Nowadays, WeChat is about expressing our opinions and Weibo is about collecting things we like. Both of them develop our self-focus. Self-focus simply means you pay attention to how you feel, think and behave. Self-focus isn’t naturally a bad thing. Particularly in individualistic (个人主义的) cultures, we value our ability to be self-aware. 1.
Unfortunately, when you are regularly focusing on yourself, you’ll notice any dissatisfaction, anxiety, or general discomfort you might not have otherwise. 2. As a result, self-focus contributes to a wide range of mental health problems like anxiety.
But quitting technology is no longer a practical solution. 3. For example, don’t post about things you did, which focuses your attention on yourself. Instead, you could share advice and words of support from your smart phone. As a result, you’ll feel better, and so will the people around you.
Do you like to take selfies (自拍)? It’s easy to take a quick picture of yourself to show what you re doing, or how you re feeling. But paying attention to ourselves often makes us feel worse. 4. Do your best to highlight (突出) the wonderful things that make them special. In this way, you won’t focus so much on your bad hair day, and you will get along better with your friends.
5. But if we can learn to move the focus off ourselves and onto doing good for others, technology can help us grow. Anyway, the point is that it’s up to you to handle the ability of your self-focus.
A. Too much self-focus means few friends.
B. Self-focus is generally helpful in daily life.
C. Therefore, try taking pictures of your friends.
D. In fact, we can use technology in ways that are less self-focused.
E. By bringing your attention to those negative emotions, you strengthen them.
F. We want to know who we are and why we do what we do to uncover possible ways to improve our lives.
G. Technology-when used in certain ways is having negative effects on our mental health and well-being.
Shark attacks not only disturb beach activities, but can affect associated tourist industries. Shark nets are a common solution to preventing shark attacks on beaches, but they cause dangers to sea ecosystems.
Seeking a cost-effective way to monitor beach safety over large areas, we have developed a system called Shark Spotter. It combines artificial intelligence (AI), computing power, and drone (无人机) technology to identify and warn lifesavers to sharks near swimmers. The project is a cooperation between the University of Technology Sydney and The Ripper Group, which is pioneering the use of drones—called “Westpac Little Ripper Lifesavers”—in the search and rescue movement in Australia.
SharkSpotter can detect sharks and other potential threats using real-time aerial imagery. The system analyses video from a camera attached to a drone to monitor beaches for sharks, send warnings, and conduct rescues. Developed with techniques known as “deep learning”, the Shark Spotter system receives imagery from the drone camera and attempts to identify all objects in the scene. Once certain objects are detected, they are put into one of 16 categories: shark, whale, dolphin, rays, different types of boats, surfers, and swimmers.
If a shark is detected, Shark Spotter provides both a visual sign on the computer screen and an audible warning to the operator. The operator confirms the warning and sends text messages from the Shark Spotter system to the Surf Life Savers for further action. In an emergency, the drone is equipped with a lifesaving flotation pod (漂浮仓) together with an electronic shark repellent (驱逐装置) that can be dropped into the water in cases where swimmers are in severe trouble, trapped in a rip, or if there are sharks close by.
In January 2018, the Westpac Little Ripper Lifesavers was used to rescue two young swimmers caught in a rip at Lennox Head, NSW. The drone flew down the beach some 800 meters from the lifeguard station, and a lifesaving flotation pod was dropped from the drone. The complete rescue operation took 70 seconds.
We believe Shark Spotter is a win-win for both marine life and beachgoers. This unique technology combines dynamic video image processing AI and advanced drone technology to creatively deal with the global challenge of ensuring safe beaches, protecting environments, and promoting tourism.
1.A Shark Spotter is ________.
A. a solution to monitor sharks
B. an equipment to identify lifesavers
C. a technology to prevent shark attacks
D. a project to pioneer the use of drones
2.When a shark is spotted near a swimmer, the system will ________.
A. take timely action B. analyze the visual data
C. classify the identified objects D. turn on “deep learning” mode
3.The example in the 5th paragraph shows us that the system is
A. efficient in saving lives B. effective in detecting sharks
C. smart in driving sharks away D. practical over the whole sea area
4.What is the author’s attitude towards the future of SharkSpotter?
A. Doubtful. B. Optimistic.
C. Negative. D. Objective.
Most adults firmly believe that as kids reach their teens, they start to take crazy risks that get them in trouble. Do teenagers simply love taking all risks much more than adults? A recent study suggests otherwise.
Scientists designed a simple experiment involving 33 teenagers and three other age groups. In the experiment, the researchers tried to distinguish between two very different kinds of risk-taking. The first they called a willingness to take known risks (when the probability of winning is clear) and the second they called a willingness to take unknown risks (when the possibility of success is uncertain).
The study offered participants the opportunity to play two kinds of games. They had the chance to win money, with one game offering a known risk and the other offering an unknown risk. On each round of the game, each participant had to choose between taking a sure $5 and known or unknown risks of winning a lot more. If on one particular round they had picked the $5 for sure choice, then they got $ 5. But if on that round they had chosen to take a risk, the rules of the game will determine whether or not they had won. If they did win, they went home with between $8 and $125. And, of course, if they lost, they went home with nothing.
What the scientists found was really quite surprising. It turned out that the average teenager was very hesitant when risks were known—more careful than college students or parents-aged adults, and about as careful as grandparent-aged adults. This means that when the risks were known, teenagers were not risky in their behavior at all. Only when the risks were unclear did teenagers choose them more often than other groups. Under those kinds of conditions, they were much more willing to take a risk than any other group.
So, what does all of this mean? The research suggests that adults should probably focus more energy on trying to educate teenagers about risks than limiting them. Teenagers who understand the risks associated with a decision are more likely to be careful in their behavior.
1.This experiment was carried out by
A. dividing the teens into three groups
B. comparing the reactions to different risks
C. giving equal amount of awards to the participants
D. observing the emotional changes of the teenager
2.When facing known risks, teenagers tended to be ________.
A. ambits B. cautious
C. anxious D. curious
3.Which group in the study were more likely to take unknown risks?
A. Teenagers. B. College students.
C. Parent-aged adults. D. Grandparent-aged adults.
4.According to the study, parents should focus on ________.
A. guaranteeing children to be careful
B. setting age limits on dangerous activities
C. respecting teens to make their own choices
D. guiding teens to learn more about the effect of risks
These days everyone is worried about the size of their carbon footprint. In order to reduce global warming, we need to make our carbon footprints smaller. But how much CO are we responsible for?
A new book by Mike Berners-Lee (a leading expert in carbon foot-printing) might be able to help. The Carbon Foot print of Everything looks at the different things we do and buy, and calculates the amount of CO2 they produce, including the ingredients, the electricity, the equipment, the transport and the packaging. And it’s frightening how much carbon dioxide everything produces.
But all of this can help us decide which beer to drink. From Berners-Lee’s calculations, it’s clear that a pint (568 ml) of locally-brewed (酿制的) beer has a smaller carbon footprint than a bottle of imported beer. This is because the imported beer has been transported from far away, and it uses more packaging. The local beer only produces 300 g of CO2-but the imported beer produces 900 g! So, one pint of local beer is better for the environment than three cans of cheap foreign beer from the supermarket.
Berners-Lee has even calculated the carbon footprint of cycling to work. Nothing is more environmentally - friendly than riding a bike, surely? Well, it depends on what you’ve had to eat before. To ride a bike we need energy and for energy we need food. So, if we eat a banana and then ride a kilometer and a half, our footprint is 65 g of CO2. However, if we eat bacon before the bike ride, it’s 200 g. In fact, bananas are good in general because they don’t need packaging. They can be transported by boat and they grow in natural sunlight.
So, does this mean that cycling is bad for the environment? Absolutely not. If you cycle, you don t use your car; and the fewer cars on the road, the fewer traffic jams. And cars in traffic jams produce three times more CO2 than cars travelling at speed. Cycling also makes you healthy and less likely to go to a hospital. And hospitals have very big carbon footprints!
So, maybe it’s time for us all to start making some changes. Pass me a banana and a pint of local beer, please.
1.Which of the followings produces the smallest carbon footprints?
A. A pint of local beer.
B. A bottle of imported beer.
C. A banana before a 1.5 km bike ride.
D. Bacon before a 1.5 km bike ride.
2.According to the article, the author suggests choosing the local food because it is ________.
A. more tasty B. easier to buy
C. better packaged D. more energy-saving
3.The purpose of writing this article is to ________.
A. promote a new book
B. advertise the imported beer
C. instruct how to measure the carbon footprint
D. encourage people to reduce the production of CO2
I was in the seventh grade, and we had moved to New Jersey in November. By then, everyone already had had their own friends, and no one wanted to talk to a new girl. To make things worse, they put me in “Section L”. I found out later that everyone called Section L “Loserville”. It was sort of an open secret that it was the section for troublemakers and not-so-smart kids. When I found out, I wanted to scream. I had always been a good student and had amazing friends, and now everyone thought I was a loser!
I did text my friends in Illinois almost every night, especially my best friend, Ana. At first my friends wanted to hear all about it. But then some stopped texting back once I said something about how miserable I was. One night when I was texting with Ana, I complained about another friend who had just done that.
Ana’s texts came really fast for the next few minutes and they surprised me. She said that she was tired of hearing about how bad everything was in New Jersey, too. She said she did not want to hurt my feelings but that I needed to stop feeling so sorry for myself all the time, I had to try to make things better.
The next day, I thought a lot about what Ana had said. She was right!
I wish I could say that everything changed overnight after that, but it didn’t. I was still stuck in “Loserville”, and some people were still mean to me, even though I tried to just stay out of their way.
But what did change was me—I stopped feeling so sorry for myself and did something about making friends. I signed up to make sets for the school play. I met a lot of new people there, and suddenly I had friends to say hi to in the halls!
I still miss Illinois sometimes, but life in New Jersey isn’t so hard anymore. Even though I couldn’t change my situation, I could change my attitude—and that made all the difference.
1.“Loserville” is a section for ________.
A. failures B. good students
C. class secrets D. newcomers
2.The writer complained all the time in the new environment because ________.
A. Ana didn’t text back to her B. her friends hurt her feelings
C. she was unfairly treated D. she was a good student
3.What made a difference in changing the situation?
A. She went back to Illinois.
B. She ended friendship with Ana.
C. She fought back with her classmates.
D. She began to make friends with others.
4.The best title for the passage can be ________.
A. Lasting Friendship B. An Incidence at School
C. Say Goodbye to “Loserville” D. Unhappiness in “Loserville”
“Sara, don’t forget your promise to me that you will mow (割草) Mrs. Martin’s yard this weekend,” said Dad. “Don’t let me down.”
Sara was the oldest child in the family, and one of her chores was to mow their yard. Mrs. Martin, their ______ neighbor, was unable to take care of her yard in her 70s, so Sara’s dad had ______ Sara for this job. ______ Mrs. Martin’s yard was not big, Sara knew the job would go quickly. However, she still disliked her dad’s ______.
“Why didn’t you ask me first?” Sara had ______.
“Did you ask me first when you volunteered me to be in the school festival last fall?” asked Sara’s father.
“Well, no, I didn’t ask you first, ______ you would have done those things anyway. You’re always ______ to help.”
“I ______ when I can.” Dad answered. “Sara, we have known Mrs. Martin for a very long time. She has often ______ our family. Now we can do something for her. ______, the feeling you get from helping someone makes you ______ who is really helping whom.”
“I don’t know, Dad,” said Sara. “The only feeling I get from mowing our yard is ______.”
“Just you wait and see,” said Dad
After breakfast, Sara made her way to Mrs. Martin’s yard. She was good at her job and soon had Mrs. Martins yard looking ______. Mrs. Martin came outside with a big glass of orange juice and ______ it to her. Sara stopped her work and ______ enjoyed the drink, while Mrs. Martin talked to her about all of the flowers in her yard. Seeing the ______ in Mrs. Martin’s eyes, Sara began to understand how much the yard ______ to Mrs. Martin.
After finishing her drink, Sara returned to work with a new ______. A warm feeling began to ______ through her body. Her dad was ______. It was hard to tell who was helping whom!
1.A. strange B. new C. aged D. faithful
2.A. guided B. volunteered C. ordered D. forced
3.A. Once B. Since C. Unless D. Although
4.A. promise B. argument C. permission D. introduction
5.A. replied B. suggested C. complained D. announced
6.A. but B. so C. or D. for
7.A. proud B. willing C. afraid D. fortunate
8.A. choose B. succeed C. hesitate D. try
9.A. respected B. changed C. protected D. helped
10.A. Besides B. Instead C. Therefore D. Otherwise
11.A. imagine B. explore C. worry D. wonder
12.A. scared B. moved C. tired D. relaxed
13.A. tidy B. alive C. empty D. messy
14.A. threw B. delivered C. offered D. sold
15.A. eagerly B. generously C. carefully D. gratefully
16.A. determination B. peace C. curiosity D. joy
17.A. related B. meant C. belonged D. referred
18.A. attitude B. wisdom C. inspiration D. expectation
19.A. exist B. fly C. spread D. break
20.A. unusual B. right C. serious D. helpful
