1 . Dogs are welcome in the outdoor areas of restaurants in New York, US. In the past, health and safety laws made it illegal (违法的) to bring dogs to any restaurant in New York. But last May state lawmakers voted (表决) to let people bring dogs to restaurants that have tables outdoors: Not one lawmaker voted no. The law was soon passed. Several special rules are included in this law. The dogs must be kept on a leash (皮带). Dogs must not share water bowls. Also, restaurants can choose to let people bring dogs or not.
New York joins California, Florida and Maryland in the list of states with similar laws. In many European countries, bringing dogs to restaurants is common. Paris in France has allowed dogs to go with their owners in restaurants for a long time.
Governor Andrew Cuomo believes that this new law will help businesses grow. But not all New Yorkers are happy about this new law. Christopher Miller is the spokesman for the New York City Department of Health. He told the New York Daily News that letting dogs in restaurants could cause problems. “The Health Department loves all dogs, but just not at restaurants where they can create a risk to the health and safety of diners, restaurant workers and other dogs,” Miller said.
New York City is often the center of the new ideas in the US. A law asking some restaurants in the city to show the amount of calories (卡路里数量) in the food they served was passed in 2009. The city leader tried unsuccessfully to stop the sale of large amounts of soft drinks in 2012. Smoking was made illegal in restaurants in 1993.
1. What can we know about the new law from Paragraph 1?| A．Who made it. | B．Why it was made. |
| C．Why there are special rules. | D．What the special rules are. |
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
| A．It could help businesses grow. | B．It could be bad for the environment. |
| C．It could bring health and safety problems. | D．It could make people pay more attention to dogs. |
| A．Smoking. | B．Bringing dogs. |
| C．Supplying high-calorie food. | D．Selling soft drinks in big cups. |
2 . E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that allow users to breathe in nicotine (尼古丁) without lighting a cigarette. They come in many shapes and sizes like regular cigarettes, pens, USB sticks and other everyday items.
Though e-cigarettes may be less harmful than regular cigarettes, their effect on health can still be serious. Using e-cigarettes, or vaping, has been associated with a higher risk of lung injury. E-cigarette exposure may be particularly harmful to young adults — it can harm their brain development and cause a lifelong addiction to nicotine. According to Food and Drug Administration(FDA), an increasing number of students are using e-cigarettes every year and FDA is trying to work out how to regulate using e-cigarettes.
One way to cut e-cigarette consumption is to impose a tax. A study by the Centre for Health Economics &Policy Studies at San Diego State University found that a $1 increase in e-cigarette taxes is associated with a 14% — 26% decrease in vaping among high-school students. Young people tend to be strapped, so even a small tax increase could discourage their vaping. Unexpectedly, the tax increase seems also to decrease teenage alcohol consumption. According to the study, a $1 increase in e-cigarette taxes is associated with a 10%-11%reduction in teenage excessive alcohol use. Smoking and drinking tend to go together.
Teenagers who drink are twice as likely as others to light up. In turn, raising taxes on cigarettes has been found to reduce teenage drinking.
So should lawmakers surely rush to carry out an e-cigarette tax? The answer is not so simple. Catherine Maclean, one of the study's authors, warned, “Despite the potential of a tax increase on e-cigarettes to restrict young adults' using cigarettes, it may lead to some others switching to regular cigarettes or illegal vaping products.”
Many other ways are put forward. Some believe requiring a prescription (处方) for e-cigarettes could help as well. Another tighter regulation is also a possible answer — Britain and the Euro-pean Union regulate the amount of nicotine in e-cigarettes.
1. How does the author lead in the topic of the text?| A．By giving an example. | B．By making a comparison. |
| C．By giving a definition. | D．By making an assumption. |
| A．It is hardly addictive to new smokers. | B．It can help develop teenagers' thinking. |
| C．It is increasingly accepted by teenagers. | D．It can deepen regular smokers 'addiction. |
| A．Feeling grateful. | B．Lacking confidence. |
| C．Showing strong passion. | D．Having little money. |
| A．Objective. | B．Doubtful. | C．Favorable. | D．Critical. |
3 . Are you the only child in your family? If so, do you enjoy it or do you want more siblings（兄弟姐妹）?
On May 31, a key meeting of the Communist Party of China unveiled a policy that would allow all couples to have up to three children.
The move is expected to maximize the population's role in driving economic and social growth, since this is a critical time for China to transform the world's most populous country into a powerhouse（强国）with a quality workforce, according to the National Health Commission.
The three-child policy is also expected to prevent the decline in the nation's birthrate and address the challenge of a rapidly aging population, China Daily reported.
China's annual number of newborns has fallen for four years in a row. The country's total birthrate—the average number of children born to each woman—stood at 1.3 in 2020. The number is below the rate of 2.1 that would maintain a stable population, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The declining birthrate has also brought a sharp increase in the proportion of the population aged 60 or above, rising from 10.3 percent to 18.7 percent in the past decade. An increasingly elderly population will increase the cost of labor and the pressure on the social security net. It also means there will be a lack of young labor force. Therefore, it's not good for economic growth, according to Chen Youhua, a professor at Nanjing University.
In fact, the new birth policy is a step to further relax the family planning policy. The one-child policy was introduced in the 1970s and aimed to control the fast-growing population. Then in 2013, China allowed couples to have a second child if either parent was an only child, and in 2016, all couples were allowed to have two children.
However, not all people have shown their support for this latest policy. Many couples complained about the rising costs of raising a child. A netizen named Qinfeng commented, "High cost of education and both the physical and mental exhaustion stopped me from having more than one child." Also, many women are reluctant（不情愿的）to give birth because that could mean sacrificing their career prospects, according to Mu Guangzong, a professor at Peking University.
In that case, Mu noted that it is better to implement supporting measures with the three-child policy, such as more preferential（优惠的）policies for couples that would ease their parental burden.
1. What might NOT be the main cause for the new policy?| A．To increase the population's role. |
| B．To stop the declining birthrate. |
| C．To improve the child- care service system. |
| D．To address the challenge of the aging population. |
| A．China's annual number of newborns has fallen for decades. |
| B．The government will protect the legal rights of women in employment. |
| C．Measures will be taken to improve the high-quality education. |
| D．The new policy allows couples to have up to three children. |
| A．To carry out. | B．To get along with. |
| C．To make use of. | D．To have a command of. |
| A．To show his love of children healthcare. |
| B．To introduce the new family size policy. |
| C．To share his concerns about birthrate. |
| D．To emphasize the physical and mental exhaustion. |
4 . A teenager of 17 walks into a corner store and grabs a Coca-Cola, but the cashier refuses to sell it to him because he is underage. That rule is expected to soon become reality in parts of Mexico, as lawmakers in several states push legislation (立法)to keep junk food away from children. know it can sound a bit difficult but we have to take action now," says Lopez, a lawmaker in Oaxaca's Congress.
More than 70,000 Mexicans have died from COVID-19, the world's fourth-highest recorded death toll, tracked by Johns Hopkins University. 89% of those who died in Mexico had an underlying medical condition such as obesity, diabetes (糖尿病)，high blood pressure and heart problems. That has led to a new urgency to change diets so that the younger generation doesn't suffer those illnesses.
The critics, however, say the leaders are using preexisting health conditions in COVID-19 patients to distract from a weak government response to the virus outbreak. Yet few people would deny that the country consumes large amounts of sugar-sweetened drinks and processed snacks with little nutrition --- or that Mexico has a major weight problem.
Oaxaca's governor approved the state's junk food prohibition last week. Legislators still have to complete the legal systems, and punishment could include fines and even jail. Lopez says legislators from all over the country have called her for advice. Many other states are debating a junk food ban. However, a nationwide law would not be easy. "There are powerful commercial interests that least want it to happen, but we must prioritize the well-being of our children," Lopez says.
1. What is Lopez 's attitude towards the junk food?| A．Negative. | B．Neutral. |
| C．Positive. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Keep distance. | B．Avoid illnesses. |
| C．Break away. | D．Shift attention. |
| A．Selling children junk food has been banned nationwide in Mexico. |
| B．Most Mexicans who died of COVID-19 had other health problems. |
| C．The younger generation doesn't suffer any weight problems. |
| D．People who break the prohibition in Oaxaca will only be warned. |
| A．Teenagers. | B．Legislators. |
| C．Soft drink companies. | D．State governors. |
5 . The Philippines, a tropical island nation in the Pacific, will now require by law all graduating students from elementary school to college plant 10 trees each before they can graduate.
The law was supported in the House and is now sent to the Philippines Senate for action, Supporters of the law see this as an opportunity for the Filipino youth to help deal with climate change and air pollution and build a greener environment for their generation.
“To this end, the educational system shall be a centre of spreading continuous use of natural resources among the young to make them socially-responsible citizens, The House bill stated, which was authored by representative Gary Alejano.
Alejano estimates that over the course of one generation the bill will be responsible for 525 billion trees planted.This comes from over 12 million students graduating from elementary school each year, 5 million from high school and 500,000 from college, equaling 175 million new trees planted each year.
The Philippines consists of 7,641 islands in Southeast Asia.Across those islands,deforestation has been a primary environmental issue.Agriculture has led to a significant drop in forested areas across the Philippines. Through the 20th century, forested area in the Philippines decreased from 70 percent to 20 percent.It is estimated that 24.2 million acres of forests were cut down from 1934 to 1988, primarily from logging.
The performance of this new law could set off a situation, by which the Philippines switches from net loss to net gain of trees, a simple and powerful message to the Filipino youth with the potential for long term positive influence.
1. Why does the Philippines make the law to plant trees?| A．To create a better environment to live in. |
| B．To show the government is taking action. |
| C．To make sure students can graduate easily. |
| D．To raise people's awareness of education. |
| A．Natural resources. | B．The future generation |
| C．Powerful messages. | D．The educational system. |
| A．5 million. | B．50 million. |
| C．120 million. | D．175 million. |
| A．A.loss of soil. | B．Agriculture. |
| C．Climate change. | D．Air pollution. |
6 . London has become a cycle-friendly zone after the launch of a new bike hire scheme.
Transport for London, which runs the scheme, are hoping to have 6,000 bikes and 400 docking stations in place by the end of the year.
| A．So how does it work? |
| B．How do you like it? |
| C．However, there have been a few problems since the scheme was launched last Friday. |
| D．Despite the comments, the green-thinking London Mayor still says with certainty. |
| E．However, the London Mayor is confident of the scheme. |
| F．It has been designed to encourage more people to cycle in and around central London. |
| G．The new hire system is hoping to ease congestion(拥挤) in London and is expected to create up to 40,000 extra cycle trips a day into the city centre. |
7 . While the U.S. is still debating about getting rid of the penny, Sweden is rapidly moving towards abolishing currency(货币) altogether. Though this may sound radical(过激的), it is a natural evolution in this digital society.
Sweden, which was the first European country to introduce banknotes in 1661, has just been working harder to convince its residents that digital payments are a safer alternative to carrying cash.
Over the years, the idea has gained popularity with residents, especially the younger generation that is much more comfortable with technology. Today many banks don't even have ATMs and some have stopped handling cash altogether!
Tickets to ride public buses in most Swedish cities can only be purchased via cell phones. Numerous businesses are also moving towards accepting only digital payments. Even the homeless that sell street paper to make ends meet have to start accepting this mode of payment!
But despite its growing popularity, some people don't like this radical idea. They include the homeless, elderly people as well as those living in rural areas who are still uncomfortable with mobile phones and computers. But the officials are confident that in the very near future, they will be able to convince everyone to move this safe and more cost-effective payment system.
Sweden is not the only country trying to abolish paper currency and coins. The movement is rapidly gaining ground in Denmark and Finland as well. In 2014, Israel announced a three-step plan to go cashless and just last week the vendors(小贩)of a popular street in Sydney declared they would stop accepting currency from customers. Whether this phenomenon spreads remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure—With increasingly advanced payment systems being introduced every day, pulling out cash is rapidly becoming “uncool”.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 3 and 4?| A．Many banks in Sweden don't have ATMs. |
| B．You don't have to buy tickets when riding buses. |
| C．People don't give the homeless money but food. |
| D．People can just take cell phones when shopping. |
| A．Sweden was the first country to get the idea to abolish currency. |
| B．The younger generation is opposed to the measures. |
| C．Bus fare can only be purchased via cell phones in most Swedish cities. |
| D．Banks in Sweden have stopped dealing with cash completely. |
| A．An Advanced Country –Sweden |
| B．A Controversial Government Policy |
| C．Sweden to Influence the World's Cash Payment |
| D．Sweden to Become the Cashless Society |
| A．Education. | B．Economy. |
| C．Travel. | D．Insurance. |
