1 . Every festival has its own meaning. Labor Day, for example, celebrates the value of hard work. Thanksgiving is about showing thanks to people around you. And Valentines’ Day is a time when you express love to your loved ones. But somehow it now seems that all festivals we just care about one thing — shopping. And that can be a big problem.
“In a way, over-consumption (过度消费) is the mother of all our environmental problems,” Kalle Lasn once told CNN. Lasn is the organizer of Buy Nothing Day, a day set up in Canada in 1992 to fight against unhealthy spending habits, and has now become an international event. It’s held on the day, which is known as Black Friday — a famous shopping day in the US and Canada.
You can see the irony (讽刺) here.
Even though the idea of Buy Nothing Day was brought up 26 years ago, we seem to need it now more than ever. It’s just as Lasn said, all the different kinds of pollution in our lives today — bad air quality, the reduction of forest area, endangered animal species, and plastic bags found in the ocean — seem to be the same cause: over-consumption.
The latest example is the Singles’ Day shopping craze of Nov 11, which saw a new sales record. But as Nie Li, a campaigner at Greenpeace, told Reuters, “Record-setting over-consumption means record-setting waste.” And it was reported that last year the Singles’ Day packages left more than 160,000 tons of waste, including plastic and cardboard. The Collins Dictionary has also just named “single-use” its Word of the Year, pointing out the problem that there’re too many things we tow out after only using them once.
So, Buy Nothing Day might only be here for one day a year, but it’s not just to remind us to the a break from shopping on that day, but to change our lifestyle completely, focusing on fun “with people we care about” rather than wasting money on useless things.
1. What’s the authors purpose of writing the first paragraph?| A．To express the people’s love for all festivals. |
| B．To talk about the meaning of the festivals. |
| C．To appreciate the value of the festivals. |
| D．To bring out the topic of the passage. |
| A．To help people save money. | B．To cut the cost for daily life. |
| C．To prevent over-consumption. | D．To set up a new sales record. |
| A．Opposed (反对的). | B．Supportive. |
| C．Unknown. | D．Neutral (中立的). |
| A．Creating a New Lifestyle | B．Buy Nothing Day |
| C．Festivals Around the World | D．A Change in People’s Life |
2 . Toilet paper as we know it today is a relatively modern invention that's only been around for about 150 years. It s natural to wonder what was used before modern toilet paper. Toilet paper in its ancient form dates back to China in at least the 6th century. Although paper itself appeared long before that time.
In ancient times, many kinds of materials(材料) were used instead of toilet paper. For example, sand was used by people who settled near the desert(沙漠); grass was used by people living in the grassland. Some other things known to have been used included: fur, leaves, rocks, snow, and so on. Of course, it wasn’t uncommon for people to go to the bathroom in a small river.
They might have used a cloth or their hands to clean themselves afterward. For many people, that might have been preferable to the method used by ancient Romans: a sponge(海绵)on a stick kept in saltwater...and shared by everyone using public bathrooms.
Luckily for us, Joseph Gayetty created the first toilet paper in 1857. His “Gayetty's Medicated Paper” didn’t become popular soon, however, since the public was used to using materials they got for free rather than spending money on toilet paper. The rolled toilet paper we’re familiar with today appeared in the 1880s. It wasn’t necessarily soft like we’re now used to, though. Paper production methods would often leave splinters(刺)in toilet paper. It wasn’t until 1935 that Northern Tissue said they had made “splinter- free” toilet paper.
Other improvements in toilet paper happened over the course of the 20th Century. Larger rolls with softer paper became more popular. Today, take a trip to your local supermarket and you will find many different kinds of toilet paper. For such a widely-used, necessary invention, it isn’t given much thought...until it runs out!
1. What might decide which material ancient people used after using the bathroom?| A．What they did. | B．Where they lived. |
| C．How old they were. | D．How long they used the bathroom. |
| A．Because the paper had splinters. |
| B．Because the paper couldn’t be shared. |
| C．Because people didn't want to pay for it. |
| D．Because people preferred rolled toilet paper. |
| A．By providing examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By telling an interesting story. | D．By following the order of time. |
| A．A great invention--toilet paper |
| B．Why was toilet paper invented? |
| C．Toilet paper vs water: which to choose. |
| D．What did people use before toilet paper? |
The Internet makes shopping at home convenient. However, for many, the attraction of shopping can turn into
Researchers from the Hannover Medical School have termed the illness “Buying Shopping Disorder” (BSD). The researchers say this condition should be recognized by the medical profession as an illness and should not
Last month, Dr. Megan and her team
4 . People visit a shopping mall more often nowadays because malls provide goods and services such as food, clothing, and things for their houses, entertainment, even medical services. However, environmental activists say that consumers’ behavior is causing a huge environmental disaster: the side effect of their shopping—urban sprawl (扩大).
Social scientists agree that patterns of development have changed the landscape a great deal in the last half century. Before 1950, most people lived in towns or cities and either walked to work or took public transportation. Only very wealthy people had automobiles. Farmers lived in rural areas or isolated villages and came into town only when they needed things they couldn’t produce themselves. If you gazed at the landscape you would see towns surrounded by countryside.
Then a massive change occurred. Automobiles became affordable and people were quick to adopt them. Now ambitious workers could live in the suburbs, the areas just outside cities, which started to grow rapidly. As long as there was lots of cheap land in the suburbs, no one paid much attention to the usage of that land. Malls, fast food restaurants, cinemas, and car dealerships spread out in large, flat buildings. These one-storey buildings and their parking lot took up a great deal space. Well-meaning farmers thought they were better off selling their land than growing crops. In ignorance, no one realized that once the land was built up in urban sprawl, the good farming land would be ruined forever. There was no way to preserve it.
Only in recent years have people come to mourn the old way of life as they have developed insight into the problems. Now people realize that urban sprawl has come with serious environmental problems. The negative aspects of sprawl include air and water pollution, loss of agricultural land, traffic jams, and the death of businesses in the old town centers. Many scholars think the time has come to analyze the problems better so we can develop appropriate policies to control further sprawl. Some think the best way to do is to educate citizens about their priceless environment.
1. What does the passage mainly talk about?| A．Shopping malls. | B．Consumers’ behavior. |
| C．New Automobiles. | D．Urban Sprawl. |
| A．shopping malls. | B．massive changes. |
| C．cheap automobiles. | D．ambitious workers. |
| A．the death of people. | B．air and water pollution. |
| C．loss of land. | D．traffic jams. |
| A．Negative. | B．Positive. | C．Respectful. | D．Doubtful. |
5 . Over the past two weeks, I've lost my passport, barked at a neighbor and published a picture of myself wearing a kid's superhero costume. Forgetfulness, anger and poor decision-making are all signs of sleep shortage.
And I'm not alone.
“I average around six hours a night,” admits Paul, who's lived in Shanghai for three years. “But how much of that is deep sleep, I don't know.”
Lisa works in a hotel. “I struggle to switch off,” she says, “a glass of red wine with dinner helps.”
March 21 is the World Sleep Day, an annual event in celebration of slumber, or sleep. When sleep problems become a global epidemic, it's time to ask: “Am I getting enough?”
The lack of sleep throughout industrialized nations is damaging our health, wellness and safety. We're dog-tired, the impact of which is enough to keep anyone up at night.
A global experiment is performed on 1.6 billion people across 70 countries twice a year: daylight savings. When one hour of sleep is lost in spring, there's a 24 percent increase in heart attacks, and in autumn, when the hour is regained, a 21 percent reduction.
Good sleep increases concentration, attention and decision-making. Creativity goes up, and our ability to find novel solutions to complex problems is hugely improved. Sleep reduces mood swings and stress levels. We drink less alcohol and make better food choices when rested.
Take sleep seriously. It's not a luxury, but a biological necessity. It's our life-support system and let it be our superpower.
1. Why does the author mention his own experiences in Paragraph 1?| A．To draw attention to his situation. | B．To complain about lacking sleep. |
| C．To introduce the topic of the text. | D．To raise a question about deep sleep. |
| A．Turn off. | B．Disinterest someone. | C．Stop talking. | D．Fall asleep. |
| A．The loss of sleep increases the risk of heart attacks. |
| B．Short sleep is linked to mental health problems. |
| C．Good sleep leads to better work performances. |
| D．Red wine is effective in treating sleeplessness. |
| A．Celebrating the World Sleep Day. | B．Paying attention to sleep problems. |
| C．Getting six hours' sleep every day. | D．Taking sleeping pills when necessary. |
6 . Created in the 1920s by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect who designed Waterloo Bridge, red public telephone boxes, which can be seen all over the UK, are regarded as one of the most typical symbols of this country.
However, public phones have had their day despite their lovely housings. While coin-operated and card-operated telephones are on the edge of extinction, mobile phones are playing a significant role in people's lives. Though they are more portable, flexible and extensively used, mobile phones have their weakness: battery life. Instead of trashing the phone booths, a project was then promoted to recycle and reuse them. To be consistent with the environment-friendly preference, people are allowed to rent and repurpose the red phone boxes. In this way, they are making an unusual come back. When you take a walk down Tottenham Court Road in London and find low-battery condition, there happens to be a green option for you. The abandoned the red phone boxes are being used as free charging stations powered by solar energy.
Inside the booths, which are newly painted green, there are various adaptors that can be connected to different brands and models of mobile phones. Just walk in, plug your phone in, and charge it up whenever it needs to be supplied with power. Most people would stay inside the boxes while they charge. Fully aware of this when launching the project, Solarbox can now reach a large quantity of audience by displaying ads on solid equipment. Its advertisers include well-known companies like Uber. Yet 30% of advertising space is reserved for local community projects.
Apart from converting phone booths into solar-powered charging stations, other forms of transformation can be found in and outside the UK. For example, there is medical equipment or minilibraries adapted from phone booths, while in America, thousands of phone booths have been transformed into wi-fi hot spots.
1. What do you know about the public phones boxes?| A．The public phones were abandoned. |
| B．The public phones have been replaced by mobile phones. |
| C．The public phones played a significant role in people's lives. |
| D．The public phones are regarded as typical symbols of this country. |
| A．Adapt. | B．Produce. | C．Unite. | D．Build. |
| A．New function. | B．Advertising profit. | C．People's affection | D．Companies support |
| A．The future of the public phone. | B．The revival of the phone boxes. |
| C．The rise and fall of the red boxes. | D．The ups and downs of the payphone. |
7 . In the United States, 30 percent of the adult population has a “weight problem”. To many people, the cause is clear: we eat too much. But scientific evidence does little to support this idea. Going back to the America of 1910, we find that people were thinner than today, yet they ate more food. In those days people worked harder physically, walked more, used machines much less, and didn't watch television.
Several modern studies, moreover, have shown that fatter people don't eat more on average than thinner people. In fact, some investigations, such as a 1970 study of 3, 545 London office workers, report that, on balance, fat people eat less than slimmer people.
Studies show that slim people are more active than fat people. A study by a research group at Stanford University School of Medicine found the following interesting facts. The more the men ran, the greater loss of body fat. The more they ran, the greater their increase in food intake. Thus those who ran the most ate the most, yet lost greatest amount of body fat.
1. Based on the statistics given in the article, suppose there are 500 adult Americans, about how many of them will have weight problems?| A．30. | B．50. | C．100. | D．150. |
| A．ate more food and had more physical activities | B．ate less food but had more activities |
| C．ate less food and had less physical exercises | D．had more weight problems |
| A．Fat people eat less food and are less active. |
| B．Fat people eat more food than thin people and are more active. |
| C．Fat people eat more food than thin people but are less active. |
| D．Thin people run less, and need less food to eat. |
8 . Online eating shows, or Mukbang(直播吃饭), originated in South Korea and have gained popularity globally.
Many hosts of such shows have become popular for their ability to eat large amounts of food. But these shows have also received criticism for their waste of food. While some hosts actually do consume the amount of food shown, others may be faking it.
On Aug 12, CCTV exposed several Chinese hosts who were pretending to eat large amounts of food while on camera, but actually later threw it away.
To discourage this practice, many video and livestreaming platforms, including Douyin, Kuaishow and Bilibili, have removed videos that show food waste, and have promoted messages to “stop food waste and eat reasonably.”
In June 2020, the United Nations warned that the world is on the verge of the worst food crisis in 50 years.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about a third of the world’s food-1.3 billion tons- is wasted every year. In China alone, 50 million tons of food ends up in landfills every year, according to Beijing News.
Recently, campaigns against food waste have been further promoted. In August, President Xi Jinping stressed the need for safeguarding food security and stopping food waste.
According to China Daily, restaurants and catering associations in more than 18 provinces and all 4 municipal cities have issued guidelines to control food waste.
In Shanxi province, local restaurants have been asked to serve half portions to avoid waste. The Wuhan Catering Association proposed that restaurants adopt the “N-1 mode”. For example, a group of 10 diners should only order enough for nine people first. More food is only brought to the table if required.
In addition, a nationwide “Clear Your Plate” campaign has been launched online. Users of Sina Weibo are encouraged to share photos or videos of empty plates after finishing their meals.
Meanwhile, new laws are also being considered, according to China daily. “We will make new laws that give clear instructions on avoiding food waste,” said Zhang Guilong from the legislative Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress. The instructions will be detailed in every year of food production, purchasing storage, transportation, processing and consumption, according to Zhang.
1. What is CCTV’s attitude toward online eating shows?| A．Supportive. | B．Critical. | C．Objective. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Most video media are contributing to stopping food waste. |
| B．We should eat up all the food on the table. |
| C．It’s hard to carry out "Clear Your Plate campaign. |
| D．All the videos that show food waste have been removed. |
| A．We can adopt the “N+1 mode”. |
| B．We can eat more food than we need. |
| C．We can choose not to watch online eating shows. |
| D．We can ask the restaurants to serve us half portions. |
| A．Online eating shows should be banned. |
| B．New laws should be made to avoid food waste. |
| C．Measures are being taken to stop food waste. |
| D．We should share photos or videos of empty plates. |
Did you grow up in one culture, your parents came from another, and you are now living in a
The term “third-culture kid”
Yet many
10 . Twenty-five years ago, most young Britons wanted a career in law, to be a doctor, or, if they were creative enough, to take up singing. But today, things stand differently.
According to a survey by Tesco Mobile, a UK company, the “dream job” of young people aged between 16 and 25 in the UK is a video blogger, or “vlogger” (视频博主). The survey, carried out among 1,002 people, found that as much as 40 percent of them put vlogger as their number one choice on a list of ideal careers.
This change is undoubtedly as a result of the Internet and social media. They have made it so much easier to reach audience of the world, without having to enter a career in show business in the traditional way.
In the past, the biggest stars were trained by the Hollywood studios; now, anyone with a computer camera can become a star. Vloggers are the big stars of today because they are normal people interacting with their fans about everyday life.
However, what people see is only the bright side of being a vlogger and they fail to notice the fact that only those who are successful earn fame and fortune. For every success there are hundreds of others who never get off the starting line. There are the dreams that come true and the dreams that remain dreams forever.
Although being vloggers is popular, some young people choose to follow careers that don’t necessarily earn them fame, but allow them to make good use of the Internet to share their hobbies. Young Israeli David Leshaw, for example, runs a business called the Finishers Club. It’s an online platform for runners to keep a record of their races. His job allows him to express his enthusiasm, and is always a learning experience. And that's enough for him.
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．Most young Britons choose to be vloggers as their job. |
| B．The Internet is influencing young Britons’career choice. |
| C．The Internet is taking the place of traditional studios. |
| D．Young Britons can not find jobs without the Internet. |
| A．Vloggers can earn greater fame and more money on the Internet. |
| B．There is too much competition in the traditional show business. |
| C．The Internet makes it convenient to enter show business. |
| D．Anyone with a computer will surely become a star. |
| A．Only a few vloggers can be famous and wealthy. |
| B．A vlogger can not earn fame and fortune. |
| C．People often see the bright side of being a vlogger. |
| D．Dreams will always remain dreams. |
| A．Learn from others. | B．Become an online hit. |
| C．Hold running races. | D．Combine jobs with hobbies. |
