1 . Smoking in your own home in Thailand may now be considered a crime, if the smoke is considered harmful to other people in the house.
The new law, Family Protection and Development Promotion Act, was initiated (启动) by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security and was announced in the Royal Gazette on May 22, 2019. The law aims at limiting smoking at home which might be hazardous for others’ health living under the same roof. In that case, it will be considered as “domestic violence”. The new law came into force on August 20.
According to the center for research and knowledge management for tobacco control, at the Faculty of Medical Science of Mahidol University, there are about 4.9 million households where one or more family members smoke. An average of 10.3 million people have unconsciously become passive smokers because they’ve been breathing in smoke at home. Scientific studies show that passive smokers are at greater risk of being affected by cancer.
Of 75 child patients from houses where smoking is practiced, 76% of them were found to have nicotine traces in their urine (尿液), with 43% of them having nicotine content going beyond permitted levels. Smoking at home also may lead to physical or emotional violence because of aggressiveness (攻击性) when there is a lack of smoking, and might as well ruin relationships between smokers and non-smoker family members.
According to the new law, anyone who thinks they are affected by domestic smoking can report to officials concerned so that inspectors will be sent to investigate and take legal action against the smokers. Once confirmed, the court may order a person to receive treatment to quit smoking in an attempt to protect the person’s family. In February in 2019, Thailand had banned smoking at six of its airports along with a ban in public places.
1. What do we know about the new law in Thailand?| A．It came into effect on May 22. |
| B．It aimed at protecting the health of non-smokers. |
| C．It regarded smoking at home as a kind of domestic violence. |
| D．It clearly claimed that smoking at home is a crime. |
| A．Anxious. | B．Harmful. |
| C．Beneficial. | D．Essential. |
| A．The purpose of initiating the law. |
| B．Responses to the new law. |
| C．Actions to quit smoking. |
| D．Bad consequences of smoking at home. |
| A．Smoking is illegal anywhere in Thailand. |
| B．Passive smokers are not likely to suffer from cancer. |
| C．People tend to be more aggressive when they are smoking. |
| D．Thailand is making efforts to create a smoke-free environment. |
2 . Moving to Orange County
If you're thinking of moving to Orange County, with its wealth of sandy beaches, wineries and tourist attractions then there’re several things that you’ll need to know.
Visas for the US
The US has a number of options, and if you are relocating due to work commitments or family ties, you’ll be alongside the majority of applicants.
A green card holder, for instance, can apply for an immigration visa for a spouse（配偶）or (unmarried) child. A US employer can apply on behalf of a non-national person, and there are five preference categories for companies sponsoring immigration visas, the majority of which require exceptional skills, master’s training or experience of a particular profession. If you are being sponsored by an employer, your spouse and any child under the age of 21 can apply for immigration visas alongside you.
Temporary worker visas, on the other hand, are typically easier, but still not necessarily easy, to obtain and allow for limited stays.
Finding accommodation
The three largest cities in the county are Anaheim, an industrial center, Santa Ana,10 miles from the coast with a perfect safety record, and Irvine, an wealthy planned city with a number of highly regarded schools. If you’re looking for a metropolitan lifestyle, expect to pay an average of 1,600 USD in rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the city center, rising to 2,900 USD a month for a family-size, three-bedroom apartment; an approximate 600 USD premium（溢价）on similar apartments outside of the city center.
If you would like to settle outside of a city, there are a number of suburbs in Orange County with plenty to offer young professionals and families. Perhaps one of the most renowned is Newport Beach, noted as one of the cleanest beaches in the county and famous for its many restaurants and fantastic schools. If you’re looking for an inland town, Aliso Viejo is an excellent option. This compact（紧凑的）town is easy to navigate and is ideal for young families.
1. If you want to get a US immigration visa, you must meet one of the requirements that ________.| A．you should have an unmarried child |
| B．your employer should be a non-national person |
| C．your spouse should be a lawful permanent resident |
| D．you should be qualified for five immigrant visa preference categories |
| A．a settler’s sponsor | B．a settler’s professional level |
| C．a settler’s company location | D．a settler’s needs and the type of lifestyle |
3 . Parking Information
There is a mix of paid and free parking on Granville Island. Below you will find all relevant information to parking and traffic management.
FREE PARKING STALLS（停车位）
Free parking throughout Granville Island for all motorized vehicles is intended for visitors only. Free parking stalls are available and vehicles are limited to occupy one stall, once per day, and within the maximum posted time limit. When the posted time limit is reached you move your vehicle, or should you require additional parking during the same day, your vehicle must be parked in a pay parking stall.
Free Parking restrictions are strictly enforced from 7 am to 7 pm, 7 days a week.
Once your vehicle is parked, you are not permitted to move to another free stall on Granville Island at any other time through out the day. You may move to any of the pay stalls.
PAID PARKING STALLS
Pay parking restrictions are strictly enforced from 7 am to 7 pm,7 days a week.
Daily Parking
The Daily Pass is valid for 24 hours from the time of purchase. The pass is VOID（无效） if not placed face up with the date and time visible. The pass is VOID if not parked in a pay parking lot.
Weekly Parking
The Weekly Pass is valid for 7 days from the time of purchase. The pass is VOID if not placed face up with the date and time visible. The pass is VOID if not parked in a pay parking lot.
Monthly Parking
Monthly parking is limited and available on a first come first serve basis and sold starting on the twenty-sixth (26) of every month. Monthly Parking Passes are available at the Granville Island Administration Office from 8:30am-5:00pm.
A monthly parking pass allows a vehicle to be parked in an appointed parking stall only when it is clearly displayed.
Lost monthly passes cannot be replaced.
1. Visitors to Granville Island can .| A．park their cars for free as long as they wish |
| B．move their cars to different free stalls |
| C．pay the parking when the time limit is reached |
| D．use the same free stall for many times |
| A．paid parking pass is valid only when it is clearly displayed. |
| B．Cars with the Daily Parking Pass can be parked in a free stall. |
| C．One can buy the Monthly Parking Pass on any day of the month. |
| D．One can apply for a new Monthly Parking Pass if it is lost. |
4 . With a presidential campaign, health care and the gun control debate in the news these days, one can’t help getting sucked into the flame wars that are Internet comment threads. But psychologists say this addictive form of vitriolic (刻薄) back and forth should be avoided — or simply checked by online media outlets — because it actually damages society and mental health.
A perfect storm of factors come together to cause the rudeness and aggression seen in the comments’ sections of Web pages, said Markman, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. First, commenters are often nearly nameless, and thus, unaccountable for their rudeness. Second, they are at a distance from the target of their anger — be it the article they’re commenting on or another comment on that article — and people tend to go against distant abstractions more easily than living, breathing talkers. Third, it’s easier to be nasty in writing than in speech, hence the now somewhat out-of-date practice of leaving angry notes (back when people used paper), Markman said.
And finally, Edward Wasserman, Knight Professor in Journalism Ethics at Washington and Lee University, noted another cause of the vitriol: bad examples set by the media. “Unfortunately, mainstream media have made a fortune teaching people the wrong ways to talk to each other. People understandably conclude anger is the political vernacular (行话), that this is how public ideas are talked about,” Wasserman wrote in an article on his university’s website. “It isn’t.”
In Markman’s opinion, media outlets should cut down on the anger and hatred that have become the model in reader exchanges. “It’s valuable to allow all sides of an argument to be heard. To a greater degree, someone who is making a reasonable point but with an angry tone is hurting the nature of the argument, because they are promoting people to respond in a similar way,” he said.
For their part, people should seek out actual human beings to communicate with, Markman said — and we should make a point of including a few people in our social circles who think differently from us. “You’ll develop a healthy respect for people whose opinions differ from your own; the back-and-forth negotiation that goes on in having a conversation with someone you don’t agree with is a skill and it’s not easy to master it,” Markman said.
1. Why do psychologists encourage people to stop attacking each other online?| A．The social problems are too complex to figure out. |
| B．The online media outlets will review the comments. |
| C．The action does harm to society and individuals. |
| D．The Internet users are easily attached to hot topics. |
| A．People are cautious to make vitriolic remarks online. |
| B．The targets online are more likely to be commented on. |
| C．Understanding the literal meaning is easier than oral language. |
| D．An argument with an angry tone can promote its power. |
| A．To show different ways of expressing opinions. |
| B．To reveal the severe problems of the public media. |
| C．To raise the awareness of proper communication. |
| D．To urge people to carry out actual offline communications. |
