1 . In ancient Greek mythology, we learn about a young man named Narcissus. He was so beautiful that he fell in love with his own reflection. But soon he realized that what he loved was not real. As a result he became sad and died. In the place where he had stood appeared a yellow flower - a narcissus.
This is where the word “narcissism” came from. Unfortunately, narcissism is often used negatively - it is usually used to mean being self-centered and not caring about others.
However, part of the reason that narcissism carries these negative meanings is that many people admire themselves in an unhealthy way. But the truth is that good self-love is necessary for our mental health, scientists say.
A study published 10 years ago shows that low self-esteem is responsible for many social problems, and it can affect teenagers seriously. When they feel less confident and not as good as their classmates, teenagers are more likely to suffer from depression, according to the BBC.
The other reason that narcissism is considered an ugly thing is because we are taught that we should care more about others than ourselves and that it’s better to give than to receive.
Thinking about others is the right thing to do, without question. But psychologists say that the love of others is actually based on self-love --if you see yourself as an unpleasant stranger, how can you make friends with anyone else? After all, you are closer to yourself than anyone else. You can’t love another until you love yourself, and you can’t expect someone to love you if you don’t love yourself.
If you find that believing in yourself is a challenge, it is time to build a positive self- image and learn to love yourself. You’ll be surprised how nice it can be!
The best way to defeat a negative self-image is to step back and build your pride. Make a list if you need to, but record all of the great things you do every day. Think about how you are always there for your friends; how you help your classmates with their homework; how you manage to get good grades.
If you think you’re weak because you can’t finish a 1,500 m run, get to the track and practice. If you think you’re dull because you are not in fashion, buy a few new clothes. But remember, just because you think it, it doesn’t mean it’s true.
The next time you look in the mirror, try to tell yourself that you are one of a kind. Pick out your best qualities and be proud of yourself.
1. Why does narcissism often have a negative meaning?| A．In ancient Greek mythology, Narcissus’s story is sad. |
| B．Narcissism is a habit in which people unhealthily admire themselves. |
| C．Narcissism is responsible for many social problems. |
| D．Narcissism harms one’s mental health. |
| A．Teenagers’ physical and mental health is negatively affected. |
| B．Teenagers who don’t like themselves are often ignored by teachers. |
| C．Teenagers are more likely to suffer from depression. |
| D．Teenagers often feel that they could have done better. |
| A．People cannot love themselves without loving others. |
| B．To love others is the right thing to do, while self-love is not. |
| C．Self-love is the basis of love for others. |
| D．To love yourself depends on whether others love you. |
| A．You can’t finish a 1,500 meter run. | B．You are not in style. |
| C．You are weak or dull. | D．You have a negative self-image. |
| A．To persuade people to stop being narcissistic. |
| B．To suggest that parents care about children’s self-image. |
| C．To advise people to look in the mirror and like themselves. |
| D．To encourage people to accept and love themselves. |
2 . Most of the people who appear most often and most gloriously in the history books are great conquerors and generals, while the people who really helped civilization forward are often never mentioned. We do not know who first set a broken leg, or launched a seaworthy boat, or calculated the length of the year but we know all about the killers and destroyers. People think so much of them that on all the highest pillars in the great cities of the world you will find the figure of a conqueror or a general.
It is possible they are, but they are not the most civilized. Animals fight, so do savages（野蛮人）; so to be good at fighting is to be good in the way in which an animal or a savage is good, but it is not to be civilized.
| A．Even being good at getting others to fight most efficiently is not being civilized. |
| B．Most people believe those who have conquered the most nations are the greatest. |
| C．However, every year conflict between countries and nations still claim thousands of lives. |
| D．From the point of view of evolution, human beings are very indeed, babies of a few months old. |
| E．So there has been little time to learn in, but there will be oceans of time in which to learn better. |
| F．People don't fight and kill each other in the streets, but nations still behave like savages. |
3 . Empathy (同理心) is one of those strange qualities — something almost everyone wants, but few know how to truly give or receive it. In a world where self-satisfaction is emphasized, it is in short supply but high demand. This is all the more reason to teach the next generation what it means to have empathy for those around them.
What Is Empathy? — Many people confuse sympathy and empathy, but they are two distinct values. Empathy is not just the ability to understand someone's feelings; criminals often take advantage of people by appearing to understand their feelings and subsequently gaining their trust. Empathy is more than that. Not only is it the ability to recognize how someone feels, but it also values and respects the feelings of another person. It means treating others with kindness, dignity, and understanding.
Kids Need To See Adults Show Empathy — While some children are gifted with naturally kind hearts, in most cases kids need to see empathy modeled by the adults around them. It begins with the way parents relate to their children. Parents who show an interest in the things that matter to their kids and respond to emotions in a positive and caring way are teaching the skill of empathy.
Meet Emotional Needs — When children have their emotional needs met, two things happen. They learn how to meet the emotional needs of others and they are anchored in what they are receiving, meaning that they are secure enough to give to others when the need arises but first they need to receive. An empty jug cannot fill a cup.
It's a good idea to talk to kids about emotions and how other people experience them. Give their emotions names (for example, jealousy, anger, and love) and teach them that these are normal. Talk to them about how to handle emotions in a positive way and point out situations where other people are experiencing emotions. Teach them about respecting the emotions of others and show them how to act in a situation where a response is required.
1. Why is it that the next generation are taught to have empathy?| A．Because people tend to center themselves. | B．Because everyone lacks empathy. |
| C．Because empathy is a strange quality. | D．Because it's better to give than to receive. |
| A．When a mathematician is calculating the area of a farmland. |
| B．When a teacher is comforting a student about his failure in exams. |
| C．When a criminal is cheating a victim. |
| D．When a dancer is dancing to music. |
| A．An empty jug is too small to hold a cup. |
| B．It's a must to talk to kids about emotions. |
| C．Adults should set an example to kids. |
| D．Kids give empathy with their emotional needs met first. |
| A．How to train kids to have empathy. |
| B．How to distinguish sympathy and empathy. |
| C．How to help kids finish empathy-related tasks. |
| D．Whether kids can be trained to be more empathetic. |
4 . Shopping therapy has long been considered as a good way to let off stress. Now, US scientists have discovered not only does shopping therapy exist, but that it could be caused by an individual's fear of sudden death. Researchers found materialistic people thought terrorism and war more stressful than others.
Psychologists believe the rise of materialism around the world and its treatment effect on extreme stress might be a response to fear of death caused by acts of terrorism, disease and natural disasters.
The scientists from Michigan State University said people with possession obsessions often have lower self-esteem than others so are more likely to shop as the result of severe psychological suffering.
Ayalla Ruvio, a business professor studying people's shopping habits while rockets fell in Israel, said, "When the going gets tough, the materialistic people go shopping. This stress spending is likely to produce even greater stress and lower well-being. Essentially, materialism appears to make bad events even worse."
Dr Ruvio led a two-part study of Israeli citizens living in a town that came under extreme rocket attacks for about six months in 2013. She compared 139 residents of the southern town with 170 from another town that was not under attack to see how their symptoms of post-traumatic stress and shopping habits varied. Dr Ruvio found that, when faced with a deadly threat, those who are highly materialistic suffered much higher levels of stress, while their tendency to shop was increased.
Dr Ruvio said, "The relationship between materialism and stress be more harmful than commonly thought."
The second stage of their research surveyed 855 Americans about their materialistic nature and fear of death. They found shopping was used to relieve feelings of stress and anxiety about death but this was in response to fear of a variety of life-threatening events like car accidents, criminal attacks and natural disasters.
1. Which of the following opinion is NOT right according to the text?| A．Terrorism is believed to easily cause the rise of materialism |
| B．The materialistic find terrorism and war more stressful than others. |
| C．The scientists think people with possession obsessions suffer a lot mentally. |
| D．The scientists think possession obsessions help people get self-respect. |
| A．Impulsive spending does good to people's health. |
| B．Faced with great stress, people feel hopeless for life. |
| C．Shopping can't lower one's stress as it is expected. |
| D．Faced with threat, people's wish to shop will decrease. |
① Greater stress; ② Car accidents; ③ Criminal attacks; ④ Natural disaster;
| A．①②③ | B．②③④ | C．①②④ | D．①③④ |
| A．Can greater stress lead of the passage? |
| B．Does shopping help lead to shopping? |
| C．Is shopping very important in people's life? |
| D．Can shopping reduce stress and relieve the fear of death? |
5 . The suicide (自杀) rate in Japan fell by 20 percent in April compared with the same time last year, the biggest drop in five years. People spending more time at home with their families, fewer people going to work and delays to the start of the school year are seen as factors (原因，因素) in the fall.
In April, 1 ,455 people took their lives in Japan, 359 fewer than in April 2019. The large drop came at a time when there were fears of a sudden increase. The COVID-19 cases reached the largest number in mid-April in Japan at more than 500 a day, leading the government to declare a state of emergency on April 16, though the restrictions were less strict than those of other countries. The stay- at-home measures affected suicide prevention organizations, with about 40 percent of them either shut down or working reduced hours, leading to worries about easily hurt people.
During the decline (下降) in suicide of recent years, there had been an increase among children, with bullying (欺凌) and other problems like pressure at school， a frequently mentioned cause. The start of the academic year, in April in Japan, was a particularly stressful time for some, but its postponement(延迟) due to the pandemic saved lives, at least temporarily.
As for adults, at times of national disasters, “ traditionally, people don' t think about suicide", said Yukio Saito, a former head of telephone counseling service the Japanese Federation of Inochi-no-Denwa, pointing to a drop in cases in 2011 , the year of the giant earthquake. A large drop in the number of people going to offices, where they often work long hours, is being seen as another contributing factor in the lower suicide rate.
However, economic and work pressures are factors. The year after the 1997 Asian financial crisis saw a record rise of nearly 35 percent. A long-term economic downturn (衰退) caused by the pandemic could lead to a rebound (反弹) in cases, said Saito.
1. What do we know about the government's restriction measures?| A．They were too strict with citizens. |
| B．They raised fears about a rise in suicide. |
| C．They led to the failure of local businesses. |
| D．They helped suicide prevention organizers relieve stress. |
| A．It was going up. | B．It was decreasing. |
| C．It was briefly stable. | D．It was larger than that of adults. |
| A．The effect of earthquake on them. |
| B．The traditional way of their suicide. |
| C．Reasons for their lower suicide rate. |
| D．Their ability to work under pressure. |
| A．Will Weak Economy Affect Japan's Suicide Forever? |
| B．Japan's Fighting Against Both Suicide and COVID-19 |
| C．Japan's Suicide Declines During COVID-19 Lockdown |
| D．Does Enjoying Increased Time with Family Reduce Suicide? |
6 . The Internet plays a big part in human life. We use it for work and pleasure. We use it to learn a new language. We find advice on it. We use it to connect with family and friends. We use it to stay in touch with events we care about.The list goes on and on.
As far as the Internet being a part of our lives, well, that train has left the station. There is no going back to an Internet-free life. But can using the Internet too much be bad for our health? It might be, say researchers. A new study finds that heavy Internet use may be connected to high blood pressure in a young group: teenagers.
The study results show that teens who spend at least 14 hours a week only online may cause high blood pressure, which makes their hearts and blood vessels(血管) work too hard. Over time, this extra pressure increases the risk of a heart attack. High blood pressure can also cause heart and other diseases.
The Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan did the study. 335 young people, from 14 to 17 years old, took part in it. 134 of the teens were described as “heavy Internet users”. And researchers found that out of these 134 teens, 26 had high blood pressure. The researchers said the study was the first to connect heavy Web use with high blood pressure.
The lead researcher is Andrea Cassidy-Bushrow. She says, “Using the Internet is part of our daily life, but it shouldn’t ruin(毁坏) us.” Ms. Cassidy-Bushrow adds that it is important for teens to stop to have a rest regular from their computers or smartphones and do some kind of physical activity. She also suggests that parents shouldn’t let their children use the Internet for more than two hours a day, five days a week.
1. What does the underlined part “that train has left the station”mean in Paragraph 2?| A．The train has changed its course. |
| B．Life without the Internet is nowhere to be found. |
| C．The Internet brings great changes to people’s life. |
| D．The Internet has improved people’s life. |
| A．There was no similar study like it before. |
| B．Most of the young people had high blood pressure. |
| C．Adult people aged above 17 took part in the study. |
| D．Over half of the teens in the study were heavy Internet users. |
| A．That teenagers shouldn’t use the Internet. |
| B．That the Internet will ruin human life in the future. |
| C．That smartphones are more harmful than computers. |
| D．That regular breaks are necessary when using the Internet. |
| A．Heavy Internet users are mostly teenagers. |
| B．Every coin has two sides—so does the Internet. |
| C．Too much Internet use may be bad for teenagers. |
| D．How to prevent teenagers from using the Internet. |
A small town in New Zealand has announced a(n)
Those who own cats now will not be forced to give them
Village
So far New Zealand
8 . When asked why he or she wears clothes, some people will probably answer “to keep warm and to cover my body”. These are the basic reasons why clothes are worn, but people also want to look attractive and appear successful to others.
If people only wore clothes for warmth and to cover their bodies, most clothes would be simple and cheap. In most Western countries, however, clothes are sometimes very expensive. The main reason for this is not the cost of the cloth or the cost of making the clothes. The clothes are expensive because of fashion.
Successful businessmen, for example, often wear very expensive suits, shirts and ties. Sometimes they pay thousands of dollars for a suit and hundreds of dollars for a tie. It’s just a suit and a tie but they pay these prices because of the famous name of the designer. A suit costing much less would be just as warm and would cover the wearer’s body just as well.
Fashion is always changing, which means those who want to be fashionable have to buy new clothes every few months, even if last month's clothes have only been worn once or twice. Some people have wardrobes full of clothes that have hardly been worn but are no longer in fashion. Being fashionable, therefore, can be a very expensive pastime!
1. What do people basically wear clothes for?| A．Keeping warm and covering bodies. | B．Following the fashion. |
| C．Looking attractive to others. | D．Appearing successful to others. |
| A．fashion is not always changing | B．fashion is an expensive pastime. |
| C．fashion designers like expensive clothes | D．expensive clothes are warmer |
| A．Fashionable clothes shops. | B．Cupboards for storing clothes. |
| C．The clothes that some people have. | D．Shelves used for keeping books. |
| A．Clothes and fashion. | B．Suits and ties. |
| C．Cost and pastime. | D．Beauty and success. |
Nearly 2.4 billion people around the world used a smartphone in 2017. By the end of 2018, more than a third of the global population will be using a smartphone.
However, smartphone technology can be a double-edged sword (双刃剑). On the one hand, it sends us unlimited amounts of information. We don’t have to wait. Our phones ring, vibrate (振动) and light up with the latest news from family, friends and around the world. On the other hand, this immediate access to information may become an addiction (上瘾).
Erik Peper and Richard Harvey, two health education professors from San Francisco State University led the following study and reported that “overuse of smart phones is just like drug addiction. And these connections form slowly over time.”
Also, addiction to social media may affect our emotional state. By asking 135 university students about their smartphone use and their feelings, they found that “students who used their phones the most reported higher levels of feeling lonely and anxious.”
Peper and Harvey do not blame (责备) users for their technology addiction. They blame the “tech industry’s desire to earn money.” As Peper writes, “More eyeballs, more clicks, more money.” The researchers warn that workers in the technology industry know how to affect our brains and turn us into addicts.
And the researchers also suggest ways to fight back.
They say that we can train our brains to be less addicted to our phones and computers by turning off push notifications (通知) on our phones. More often than not, our devices share unimportant information as if our lives depended on it. Our brains see the notices the same way. And that is a problem. So, just turn them off.
The researchers also suggest taking control of when and where you answer a text or email. You do not need to answer them all. And you certainly don’t need to answer them as soon as you get them.
They also suggest setting limits on the time you spend on social media. If you want to catch up with friends on Facebook, set aside a small amount of time to it.
Title: Smartphones May Lead to Problems | |
Introduction | Smartphones are becoming increasingly Besides the benefits of offering |
Problems caused by smartphones | Overuse of smartphones will have a negative |
Warnings about the problems | If we are not careful enough with the habit of clicking our smart phones from time to time, we may |
| Some pieces of information provided by our smartphones are of no Some pieces of information jump in at an improper time. There’s no Sometimes, our precious time is wasted on social media. A time limit is to be set to make | |
While overseas study programs in college seem to be more common these days, many students are still missing out on the chance to travel and learn abroad at an even younger age.
So many organizations are providing summer camps for high school students to study abroad during the summer holiday. They offer their camps in locations around the world, with a variety of program types to choose from. You can spend your summer doing everything from volunteering with turles in Costa Rica to learn about art history in Italy. Plus, while these programs can be costly, scholarships as well as financial aid are often available to high school students who want to travel.
Travelling abroad as a high school student could have a huge impact on your views of the world, your career path, and especially your future travels. If you're interested in this, find out what place and type of program works for you, then learn how you can make it happen.
【写作内容】
1）用约30个词概括上述信息的主要内容；
2）用约120个单词阐述你对青少年参加国际夏令营的看法，并用2—3个理由或论据支撑你的理由。
【写作要求】
1）写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2）作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3）不必写标题。
【评分标准】
内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
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