1 . 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. |
2 . 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. |
3 . 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. |
Dogs are not toys and their needs should be taken into consideration. Dog owners in Germany will
The country's agricultural minister Julia Klockner proposed a law that would order dog owners to walk their dogs at least twice a day for a total of an hour or more
The idea behind the law is to make sure the country's dogs get enough exercise and stay
"There are lots of
5 . When your alarm clock rings and you drag yourself out of bed, you probably wonder: Why on earth does school have to start so early?
Fortunately, there is a new law to back you up—or better still, science. A law in California requires that public middle schools begin classes no earlier than 8:00 am and that high schools start no earlier than 8:30 am. The law will go into effect by July 1, 2022.
Starting school at 8:00 or 8:30 in the morning may not sound like a big change, but it could mean one more hour of sleep for students who used to start school at 7:30 or even earlier. “The effect of that one hour is something they will be feeling as 40-year-old adults,” Sumit Bhargava, a sleep expert at Stanford University, told The New York Times. He said that not having enough sleep can affect students’ mental health and increase the risk of fatness and diabetes.
In the short run, students’ school performances should improve almost immediately. Kyla Wahlstrom, a researcher at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development, found that students who have enough sleep are more active in class and get better grades.
Some might say that urging students to go to bed earlier could have been a much easier solution than changing the school timetable across an entire state. But according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, teenagers go through biological changes when they enter adolescence, which makes it difficult for them to fall asleep before 11:00 pm. So when school starts at 8:00 or earlier, they can hardly get the ideal 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep that experts suggest they need to do their best in the daytime.
This is why when the new law came out, its author, Anthony Portantino, said, “Generations of children will come to appreciate this historic day and our governor for taking bold action.”
1. What does the first paragraph serve as?| A．A background. | B．An explanation. | C．An introduction. | D．A definition. |
| A．The new law is of lasting benefit to students. |
| B．Lack of sleep affects adults more than children. |
| C．Enough sleep guarantees students’ mental health. |
| D．The amount of sleep people need changes with age. |
| A．Less sleep easily makes for health problems. |
| B．California is pushing back school start times. |
| C．A law to start the school day later takes effect. |
| D．Teenagers’ biological changes affect their sleep patterns. |
