, the participants rated their level of expected enjoyment and engagement in simply thinking and then rated their actual level of enjoyment and participation in thinking after the waiting period. During the waiting period, the participants only had the option to think. They were not allowed to take electronics into the waiting area. The participants were not necessarily happy about thinking. Instead, they underestimated the benefits related to thinking and thought that thinking was aversive before the waiting period, which only allowed thinking without electronic products. After this waiting period, they admitted that thinking was more interesting and easier than expected.
Thinking can include problem-solving, goal-setting, and a variety of other creative tasks. These outcomes can be extremely productive and satisfying. Perhaps it is time for parents and educators to teach children about the importance of paying attention to one’s thoughts. We need to be better role models and put down our own phones when there is an opportunity to simply wait and think. We need to provide these opportunities for both ourselves and our children.
1. What’s the purpose of the author describing the scene about people’s using electronics?| A．To introduce the importance of electronics. |
| B．To tell what bad influences electronics have. |
| C．To voice his views on thinking while waiting. |
| D．To explain why we should have better ways of communication. |
| A．Satisfactory. | B．Boring. | C．Worried. | D．Meaningful. |
| A．Provide opportunities for children. |
| B．Pick up the phones while waiting. |
| C．Underestimate the benefits of thinking. |
| D．Tell children about the significance of thinking. |
| A．Why should we put our phones down? |
| B．How can electronic products affect us? |
| C．How do we think freely by using phones? |
| D．Why does thinking while waiting make people smart? |
1、你遇到的情况；
2、你的想法；
3、你的建议。
注意：1、词数80左右；
2、可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3、文章开头结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear editor,
I’m writing to tell you something that I found during the Spring Festival.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
A Chinese wildlife park has aroused a
The case could
8 . Maths anxiety may be causing a national crisis, Cambridge University researchers have said, as they find that one in ten children suffer from anxiety at the subject.
Researchers surveyed 1, 700 British pupils aged 8 to 13 about their feelings towards the subject. They found 10% of children suffered from maths anxiety. Other feelings caused by maths included fear and anger, while physical symptoms included a racing heart or struggling to catch breath.
“The project studied students’ attitudes towards maths because of what could be called a maths crisis in the UK, ” researchers said. “Many children and adults experience feelings of anxiety, fear or discomfort when they face maths. This may be leading to a low level of maths in the country. ” The number of adults with functional maths skills equal to a GCSE (英国普通中等教育证书) grade C has dropped from 26% in 2003 to only 22% in 2011, according to the survey. At the same time, only 57% of the children achieved the same level in functional maths skills.
Dr. Denes Szucs, a professor at Cambridge’s Centre for Neuroscience (神经科学) in Education said that there is a misunderstanding that only low performing children suffer from math anxiety. “This is a common misunderstanding that we have seen in decision makers, ” he said. “They assume people are anxious about maths because they are poor achievers.” In fact, more than 77% of children with high levels of maths anxiety are normal to high achievers. Dr. Szucs went on, “Probably their maths anxiety will go unnoticed because their performance is good. But they are very worried and in the long term their performance is limited. This is a real danger here: these are children who are completely able to do maths at a normal level, but may keep away from it because they feel anxious.” The research also found that girls have higher levels of maths anxiety than boys.
John’s Hillman, director of education at the Nuffield Foundation said, “Mathematical achievement is valuable, as a foundation for many other subjects and as an important predictor of future academic learning, job hunting and even health. Maths anxiety can seriously influence students’ performance in both primary and secondary schools.”
1. What can we learn from the survey conducted by the Cambridge University researchers?| A．Girls suffer lower levels of maths anxiety than boys. |
| B．Only low performing children suffer from maths anxiety. |
| C．Children with maths anxiety will suffer both physically and mentally. |
| D．Most children with high levels of maths anxiety usually perform badly at the subject. |
| A．Many children are suffering from maths anxiety. |
| B．They want to help improve students’ academic performance. |
| C．Maths anxiety may cause great damage to children’s development. |
| D．Both children and adults experience maths anxiety, causing a national maths crisis. |
| A．Providing data. | B．Giving examples. |
| C．Giving definition. | D．Analyzing and reasoning. |
| A．How can students learn maths well? |
| B．How can maths anxiety be reduced? |
| C．How does anxiety influence students’ mental health? |
| D．How can children realize the importance of learning maths? |
采访内容:
1.你或你身边的人在日常生活中使用移动支付的情况；
2.移动支付带来的好处
3.你的看法。
参考词汇: 微信: Wechat 支付宝: Alipay 二维码: QR code
注意:1.词数120左右;
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯
Dear Jenny,
How is your survey on mobile payment going？ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours faithfully
Li Hua
10 . Have you seen people who take pictures of food for more than 10 minutes before eating? My friend Stella is such an example. Every time we went to a restaurant she would not take a bite until all the dishes we
Many people care too much about others’ opinions and try too hard to
If they really want an elegant life, they should put more
| A．ordered | B．served | C．offered | D．prepared |
| A．cooking | B．washing | C．setting | D．collecting |
| A．messy | B．arranged | C．casual | D．missed |
| A．dishes | B．restaurants | C．tables | D．pictures |
| A．chance | B．choice | C．excuse | D．reason |
| A．comfort | B．please | C．inspire | D．discourage |
| A．independent | B．generous | C．responsible | D．confident |
| A．real | B．secret | C．peaceful | D．healthy |
| A．rarely | B．hardly | C．exactly | D．nearly |
| A．difficulty | B．change | C．guidance | D．harm |
| A．question | B．dislike | C．doubt | D．follow |
| A．effort | B．ambitions | C．feeling | D．money |
| A．other than | B．more than | C．rather than | D．less than |
| A．identifying | B．accepting | C．persuading | D．amusing |
| A．simplifying | B．ruining | C．beautifying | D．worsening |
