1 . In recent years, China has witnessed the growth of luxury (奢侈品) brands. In this market, Chinese consumers are now the largest spenders. It’s clear that a new generation of young, materialistic people is increasingly relying on luxury brands to improve its self-image. I am a fashionist too, at least in spirit — I love to look at clothes and shoes. But I don’t understand why people spend lots of money on designer labels. When a young woman buys a handbag that costs two months of her salary, that’s a scary thing.
What’s interesting is that scientists have found that having luxury things doesn’t lead to happiness. Study after study has shown that although we want material things, when we get them we don’t suddenly become “happy” people. In fact, a series of studies by Leaf Van Boven at the University of Colorado, US, has shown that individuals who spend money on travel and similar experiences get more pleasure than those who invest it in material things. That’s because experiences are more easily combined with a person’s identity. If I travel to Yunnan, that adventure affects how I think in the future. My memories become a part of me.
Moreover, as Van Boven has observed, young people who pursue happiness through “things” are liked less by their peers. People prefer those who pursue happiness through experiences.
It’s natural to want to express yourself through your appearance. So my advice is: create a look that isn’t tied to a designer label. Convey your own message. Take some lessons from the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. He was always in Levis jeans and a black turtleneck. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, routinely appears in hoodies and sneakers. These people, successful people, have style. You don’t have to break the bank to send a message about who you are. Take a trip. Go out into the world. Then come back and confidently create your own signature look.
1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?| A．The author enjoys buying luxury brands herself. |
| B．The author agrees to overspend money on material things. |
| C．The author is critical of youths tying their looks to designer labels. |
| D．The author finds it natural for fashionists to follow fashion trends. |
| A．people dislike those who love luxuries |
| B．traveling changes a person’s identity greatly |
| C．luxuries have a negative effect on people’s happiness |
| D．experiences can bring people more happiness than luxuries |
| A．Be selective about designer labels. | B．Create your own personal unique style. |
| C．Choose simple and fashionable styles. | D．Try styles like Mark Zuckerberg’s. |
| A．prove how luxury leads to an unpleasant life |
| B．tell how to express yourself through appearances |
| C．report on a series of studies about luxuries and happiness |
| D．persuade readers to invest in experiences instead of luxuries |
2 . A night at the movies is always a good idea. But when you leave the theater and realize you just dropped $45 on a ticket and some snacks, you’ll wish you had been patient enough to wait until the movie came out on Netflix. The average movie ticket price in the United States in 2000 was $5.39; now, a ticket is over $9.
The main reason that movie tickets have gotten so expensive is because of inflation (通货膨胀). It was actually more expensive to go to the movies in the 70s than it is now. A ticket in 1978 cost $2.34. If you plug that into an inflation calculator, the same ticket would cost you $9.46 today. According to the National Association of Theater Owners, the average cost for a ticket today is $9.11.
Another reason you need to spend some of your life savings to see a movie on the big screen is that theaters are competing with streaming services that produce their own films, such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. And let’s be honest, sitting at home on your sofa or in your bed is more comfortable than sitting in a cold theater.
Because of streaming technology, theaters have to do something to bring in customers. Attractions—including alcohol, reclining seats (躺椅), surround sound, and 3-D movies are all examples of that. And those upgrades come at a price, leading to more expensive tickets.
“There’s all that extra cost, and it’s really important for theater owners and companies to make that experience as enjoyable as possible,” Patrick Corcoran, vice president of the National Association of Theatre Owners told Marketplace. “Because you’re offering a superb experience—audience expectations are for the latest and greatest technology. Audiences are willing to pay more for a particular experience.”
1. According to the passage, what makes movie tickets so expensive?| A．The viewers are wealthier than before. |
| B．The movie theatres offer popcorns, alcohol for free. |
| C．Inflation has made the ticket price appear higher than before. |
| D．The popular movies with famous stars deserve the high price. |
| A．Netflix is always a better choice for movie viewers than theatres |
| B．with comfortable seats, theatres are more attractive than streaming services |
| C．the viewers actually pay more for the updates of the movie theatres |
| D．the theater owners and companies update the theaters to make the theatres famous |
| A．It’s unwise for viewers to pay so much to watch a movie in the theater. |
| B．The high price of a movie ticket is supposed to agree with a wonderful experience. |
| C．It’s a waste of money to provide the latest technology in the theatre. |
| D．The viewers would prefer to sit at home on the sofas or in the beds. |
| A．Behind the Increasing Price of Movie Tickets |
| B．Technological Improvement on Movie Theatres |
| C．The Competition between Movie Theatre and Streaming Services |
| D．How to Save the Viewers’ Wallets |
3 . Sometimes pets are more than we can handle, like when a small puppy grows up to be a huge dog. People can usually find a new home for a big dog, but a giant pet snake is not so easy to give away. As a result, some people in Florida have released their pet pythons into the wilderness of the Florida Everglades. Problem solved? Only for the pet owners.
The snakes that are the biggest problem are Burmese pythons. These snakes are not native to the Everglades. Pet dealers originally brought them to the United States from Southeast Asia. Because Burmese pythons are not native, they disrupt the natural order of the Everglades’ ecosystem.
The snakes’ size and strength are also a problem. Burmese pythons can grow to be 20 feet long. There are reports of terrifying battles between pythons and alligators in the Everglades. Even more worrisome is the impact on creatures that are no match for the monster snakes. For example, biologists have discovered endangered birds, bobcats, and wood rats in pythons’ stomachs.
Another effect of python dumping is the spread of these snakes beyond the Everglades. Pythons swim well and can move more than a mile a day on land. In addition, one snake can produce nearly 100 eggs. Their wide range of movement and high rate of birth means that the snakes can quickly overrun a habitat.
As a result of this scary scenario, Florida park rangers, wildlife officials, and others are on “python patrol.” They capture and kill Burmese pythons to try to keep the numbers under control. There is also a greater effort to teach people about the responsibilities of keeping a python.
1. Which of these has caused Burmese pythons to be found in the Florida Everglades?| A．Pet owners who let them go. | B．Pet dealers who released them into the wild. |
| C．The large number of eggs the snakes produce. | D．The snakes’ ability to swim and move well. |
| A．they can even grow to 20 feet long | B．they put endangered animals at greater risk |
| C．biologists can study them in the natural habitat | D．they control the alligator population |
| A．selling unwanted goods very cheaply | B．moving information from a computer |
| C．putting something down carelessly | D．getting rid of something unwanted |
| A．Pythons are not native to the Everglades. | B．Burmese pythons can grow to 20 feet long. |
| C．Pythons can swim and move well on land. | D．Florida park rangers are on "python patrol". |
| A．Pythons will grow too big to handle at home. | B．Owners will become educated about pythons. |
| C．People will no longer get pythons as pets. | D．Pet dealers will stop bringing pythons here. |
4 . If you've visited a museum, you've seen it.Maybe you've even done it - taken a picture of yourself with a piece of art.Perhaps it's because you love the painting or sculpture, or maybe it was just a famous piece of art and you wanted to share with the world that you’d seen it in person.But the majority of museums forbid photography at the museum.
The reasons for banning photography vary.Some museums have pieces lent to them that aren't allowed to be photographed according to the owner's wishes, like most of the exhibits at The Tate in London.Others are concerned about what camera flashes will do to the art; bright lights can damage certain paints.Some want to preserve a certain atmosphere.Sir John Soane's Museum, a small museum in London, states that it bans photography to “maintain the unique, magical atmosphere inside.”
For other museums, the "no photography" rule is based on observed behavior that seems to fly against the idea of what the museum is for: "Personally, what I've noticed is that people spend more time taking pictures than looking at pieces of art," said Benoit Parayre, the director of communications at the Center Pompidou in Paris."They take a picture, and don't even stop in front of the paintings."
For most museums, it's purely practical.People taking selfies (自拍照) are more concerned with getting their shot than paying attention to where their bodies are, some nearly backing into objects,”complained Heidi Rosenau, the Frick's communication director.What's worse, in a busy museum, people taking photos with the art causes traffic-flow issues.Sure, some people only take a quick shot, but we all have a friend or two who spends minutes getting the "perfect" photo - now just imagine them in a museum blocking people from seeing famous works of art that they've spent time and money to come and see.
A selfie can be fun and harmless, but it can also be rude and get in the way of other people's experiences.
1. What do we learn from the first paragraph?| A．Visitors can copy a famous piece of art. |
| B．Most visitors carry cameras in the museum. |
| C．Most exhibits of art are borrowed from others. |
| D．Taking pictures is not allowed in most museums. |
| A．ensuring safety |
| B．preserving art works |
| C．maintaining an atmosphere |
| D．following the owner 's wishes |
| A．selfies takers may block others |
| B．selfies takers may steal the art pieces |
| C．selfies takers may damage the art works |
| D．selfies takers can better enjoy art exhibits |
| A．Supportive. | B．Neutral. | C．Critical. | D．Negative. |
5 . Can ducks help solve the problem of locust（蝗虫）? That is a question being asked in Southern Asia? Like the region of East Africa, the nation of Pakistan is trying to keep masses of locusts from eating the country's crops.
But while the insect invasion in Africa has been blamed on weather, experts say the one in Pakistan is a side effect of a civil war in the Middle Eastern country of Yemen. Because of that war, officials haven't been able to do enough pest control to keep Yemen's locust population from growing, so the insects obviously multiplied and made their way north east eventually landing on Pakistan.
Locusts don't directly attack people. They threaten us by eating our crops. And so many of these insects in such large numbers can destroy regional food supplies. That's why Pakistan declared（宣布） a state of emergency early this month, saying it was dealing with the highest number of locusts in more than 20 years. So what can be done about it? Some experts say pesticides are needed to kill masses of these insects, but there's another idea being considered in China. It may send ducks to Pakistan --as many as 100,000 of them-- to fight the locusts by eating them. An expert interviewed by the Bloomberg media company says one duck can eat more than 200 locusts per day, and China has reportedly used ducks to successfully solve a locust problem in the past. But not everyone is on board with this. A member of China's delegation（代表团）to Pakistan says there's not enough water in Pakistan's hot dry climate to keep the ducks going. Whatever methods are used to control locusts in Asia the situation in Africa is getting more hopeless by the day.
1. According to the paragraph 2, what caused the locust outbreak in Pakistan？| A．There are no natural enemies to eat locusts. |
| B．The civil war of Yemen affected pest control. |
| C．The government of Yemen didn't do any pest control. |
| D．The weather in Pakistan caused the increase of locusts. |
| A．Destroying crops. |
| B．Changing the weather. |
| C．Tensing international relations. |
| D．Directly threatening human security. |
| A．Asks for | B．Relys on | C．Agrees on | D．Thinks about |
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
7 . No. It’s a simple word, but it can be so difficult to say. Whether it’s a favor asked by a friend, or even an unethical request from a colleague, many people will say “yes” because they hate to let others down and saying “no” makes them feel uncomfortable.
And we worry that saying no will change the way the other person views us. If you have a reputation of being a helpful and accommodating person, it is even harder to say no because you don’t want to hurt that good reputation, says Adam Grant, a professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
“Every ‘no’ is a missed opportunity to make a difference and build a relationship,” Grant wrote in a column for The Huffington Post.
Saying no is a rejection and a lot of times it does hurt feelings. But even so, psychologists say, most people probably won’t take our “no” as badly as we think they will. That’s because of something called a “harshness bias (严重性偏向心理)” —our tendency to believe others will judge us more severely than they actually do. For those people pleasers, Grant says there’s a big difference between pleasing people and helping them. “Being a giver is not about saying yes to all of the people all of the time to all of the requests. It’s about saying yes to some of the people (generous givers who will return your favor, but not necessarily the selfish takers) some of the time (when it won’t compromise your own goals and ambitions) to some of requests (when you have resources or skills that are uniquely relevant).”
Always saying yes can make us overcommitted and put us under too much pressure. Saying no helps us protect our own priorities, psychologist Judith Sills told The Wall Street Journal. Another important reason to say no, Sills says, is it keeps us from giving in to peer pressure. “To have your own values, sometimes you have to say ‘no’ to people with whom you don’t agree,” Sills says.
1. The underlined word “unethical” in paragraph 1 is closet in meaning to __________.| A．proper | B．unacceptable | C．moral | D．illegal |
| A．Saying yes is not necessarily satisfactory. |
| B．We should always say yes to the generous givers. |
| C．We should say yes to some requests from some of the people sometime. |
| D．Saying yes to other people’s requests should be forbidden for your own benefits. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Suspicious. | C．Supportive. | D．Optimistic. |
One of the benefits of technology has been
1. Why are the long lines formed in the parks?
| A．To keep away from the virus. |
| B．To raise the business interests. |
| C．To offer people more rides than ever. |
| A．Parks' survival. | B．Workers' job chances. | C．The frequency of cleaning rides. |
| A．Food safety. | B．Consideration for reopening. | C．Florida's theme parks' loss. |
10 . There is a chill wind blowing through the campus of Keele University these days and it’s nothing to do with the weather.
Students fear the recession(经济衰退) and the downturn in graduate recruitment may mean their studies lead them nowhere. Students’ Union president Talah Omran AI Rubaie already has her degree, and will give up her union post this summer, but she’s not looking forward to launching herself onto the job market.She said, “For most of us, the fact that you are graduating today or tomorrow but might not be able to get a job is a very scary prospect.I think it also has an impact on the students that have just graduated from high school, who’re thinking ‘Is it worth coming to university, is it worth getting a degree?’”
In the Union café, students’ life goes on as it always has.But these undergraduates know the bubble of academia will not protect them from the recession for long.Particularly over Christmas and Easter when you’re only home for months, no one’s got any jobs to give out for a few weeks.
As the recession deepens, some students find themselves in a dilemma: to stay at university, continue their studies, and hope the graduate job market improves by the time they leave, or to start right now and take a job, any job, so they don’t get left on the employment shelf.
Keele’s performance in the graduate jobs market has been good so far.The latest figures available show 95% of students leaving do get a job, but that was before the economy fell off a cliff, and the university is working hard to equip its students with the skills to compete in an ever gloomier employment field.
1. What is the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To attract the readers. | B．To present the opinion. |
| C．To introduce the Keele University. | D．To describe the British weather. |
| A．Its students are well-equipped with necessary skills for competition. |
| B．Its students care little about whether the jobs they get are good or not. |
| C．Its students are well-protected by the bubble of academia from the recession. |
| D．Its students are not bothered by whether to step into real society right now or not. |
| A．Graduates of Keele University are faced with a dilemma. |
| B．To find a job is difficult for the students of Keele University. |
| C．The recession does impact the graduates of Keele University. |
| D．Keele University is trying its best to help its graduates to get a good job. |
