It’s a nightmare for Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST): within a week,two students committed suicide by jumping off dorm buildings.对于整个华中科技大学来说,这简直就是场噩梦:一周之内,两名学生在宿舍跳楼自杀。
Officials from the university are reluctant to give interviews.校方官员们不愿接受采访。
“We had a hard time calming down students who were shocked at the suicides,” said Zhang Jingyuan,one official of HUST.
“Media coverage may arouse some students’ negative emotions again.Suicide can be contagious,” Zhang said.他说,“媒体的报道将会再次引发学生的消极情绪,自杀是会传染的。”
The university reacted promptly to the first suicide on October 23.对于今年10月23号发生的第一起自杀事件,华中科技大学迅速做出应急措施。
Advisors and class leaders conducted dorm-to-dorm checks to find students suffering depression.Then psychologists offered one-on-one counseling to them.辅导员和班长们走访了每个宿舍,找出遭遇抑郁的学生。然后,心理咨询师会为这些学生提供一对一的心理咨询。
Notice boards publicizing tips for identifying peers’ mental problems and offering help were set up in front of dorm buildings.Leaflets carrying similar information were handed out to each dorm.宿舍楼前竖起一些布告栏,为同学们普及关于如何发现身边人遭遇心理问题并提供帮助的小贴士。印有类似内容的小册子也被分发给每个寝室。
However,the second suicide came seven days later.然而,七天后,第二起自杀事件发生了。
Both students were described as men of few words.Their schoolmates didn’t see anything to indicate suicide.据周围人描述,这两名学生都很少言寡语。他们的同学都没有觉察到任何自杀前的征兆。
Zhang revealed that the two students had been bothered by mental disorders.But the school didn’t know this until the students’ close friends outside school and their parents unveiled the truth after the suicides.章劲元透露,这两名学生曾经饱受心理疾病的困扰。但是学校对此并不知情,他们校外的好友和家长也是在自杀事件发生后才说出实情。
According to Zhang,there are only three full-time counselors working in the university’s counseling center for its 60,000 students.He complained: “It’s unrealistic to rely only on counselors to detect students’ mental problems.”据章劲元说,全校共有六万名学生,但学校的心理咨询中心只有三位全职心理咨询师。他抱怨说:“仅仅依靠心理咨询师来察觉学生的心理问题,这是不现实的。”
Effective prevention comes from long-term education for life instead of temporary intervention to meet an emergency,said Hu Yi’an.Hu delivers a course of lectures on life and death at Guangzhou University.He worries that universities have paid little attention to education for life.有效的预防来自于长期的生命教育,而并非遭遇紧急状况时的临时干预,胡毅安(音译)说。他在广州大学教授以生命和死亡为主题的课程。他为各大高校给予生命教育的关注少之又少而担忧。
“Education for life helps students respect and love life so they won’t resort to ending their lives when they have difficulties,” said Hu.“生命教育可以帮助学生尊重、热爱生命,这样一来,当他们遇到困难的时候就不会选择结束生命了,” 胡毅安说。
According to Hu,the principles can be incorporated into everyday teaching.胡毅安还表示,这些观念可以融入到日常教学中去。
Hu is also concerned that some universities are conveying discriminatory message that will hold back students from seeking help.胡老师也很担心一些大学传递出带有歧视性的信息会使得学生们不愿去寻求帮助。
When HUST conducted the dorm-to-dorm examination,students with poor academic performance were paid special attention.In March,Peking University also released a controversial policy,which required teachers to have a chat with students “with biased thinking”.当华中科技大学校方挨个宿舍进行走访时,学习成绩较差的学生也被给予了特别关照。三月份,北京大学也推行了一项备受争议的政策,该新规要求教师们要找那些学生中的“激进分子”谈话。
However,Hu suggested that students step out of their comfort zone to seek real-life communication.The underlined word “reluctant” in paragraph 2 probably means “ ”.
| A.willing | B.unhappy | C.refused | D.decided |
Which measure the university took to the first suicide is incorrect?
| A.Conducting checks to find out the students’ depression. |
| B.Offering counseling to the students. |
| C.Setting up notice boards publicizing tips for identifying peers’ mental problems and offering help. |
| D.Handing out leaflets to each student. |
Which of the following is right according to the text?
| A.Officials of HUST were willing to give the details about the suicide. |
| B.HUST didn’t respond to the first suicide. |
| C.What the university about the suicide was a success. |
| D.Their close friends and parents did know the students had mental disorder. |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A.Two students of HUST committed suicide. |
| B.What can we do to prevent the student’s suicide? |
| C.The reasons why the students committed suicide. |
| D.The dangers in the universities in China. |
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
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What makes TV Ears different from other headsets?
| A.It can easily set TV on mute |
| B.Its headset volume is adjustable |
| C.It has a new noise reduction ear tip |
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This advertisement is made more believable by ______.
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阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
When milk arrived on the doorstep
When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in then 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basle. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a five-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.
Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note –“Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery.” --and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically appear.
All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basle even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basle from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.
There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.
Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊). Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.Mr. Basle gave the boy a quarter out of his changer .
| A.to show his magical power |
| B.to pay for the delivery |
| C.to satisfy his curiosity |
| D.to please his mother |
What can be inferred from the fact that the milkman had the key to the boy’s house?
| A.He wanted to have tea there. |
| B.He was a respectable person. |
| C.He was treated as a family member. |
| D.He was fully trusted by the family. |
Why does home milk delivery no longer exist?
| A.Nobody wants to be a milkman now. |
| B.It has been driven out of the market. |
| C.Its service is getting poor. |
| D.It is forbidden by law. |
Why did the author bring back home an old milk box?
| A.He missed the good old days. |
| B.He wanted to tell interesting stories. |
| C.He needed it for his milk bottles. |
| D.He planted flowers in it. |
Humans have been keeping animals as pets for tens of thousands of years, but Dr Jean-Loup Rault, an animal scientist at the University of Melbourne in Australia, believes new companions are coming: robot pets.
“Technology is moving very fast,” Rault told ABC News, “The Tamagotchi in the early 1990s was really the first robotic pet, and now Sony and other big companies have improved them a lot.”
This may not sit well with pet lovers. After all, who would choose a plastic toy over a lovely puppy? But Rault argues that the robotic kind has a lot going for it: “You don’t have to feed it, you don’t have to walk it, it won’t make a mess in your house, and you can go on a holiday without feeling guilty.” The technology also benefits those who are allergic to pets, short on space, or fearful of real animals.
It’s not clear whether robot pets can replace real ones. But studies do suggest that we can bond with these smart machines. People give their cars names and kids give their toy animals life stories. It’s the same with robots. When Sony stopped its repair service for its robot dog Aibo in March 2014, owners in Japan held funerals.
As an animal welfare researcher, Rault is concerned about how robotic pets could affect our attitudes towards live animals. “If we become used to a robotic companion that doesn’t need food, water or exercises, perhaps it will change how humans care about other living beings,” he said.
So are dogs and cats a thing of the past, as Rault predicts? For those who grew up with living and breathing pets, the mechanical kind might not do. But for our next generation who are in constant touch with smart technology, a future in which lovely pets needn’t have a heartbeat might not be a far-fetched dream.What does the underlined phrase “sit well with” means?
| A.be refused by | B.be beneficial to |
| C.make a difference to | D.receive support from |
What are the advantages of robot pets?
a. They are plastic and feel smooth.
b. Owners needn’t worry about them when going out.
c. They can help cure allergies(过敏).
d. They save space and costs.
| A.ab | B.bc | C.bd | D.cd |
We can learn from the passage that___________.
| A.Sony is the first company to produce robot pets Aibo. |
| B.People can develop strong bond(联系、关系) with their robot pets. |
| C.Rault thinks robot pets still have a long way to go. |
| D.Robot toys may help people care more about living beings. |
The passage mainly tells us___________.
| A.the advantages of robot toys |
| B.the popularity of robot pets |
| C.living pets are dying out |
| D.robot pets are coming |
Failing in something isn’t a really nice feeling, but Scotland’s Fettes College in Edinburgh wants to show its students that failure isn’t something to fear and is actually something to accept willingly!
The boarding school held “failure week” to celebrate taking risks and learning from them. Whether in sports or school, children often face lots of pressure to succeed and do well, and the school was becoming concerned.
“Young people from all walks of life live in a high-pressure environment where they are trying very hard to achieve a level of perfection,” said Sue Bruce, head of personal and social education in the school.
“This week at Fettes we have been focusing on one of the most misunderstood parts of success: failure. While we are often scared of failure, it is important to learn that it is only through failing, often many times, that we learn how to succeed. All through the week, we have looked at the experiences of some of the most successful inventors, artists and businessmen, who failed hundreds, if not thousands of times on their journey to success,” read a letter on Fettes College’s website.
To celebrate failure, students were encouraged to try something they’ve never done before, like playing an instrument or dancing in front of audiences. A number of students stepped up and tried things that they finally failed in, but they had fun and enjoyed the experience. “The concert was extremely enjoyable, proving that we should always try not to worry about failure and have a go!” read another note on the website. Students were also taught about famous people like J.K. Rowling and Richard Branson who failed many times before they finished what they set out to do.
“If they let the fear of failure stop them from doing something, they are actually stopping themselves from learning, developing, and potentially succeeding,” said Bruce.What is the purpose of the boarding school to hold “failure week”?
| A.To get the students involved in social activities. |
| B.To help the students accept and learn from failure. |
| C.To make the students study even harder. |
| D.To teach the students how to get relaxed. |
During the “failure week” the students could do the following things EXCEPT ___________.
| A.taking risks |
| B.learning from others’ experiences |
| C.trying something new |
| D.trying to entertain themselves |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A.Many successful people are lucky and achieve success easily. |
| B.Because we are often scared of failure ,we never succeed. |
| C.The fear of failure can stop the students from learning and succeeding. |
| D.The students who failed in trying new things felt depressed. |
The new high-speed railway line between Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur self-governing region,and Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province,has cut train travel time by half to less than 12 hours.
The dramatic improvement will benefit many families planning reunions for Spring Festival.
“For the first time,I feel home is not that far away after all,”said Liang Shaofu as he boarded a high-speed train in Urumqi with six members of his family.
The 35-year-old left Lanzhou to set up a dry fruit business in Xinjiang eight years ago,and he has now settled in Urumqi.
The 1,776-km line, which passes through Qinghai province and is the country’s first high-speed railway to be built in a high-altitude region, came into service on Dec 26.
“We normally drive home for Spring Festival to avoid the difficulties of buying seven train tickets for the whole family during the peak season.” Liang said. “Driving can be very tiring and dangerous sometimes,so one year we even decided not to go back to Lanzhou simply to avoid the trip.”
More than 600,000 passengers traveled on the line during its first month,and the Urumqi Railway Bureau said the introduction of high-speed services will ease transport pressure during the Spring Festival peak season.
The existing usual railway line could no longer support Xinjiang’s development. All passenger trains will gradually shift to the new link,leaving the old one to be used for goods. As a result,Xinjiang’s annual goods ability could reach 200 million metric tons from the current 70 million.
The line passes through areas that experience high winds, and it also crosses parts of the deserted Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the bone-dry sands of the Gobi Desert.
The project could help China to promote its high-speed railway technology abroad,said Ma Xi zhang, director of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway project’s management department in Xinjiang.How long did it take to go from Urumqi to Lanzhou by the usual train before?
| A.about 12 hours | B.About 6 hours |
| C.About 18 hours | D.About 24 hours |
What’s the main advantage of the new high-speed railway?
| A.It takes more time to go to Urumqi to Lanzhou. |
| B.It will be more convenient for people all over the country to Xinjiang. |
| C.All the people in Lanzhou can return home on festivals. |
| D.It helps to improve Xinjiang’s development. |
From the passage we can learn________.
| A.Xinjiang’s annual goods ability can increase nearly four times |
| B.the new railway technology may help more railway lines to be built abroad |
| C.the high-speed railway lines can’t be built across the bone-dry sands |
| D.the old railway lines can only carry goods now |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A.The new high-speed railway line is good for all people to go home. |
| B.The new high-speed railway line benefits businessmen to carry goods. |
| C.Taking the new train is safer than driving home from Urumqi to Lanzhou. |
| D.Businessmen seldom went home for Spring Festival before. |