1 . Water shortage is occurring in some of the US’ biggest freshwater reserves and it is also evident in other parts of the planet, according to a research study published in the journal Nature last month.

The research study was conducted by Xander Huggins, a PhD candidate at the University of Victoria and his fellow researchers.

The Earth has less than 3% freshwater with only 1% is accessible to the growing human population. Both natural freshwater reserves and freshwater in reservoirs may be at risk if their amount continues to drop and the population continues to increase. In 2021, there are approximately 7.9 billion people by January 31, according to the United States Census Bureau. The research study found 34 trends in terrestrial (地面上的) water reserves observed by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment ( GRACE ) satellites from 2002 to 2016. These trends were acquired when the researchers examined 1,024 basins across the world with the goal of understanding how water availability couples with social processes in the community.

According to Huggins, the main factor they studied were freshwater stress, which is related to the amount of H₂O that naturally leaves the watershed or basin per year. The higher the stress or exit of water from the basin means that there will be less water available for ecosystems and for people’s demands, Huggins explains. The significance of the study can be of interest not only to water specialists and water conservators but also to government policy-makers. Huggins stated that after mapping the most high-risk freshwater sources and creating a framework to identify hotspot basins, policy makers will be able to prioritize a specific location.

Huggins shows that while the US score highly in terms of social adaptiveness based on the study’s freshwater stress factor, the country has many freshwater concerns that goes be-yond between freshwater stress and freshwater storage. The states of Illinois and Ohio have the highest levels of lead (铅) pipes carrying water from freshwater basins to residential households. Meanwhile in Colorado, an estimate from the Colorado Water Center predicts there will be a 20% to 30% less water of the Colorado River Basin by 2050.

1. Why did Huggins and his team examine the basins all over the world?

A．To settle the shortage of freshwater in the USA.

B．To figure out the number of basins across the world.

C．To learn its pollution of the recent years across the world.

D．To understand how water availability is related with social processes.

2. What does Huggins base his framework for high-risk freshwater sources on?

A．Freshwater stress.	B．People’s demands.
C．His team’s assumption.	D．Policy makers’ requirements.

3. What can be inferred about the freshwater in Illinois and Ohio?

A．The water pipes are too expensive.

B．The storage of freshwater decreases most sharply.

C．The water carried to households may be polluted by lead.

D．The consumption of freshwater gives threats to food security.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．These Are the Most Threatened Freshwater Reserves

B．The US Is Losing Some of Its Biggest Natural Reserves

C．Water Crisis: Planet’s Freshwater Reserves Are Seriously Polluted

D．We Are Facing Terrible Water Shortage on Some Biggest Freshwater Reserves

2 . Half of all Australian teens now spend more time, or as much time, online with their friends rather than seeing them in person. This is despite the fact that one third of boy’s and 42 per cent of girls say social media makes hard times even more tough. Teenagers who went from using social media weekly to daily had a higher risk of depression and anxiety, the researchers found. New research from the Australian Institute of Family Studies has renewed concerns about the impact of screen time on teenagers’ mental health.

The findings showed 46 per cent of 16-year-olds and 36 per cent of 14-year-olds spent the same time contacting friends via Snapchat, video gaming, Instagram or TikTok as seeing then face-to-face. The findings also showed 7 per cent of 16-year-olds and 5 per cent of 14-ycar-olds mainly interacted with friends electronically. The highest percentage of children who communicated with friends mostly via social media were 16-year-olds with autism (自闭症), the researchers found. The study, which has followed 10,000 children since 2004, surveyed 14 and 15-year-olds and 16 and 17-year-olds about the time they spent online.

Australian Institute of Family Studies researcher Pilar Rioseco said, “The platforms young people are using to commune have changed significantly and digital devices such as mobile phones have become more readily available to adolescents.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way that many young people connect, with many having to rely heavily on digital technologies to keep in touch with friends and family.” Dr Rioseco also found that a quarter of teens were victims of cyber-bullying, including threats and name calling. A quarter of those with autism said being online made it easier to be themselves and almost half said being online helped them feel better during difficult times.

Dr Rioseco said online connection “appears to have benefits for some young people in terms of helping social connection and providing support during difficult times” . “Providing young people with the skills to communicate safely online and deal with cyber-bullying is critical,” she added.

1. What does the new research show?

A．36% of 14-year-olds mostly communicated with friends online.

B．46% of 16-year-olds mostly communicated with friends online.

C．7% of 16-year-olds spent equal time with friends online and offline.

D．36% of 14-year-olds spent equal time with friends online and offline.

2. What can best replace the underlined word “commune” in paragraph 3?

A．update

B．defend

C．connect

D．learn

3. What may one fourth teenagers with autism think of online connection?

A．It makes them at ease.	B．It is a main threat to them.
C．It cures them of the disease.	D．It makes them experience more difficult times.

4. How can we help the teenagers according to Dr Rioseco?

A．By allowing them to connect more online.

B．By teaching them to protect themselves online.

C．By providing them with more Internet languages.

D．By offering them more platforms to communicate.

3 . The amount of stuff we own these days is shocking. Reports indicate we consume twice as many material goods today as we did 50 years ago. The number should cause us to start asking some difficult questions of ourselves. For example, why do we buy more stuff than we need?     1    

We think it will make us happy.     2     But in reality, we buy bigger houses, faster cars, cooler technology and fashionable clothes, hoping that we will become happier. Unfortunately, the actual happiness from excessive physical possessions is brief at best.

We are more susceptible to advertising than we believe.     3     Every advertisement carries the same message — your life will be better if you buy what we are selling. We begin to hear this message so many times and from so many angles and begin to believe it. This is not a complete condemnation of the marketing industry. This is simply a call to realize their message affects us more than we realize.

    4     Comparison seems to be a natural state of our humanity. We notice what other people are buying, wearing, and driving. We admire them. And all too often, we buy stuff we don’t need just because people in our friendship circles have done the same. A culture focused on praising excess will always misdefine true success.

Extra material possessions do not enrich our lives.     5     We would be wise to realize the cause and overcome it.

A．We are hoping to impress other people.

B．We envy people who own more stuff.

C．On average, we see 5,000 advertisements every day.

D．Here are several reasons why we buy more stuff than we need.

E．Nobody would admit they search for happiness in material possessions.

F．We seek to recover from loss and loneliness by purchasing unnecessary items.

G．Actually, buying unnecessary things keeps us from experiencing something wonderful.

4 . New emojis (表情符号) appear every year. The updates come from a California-based nonprofit called Unicode Consortium. Each year, the emoji committee releases new emojis that will update the existing keyboard.

Jennifer Duniel, chair of the committee, says that it’s not the organization coming up with these new characters. It’s the public.

The first emoji keyboard was created in Japan in the 1990s by mobile phone company designer Shigetaka Kurita. Kurita created emojis because the company offered email communications that were limited to 250 characters and an emoji is only one character each but can be used to say more. Emoji have become popular around the world— 92 percent of the online population uses them.

“They aren’t tied to any language. They aren’t tied to any region of the world.” she says.

Anyone is allowed to submit (提交) new emojis, and if they make a strong enough case, Unicode will accept them. “We do get suggestions in lots of different languages from around the world,” says Daniel.

An emoji idea has to meet certain criteria (标准). These criteria include its clear differences, whether it can be used with existing emojis and whether it can have multiple meanings. The popular face with “tears of joy” emoji, for example, is easy to identify, which makes it distinct. You can pair it with many other emojis to convey how you are feeling. Additionally, this emoji has adopted many meanings.

Kids today are very familiar with emojis and how to use them. And the keyboard has got more than 3,600 emoji characters. “They became more and more comfortable and confident using emojis, which means they’re more willing to take risks,” Daniel says of younger generations who grow up with the keyboard.

1. Which best describes emojis?

A．They vary from place to place.

B．They are more expressive than words.

C．They make daily talk more difficult.

D．They are limited in computers.

2. What can be learnt about Unicode Consortium?

A．It gives emojis new meanings.

B．It invents new enojis every year.

C．It created the first emoji keyboard.

D．It judges the submission of new emojis.

3. Why is the popular face with “tears of joy” emoji mentioned?

A．To show its popularity among young people.

B．To make the emoji accepted by more people.

C．To make the criteria understood more easily.

D．To prove its difference from others.

4. What’s the younger generation’s attitude towards using emojis?

A．Supportive.

B．Indifferent.

C．Cautious

D．Critical