You can’t walk down the street without passing so-called “smart-phone zombies (僵尸).” They are too
Recently the city of Honolulu, Hawaii,
Honolulu is the first major U. S. city to ban (禁止) what is called “distracted walking”. It comes after a study found there had been more than 11,000
However, the law does permit
2 . The Big Debate
Are road tests necessary for teen drivers?
Some say new drivers should be able to get a license without taking a road test.
| What you need to know ● The minimum age to get a driver’s license in most states is 16. Teens must complete a driver’s education course, pass a written test, and take a road test. ● Since the pandemic, Wisconsin has waived (放弃) road tests for drivers ages 16 and 17. The state is considering making this change permanent. Iowa and Nebraska have similar waivers. ● Studies show that teens ages 16-19 are at the highest risk of any age group to be in a motor vehicle crash. | |
| Yes - of course teen drivers need a test Even after taking a driving course and practicing for hours, teens do not have enough real-world experience to start driving on their own. It’s important to test a teen’s knowledge of the rules of the road—and not just with a written test. Plus, a road test ensures that every driver who passes has a certain level of knowledge. Nothing can substitute for a road test. | No - it’s not necessary for safe driving After 50 hours of supervised driving plus a driver’s education course, teens are more than prepared to get a license. And think of the time that will be saved. It lets busy motor vehicle departments complete work that piled up during the pandemic. Experts agree that practice is the best way to reduce car accidents. Skipping the road test and letting teens drive earlier gives them time to get better. |
| What do you think? What do you think? Are road tests necessary for teen drivers? Now that you’ve read more of the issue, have a parent or guardian visit the week junior.com/polls with you so you can vote in our debate. Vote YES if you think road tests are necessary for teen drivers or NO if you don’t. We’ll publish the results next week. | |
| A．Being older than 19. | B．Having driving experience. |
| C．Passing required tests. | D．Completing all school courses. |
| A．It gets teens prepared. | B．It reduces car accidents. |
| C．It saves time and effort. | D．It promotes driving education. |
| A．Teens. | B．Parents. | C．Drivers. | D．Experts. |
3 . Germany’s top court has ruled that parts of the country’s 2019 climate (气候) action law must be changed because they don’t do a good job of protecting young people. The result is a big victory for the nine young people who started the law suing (诉讼).
The court suing stresses an important part of the climate change: The change will impact greatly on young people far more than the adults. That’s because the effects of earth warming will become more serious over time. As young people become adults, they’ll be left to deal with many problems that today’s adults have ignored. The government’s failure to plan carefully was putting their future lives in danger.
In 2019, Germany passed a new law, promising that the country would be carbon neutral (碳中和) by 2050. The law made a detailed plan of action until 2030. But the law didn’t have any specific rules or plans for climate actions that would be taken between 2031 and 2050.
Last Thursday, the judges of Germany’s highest court agreed with the young people. They said that not taking climate action made the basic rights of young people to a good future in danger.
The young people had challenged the government’s law in four specific areas. The judges didn’t agree with all of the challenges. But having the court support even a part of their case is seen as a big victory. Neubauer is one of the young people who sued. She works with the climate action group Fridays For Future. Ms. Neubauer said, “Climate protection is our basic right. This is a huge win for the climate movement. It changes a lot.”
The court has given the German government until the end of 2022 to fix the law. The climate law will now need to have a much more detailed plan for the actions that will be taken after 2030 to cut Germany’s pollution, allowing it to become carbon neutral by 2050. Germany’s government has said that it will quickly begin working to make the needed changes.
1. Why did the nine young people sue the Germany government?| A．They faced a higher rate of losing jobs. |
| B．The government refused their law suing. |
| C．The local court ruled against the climate law. |
| D．They weren’t satisfied with the climate action law. |
| A．The adults nowadays are put under pressure. |
| B．The climate change will influence the young. |
| C．Earth warming is becoming out of control. |
| D．Humans feel uncertain about the future. |
| A．Improve the present law. |
| B．Win people’s wide support. |
| C．Take strict punishment measures. |
| D．Achieve carbon neutral in advance. |
| A．Business. | B．Health. |
| C．Education. | D．Environment. |
4 . Fear, anxiety, panic — those are the words Elaine Peng used to describe the state of her service’s recipients (接受者) who are fighting mental health problems through lectures and support groups on WeChat. President Donald Trump’s transaction (交易) ban on the social networking app has worsened their emotional state.
Since Peng founded the organization in 2013 with the mission of raising mental health awareness within the Chinese community, she has gradually built up her network. Now she has two WeChat groups of more than 500 people, including service recipients and volunteers.
Peng said, “WeChat is the organization’s primary communications tool because it is much friendlier than other US-developed apps. We also respond to emergency situations through WeChat. For instance, we recently rescued a patient from a parking lot, using the app’s real-time location feature, where his condition suddenly worsened and he didn’t know where he was,” she said.
Seeing that her group’s mission and operation will be affected in a significant way, Peng joined a legal challenge filed by the nonprofit US WeChat Users Alliance, seeking to block the ban. The presidential executive order does not define the word “transaction”, and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has not defined which particular transactions would be illegal. Ross may issue the definitions by Sunday, or he may not say anything for a long time, but the situation is already harming people who depend on WeChat. If the judge does not prevent the order from taking effect, then the law goes into effect Sunday, and no one knows exactly what it means.
We Chat has roughly 19 million daily active users in the US, most of them of Chinese descent, according to the complaint filed by the plaintiffs (原告) last month. The lawsuit argues that the order is illegal because it violates (侵犯) users’ free speech rights. It also argues that the ban targeted Chinese Americans, who rely on the app for work, worship and staying in touch with relatives in China.
1. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?| A．Entertainment. |
| B．Science. |
| C．Education. |
| D．News brief. |
| A．To arouse mental health awareness. |
| B．To build up her network. |
| C．To provide service for recipients. |
| D．To keep in touch with relatives. |
| A．Subjective. |
| B．Objective. |
| C．Indifferent. |
| D．Doubtful. |
| A．Wechat ban-users’ expectation |
| B．Wechat ban-users’ demand |
| C．Wechat ban-users’ concern |
| D．Wechat ban-users’ disaster |
5 . Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg took out full-page ads in British and American newspapers on Sunday to apologize for the Cambridge Analytica scandal（丑闻）, admitting the quiz app built by a university researcher that leaked（泄漏）Facebook data of millions of people was a “betrayal of trust”.
Since the scandal broke, the public has become more aware and concerned about how their online behavior may be used for purposes to which they have not agreed. It emphasizes the urgent need for better protection of personal information.
To better protect personal data privacy（隐私）, targeted laws are needed. More effective cooperation should be carried out to protect people’s privacy online as soon as possible.
Countries, such as the United States and China in particular, which are global leaders in the use of big data should accelerate legislation（立法）on how it can be collected and for what purposes it can be used.
At the same time, a closer watch should be kept on the world’s major internet companies, such as Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu to ensure they do not acquire unnecessary personal information or misuse the information they obtain. Despite the huge challenge such personal data protection may pose to their established profit-making models, these companies should know that the more powerful they are, the bigger responsibilities they shoulder.
Strengthened efforts for personal privacy protection do not mean that big data must not be used, but that it is used appropriately. Big data is like a mountain or gold, and overemphasis on its security at the expense of its use will undoubtedly waste a valuable resource. The key problem is how to promote its use while guaranteeing people’s privacy to be protected.
1. Why did Mark Zuckerberg make an apology in British and American newspapers?| A．Because he didn’t behave well. |
| B．Because Facebook data was sold. |
| C．Because users’ personal information was leaked. |
| D．Because university researchers used Facebook data. |
| A．Make and pass laws. |
| B．Punish illegal behavior. |
| C．Promote communication. |
| D．Limit the use of data. |
| A．It is difficult to protect data. |
| B．Big data should be used properly. |
| C．The use of big data should be banned. |
| D．People have strong awareness of data protection. |
| A．Facebook Scandal |
| B．Mark Zuckerberg’s Apology |
| C．Good, Bad and Ugly of Big Data |
| D．Big Data: an Important Fan of Our Life |
| A．Education. | B．Entertainment. |
| C．Opinion. | D．Culture, |
6 . An old lady was walking with her basket down the middle of a street in Petrograd to the great confusion of the traffic and with no small danger to herself. It was pointed out to her that the pavement was the place for pedestrians, but she replied: “I’m going to walk where I like. We’ve got liberty now.” It did not occur to the dear old lady that if liberty entitled（授权）the pedestrian to walk down the middle of the road, then the end of such liberty would be universal chaos. Everybody would be getting in everybody else’s way and nobody would get anywhere. Individual liberty would have become social chaos.
There is a danger of the world getting liberty-drunk in these days like the old lady, and it is just as well to remind ourselves of what the rule of the road means .It means that in order that the liberties of all may be preserved, the liberties of everybody must be limited. When the policeman steps into the middle of the road and puts out his hand, he is the symbol not of tyranny（暴政）, but of liberty.
Liberty is not a personal affair only, but a social contract（契约）. In matters which do not touch anybody else’s liberty, of course, I may be as free as 1 like. If I go down the street dressed strangely, who shall say me no? We have a whole kingdom in which we rule alone and can do what we choose. But directly we step out of that kingdom, our personal liberty of action becomes qualified by other people’s liberty.
We all tend to forget this. A reasonable consideration for the rights or feelings of others is the base of social conduct.
1. What does the first paragraph serve as?| A．A background. | B．An introduction. | C．A comment. | D．An explanation. |
| A．Park anywhere you like. | B．Walk along the pavement. |
| C．Wear whatever you like. | D．Make loud noises in the wild. |
| A．Follow the orders of policemen. | B．Do what you like in private. |
| C．Never walk in the middle of the road. | D．Do not behave inconsiderately in public. |
| A．Limited. | B．Ruined. | C．Improved. | D．Educated. |
