Once I told someone I wanted to get a master’s degree of fine arts in creative writing and they told me it was the second-to-worst post-graduation plan they’d ever heard from a student. Arts degrees — especially fine arts degrees, which usually come in the form of music, studio art, creative writing and theater — have been, over the years, labeled useless.
It’s true that for the most part, STEM degrees lead to higher paying jobs than liberal and fine arts degrees, and it’s understandable why young people care about a higher starting salary and financial security. Student loan debt is playing a role in the physical and mental stress of young people.
And while STEM majors usually have starting salaries that are $20,000 higher than those of liberal arts majors, by the time people reach the age of 40, the salaries between those who majored in the liberal arts and those who majored in STEM are virtually the same. For example, women who major in STEM earned nearly 50% more than social science and history majors at ages 23-25, but only 10% more by ages 38-40, a New York Times analysis reported. So even in terms of salary, which doesn’t solely determine whether or not a degree is useful, liberal arts degrees aren’t all that far behind STEM.
It seems too that since people nowadays are going to have to work longer, it’s more important than ever that we actually like and care about what we’re doing. Pursuing something enjoyable, or else a passion, is continuously found to be a key factor in maintaining healthy relationships, mental health, physical health and energy. In other words, not useless.
Art is also a method of communication. It allows people from different backgrounds, from different walks of life to communicate with each other. In a world where borders and division seem to be all over the place, we need art more than ever. We need liberal arts majors. And more than anything, we need to be able to pursue what we love with confidence, and we need to not get caught up in the “usefulness” of what we love.
And just because someone’s primary job isn’t in their field of study — a writer who teaches high school for example— doesn’t make the degree useless. It just means that their way of finding a stable income is different. The same goes for artists who have to work multiple jobs to support themselves. They might have to find other means of supporting themselves and their artistry. It might be copy editing or it might be tutoring.
So I am going to graduate school, and I am going to graduate school for writing. I might be paying rent by way of overnight restaurant shifts — there’s so much I’m not sure of. But one thing I am sure of is this — I would rather be a writer working two jobs to pay my bills than be no writer at all.
1.A New York Times analysis report is mentioned in Paragraph 3 to ______.
A.analyse the potential value of different majors
B.put forward the opinion on majors by example
C.prove the argument against arts degrees wrong
D.demonstrate the link between majors and incomes
2.Why does the author think learning arts is useful?
A.Following one’s dream of arts keeps one in good condition.
B.Doing what one loves builds up one’s self-confidence in arts.
C.Mastering arts improves one’s understanding of different jobs.
D.Developing a love for arts helps one maintain passion for work.
3.The author thinks that doing multiple jobs is _______.
A.unavoidable B.common
C.traditional D.acceptable
4.What can we infer from the passage?
A.Students learning arts are more concerned about the value of life.
B.People tend to place income in the first place when choosing majors.
C.The man who doesn’t love his work won’t stick with the job for long.
D.Graduates can find a broader space of development in the field of arts.
Mathew White, an environmental psychologist, is on a mission to give Mother Nature the respect he thinks she deserves when it comes to human health. For decades, scientists and health-care professionals have recognized that exposure to green spaces, such as public parks or forests, is linked with lower risks of all sorts of illnesses common in the world. Experimental work has demonstrated various physiological responses that occur when people spend time in natural environments: blood pressure drops, heart rate decreases, immune function improves, and the nervous system directs the body to rest and digest.
As humans increasingly populate urbanized areas, they are spending less and less time in natural environments. But before doctors can start advising their patients to head to the nearest park, there is an important outstanding question, says White: How much time in nature do you need to generate these apparent benefits? Most of the research that has linked health outcomes with exposure to the natural world didn’t use frequency or duration of park visits, but rather the amount of green space within a certain distance of a person’s home, White says. But “it’s not so much where you live; it’s whether you use it or not.”
So he collected data to estimate what dose（剂量） of nature was needed to show benefits to a person’s health. White’s group found the answer he was after: Spending at least two hours in nature per week was strongly correlated with self-reports of being in good health or having high wellbeing. “I was very surprised, to be honest,” says White, who had been expecting a much longer time. “We had no idea that such a clear threshold of time per week would emerge from the data.”
He was further surprised to learn that it didn’t seem to matter how many trips to a park people took, so long as they got in their two hours per week. It could be a long visit one day, a couple of hour-long trips, three visits of 40 minutes, or four half-hour excursions. He and his colleagues speculate that, if nature’s apparent health benefits are a result of being able to de-stress, then whatever pattern of green space exposure fits one’s schedule is probably the best way to achieve that goal.
Health-care recommendations for people to spend time in nature are probably years away, but the movement has begun. Several organizations around the world are working to promote awareness of nature’s contribution to health. Some researchers have used the term “a dose of nature” to evaluate the amount of exposure needed to gain benefits. “That was kind of the deliberate medicalization of the language around nature and health,” says White.
1.White’s research focused on_______.
A.required amount of green space
B.benefits from the exposure to nature
C.necessary time length of nature visits
D.physical responses to outdoor activities
2.What does the underlined phrase “threshold of time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.Maximum time. B.Minimum time.
C.Adequate time. D.Average time.
3.From the last paragraph, we can infer that White______.
A.is confident about his mission
B.is willing to cooperate with others
C.has persuaded others to accept his idea
D.has adopted the term for his research result
4.What’s the best title for the passage?
A.Respect for Nature B.Nature as Medicine
C.Present from Nature D.Mission in Nature
It’s a Saturday night, the kids are asleep and we have no plans. Before we fall into our routine and watch a movie, I try to talk my husband into playing a card game. Unconvinced, he continues tapping away on his phone. But just before disappearing into the social media rabbit hole, he has an idea. He looks over me and suggests, “Why don’t we try calling one of our friends?”
I look at him with raised brows, as if his suggestion is somewhat ridiculous and perhaps even socially unacceptable. You can’t just call someone out of the blue now…right? But then I think again and realize that at one point in time, in the not so distant past, this was the norm. I spent my early teenage years connecting with friends through a phone that was connected to a wall. It wasn’t “smart”, but it allowed me to keep in touch with the latest gossip and news. We would chat for hours, sometimes while I hid under my blanket in order to avoid the chance of being caught by my parents.
I could even memorize the phone numbers of loved ones then. While I did own an address book—and there was always the White Pages, where you could look people up by their names—I had the contact details of special friends, first loves and family members committed to memory. I guess these days, they would be on my “Favorites” list in my smartphone.
Today, many of my “favorite” people are followed from a distance through social media, and even they very rarely—if ever—would get an actual call from me. The birth announcement by my oldest friend is received through catching a well-defined bump into a photo that I scroll past. The news of a divorce from a couple whom I had considered my second parents when I was in middle school arrives after a photo of a woman led me on a quest for more gossip. Bits of such information, a collection of wonderful, exciting, shocking and also boring news, may have been a part of my digital feed for years. The idea of actually picking up the phone to reconnect with a long-lost friend is an intimidating one—even seeing the name of an old friend pop up in an incoming call can feel a little afraid.
I ask my husband, “Who would we call?” After tossing around a few names, we agree on some potential candidates—people whose lives have taken them in different directions, but with whom we still share deep friendships.
1.How does the author feel about her husband’s suggestion at first?
A.Excited. B.Motivated.
C.Nervous. D.Surprised.
2.With the phone, the author’s teenage years was_____.
A.difficult but interesting B.peaceful and meaningful
C.pleasant and unforgettable D.inconvenient but enjoyable
3.In the following days, the couple may ____.
A.share more of their private information with others
B.contact more long-lost friends through social media
C.have more personal communications with their friends
D.add more friends’ names to the contact lists in their phones
The Education Outreach Section of the United Nations Department of Public Information invites young people from around the world between the ages of 15 and 24 to submit 10- to 15-second videos in English on how the Sustainable Development Goals can build peace. When making your videos, think about why ending poverty, addressing climate change, forging equality and ensuring access to education are important to creating a more peaceful world.
The most engaging videos will be featured on the United Nations International Day of Peace YouTube channel. Some will even be shown at an official event at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 16 September.
We will be posting selected clips at www.youtube.com/channel from 13 June (the start of the 100-day countdown) through 21 September, the International Day of Peace.
When you make your video, please state your name and country at the beginning. And remember that all videos should be appropriate for younger audiences.
We’ll be accepting your submissions from now until 1 September. So start sending your videos to unitednationspeaceday@gmail.com today!
Background: The International Day of Peace falls on 21 September. The General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples. Every year on this day, the United Nations calls on the people of the world to remember their common humanity and join together to build a future free of conflicts. The theme for this year, “The Sustainable Development Goals: Building Blocks for Peace”, highlights how ending poverty, protecting the planet and ensuring prosperity for everyone all contribute to global harmony. The Sustainable Goals cover a broad range of issues, including poverty, hunger, health, education, climate change, gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, environment and social justice.
More information on the International Day of Peace and the Sustainable Development Goals: http://www.un.org/en/events/peaceday.
1.The participants should ______.
A.be at least twenty-four years old
B.upload clips onto the appointed website
C.come up with solutions to global problems
D.submit the videos no later than 1 September
2.What might be the proper words to start the video?
A.My name is Jimena, and I’m from Peru.
B.Hello, I’d like to introduce the event first.
C.Today I want to say something to young audiences.
D.What is the key to creating a more peaceful world?
3.Once chosen, the video will be ____.
A.put on a YouTube channel
B.posted on the web for one year
C.shown at the theater in New York
D.filmed on the International Day of Peace
4.What is the main purpose of the activity?
A.To collect video materials for the websites.
B.To raise young people’s concern about world peace.
C.To draw attention to the education of the next generation.
D.To popularize the International Day of Peace among the youth.
Saving a Tiger Named Cinderella
On an icy day in February 2012, two hunters in eastern Russia discovered a limp bundle of fur lying in the snow. It was an orphaned cub(幼虎)！The cub hadn’t eaten in days, and was _______ enough for the hunters just to pick her up. Dr. Dale Miquelle, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Russia Program, said, “A healthy tiger cub, even a three-month-old one, would give you reason to _______ before you stuck your hand too close to its teeth and claws. But this cub had no _______ left in her.”
The hunters wrapped the cub in a coat and _______ her to a local wildlife inspector, Andrey Oryol. Over the following weeks, Oryol _______ the orphaned cub back to health. But now he had a new problem: What could he do with an _______ three-month-old tiger?
The cub was an Amur tiger. _______ a small number of Amur tigers remained in the wild, so scientists wanted to return _______ cubs to their natural habitat. The orphaned cub was taken to a new wildlife center. The center was designed for raising wild animals without _______ them to people. It uses hidden cameras and covered fences to keep workers out of ________. That way, the animals don’t become ________ on humans.
The cub, now named Cinderella, became the center’s first tiger. Over the next year, she grew into a big, healthy tigress. In the center, she learned to hunt. By the spring of 2013, experts agreed she was ________ to return to the wild.
They chose the perfect new ________ for their tiger princess: the Bastak Nature Reserve. During the next two years, researchers watched Cinderella’s ________. They set up cameras to snap photos. When Cinderella passed in front of one of these camera ________, it took her picture. Cinderella not only ________, but grew healthy and strong.
Then, in December 2015, the cameras ________ exciting news: Cinderella had become a mother! For the first time ever, a tiger that humans had ________ and returned to the wild had given birth to two cubs of her own.
Tigers are some of the most admired animals on our planet, but they are also ________. Thanks to the work of conservationists like Dr. Miquelle, there is new ________ for these magnificent cats.
1.A.weak B.pale C.sleepy D.lazy
2.A.hide B.hurt C.wonder D.pause
3.A.mercy B.effort C.will D.fight
4.A.delivered B.returned C.guided D.reported
5.A.taught B.pulled C.nursed D.trained
6.A.intelligent B.energetic C.excited D.amazing
7.A.Almost B.Still C.Even D.Only
8.A.newly-born B.rescued C.wounded D.hunted
9.A.exposing B.sending C.offering D.selling
10.A.place B.sight C.order D.mind
11.A.concentrated B.defensive C.dependent D.keen
12.A.welcome B.interested C.ready D.eager
13.A.continent B.neighborhood C.border D.kingdom
14.A.progress B.reaction C.appearance D.habitat
15.A.types B.traps C.shots D.scenes
16.A.succeeded B.recovered C.survived D.explored
17.A.edited B.expected C.prepared D.revealed
18.A.witnessed B.traded C.raised D.examined
19.A.endangered B.dominated C.preserved D.stressed
20.A.love B.hope C.home D.help
阅读下列短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写一个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。
Poetry is a beautiful art form. Its power lies in the ability to transform ordinary experiences by capturing a moment or emotion. 1.(write) poetry is a privilege and struggle, in part because we need to create in 2.(we) a new way of observing the world, capturing microscopic moments as materials for our work. Most of our time at the desk 3.(spend) wrestling with our imagination, and we know that a successful poem arrives on the back of failure. There are moments when an idea will not translate onto paper. Yet, failure is good, because every 4.(abandon) line we painstakingly remove prepares us for the ripe poem around the corner.
