China's latest push to promote the high-quality
A guideline sets out
By 2035, China's vocational education system
“We need our scholars from top universities
China will
The country aims
To achieve these
The circular urged local governments above the county level to include
Popular short-video platform Douyin
“If you are a real-name registered user under 14 years old, you will
Chinese authorities have been paying increased attention to
4 . In 1934, with the passage of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act (Act), an increasingly concerned nation took firm action to stop the destruction of migratory ( 迁徙的) waterfowl and the wetlands so vital to their survival. Under this Act, all waterfowl hunters 16 years of age and over must annually purchase and carry a Federal Duck Stamp. The very first Federal Duck Stamp was designed by J.N. “Ding” Darling, a political cartoonist from Des Moines, lowa, who at that time was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as Director of the Bureau of Biological Survey. Hunters willingly pay the stamp price to ensure the survival of our natural resources.
About 98 cents of every duck stamp dollar goes directly into the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund to purchase wetlands and wildlife habitat for inclusion into the National Wildlife Refuge System — a fact that ensures this land will be protected and available for all generations to come. Since 1934
better than half a billion dollars has gone into that Fund to purchase more than 5 million acres of habitat. Little wonder the Federal Duck Stamp Program has been called one of the most successful conservation programs ever initiated.
What is a direct result of the Act passed in 1934?
| A．The stamp price has gone down. |
| B．The migratory birds have flown away. |
| C．The hunters have stopped hunting. |
| D．The government has collected money. |
China has by far
The overall design and core technologies of the Fuxing high-speed train were independently developed in China, which has independent intellectual property rights of those developments. Among the 254 important standards, Chinese standards account for 84 percent. To date, China's high-speed rail products and technology
To our
6 . When I was 17 years old I had surgery because of a disease. The day after the surgery, I awoke to find a friend of mine sitting in a chair across from my bed. I don't remember much about his visit. But I will not forget that he visited me on that day, and sat there for I don't know how long, while I was under the influence of a morphine drip (输液). We benefit greatly from our close friendships, but they are not a matter of calculable gain or loss.
Our age, what we might call the age of economics, is strongly influenced by two types of relationships that reflect the lives we are encouraged to lead. There are consumer relationships, those that we participate in for the pleasure they bring us. They are focused on the present. It is what brings immediate pleasure that matters. And there are entrepreneurial (商业的) relationships, those that we invest in, hoping they will bring us some return.
Aristotle thought that there were three types of friendship: those of pleasure, those of usefulness, and true friendship. In Pleasure Friendships, he said, “It is not for their character that men love ready-witted people, but because they find them pleasant.” About the usefulness friendships, he said, “Those who love each other for their utility (效用) do not love each other for themselves, but because of some good which they get from each other.”
Although we benefit from our close friendships, these friendships are not a matter of calculable gain and loss. Consumer pleasures are lasting for only a limited time. They surround us for a short period and then they fade, like a drug. Entrepreneur friendship, when successful, leads to the victory of personal gain.
It is precisely the non-economic character that is threatened in a society in which each of us is offered only the choices of ownership, shopping, competition and growth. It is threatened when we are led to believe that friendships without obvious recognizable gain are, in the economic sense, irrational (不合理的). Friendships are not without reason, perhaps, but they are certainly without that particular reason. Shared experience, not just everyday amusement or advancement, is the true basis of friendship.
1. The author mentions his operation in the first paragraph to ______.| A．recall one of his best friends | B．advise people to visit sick friends |
| C．introduce the topic of true friendship | D．talk about the experience of surgery |
| A．the sharing of joy and sorrow | B．mutual support in times of trouble |
| C．personal gain or personal loss | D．immediate pleasure |
| A．explaining three types of friendship | B．discussing questions |
| C．analyzing causes and effects | D．providing examples and facts |
| A．friendships are a matter of calculable gain or loss |
| B．there are no specific reasons for friendship |
| C．short-term pleasure is the center of friendship |
| D．everyday amusement is the true basis of friendship |
| A．Friendship in Modern Times | B．Friendship in Economic Recession |
| C．Friendship in the Age of Economics | D．Friendship in a Fast Paced Life |
7 . New Zealand plans to forbid foreigners to buy existing homes. The ban is expected to become law this year. It aims to slow the rising housing prices and protect New Zealanders interested in buying a home.
The Labour Party government believes that foreign investors have pushed many possible first-time home buyers and families out of the housing market. Last year, housing prices across the country rose by 5.8 percent, to over $405,000. Housing prices rose even more in New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington. Price there rose by more than 18 percent over a 12-month period that ended in June 2017.
The rising prices have pushed home ownership outside the reach of many possible buyers. One home owner told VOA he feels sorry for the younger generation. “I just believe the market has made it impossible for them to get into the housing.” Just 25 years ago, three out of every four New Zealanders lived in their own homes. Now the rate is 64 percent — and falling.
The ban on forbidding foreigners to buy existing homes has yet to be approved. But the measure, called the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill, passed its first reading in parliament (国会)in December. Limiting foreign ownership of housing has been tried in other countries, including Switzerland, “ If foreign investors are looking to put their cash into New Zealand, if it then forces up the price of property, people cannot afford to live anymore.” says Norman Gemmell, chair of public finance at Victoria University.
Critics say foreign investors have had only a small effect on the cost of housing. Low interest rates, limited supply and immigration have also driven up house prices.
Housing prices continue to rise across the country. And for many New Zealanders, the dream of owning a home is as distant as ever.
1. Which is the main factor of the high housing prices, according to the Labour Party government?| A．Low interest rates. | B．Investors at home. |
| C．Immigration. | D．Foreign buyers. |
| A．Housing prices rose by over 18 percent over a year. |
| B．The housing prices of the capital city rose the least. |
| C．The rate of New Zealanders living in their own houses is decreasing. |
| D．The country has witnessed the highest rise in housing prices up to now. |
| A．has been approved in New Zealand |
| B．will encourage foreigners to buy a house |
| C．has been tried in other countries |
| D．will make local people harder to own a home |
| A．It is hard for the locals to buy a house in New Zealand. |
| B．New Zealand will prevent foreign buyers from buying a house. |
| C．The prices of houses in New Zealand have been rising sharply. |
| D．There are many reasons for high housing prices in New Zealand. |
8 . Faster, cheaper, better-technology is one field many people rely upon to offer a vision of a brighter future. But as the 2020s dawn, optimism is in short supply. The new technologies that dominated the past decade seem to be making things worse. Social media were supposed to bring people together, but they are better known for leaking privacy. E-commerce, ride-hailing (网约车) and the gig economy (零工经济) may be convenient, but they are charged with underpaying workers, worsening inequality and blocking the streets with vehicles.
Today's pessimistic mood is centered on smart phones and social media, which took off a decade ago. Yet concerns that particular technologies might be doing more harm than good have arisen before. The 1920s witnessed a criticism against cars, which had earlier been seen as an answer to the problems caused by horse-drawn vehicles which filled the streets with noise and animal waste and caused accidents. And industrialization was criticized in the 19th century by Romantics who worried about the replacement of skilled workers, the robbing of the countryside and the suffering of factory hands.
However, that pessimism can be overdone. Too often people focus on the drawbacks of a new technology while taking its benefits for granted. Worries about screen time should be weighed against the much more substantial benefits of convenient communication and the instant access to information and entertainment that smartphones make possible. A further danger is that Luddite (反对技术进步者) efforts to avoid the short-term costs associated with a new technology will end up denying access to its long-term benefits-something Carl Benedikt Frey, an Oxford academic, calls a "technology trap". Fears that robots will steal people's jobs may discourage their use. Yet in the long run countries that wish to maintain their standard of living as their workforce ages and shrinks will need more robots, not fewer.
Any powerful technology can be used for good or ill. It is the choices people make about it that shape the world. Perhaps the real source of anxiety is not technology itself, but growing doubts about the ability of societies to hold this debate, and come up with good answers. So as the decade turns, put aside the pessimism for a moment. To be alive in the tech-obsessed 2020s is to be among the luckiest people who have ever lived.
1. What phenomenon is described in Paragraph 1?| A．The seriousness of social inequality. |
| B．The rapid development of technology. |
| C．Problems brought by personal privacy leaks. |
| D．Worries about the influence of new technologies. |
| A．Negative. | B．Uncertain. | C．Sympathetic. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．A lack of good jobs in the job market. |
| B．An increase in the number of Luddites. |
| C．A decrease in the number of skilled workers. |
| D．An interruption to the advancement of a new technology. |
| A．Pessimism vs Progress | B．Technology vs Civilization |
| C．2020s: The Age of Technology | D．Robots: Our Future Caretakers |
9 . New Zealand plans to bar foreigners from purchasing existing homes. The ban is expected to become law this year. It aims to slow the rising housing prices and protect New Zealanders interested in buying a home.
The Labour Party government believes that foreign investors have pushed many possible first-time home buyers and families out of the housing market. Last year, median housing prices across the country rose by 5.8 percent, to over $405,000. Housing prices rose even more in New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington. Price there rose by more than 18 percent over a 12-month period that ended in June 2019.
The rising prices have pushed home ownership outside the reach of many possible buyers. One home owner told VOA he feels sorry for the younger generation. “I just believe the market has made it impossible for them to get into the housing.” Just 25 years ago, three out of every four New Zealanders lived in their own homes. Now the rate is 64 percent — and falling.
The plan to prevent foreigners from buying existing homes has yet to be approved. But the measure, called the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill, passed its first reading in parliament in December. Restricting foreign ownership of housing has been tried in other countries, including Switzerland. " If foreign investors are looking to put their cash into New Zealand, if it then forces up the price of property, people cannot afford to live anymore,” says Norman Gemmell, chair of public finance at Victoria University.
Critics say foreign investors have had only a small effect on the cost of housing. Low interest rates, limited supply and immigration have also driven up house prices.
Housing prices continue to make solid gains across the country. And for many New Zealanders, the dream of owning a home is as distant as ever.
1. According to the Labour Party government, which is the main factor of the high housing prices?| A．Low interest rates. | B．Domestic investors. |
| C．Foreign buyers. | D．Immigration. |
| A．Housing prices rose by over 18 percent over a year. |
| B．The housing prices of the capital city rose the least. |
| C．The country has witnessed the highest rise of housing prices up to now. |
| D．The rate of New Zealanders living in their own houses is on the decrease. |
| A．It came into effect in December. |
| B．It is supported by people from all walks of life. |
| C．Similar bans have been adopted in some other countries. |
| D．It will definitely make owning a home tougher for New Zealanders. |
| A．New Zealanders’ dream of owning a home in New Zealand is distant. |
| B．A ban on foreign home buyers will take effect in New Zealand. |
| C．The prices of houses have been rising sharply in New Zealand. |
| D．To buy or not to buy a house in New Zealand is a question. |
10 . Finland is about to start an extremely ambitious journey to test one of the most controversial economic theories of our time. The country’s social security institution known as Kela will be handing free money to thousands of jobless citizens on a monthly basis for the next two years. It’s a test of an economic strategy known as Basic Income, which at its core is essentially free money for every person once they reach a certain age, without any prerequisites.
The idea behind Basic Income is that by giving every individual a certain amount of money with which to keep themselves out of poverty, they are better off regardless of all other factors. If a person has a well-paying job, they still get Basic Income, just like everyone else, thereby creating a society in which every adult is above poverty and also continually contributing to the economy by spending money.
That sounds like a utopia, right? But there are other factors that create a lot of uncertainty, like whether or not free money will impact a society’s motivation to actually work. In the case of Finland’s experiment, individuals will be given a monthly payment of around $590, which is enough to prevent those individuals from becoming homeless, but obviously not enough to go clubbing on weekends or live extravagantly.
This is far from the first test of Basic Income and in recent years many programs have sought to put the theory to the test, even in the United States, Y Combinator, a venture fund which focuses on seed investments to startup companies, launched a small pilot program in Oakland, offering 100 citizens up to $2,000 per month just for existing. The program was small in scale and timeline, and many questioned whether or not it could possibly prove the theory one way or the other. At its heart, that’s the problem with all tests of Basic Income. When individuals know that it’s only a test and that the benefits aren’t permanent, they aren’t likely to change their behavior. If the test subjects in Finland find jobs and become rich, that doesn’t necessarily prove that they wouldn’t prefer to remain jobless if their Basic Income was promised for life. Whatever the case, it’ll be interesting to see how the large-scale test turns out to be the next 24 months.
1. The purpose of Basic Income is to _____.| A．help all citizens to live a rich life |
| B．test a controversial economic theory |
| C．help citizens get out of poverty and promote the economy |
| D．offer money to the unemployed and help them pull through |
| A．Honorably. | B．Wastefully. | C．Happily. | D．Freely. |
| A．the program is not fair for rich people |
| B．it can’t really help people break away from poverty |
| C．its test can’t reflect people’s real thought in the short term |
| D．its test failed to see how people behaved when they received free money |
| A．The author expects the result of the test. |
| B．Basic Income hasn’t been tested before. |
| C．Y Combinator’s program is part of Basic Income. |
| D．Basic Income is not well-accepted by Finnish citizens. |
| A．Travel and Fashion. | B．Finance and Economy. |
| C．Business and Culture. | D．Sports and Entertainment. |
