I've been into environment-friendly thin...

    We need to vent（发泄）about the place we work sometimes. Whether it is the long hours you put in ,an unreasonable boss, or lack of recognition for your efforts-every workplace has enough fuel to lighten the frustration（挫折）.

1..And it is good to the productivity in the office too. Vanessa Pouthier, a researcher at the University of Melbourne in Australia, studied a team of nurses and health professionals at a hospital in the United States.2..Pouthier observed the joking and complaining that went on for 12 months and realized“it helps people to process stress and frustration,”Pouthier told ABC Radio Perth.

3.,there will always be a corner of the office or the lunch room, where a small or large collective of employees are venting to some degree.“Generally, people don’t think there is any value to it,”Pouthier says.4.;she had to look into other fields, such as linguistics, to better understand its functions.

Whether it’s politely debating the effectiveness of how an office runs, or complaining about the bosses, Pouthier found that the complaining session served as bonding function.5..

“It allows people to recognize how similar they are in the challenges they are facing every day and how they feel about them,”she says.

A. However, few people know how this happens

B. No matter what kind of environment you work in

C. It can even help staff to work through their negative feelings

D. Whether bosses accept complaints from their employees or not

E. But this common activity in every workplace was so under -researched

F. It was found that there’s actually benefits to these kinds of complaining session

G. Good news is, this workplace complaining is actually beneficial to your mental well-being.

    You see your phone light up from the corner of your eye and quickly reach for it. What started as a simple notification（通知）check snowballs into an hour-long period as you look through rows of notifications and endless social media feeds.

This is by design. Tech companies such as Google and Facebook have spent years working to make consumer technology as addictive as possible. After all, time spent with their products could equal big profits for the company.

However, that’s starting to change. Apple takes action with the introduction of tools in its new operating system aimed at informing users to better manage their smartphone usage and parental controls that allow parents to better monitor and control their children’s phone time.

Google also offers a “Wind Down”feature to set at bedtime, which automatically puts the phone into“Do Not Disturb”.No notifications will show up on your phone, and losing all color on-screen is certainly a cause to put your phone away.

There are still no clear guidelines on what causes tech addiction, but it’s a growing concern likely on the minds of parents everywhere as they see their kids’ faces constantly glued inches away from a screen. And everywhere you go, you’re all but guaranteed to see people buried in their phones.

Apart from Apple and Google, Facebook deserves a fair amount of blame, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged in a blog post earlier this year. The social network announced plans to roll out changes aimed at making interactions more meaningful.

“By making these changes, I expect the time people spend on Facebook will go down,”Zuckerberg said. “But I also expect the time you do spend on Facebook will be more valuable. And if we do the right thing, I believe that will be good for our community and our business over the long term too.”

1.What has been done to change phone addiction?

A.Making some color disappear on screen. B.Offering functions to reduce phone use.

C.Improving consumer technology. D.Stopping sending messages.

2.What does "the social network" underlined in the Paragraph 6 refer to?

A.Google. B.Apple.

C.A blog post. D.Facebook.

3.What does Zuckeberg mean in the last paragraph?

A.Facebook in expecting fewer people to use it.

B.It’s valuable for people to do the right thing on Facebook.

C.People should spend time on Facebook as little as possible.

D.Facebook and its consumers will have a win-win relationship.

4.What can be a suitable title for the text?

A.Fighting against Screen Addiction

B.Making Tech Addiction by Design

C.Controlling Children's Phone Time

D.Letting Phone Interactions Meaningful

    The BBC has made its second annual report known since its new charter was established and the broadcaster paints a rather bleak（暗淡的）picture for itself. It highlights the fact that the media landscape（局面）has changed quite rapidly in recent years and will most certainly continue to do so, and it says that the industry is “more and more dominated by a small number of US-based media giants with extraordinary creative and financial firepower.”The BBC added, “Their business models and huge budgets mean we are increasingly being squeezed out of an ever more competitive environment. British creativity and British content are now under real threat.”

However, the broadcaster is determined to do all it can to survive in the ever more digital TV world increasingly controlled by companies like Netflix and Amazon. In that regard, it laid out a few goals for the year that are aimed at keeping the BBC competitive. One focus will be its iPlayer platform. It notes that younger audiences are more frequently choosing Netflix over the BBC and it’s, therefore ,making some changes to iPlayer that will hopefully make it a destination itself rather than just a way to catch up on shows viewers have missed. The BBC has already started to introduce personalization into its iPlayer content and going forward, it will work to strengthen the user experience, boost（促进）personalization and add more live content.

But most importantly, the issue comes down to money. “The cost of sports broadcasting rights has skyrocketed while, overall, the cost of ideas and talent has risen fast.”Te broadcaster concludes that is has shrunk while the market has continued grow.“In this context, the BBC’s urgent challenge is to develop new ways to grow our income so that we can keep pace with the market around us, as well as successfully safeguard British content and Britain’s creative track record.”it said.

1.What situation is the BBC in?

A.It faces severe competition. B.Its business budgets are huge.

C.It provides bleak pictures. D.Its creativity has been lost.

2.Which of the following can replace the word "dominated" underlined in Paragraph 1?

A.Considered. B.Chosen.

C.Controlled. D.Improved.

3.What's the key measure the BBC has taken to survive?

A.Catching up on programmes. B.Improving its iPlayer platform

C.Sharing its iPlayer content. D.Reducing live shows.

4.What can we infer from the last paragraph about the BBC?

A.It tries to develop while keeping its own style.

B.It intends to rise the cost of broadcasting rights.

C.Its challenge is to safeguard the market around.

D.Its ideas of cost and talent have changed rapidly.

    Cala didn’t like us. Any of us. We didn’t do anything to offend her and she didn’t know us but that didn’t matter, she still didn’t like us.

As new teacher in the Emirati school, we Westerners greeted her every day. She ignored us. She came into our rooms and bypassed us as she shook hands with all the non Westerners. Whenever we saw her, she avoided eye contact with us. Eventually, we stopped trying to befriend her.

I won’t say her nationality but her friends had been fired from the school, we had been employed in their places and that was enough for her to have nothing to do with us.

Well after 16 months in the school we had a secret friend gifting. To my surprise, I drew her name from the glass jar and that meant she was my secret friend. My role was to buy her a gift and say something about her when we publicly acknowledged who our secret friend was.

I decided to gift her a coloured bangle（手镯）. I added a postcard and wrote “Love and Blessings, Rose-Marie.”

Then came the day. We all gathered in the meeting room. When you received your gift, you said a few kind words about your secret friend and passed the gift to them. What could I say? Everyone knew she didn’t like the Westerners. She taught music in the school so I said”My secret friend is someone who brings music to our ears every day.”She came forward with a huge warm smile. She hugged me and kissed me on both cheeks and accepted my gifts.

Since then, she smiles often. We hug and shake hands when we meet. I have seen her wear my gift several times and I am so pleased.

1.Why didn't Cala like the Western teacher?

A.They stopped befriending her. B.They were new comers.

C.They replaced her friends' position. D.They had once offended her.

2.How did the writer change Cal's attitude?

A.With the help of her friends. B.Through her love and blessings.

C.By showing her talent in music. D.Through her sincerity and wisdom.

3.Which of the following can best describe the ending of the story?

A.Exciting. B.Complex.

C.Beautiful. D.Surprising.

4.What does the writer intend to tell us?

A.Do nothing by halves.

B.A good act will be well rewarded.

C.Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.

D.Without confidence there is no friendship.

1 Doha, Qatar

Qatar is currently involved in a major conflict with many other countries in the Middle Eastern region, but visitors to its capital , Doha, will still find themselves in the safest city in the world. It’s home to the Museum of Islamic Art, designed by I.M. Pei with inspiration from traditional Islamic architecture, which houses Islamic art from three different continents that have a history of over 1,400 years.

2 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Dropping down from the top spot last year is Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, with a safety index of 88.03. While it has a population of just over 1 million, only 420,000 are actually citizens-whose average net worth is $17 million dollars. It is also home to the Sheikh Zzyed Mosque, the country’s largest, as well as many camel races.

3 Quebec City, Canada

Quebec City is one of the few cities in North America that still has its original city walls. One of the most romantic cities on the planet, its Old Town was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and as a city with just over 700,000 residents, it’s got a safety index of 85.36, landing it in the top three.

4 Osaka, Japan

Osaka is the best city in Japan for food, drinks, and nightlife, and it’s safer than ever. Make sure you visit Osaka Castle while you’re here, which has a park attached, or the nearby Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum, where you can even customize(定制）your own Cup Noodles to take home.

1.In which city can you watch a special sports event?

A.Doha. B.Abu Dhabi.

C.Qubec City. D.Osaka.

2.What can you do in Qucbec City, Canada?

A.Appreciate Islamic art. B.Go to see castles.

C.Visit ancient city walls. D.Make the noodles you like

3.What do the cities have in common?

A.They have museums. B.They are romantic.

C.They have wealthy citizens. D.They are very safe.