1 . Reading doesn’t come naturally to people, but most of us have learned how. Eighty-six percent of the world’s population is literate(有读写能力的)，and this rate has been increasing for centuries. Literacy makes it possible to navigate a world filled with books, websites, text messages, road signs and more.
Could a growing number of people participate in today’s world without reading or writing at all? Technology makes it possible. Most of our devices now talk to us and take spoken commands. Smart cars ask for a destination and then give directions.Smart virtual assistants listen for requests to report the weather, play a song, set a timer, order groceries, and much more. Software can also read text aloud or turn speech into text. These interactions aren’t perfect-the software still makes silly mistakes. But it’s getting better and better. It’s possible to imagine a future world where all of our communication with our devices and each other is spoken.
But reading and writing are powerful tools.For one, most people read faster than they speak. A podcaster or audio book narrator speaks at around150to 160 words per minute, while a strong reader can cruise through a text at 300 to 400 words per minute. That’s twice as fast! Research has also found that people remember more information and stay more interested when they read as opposed to listen. Learning to read also creates new connections in the brain. In her book Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, Maryanne Wolf writes that with the invention of reading, human beings “rearranged the very organization of our brain, which in turn expanded the ways we were able to think, which changed the intellectual evolution of our species.” Would we really choose to give up that progress?What do you think? Do you hope people keep on reading and writing, or will technology make literacy obsolete(淘汰的)?
1. What does the 2nd paragraph focus on?| A．Technology makes up for illiteracy. | B．Many people have problems with literacy. |
| C．Technology is a double-edged sword. | D．Technology is changing fast. |
| A．Gather more information. | B．Remember less clearly. |
| C．Show less interest. | D．Learn more words. |
| A．To give an example of a book on reading. |
| B．To show the evolution of human beings. |
| C．To prove that reading is related with brain. |
| D．To illustrate the need for reading and writing. |
| A．A textbook. | B．A blog post. |
| C．A book review. | D．An academic article. |
2 . Clothes were once used until they fell apart-repaired and sewed to be re-used, ending their lives as dishcloths. Not today. Clothing, footwear and upholstered furniture are increasingly frequently bought, thrown away and replaced with new fashions, which are themselves soon abandoned and replaced.
‘Fast fashion’ is so called partly because the fashion industry now releases new lines every week, when historically this happened four times a year. Today, fashion brands(品牌)produce almost twice the amount of clothing that they did in 2000. But incredibly, more than 50 billion clothes are deserted within a year of being made.
The trend is having an astonishing environmental impact. Take water. The fashion industry, one of the world’s largest users of water, consumes anywhere from 20 trillion to 200 trillion litres every year. Besides, plastic fibres are released when we wash polyester(聚酯纤维)and other polymer-based textiles(纺织物), and make up between 20% and 35% of the microplastics choking the oceans. Added to this are specific chemicals used to make fabrics dirt resistant and the pesticides required to protect crops such as cotton.
Change is badly needed, but will require the fashion industry to work harder to embrace more of what is known as the circular economy. That will involve at least two things: refocusing on making things that last, and so encouraging reuse; and more rapidly expanding the technologies for sustainable manufacturing(制造)processes, especially recycling. There is work to be done for researchers on improving and expanding textiles recycling. Most used textiles go to landfill(废物填埋场), in part because there are relatively few systems that collect, recycle and reuse materials. Such recycling requires the manual separation of fibres, as well as buttons and zips. Different fibres are not easy to identify by eye, and overall such manual processes are time-consuming. Machinery is being developed that can help. Technologies also exist to recycle used fibres chemically and to create high-quality fibres that can be reused in clothing. But these are nowhere near the scale(规模)needed. Another challenge for researchers is to work out how to get consumers and manufacturers to change their behaviour.
Small steps are good, but big changes are needed. The shameful environmental cost of a new cupboard needs to be tackled immediately, at scale, with style.
1. What are the first two paragraphs mainly about?| A．Clothes should be used until they fall apart. |
| B．Fashion brands are replaced with new ones frequently. |
| C．Fast fashion leads to a significant increase in fashion waste. |
| D．Fashion brands produce twice more clothing than necessary. |
| A．Improving the production of natural textiles. |
| B．Studying how fast fashion affects the environment. |
| C．Releasing new lines four times a year instead of every week. |
| D．Making durable things and expanding the technologies for recycling. |
| A．Consumers are fond of chemically recycled fibres. |
| B．Systems that collect, recycle and reuse are insufficient. |
| C．Manual separation of fibres is preferred by manufacturers. |
| D．Environment damage is mainly caused by using chemicals. |
| A．Big changes are needed to follow fashion styles. |
| B．Huge steps should be taken for the needs of consumers. |
| C．More should be done to deal with the heavy environmental cost. |
| D．Consumers and manufacturers will change their behaviour immediately. |
A spoonful of pickles (榨菜) can sometimes make a meal taste way better. Recently, a new type of pickle is being discussed: “digital pickled vegetables”. It refers to the videos people watch while eating. Many people think that the videos can make their food more appetizing.
The topic received more than 16 million clicks on Sina Weibo and about 100,000 people participated in the discussion. Instead of having meals with friends and family members, many young people in China are kept company by TV shows or short videos. Many believe that their food is tastier with the “digital pickles”.
Can this habit affect your diet? According to a research paper published in 2019, you may eat more unconsciously. The international research team asked 62 volunteers to follow different eating patterns on four different days. The patterns included eating while looking at the mobile phone, reading magazines and without distraction. After analyzing their diets, the team discovered that eating with a distraction increased caloric ingestion (卡路里摄入) by about 15 percent.
To explore the reason, the team also invited two groups of people: one group ate while listening to an audio clip (音频剪辑) about another person eating and the other listened to a clip that helped them imagine themselves eating. The results showed that the second group ate less since they were more focused on their meals. When we eat with the “digital pickles”, our attention can be distracted, which leads to eating more than expected.
This works not only for eating meals but other demanding tasks as well. A research project led by the University of Sussex, UK, pointed out that activities which require lots of attention trick many participants into overeating. The team invited 120 participants to do various tasks while providing them with drinks and snacks. “Our study suggests that if you’re eating or drinking while your attention is distracted by a highly engaging task, you’re less likely to be able to tell how full you feel,” one of the authors Martin Yeomans explained.
1. What is “digital pickled vegetables”?2. How will eating while watching videos affect people’s diet?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
People overeat when doing demanding tasks because they need their food to distract and comfort them.
4. Online videos can make us overeat, which is their disadvantage. Can you think of two benefits they can bring to you? (In about 40 words)
A study recently
Today’s children spend an average of four and a half hours a day
6 . Don’t put it off, do it now!
Why do we spend so much time not doing the work we should do, or putting off small jobs that have piled up to create a big problem? Procrastinating, as putting things off like this is called, is in our character we have naturally since birth; we avoid dull or difficult jobs until it’s too late to do anything else.
“We often put things off although we know it will make life more stressful,” says Dr. Steel, an authority on the science of motivation. “If these tasks were fun, we’d just do them now. We put off what is difficult or unpleasant, such as the paperwork that needs doing before leaving the office or cleaning the bits of your home that people can’t see. But the fact is, the less people procrastinate, the more money they have, the better relationships they have, and the healthier they are.” This is obvious when you look at the couples who don’t argue about whether anyone has cleaned the kitchen, and the people who simply go for a run instead of endlessly rescheduling it in their heads.
Of course, there are the rest of us, who feel the small jobs piling up around us daily. “We’ve evolved to respond to the moment, and not to set our sights too far in an uncertain world,” Dr. Steel adds. “We are not set up to appreciate long-term rewards, whether it’s the benefit of a four-year degree, doing exercise or dieting. We usually feel the cost now and the reward comes much later.” According to Dr. Steel, we have two decision-making systems. They are the limbic, which is responsible for the short term, and the prefrontal cortex, which deals with the future. We bounce between long-term goals and short-term temptations, so we need goals that will translate our plans for the limbic system.
Let’s take the example of students’ writing essays. They should set themselves targets and word counts per day. These are thus turned from seemingly endless tasks into something concrete with measured progress. Dr. Steel recommends such techniques, or “pre-commitments”, adding that leaving you a month before the “deadline” makes it more likely a task will be completed. The benefit is that you’ll avoid the embarrassment of not following up on something people are expecting you to do — telling everyone you are going to take up jogging makes you more likely to do so.
Overcoming procrastination finally comes down to planning, which, if you’re not careful, becomes procrastination in itself. But it is worth making sure you have everything in place. “Successful people don’t pretend they don’t procrastinate,” Dr. Steel says. “People who pretend they have willpower are less successful.” Instead, plan for procrastination: make your work environment a temple of productivity by cutting out what stops you paying your attention, so you can really focus on moving forward.
1. What does the author say about procrastination in Paragraph 1?| A．It is caused by the technology in people’s life. |
| B．It is more common when people have small jobs to do. |
| C．It is something many people can’t avoid. |
| D．It is an excuse people often use in public. |
| A．be aware that their problem is relatively small |
| B．find out more about the way they make decisions |
| C．attempt to overcome their natural tendencies |
| D．take the advice of others in the same situation |
| A．They are an effective way of impressing others. |
| B．They allow people to achieve their aims sooner. |
| C．They are an alternative to impossible goals. |
| D．They make challenges feel more manageable. |
| A．Warn the reader against spending too long getting organized. |
| B．Remind the reader to take the time to focus properly on a task. |
| C．Encourage the reader to develop plans effectively. |
| D．Advise the reader to deal with complex tasks quickly. |
Nowadays, many people have more than one job, or a slash career. For people encouraging slash careers, secondary jobs will become
The term “moonlight clan” refers to low-income earners in China who spend all of their income meeting their basic needs. According to CCTV in 2021, 40 percent of singles in China’s first-tier cities belong to the “moonlight clan.” On the other hand, the Chinese household savings rate remains high. The average savings rate in China is over 45 percent. In other words, nearly half of a household’s income does not flow back into the economy but sits in a bank account (or somewhere else).
Some experts are concerned about this high rate because of limited capital flows and a less active currency. But considering current economic situation in China, the high savings rate is a good thing.
To cope with pressure, the Chinese government has introduced a series of policies to stimulate residents’ consumption, such as encouraging the purchase of vehicles in the countryside and providing consumption vouchers(消费券). High savings rates are undoubtedly an important support for these policies because without actual money in the bank, no matter how encouraging the policies are, the public just won’t shop.
Despite a still very active market, China needs more effective measures to persuade more people to start spending again and stimulate the economy. And once more people feel like spending freely again, China’s domestic market will surely grow stronger, promising sound economic growth in the long term.
1. According to the passage, what does the term “moonlight clan” refer to?2. Why are some experts worried about the high household savings rate?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
To cope with the current difficult economic situation, the Chinese government forced the people to consume.
4. Would you like to be a member of the “moonlight clan” in the future? Why or why not? (In about 40 words)
9 . It’s worth being aware that developmental changes could make children more sensitive to the negative side of social media. During the teenage years, for example, the brain changes massively, and this can influence how young people act and feel—including making them more sensitive to social relationships, and status.
“Being a teenager is a really a major time of development,” says Orben. “You’re much more impacted by your peers, you’re much more interested in what other people think about you. And the design of social media might be more stressful at certain times.”
As well as age, other factors could influence the impact of social media on children and teenagers—but researchers are only just beginning to explore these individual differences. “There will be people who are more negatively or positively impacted at different time points. That might be due to living different lives, going through development at different points. They might be using social media differently.” says Orben.
For many parents, buying a child a phone is a practical decision. “In a lot of cases, parents are the ones that want the younger children to have phones so that they can keep in touch throughout the day.” says Odgers.
It can also be seen as a milestone on the road to adulthood. “I think for children it gives them a sense of independence and responsibility,” says Anja Stevie, researcher at the University of Vienna, Austria. “This is definitely something that parents should consider: are their children at a stage where they are responsible enough to have their own device?”
One factor parents shouldn’t overlook is how comfortable they feel with their child having a smart phone. Besides, it’s worth remembering, though, that having a smart phone need not open the floodgates to every single app or game available. “I’m increasingly hearing, when I interview children, that parents are giving them the phone but introducing requirements to check and discuss which apps they get, and I think that is probably really wise,” says Livingstone.
1. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?| A．Parents feel comfortable when children have smart phones. |
| B．Many parents have a tendency to buy children smart phones. |
| C．Age does not influence the impact of social media on children. |
| D．It is unacceptable for parents to check apps on children’s phones. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Puzzled. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Subjective. |
| A．Parents’ Practical Decision | B．Negative Sides of Social Media |
| C．An Introduction of Apps & Games | D．When to Buy Children Smartphones |
10 . As I read about Sarah Loh’s journey to becoming the first female chief executive of the Australian Football League (AFL) last week, I was encouraged by the resilience (坚韧) she showed to become a leader in her sport, but also disappointed at the unfair treatment she faced to get there.
Loh had to deal with many of the same questions women in sports often face, such as: “How can a woman coach or lead when she has never played sports?” But as an Asian woman, Loh also faced questions with an added layer of racism: “What would a multicultural woman know about football?”
A recent Victoria University survey of 221 diverse women made up of current and former coaches, managers and board members found that half of the respondents were unhappy with their leadership roles and that many aspiring leaders believed their gender and background were barriers.
Women from different backgrounds, races, religions, classes and sexual orientations can sometimes experience multiple layers of injustice depending on the context. In order to address these inequalities, there are practical steps sporting organizations can take to create welcoming and inclusive environments for women in sports at every level.
In recent years, national sporting organizations across Australia have shown an increasing commitment to and engagement in the promotion of gender equality and respect to prevent violence against all women. Recognizing their own profile and influence, they have taken active steps to address the drivers of violence and inequality, including through education and awareness-raising programs such as Carlton Respects.
Sports have an influence way beyond the field, court or green on which they’re played, and they provide an opportunity to set and maintain positive community standards.
While resilience is a great strength to possess as a leader, women of color, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women or those from refugee and migrant backgrounds shouldn’t be required to wear such a thick set of armor (防御) to simply work in sports. Surely respect, equality and safety for all is not too much to ask for.
1. What can we learn about Sarah Loh from the text?| A．She faced unfair treatment as a player in the AFL. |
| B．She is the first Chinese chief executive in the AFL. |
| C．Her sports achievements made her a leader in the AFL. |
| D．Her road to success was hard due to her gender and race. |
| A．Strengthening females resilience by training. |
| B．Establishing more female sporting organizations. |
| C．Raising public awareness of violence against women. |
| D．Offering more opportunities for women to take sports. |
| A．recognize the value of female leaders |
| B．call for equality and respect for females |
| C．encourage more females to take sports |
| D．present the difficulties female leaders face |
