1 . Seasonality is a big part of business. For some industries, seasonal patterns are a defining feature. Agriculture is one obvious example; tourism another. Western toymakers notch up a huge proportion of their annual sales during Christmas. Construction is harder during cold weather, when that industry employs fewer people.
Firms less obviously tied to the seasons can still be deeply affected by them, as a recent review by Ian Hohm of the University of British Columbia makes clear. An analysis of social-media posts on the Internet found that dieting-related posts peak in the spring, as the season of body dysmorphia(变形) approaches.
Even when overall demand doesn’t vary greatly between the seasons, preterences change. Beef-eaters buy roasts in the slow-cooking winter season and plump for steaks during the summer months. Starbucks is among those firms that make seasonality a marketing event. The pumpkin-spiced latte is a reliable sign that autumn is on its way, along with falling leaves.
Seasonality also leaves a less obvious imprint(印记) inside organisations. This week, with so many bosses stuck on a mountain for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, productive employees can get on with some work and lazy ones can relax. School holidays offer an obvious form of seasonality, when employees without children are upset that they are covering for colleagues on holiday, and colleagues on holiday are upset that they have children.
Pay decisions are seasonal events, too. The time when employees find out their salary rises and bonuses sets off disappointment and happiness in all workplaces. In some, they are more like tsunamis. The actual date on which bonuses are paid matters too—once the money is safely put in the bank, people are more likely to move jobs.
There are other forms of corporate seasonality. While there isn’t much research on the impact of seasonality within firms, it’s certain that they have their own annual rhythms.
1. Why do people focus on dieting in spring posts according to the analysis?| A．They want to take time to get refreshed in spring. |
| B．They fear the summer heat will ruin their health. |
| C．They fear summer will reveal their body shapes. |
| D．They suffer a lack of proper food during winter. |
| A．Throw away. | B．Decide on. | C．Rule out. | D．Turn up. |
| A．Being unable to relax in the absence of the boss. |
| B．Staying in step with the change of the seasons. |
| C．Accompanying the children of their colleagues. |
| D．Sharing the work of the employees with children. |
| A．Companies Have Their Own Seasonal Rhythms |
| B．School Holidays Have an Effect on Companies |
| C．Corporate Seasonality Has Vast Social Effect |
| D．Employees Must Watch Beyond the Seasons |
2 . Whenever he can, 15-year-old Elliot Morgan practices basketball in his backyard. He says it’s a good stress-reliever. But it wasn’t that long ago that he didn’t have time for this new hobby. “There were times in the summer when I would spend four or five hours a day on my phone,” he says. When school started in the fall, Morgan found himself scrolling (划屏) as soon as he woke up. “I realize I start to avoid workouts because I’m on my phone,” he says. “It’s affecting my focus.”
It has become clear that social media is a key player in many drivers of unhealthy habits. Social media apps are designed to encourage overuse, and teenagers are more likely to be influenced because their brains are at an important period of development that makes it harder to be free from temptation (诱惑). All of this makes limiting use more challenging — even for families who set rules.
“It’s a really big problem,” says Elliot’s mom, Alyssa. She was shocked when she discovered Elliot had bypassed parental controls and was spending five hours a day on social media. “I asked him, ‘Can you just take a look and see? Just tell me what you think. Does this feel good to you?’” she says.
Elliot hadn’t realized how many hours he was on social media. And he was at a loss. With his mother’s help, he tried to start cutting back. After several months, he decided to delete (删除) social media apps altogether. “After that, I actually sleep enough and feel better,” he says. He’s now closer with his friends because they spend more time talking instead of scrolling. And joining school clubs has also helped him reduce time on his phone.
1. What can we learn about Elliot from the first paragraph?| A．He is always late for class. | B．He used to work out early. |
| C．He likes football at school. | D．He lost himself in his phone. |
| A．They tend to develop bad habits. | B．They will take up more challenges. |
| C．They can improve reading skills. | D．They find it hard to make friends. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Positive. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Lonely. | B．Simple. | C．Enjoyable. | D．Difficult. |
3 . Leading museums in the United States are covering up or closing displays featuring Native American cultural objects owing to new federal rules. The new regulations require museums to obtain “free, prior and informed permission” from tribal leaders before displaying ancestral heritage items.
The American Museum of Natural History in New York City, the largest natural history museum in the world, announced on Jan 26 that it would close two halls spanning 10,000 square feet with Native American exhibits, as the exhibits are “severely outdated”. “The halls we are closing contain artifacts(历史文物) of an era when museums such as ours did not respect the values, perspectives and indeed shared humanity of Native Americans,” museum President Sean Decatur said in a letter to the staff, The New York Times reported. “The number of cultural objects on display in these halls is significant, and because these exhibits are also severely outdated, we have decided that rather than just covering or removing specific items, we will close the halls,” Decatur said. The move comes because of the implementation(执行) in early January of update d regulations under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA).
Over the next five years, museums, universities, art institutions and similar places are required to undertake essential updates to prepare all human remains and related funerary(葬礼的) objects for repatriation(遣送),making sure that tribes have more power and increased authority throughout the process. “The ultimate goal of the law is not to cover up exhibitions. It’s not to prevent appropriate education about diverse native cultures. It’s about repairing and repatriating items that have been stolen over the last couple of centuries and returning them to the rightful people,” Shannon O’Loughlin, the CEO of the Association on American Indian Affairs said.
Chicago’s Field Museum earlier this month also closed several displays featuring Native American cultural items. The Field Museum has one of the biggest collections of Native American remains in the country and opened a new permanent exhibition in the spring of 2022 that displaced the museum’s longstanding Native American exhibition since the 1950s.
Harvard University, which has more than 5,000 Native American human remains, has said it will remove all Native American funerary items from its exhibits. “Exhibitions have always been discussed during tribal discussions and cultural items have been removed from display at the tribal request. With the new NAGPRA regulations, the museum is in the process of removing all the funerary belongings and likely funerary belongings off display,” Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, said in a statement.
1. Which has the same meaning as the underlined word “perspectives” in Paragraph 2?| A．Occupations. | B．Faults. | C．Challenges. | D．Viewpoints. |
| A．It opened a new permanent exhibition. |
| B．It collected some Native American belongings. |
| C．It handed funerary objects to American Indians. |
| D．It set about displaying Native American cultural objects. |
| A．By selling them to other people. | B．By putting them in some labs. |
| C．By taking them away from its exhibits. | D．By covering them with pieces of cloth. |
| A．US New NAGPRA regulations scheduled to be in effect |
| B．US museums stop displaying Native American exhibits |
| C．US museums feature Native American cultural items |
| D．US museums prefer ancestral heritage items |
4 . When the PISA worldwide educational comparisons came out late in 2023, most countries fell to wondering how to do better. Spain had lost ground since the last time the tests were done in 2018. But students in Catalonia lost even more. Besides, native Spanish-speakers did worse than Catalan-speakers, which soon led to the blame on language policy.
In the 1980s Catalonia began a transition to teaching all subjects in Catalan, except Spanish. Several years ago the region’s top court ruled that at least 25% of classes must be given in Spanish. The regional government, led by separatists, then passed a law allowing individual school heads to raise or lower the level of teaching in Spanish, according to their need.
A new report for the Association for Bilingual Schools in Catalonia (AEB), which campaigns for more Spanish, said that hardly any schools have changed their published policies. And so they requested the European Parliament to investigate whether pupils’ basic rights had been violated. The week before Christmas a delegation made a fact-finding trip. The Catalan education secretary says they came having already made up their minds that the region’s language policy harms pupils’ performance.
In the Escola San Jaume, a primary school in El Prat de Llobregat, a heavily Spanish-speaking town near Barcelona, all signs are in Catalan. Only about 10% of the pupils are native Catalan-speakers, says the director, Arturo Ramírez. Despite the never-ending discussion across Spain, it is one largely achieved in Catalonia, where over 80% of the population speaks and reads Catalan, and everyone, except some immigrants, speaks Spanish too. Watching the happy students on his playground, Mr Ramírez says “There is no problem here. The problem is outside the building.”
1. What caused the blame on language policy?| A．That the native Catalan-speakers did better than Spanish-speakers in PISA. |
| B．That Spain had lost ground. |
| C．That most countries was wondering how to do better. |
| D．That the PISA worldwide educational comparisons came out. |
| A．At least 25% of classes must be given in Spanish. |
| B．All subjects were taught in Catalan. |
| C．Raise or lower the level in teaching according to need. |
| D．The regional government passed a law. |
| A．100%. | B．50%. | C．75%. | D．1%. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Neutral. | C．Confident. | D．Unclear. |
5 . The ocean depths contain the metals needed for the widespread use of battery-dependent technologies like electric vehicles, which will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Interested parties see this as a solution to our technological demands and the pressing need for a “green transition”. However, it raises a crucial question: should we mine the deepest stretches of the world’s oceans?
Some scientists and activists warn that seabed mining could cause an irreversible (不可逆的) chain reaction, severely harming the ocean and threatening entire ecosystems on the ocean floor. There are also potential risks to our health, including toxic metals entering the human food chain, and affecting climate change. The most significant direct impact of mining in remote ecosystems is the probable loss of habitat and biodiversity.
Dr Chong Chen is a deep sea biologist at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). “There are undoubtedly many undiscovered species with abilities and functions that we cannot even imagine exist,” he says, “and we could lose them without knowing they ever existed.”
The mining process also disturbs seabed sediments (沉积物) and releases them back into the sea, raising additional concerns among scientists. Mining is for metals, whose stability of the construction are unchecked. “Some of those may be broken down and be directly into the water column,” says Jeffrey Drazen, professor of Oceanography with the University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Some of these metals are toxic to life.” says Professor Drazen. At the same time, he acknowledges the core challenge is ensuring whether the benefits of extracting (提取) deep-sea mineral resources outweigh the potential harm to our ecosystem. He notes that it’s a tough choice.
The positive development is that, for the first time, companies, governments, and civil society are actively participating in international discussions to create rules and regulations for the deep-sea mining industry before it begins.
1. What’s the purpose of the last sentence in Paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To give some evidence. |
| C．To define the phenomenon. | D．To reveal the conception. |
| A．Sediments. | B．Seabed. | C．Metals. | D．Mineral resources. |
| A．The deep-sea mining will not do more harm than good to the people. |
| B．The deep-sea mining has a big impact on ecosystem and human beings. |
| C．A regulatory framework for the deep-sea mining industry has been established. |
| D．Many undiscovered species are bound to extinct according to Dr Chong Chen. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. | C．Indifferent. | D．Positive. |
1. Who are the audiences probably?
| A．College students. | B．News reporters. | C．Movie fans. |
| A．Racism. | B．Heightism. | C．Sexism. |
| A．Get more attention. | B．Get more choices. | C．Get more income. |
| A．They can earn high income from it. |
| B．They can get satisfaction from it. |
| C．Nobody cares about their height. |
7 . You might have heard of the expression “a guilty pleasure”—maybe it’s the chocolate bar you buy on the way home from work, or the new clothes that you don’t really need.
Perhaps not. Psychologists have suggested that buying things for yourself can make you feel better as it provides an opportunity to take control of your situation.
Of course, there are also examples of people turning to destructive behaviour when faced with stressful circumstances. People might spend money that they don’t have or turn to dangerous addictions. Psychologist Leon Seltzer considers the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurturing.
| A．Exams are vital for students. |
| B．Self-indulgence can have negative consequences |
| C．The difference becomes evident when students manage exam pressure |
| D．They also recommend embracing activities that could dampen your spirits |
| E．Besides, you should avoid things that may make you feel worse afterwards |
| F．It comes from the idea that when we treat ourselves, it can sometimes leave us feeling guilty |
| G．It can give you social contact as well as a confidence boost from changes you make to your self-image |
具体内容如下：1.介绍现状；2.纸媒的重要性；3.提出呼吁。
注意：1.词数80左右；2.可适当增加细节，使内容充实，行文连贯。
Embracing the Magic of Print Media
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . Which is more important for parents, making more money to give the kids a better life or spending more time with them? It is a problem for parents and it is not easy to decide. A new study shows that today’s parents are spending more time with their children than parents in the past. According to the study, today’s college-educated mothers spend about 21.2 hours a week taking care of their children. But women with less education spend about 15.9 hours. Before 1995, it was only 12 hours.
Dads are spending more time on ball games. Before 1995, fathers with college educations only spent about 4.5 hours a week playing with their children. Today, it increases to 9.6 hours a week. For fathers with high school education, the time goes up from 3.7 hours to 6.8.
These days, parents don’t care more about the cleaning or the cooking. They are trying their best to spend time with their families. As for the kids, they don’t mind how much time their parents spend with them. They just want to enjoy the time their parents do be with them.
So, take part in the kids’ activities when you are with them, such as helping with homework or playing soccer with them.
1. How long do college-educated mothers spend taking care of their kids a week?| A．About 9.6 hours. | B．About 12 hours. |
| C．About 15.9 hours. | D．About 21.2 hours. |
| A．Women with less education spend about12 hours staying with their kids, |
| B．Mothers in the past spent less time staying with kids than mothers these days. |
| C．Mothers with college education are lazier than those with less education. |
| D．Dads spend more time staying with their kids than mothers do. |
| A．About 4.5 hours. | B．Less than 9 hours. |
| C．About 13.5 hours. | D．About 18 hours. |
| A．They care about how much money their parents can make. |
| B．They care about how much time their parents spend with them. |
| C．They care if their parents are really with them. |
| D．They care if their parents can give them a better life. |
10 . A tragic case of Kitty Genovese, who was killed, happened in New York in 1964. However, subsequent investigations concluded that several people saw or heard what was happening, but did nothing to intervene. This has been termed the “bystander effect” — a well-known psychological phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to someone when other people are present. The more people there are, the less likely they are to help.
None of us like to think we’d walk on by when someone needed our help. But sometimes we behave in ways we wouldn’t expect when faced with a situation we are unsure about. While we might like to think we would rush to someone’s assistance, we know from studies that often people hang back. Research from the British Heart Foundation has suggested that a third of people would not give first aid if they saw someone collapse on the street, with some even admitting they wouldn’t call an ambulance.
There are various factors contributing to this effect — people think that others will get involved. Afterwards people often say they did not feel qualified or important enough to be the one to intervene. It is also partly down to “pluralistic ignorance” — since everyone is not reacting to the emergency, they don’t need to either; it’s not serious because no one else is doing anything.
Other studies have shown that once people are aware of the bystander effect, they are less likely to be affected by it. Self-awareness is the best solution to it. When facing an emergency, think to yourself how you would behave if you were on your own. Ignore everyone else and go with your gut (直觉) — If you’d run for help, do it. If that’s how you would have behaved when you were on your own, then that’s probably the right course of action. The worst that can happen is that you’ll look a little foolish at having overreacted. You might also save someone’s life.
1. What is the author’s purpose of telling about the case of Genovese?| A．To show the high frequency of killing. | B．To highlight the indifference of bystanders. |
| C．To introduce the topic of the passage. | D．To lead to the investigations. |
| A．No one would like to admit the truth. | B．People tend to help when no people are present. |
| C．Few people will encounter uncertain situations. | D．Many people will not rush to help in an emergency. |
| A．The consequences of the phenomenon. | B．The reactions to different accidents. |
| C．The seriousness of an emergency. | D．The reasons for not helping. |
| A．Don’t Be A Bystander | B．Life-Saving Response |
| C．Importance of First Aid | D．Reactions in Emergency |
