“The world feels anxious and divided, and Facebook has a lot of work to do whether it’s protecting our community from abuse and hate, defending against interference by nation states, or making sure that time spent on Facebook is well spent,” Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook in January.
If the tech firm succeeded, Facebook would end 2018 on a much better path. But the cracks in Zuckerberg’s social media empire only grew as scandals(丑闻)about data misuse, security and even Facebook’s leadership piled up.
The social network has faced criticism many times since launching 14 years ago, but the public uproar reached new heights in 2018. Facebook’s missteps, even as it tried to fix its problems, were yet another reminder of what happens when a company grows rapidly with little oversight(监管). They also set the stage for another showdown between the tech powerhouse and lawmakers who have their own ideas on how to manage a platform used by 2.3 billion people every month.
“I think there’s just a general growing consensus from both parties in Congress that self-policing is not going to work,” Democratic senator Mark Warner of Virginia said in an interview. Facebook pointed to a series of notes Zuckerberg published this year outlining what the tech firm has done to combat(战斗，争论)election meddling(好干预的), as well as hate speech, misinformation and other offensive content. The social network pulled down more than 1.5 billion fake accounts, launched a database of political ads and announced the creation of a Supreme Court like independent body to oversee content appals.
But in many ways, Zuckerberg fell short of his New Year’s resolution(决议). UN investigators said Facebook played a role in spreading hate speech that fueled ethnic cleansing(清洗)in Myanmar. Media outlets found loopholes(漏洞)and errors in Facebook’s political ads database. Users questioned whether they should delete Facebook after learning that Cambridge Analytical, a UK political consulting firm with ties to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, gathered data on as many as 87 million Facebook users without their permission.
In short, Facebook’s problems ballooned out of the company’s control.
“They created a platform where sharing was mindlessly easy and interacting with each other required almost no forethought at all,” said Woodrow Hertzog, a law and computer science professor at Northeastern University. “As a result, there was massive sharing, including leaking of personal information that put lots of people at risk.”
1.What can be inferred about Facebook from the passage?
A. It is a platform where people can easily share well-selected information.
B. It is a social network that has faced criticism because of data misuses from Zuckerberg.
C. It is a social network which grows rapidly without enough management from the government.
D. It is a popular app that 2.3 bllion people use for information and communication every day.
2.The underlined word “uproar” in Paragraph 3 has the similar meaning to “________”.
A. crack B. criticism C. disagreement D. argument
3.What is the best title of this passage?
A. A tough challenge for Facebook B. Zuckerberg’s new year resolution
C. Criticism of Facebook for misusing D. A dark future for Facebook
Hungary’s capital sparkles(闪耀)in winter and it’s a great place to see in the New Year. There’s festive cheer on tap, with concerts, folk dancing and stalls selling wine or fruit brandy and traditional chimney cake outsides. New Year’s Eve is celebrated with fireworks over the Danube(多瑙河), and it’s worth booking one of the many river cruises(巡游)with dinner and DJs (free and open 24/7, but likely to be crowded).
A four-night trip with Travel Republic costs £449 for a family (2 adults with 1 child under 6), departing Stansted on 28 December with Ryanair, with B&B accommodation at the central Atrium Budapest Hotel.
For a slightly more cerebral(理智的)New Year’s Eve, Stockholm is a smart choice. The main celebration is at Skansen, Sweden’s oldest open-air museum. Enterainment starts at 8 p.m. with singing and dancing, and peaks with a recitation of the poem Ring Out. Evening tickets are £l4 for adults (children under 6 go free), or there are new day and evening combination tickets (£l6 adult/£5 child). On New Year’s Day, early birds can try an introduction to ice skating (8 a.m. daily, £139).
Book it Ryanair, Norwegian and SAS fly to Stockholm from several UK airports.
The land of fire and ice lives up to its name on New Year’s Eve, when about 90 bonfires(篝火)are lit across the country. Some bonfires are accompanied by Icelandic singing; most start about 8 p.m. and finish by 10 p.m., which can be a good time to see the northern lights. After the fires, everyone goes home to watch Áramótaskaup, a TV show that has been running on 31 December since 1966. But that doesn’t mean the party is over just before midnight, they all come back out to let off an astonishing amount of fireworks, with profits going to Icelandic Search and Rescue Association, which does life-saving work, and is run by volunteers and is a cause close to most Icelanders’ hearts.
Book it Wow Air and Wizz Air, easyJet and Icelandair fly to Reykjavik from several UK cities.
1.According to the passage, when travelling to one of the three cities on New Year’s Eve, you can ________.
A. have a free but maybe uncomfortable cruise along the Danube
B. go ice skating with your close friends in Stockholm
C. light the bonfires in Iceland and join in Icelandic singing
D. watch Áramótaskaup and be a volunteer to let off fireworks
2.If an English couple with a child aged 5 want to celebrate the new year by enjoying poems, how much will they pay at least?
A. £14. B. £21. C. £28. D. £37.
We don’t meet people by accident.
Every person you meet will have a(n) ____ in your life, big or small. Some will help you grow and inspire you to do better, ____ some will let you down or even hurt you. At the same time, you are ____ some role in their lives as well. After all, paths ____ for a reason and we are supposed to treat people with significance.
The best teachers are those who don’t tell you how to get there but ____ the way.
There is no better joy than ____ people see a vision for themselves, seeing them go to levels ____ than they ever would have imagined on their own. But that doesn’t ____ you have to fix them or enable them; instead, ____ them to the source of their own power. Offer them support and ____ to fight as they find their own way and show you ____ they’re capable of. All you have to do is believe in them.
Never ____ someone even if he fails unless you are helping them up.
We like to think of life as a meritocracy(精英), so it’s easy to look down on someone who isn’t as ____ or accomplished or well educated as you are. But you have no idea how ____ that person has already climbed or where they will ____. Time could easily reverse(翻转)your ____, so be sure you treat everyone with ____.
____ those who have supported you, forgive those who have ____ you, help those who need you.
Business is complicated, life is complex, and leadership is difficult. Treat all people including yourself with love and compassion(同情), and you can’t ____.
Treat people the way you want to be treated and life will instantly get better.
1.A. chance B. role C. relation D. place
2.A. while B. if C. when D. though
3.A. changing B. creating C. finding D. playing
4.A. cross B. end C. wind D. begin
5.A. push B. find C. show D. feel
6.A. helping B. making C. having D. letting
7.A. better B. higher C. richer D. farther
8.A. say B. mean C. explain D. describe
9.A. attach B. relate C. adapt D. guide
10.A. motivation B. shelter C. prediction D. evidence
11.A. that B. which C. what D. how
12.A. look down on B. take care of C. put up with D. show respect for
13.A. lucky B. wise C. enthusiastic D. successful
14.A. far B. long C. many D. much
15.A. work out B. fade away C. end up D. get along
16.A. instructions B. positions C. directions D. situations
17.A. equality B. respect C. quality D. identity
18.A. Praise B. Appreciate C. Tolerate D. Expect
19.A. hurt B. hated C. interrupted D. annoyed
20.A. go back B. go wrong C. go blind D. go out
I’m going to Syria. Would you please tell me your experiences there?
________. Let’s discuss it over dinner.
A. Never mind B. Go ahead C. By all means D. It just depends
I can’t understand why he ________ so angry. I meant no offence.
It’s typical of him to be so sensitive.
A. must have been B. should have been C. might have been D. can have been
________ offensive nicknames are seen as a form of bullying at school, next time you want to call someone by its nickname, weigh it before you do.
A. Since B. Unless C. Although D. Before
