1 . Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox, recently signed two bills into law that strictly limit children’s use of social media platforms. Under the law, which takes effect next year, social media companies have to check the ages of all users in the state, and children under age 18 have to get agreement from their parents to have accounts. Parents will also be able to use their kids’ accounts, apps won’t be allowed to show children ads, and accounts for kids won’t be able to be used between 10:30 pm and 6:30 am without parental agreement.
While some people argue age limitation allows tech companies to collect even more data about users, let’s be real: These companies already have much private information about us. To solve this problem, we need a separate data privacy law. But until that happens, this concern shouldn’t stop us from protecting kids.
One of the key parts of the law is allowing parents to use their kids’ accounts. By doing this, the law begins to help address one of the biggest dangers kids face online: harmful content.
One huge challenge the law helps parents get over is the amount of time kids are spending on social media. A 2022 survey found that, on average, children aged 8 to 12 spend 5 hours and 33 minutes per day on social media while those aged 13 to 18 spend 8 hours and 39 minutes daily. It’s warned that lack of sleep is connected with serious harm to children — everything from injuries to depression (抑郁), fatness and diabetes. So, parents need to have a way to ensure their kids aren’t up on social media platforms all night.
Considering the experiences many kids are having on social media, this law will help Utah’s parents protect their kids. Parents in other states need the same support. Now, it’s time for the government to step up and ensure children throughout the country have the same protection as Utah’s kids.
1. Which is allowed according to the new bill?| A．Ads can be put on to children. |
| B．Children can use social media freely. |
| C．Parents can check their kids’ accounts. |
| D．Related companies protect users’ accounts. |
| A．Because children’s right to surf the Internet is limited. |
| B．Because more personal information may be given away. |
| C．Because it prevents the data privacy law from taking effect. |
| D．Because children may become too dependent on the Internet. |
| A．Higher learning efficiency. |
| B．Better personal eating habits. |
| C．Easier access to healthy media. |
| D．Improved physical and mental health. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Flexible. | D．Negative. |
2 . “There is one and only one social responsibility of business,” wrote Milton Friedman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, “that is, to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits.” But even if you accept Friedman’s statement and regard corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies as a waste of shareholders’ money, things may not be absolutely clear-cut. New research suggests that CSR may create monetary value for companies at least when they are charged with corruption (腐败).
The largest firms in America and Britain together spend more than $15 billion a year on CSR, according to an estimate by EPG, a consulting firm. This could add value to their businesses in three ways. First, consumers may take CSR spending as a “signal” that a company’s products are of high quality. Second, customers may be willing to buy a company’s products as an indirect way to donate to the good causes it helps. And third, through a more diffuse (分散的) “halo effect” its good deeds earn it greater consideration from consumers and others.
Previous studies on CSR have had trouble distinguishing these effects because consumers can be affected by all three. A recent study attempts to separate them by looking at bribery prosecutions (起诉) under American’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). It argues that since prosecutors do not consume a company’s products as part of their investigations, they could be influenced only by the halo effect.
The study finds that, among prosecuted firms, those with the most comprehensive CSR programmes tend to get more lenient punishments. Their analysis rules out the possibility that it is the firm’s political influence, rather than its CSR stance, that accounts for the leniency: Companies that contribute more to political campaigns do not receive lower fines.
In all, the study concludes that whereas prosecutors should only evaluate a case based on its merits, they do seem to be influenced by a company’s record in CSR. “We estimate that either eliminating a substantial labor-rights concern, such as child labor, or increasing corporate giving by about 20% result in fines that generally are 40% lower than the typical punishment for bribing foreign officials.” says one researcher.
Researchers admit that their study does not answer the question at how much businesses ought to spend on CSR. Nor does it reveal how much companies are relying on the halo effect, rather than the other possible benefits, when companies get into trouble with the law, evidence of good character can win them a less costly punishment.
1. The author views Milton Friedman’s statement about CSR with___________.| A．uncertainty | B．interest | C．approval | D．tolerance |
| A．guarding it against malpractices | B．protecting it from consumers |
| C．winning trust from consumers | D．raising the quality of its products |
| A．less debatable | B．more lasting | C．more effective | D．less severe |
| A．comes across as reliable evidence | B．has an impact on their decision |
| C．is considered part of the investigation | D．increases the chance of being punished |
3 . Yang Le Ge Yang, a game on WeChat’s mini program platform, has spread widely on Chinese social media, with a related topic lopping the trending charts (排行榜) on Weibo.
The game is characterized by comic-like art design and background music and its brief introduction that less than 0.1% of players can complete all the levels.
In order to pass the level efficiently, a huge crowd, especially the teenagers, focus their energy and pocket money on seeking the strategy, with little knowledge of the potential risk of being cheated.
Hanging over the situation, China’s top legislature (立法机关) took an effective measure against telecom and online fraud (诈骗) on September 2 by adopting widely expected law that will smooth out these crimes (犯罪) which have long disturbed the public and led to people’s financial losses after receiving spam messages (垃圾短信) and calls.
The law on telecom and online fraud, which has 50 articles, was passed after being reviewed three times by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. China’s top legislative body, aiming to offer strong protection of people’s rights and punish cheaters.
As some people, particularly teenagers, were defrauded by being tricked into buying online game equipment, the Cyberspace Administration of China has worked with the Ministry of Public Security in the fight against cheaters since the beginning of this year. So far, they have dealt with more than 12,000 such cases and asked internet operators to improve the public’s channels to provide fraud-related information.
1. Why does the passage begin with a popular game?| A．To share a hot game. | B．To entertain the readers. |
| C．To introduce the topic. | D．To attract readers’ attention. |
| A．Telecom and online fraud is a new crime. |
| B．Teens focus on the game as a result of feeling secure and protected. |
| C．China’s legislation will take action to fight against the online fraud. |
| D．Some individuals fail to recognize the truth of spam messages and calls. |
| A．It was officially reviewed 50 times. |
| B．It didn’t reach the public’s expectation. |
| C．It hardly contributed to guarding against online fraud. |
| D．It was passed to protect people’s rights and punish cheaters. |
| A．The ways to rise to frauds. |
| B．The details of various frauds. |
| C．The frauds that teenagers were tricked into. |
| D．The channels to provide fraud-related information. |
Do you know the UK government has
The motivation behind this
A similar law
As of January 2015, 22% of adult men and 17% of adult women smoke in Great Britain. The possibility of smoking in the UK increases with age so that by 15 years of age 8% of school children
Smoking is one of
5 . Home to 8.2 million people, 36 percent of whom were born outside the United State, New York, known as the Big Apple, is the biggest city in America. Nearly twenty times bigger than the capital, Washington DC, you might expect New York to be twenty times more dangerous, actually, it’s safer. Recent figures show that New York now has fewer crimes per 100,000 people than 193 other US cities. It's also healthier than it used to be. For example, the smoking rate has gone down from 21.5 percent a few years ago, to 16.9 percent today.
New Yorkers should be delighted, shouldn't they? In fact, many feel that New York is losing its identity. It used to be the city that never sleeps. These days it's the city that never smokes, drinks or does anything naughty (at least, not in public). The Big Apple is quickly turning into the Forbidden Apple.
If you decided to have a picnic in Central Park, you'd need to be careful—if you decided to feed the birds with your sandwich, you could be arrested. It's banned. In many countries a mobile phone going off in the cinema is annoying. In New York it's illegal. So is putting your bag on an empty seat in the subway. If you went to a bar for a drink and a cigarette, that would be OK, wouldn't it? Er ... no. You can't smoke in public in New York City. In fact, you can't smoke outdoors on the street or in parks either. The angry editor of Vanity Fair magazine, Gray don Carter, says, “Under New York City law it is acceptable to keep a gun in your place of work, but not an empty ashtray.” He should know. The police came to his office and took away his ashtray.
But not all of New York's citizens are complaining. Marcia Dugarry, seventy-two, said, "The city has changed for the better. If more cities had these laws, America would be a better place to live."
The new laws have helped turn the city into one of the healthiest—and most pleasant places to live in America—very different from its old image of a dirty and dangerous city. Its pavements are almost litter-free, its bars clean and its streets among America's safest. Not putting your bag on subway seats might be a small price to pay.
1. The author writes Paragraph 1 mainly to tell the reader that New York is________.| A．bigger than Washington D.C. | B．the best place in the world |
| C．safer and healthier | D．the most dangerous city |
| A．quite popular | B．not allowed in law | C．very impolite | D．quite common |
| A．Some of New York's new laws are not reasonable. |
| B．A gun is much easier to get than an ashtray. |
| C．The police had no right to take away his ashtray |
| D．there should be a law to keep guns away from people. |
| A．The writer supports them. | B．The writer is against them. |
| C．The writer is not interested in them. | D．The writer's attitude is not clear. |
6 . Hundreds of new drivers have been given bans (禁令) for using their mobile phones at the wheel, as part of stricter new laws introduced. In March, the punishment for driving while on the phone was doubled to six points — meaning drivers with less than two years’ experience faced a ban.
New laws meant the punishment for being caught on a mobile phone at the wheel was increased to six points. The new rules were introduced in England, Scotland and Wales. Drivers who get six points within two years of passing their test will lose their licence, creating a one-strike rule for mobile phone users. To get back behind the wheel, new drivers have to retake both the theory and practical parts of the driving test.
Mr Williams in the RAC said, “These people have spent hours and hours and hundreds of pounds learning to drive to gain their personal freedom only to throw it all away through this foolish behaviour. The only comfort is that they won’t be drawn into some terrible crashes caused by the distraction (使人分心的事物) of a hand-held mobile phone.”
When the new laws were introduced, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said they would act as a strong warning to mobile phone users. However, the numbers suggested a total of 15,752 drivers received the punishment of six points for using a mobile phone between March and August. This is an increase from 15, 237 drivers in the same period of last year.
National Police Chiefs’ Council Lead on roads Policing, Chief Constable Anthony Bangham, said the police took the offence (违法行为) seriously. “This is not a small offence and is never a risk worth taking because a moment’s distraction behind the wheel can change lives forever.” “Our message is simple — don’t do it,” he added.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph1?| A．The new laws have not been passed. |
| B．The new laws are not strict enough. |
| C．Drivers with less than two years’ experience won’t be affected. |
| D．Punishment for driving while phoning used to be three points. |
| A．He will be fined a lot. |
| B．He must learn the new rules. |
| C．He will lose his driving licence. |
| D．He will be given a warning. |
| A．traffic accidents were cut down |
| B．there were still many drivers who broke them |
| C．drivers thought the laws were unfair to them |
| D．fewer people broke them compared |
| A．The police didn’t take the new rules seriously. |
| B．The roads policy should be improved for safety. |
| C．A moment of carelessness may cause big accidents. |
| D．The laws need to be improved a lot and retested. |
While many of us go to sleep before midnight, some teenagers choose to stay up much later. They are not driven by the burning desire to write a better essay or achieve a higher grade. Instead, they are busy playing online games. Known as young Internet addicts (有瘾的人), they have long been a problem in China. A report released (发行) in 2016 by the China Youth Association for Network Development showed that there were over 24 million young Internet addicts among China’s young urban Internet users. The report also said that over 18 million youths had a tendency to develop Internet addiction.
To deal with the problem of Internet addiction among teenagers, the Cyberspace Administration of China has released draft (草案) regulations which carried out a ban on online gaming. If the regulations are adopted under-18s would be banned from playing online games between midnight and 8 am.
As soon as the government’s draft law surfaced, it drew great attention from the public. Some support the law as a way to better protect teenagers, saying that too much overnight gaming is harmful to teenagers’ health and believing the period between midnight and 8 am to be important to human physical functions. However, others wondered whether it would be practical if it came into effect, as teenagers could just borrow their parents’ IDs to register (注册) accounts to play online games. The Guangming Daily suggested that parents should help their teenagers find a balance between the cyber world and the real world.
China is by no means the only one trying to fight against teenager gaming addiction. Germany introduced a regulation in 2002 in an attempt to stop teens from playing online games from 10 pm to 6 am. Meanwhile, the UK, the US and Australia have forced a rating system on computer games to make sure that teenagers cannot access “adult” content such as violence, sex or bad language.
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8 . In Canada, rights come with responsibilities. ' These include:
Obeying the law—one of Canada’s founding principles is the rule of law. Individuals and governments are regulated by laws and not by arbitrary actions. No person or group is above the law.
Taking responsibility for oneself and one's family—getting a job, taking care of one's family and working hard in keeping with one's abilities are important Canadian values. Work contributes to personal dignity and self -respect, and to Canada's prosperity.
Serving on a jury—when called to do so. you are legally required to serve. Serving on a jury is a privilege that makes the justice system work as it depends on impartial juries made up of citizens.
Voting in elections—the right to vote comes with a responsibility to vote in federal provincial or territorial and local elections.
Helping others in the community—millions of volunteers freely donate their time to help others
without pay -helping people in need assisting at your child’s school volunteering at a food bank or other charity, or encouraging newcomers to integrate. Volunteering is an excellent way to gain useful skills and develop friends and contacts.
Protecting and enjoying our heritage and environment—every citizen has u role to play in avoiding waste and pollution while protecting Canada’s natural, cultural and architectural heritage for future generations.
1. Which of the following may be the best title of the passage?| A．Rights of Citizenship in Canada |
| B．Responsibilities of Citizenship in Canada |
| C．Different laws and regulations in Canada |
| D．Rights coming with responsibilities in Canada |
| A．Work can help one to win respect. |
| B．Canadian law requires its citizens to serve on a jury. |
| C．Volunteering is a better way to develop friends. |
| D．All citizens have the responsibility to protect Canada’s architectural heritage. |
China
“The question of whether to allow citizens to sue (起诉)government departments caused heated debates back then,” said Yang Jingyu，82，a retired lawmaker
He looked back
However Peng Zhen, who
Now, according to the laws, courts must accept cases without
10 . A passenger has been fined almost 
550 after he was caught without a train ticket—that would have cost just 2.80.
Nicky Haywood，from Nottingham，was found guilty of travelling on an East Midlands train from Nottingham to Newstead without a ticket.
The 27yearold，who did not appear for his hearing at Nottingham Magistrates Court(地方法庭)，is now being made to pay the price—which is almost 200 times the original price—for the 20 minute journey.
According to the Nottingham Post，Magistrates have ordered Haywood to pay a 220 fine，302 in costs，a 22 government surcharge(追加费用) and the 2.80 fare.
Senior conductor，Yvonne Clay was working on the day of the incident，according to the Nottingham Post.
The newspaper reported that she said Haywood had got on the train without a ticket，though he had the chance to buy one from both vending machines and booking offices on the platform.
She said，“He offered a Solo Electron card but we could not take that on the train.I informed him with a notice to pay.He gave his name and address and had 21 days to pay the fare.”
Even though he was given three weeks to pay the 2.80，a payment from Haywood was not received.
| A．2.80. | B．544. |
| C．550. | D．546.8. |
| A．convenience shops | B．booking offices |
| C．the conductor | D．the court |
| A．Nicky Haywood was heading to Nottingham in this incident. |
| B．The conductor didn’t inform him to pay the ticket. |
| C．Nicky Haywood offered a card but it couldn’t be used on that train. |
| D．If Nicky Haywood had been given some days after the incident，he would have paid the ticket. |
| A．Welleducated. | B．Responsible. |
| C．Dishonest. | D．Mean. |
