People in South Korea who feel they can no longer bear the stress of everyday life now can choose to stay in a prison to relax and think deeply.
In a society where pressure to do well in school and find highly-paid jobs is intense, a former lawyer came up with an extreme relaxation idea. Kwon Yong-seok created the “Prison Inside Me”—a stress-reduction center with a punishment theme. People come here to cut themselves off from the outside world and pay to be kept in 60-square-foot (5.6-square-meter) cells (囚室).
Located on the outskirts of Hongcheon, about 58 miles (93 km) northeast of Seoul, “Prison Inside Me” came to life after Mr. Kwon voluntarily asked to spend time behind bars for “healing reasons,” but his request was turned down. “I didn’t know how to stop working back then,” he said. “I felt like I was being swept away against my will, and it seemed I couldn’t control my own life.” So, Kwon and his wife Roh Ji-hyang decided to take matters into their own hands, and designed and built a prison-like spiritual center. The construction was completed in June last year and cost about 2 billion won ($19 million).
The facility includes 28 cells, furnished with only a toilet, a sink and a small table, where guests can spend time alone, thinking about life and enjoying private thinking periods. Moreover, guests can also join group thinking periods in the hall, where they are given instructions on how to free themselves from what Mr. Kwon calls the “inner prison” to find inner peace.
According to the Wall Street Journal, hundreds of stressed South Koreans are checking in at the stress-reduction facility to think about their lives and regain control of it. A two-night stay at “Prison Inside Me” costs 150,000 won ($146).
Mr. Kwon and his wife explained that at the beginning they had a different plan for the “relaxation center,” and imagined a longer stay for their guests, but, given that people weren’t able to take more time off, they had to reduce the length of stays to just two days.
Park Woo-sub, a guest at “Prison Inside Me,” said the experience helped him a lot. “This is my third time in prison. Being kept in a prison makes me hard to breathe, but it also offers time to focus only on me and spend some quiet time with myself.”
Others said the experience would have been more helpful if the conditions had been poorer, like in a real prison.Paragraph 3 mainly tells us _______________.
| A．where “Prison Inside Me” is located |
| B．what people can do in “Prison Inside Me” |
| C．how “Prison Inside Me” came into being |
| D．when “Prison Inside Me” was completed |
Which of the statements is true?
| A．people in South Korea prefer living under great pressure |
| B．Mr. Kwon had intended to let guests stay at “Prison Inside Me” for over two days |
| C．most people in South Korea can not afford to stay at “Prison Inside Me” |
| D．the 28 cells are well furnished, but with no toilets in them |
We can know from the passage that _______________.
| A．many people have been kept in such a prison at least three times |
| B．it is not a good idea for people to focus only on themselves |
| C．people find it not difficult to breathe though the prison is small |
| D．some still felt a bit unsatisfied as the conditions weren’t poor enough |
Who should go to the “Prison Inside Me”?
| A．A successful businessman |
| B．A criminal at large |
| C．A primary student |
| D．A stressed man |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Many South Koreans voluntarily go to “prison” to reduce stress. |
| B．Many South Koreans can hardly bear the stress of daily life. |
| C．South Koreans should spend more time alone thinking about life. |
| D．South Koreans have found the best way to deal with everyday pressure. |
The global population is living longer，and getting older，which presents new challenges. “The question becomes：who will take care of everyone? While people will always be the best caregivers for people，there just aren’t enough people. That’s where robotic technology can really make a difference,” says Professor Maja Mataric at the University of Southern California.
Her group is developing robots to work with stroke (中风) patients and elderly people. The research team has found that people react well to a robot gym instructor，and seem to get less frustrated with it than with instructions given on a computer screen. The robot can act as a perfect trainer，with infinite(极大的) patience.
“People say things like ‘I prefer this robot to my husband！Can I take it home?’” according to Professor Mataric. “In fact there’s a really important point here. As we create these care giving technologies，we’re helping not only the people that need the care，but also the people caring for them. We can give them a break，and help them avoid burnout.”
People are going to have to like，and importantly trust robots before they welcome them into their homes，and several groups around the world are working on making it easier to communicate with them.
Much of human communication takes place through body language. Gestures， eye contact , and concepts of personal space are all things that robots are being taught. In learning about how people interact(互动) with machines，researchers are also discovering new roles for robots in our lives. Robots can communicate with humans in ways that other technologies can not.
“If someone finds the robot to be more persuasive and more reliable，that’s going to affect how they interact with it,” says Dr Cynthia Breazeal, director of the Personal Robots Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “We can now start to think about fields where it’s the social interaction，which is the main means by which a robot helps someone.” Dr Breazeal says that means robots could be used in education，learning，and health care，where social support is important.Professor Maja Mataric mainly focused on robots’ function of ________.
| A．teaching | B．exploring |
| C．making things | D．giving care |
Why can robots be wonderful trainers in the gym?
| A．Because they are more clever. |
| B．Because they give correct instructions. |
| C．Because they cost less money. |
| D．Because they are more patient. |
The underlined word “burnout” in Paragraph 3 probably means “________”．
| A．feeling tired | B．feeling angry |
| C．getting hurt | D．becoming disappointed |
The scientists are presently working hard to help robots .
| A．to use less electricity | B．to communicate better |
| C．to react more quickly | D．to have more functions |
I walked down the hall heading to see my 88-year-old grandma who had been in hospital. Each member of the family was taking turns sitting with her because of her dementia (痴呆). As I did I looked very carefully at some of the rooms on this wing of the hospital, and it seemed that almost every bed held an elderly person. Some appeared to be confused, and some just looked lonely. I couldn’t help but notice that there was no family there, no one to care them, and no one to reduce the ache of loneliness. My heart broke inside me.
They are aging, with withered (萎缩的) skin on their faces and hands, their eyes look tried, and yet no one notices them. Could it be that we are far too busy to slow down and give a moment of our time to anyone that may swerve (使突然转向) us off the course we are traveling on? Are we afraid of those who have come before us to pave the way, afraid that they carry some awful disease that if we get too close we might catch it?
Whatever the case may be, one day we will be those same people that we long to avoid. We pay thousands of dollars for staying young, and we may turn up the music to forget the thoughts of getting older. But, try as we might, time and age will catch up with us.
We seem to have come to detest (嫌恶) the elderly. While we once held them in high regard and honor, always enjoying their stories of history, we now see them as a pain, always in our way. Isn’t it time we wake up?
So, next time you see a withered hand extended in need, or peer into the eyes of a lonely aging face, don’t run or look away. Remember, it might just be you in that place one day.What made the author deeply sad?
| A．The poor food for the patients. |
| B．The sight he saw in the hospital. |
| C．The hopeless patients in the hospital. |
| D．The bad service of the hospital. |
What’s people’s excuse for not visiting the old?
| A．They are too busy. |
| B．They can’t afford it. |
| C．They live too far away. |
| D．They usually travel abroad. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Time will tell the truth. |
| B．People are afraid of being old. |
| C．A doctor is important to old people. |
| D．Respecting elderly people is a good tradition. |
What does the author advise us to do in the last paragraph?
| A．Respect the old. |
| B．Get along well with the old. |
| C．Help and pay attention to the old. |
| D．Spend more time with our parents. |
After mom died, I began visiting my father every morning before I went to work. He was weak and moved slowly, but he always had a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice on the kitchen table for me, along with an unsigned note, reading, ‘Drink your juice.” Such a gesture, I knew, was as far as my father had ever been able to do in expressing his love. In fact, I remember, as a kid I had questioned mom, “Why doesn’t father love me?” Mom frowned, “Who said he doesn’t love you?” “Well , he never tells me,” I complained. “He never tells me either.” She said, smiling. “But look how hard he works to take care of us, to buy us food and clothes, and to pay for this house. That’s how your father tells us he loves us.”
I nodded slowly. I understood in my head, but not in my heart. I still wanted my father to put his arms around me and tell me he loved me. He owned and operated a small scrap metal (废旧金属) business, and after school I often hung around while he worked. He fed scrap steel into a device that chopped it as cleanly as a butcher chops a rack of ribs. The machine looked like a giant pair of scissors, with blades thicker than my father’s body. If he didn’t feed those terrifying blades just right, he risked serious injury. “Why don’t you hire someone to do that for you?” mom asked him one night as she bent over him and rubbed his aching shoulders with a strong smelling liniment. “Why don’t you hire a cook?” my father asked, giving her one of his rare smiles.
Many years later, during my first daily visit, after drinking the juice my father had squeezed for me, I walked over, hugged him and said, “I love you, father.” From then on I did this every morning. My father never told me how he felt about my hugs, and there was never any expression on his face when I gave them.The author’s father always prepared a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice for him because .
| A．that was the author’s favorite |
| B．he was sure the author would be thirsty |
| C．the author was always complaining |
| D．that was a gesture of love |
The author’s fathe didn’t hire a helper because .
| A．his job was too dangero |
| B．his job required high skills |
| C．he wanted to save money |
| D．he was not good at working with others |
We can infer from the passage that .
| A．the author’s father lacked a sense of humor |
| B．the author quite understood his father as time went on |
| C．the author’s father didn’t love him very much |
| D．the author’s father was too strict with him |
What’s the passage about?
| A．The proper attitude towards life. |
| B．The importance of education. |
| C．Silent fatherly love. |
| D．Ways to live happily. |
Here’s something to think about the next time you ask your teacher for help：trying hard to do schoolwork on your own can help you learn．According to a recent study，the more you try while you are learning new information，the better you can remember it later．
This might surprise you．When teachers are presenting new information，they often give students lots of help．But a new study shows this may not be the best way to support learning．“Don’t be too quick to get help when learning something new，”education expert Manu Kapur said．“Try to work on it yourself even if it means trying different ways．’’
Kapur came up with the idea that trying hard can lead to better learning．Then he tested it out on students in Singapore．He separated students into two groups．In the first group，students were asked to solve math problems with the teacher’s help．In the second group，students were asked to solve the same problems by helping one another，instead of getting help from the teacher．
With the teacher’s help，students in the first group were able to find the correct answers．Students in the second group did not solve the problems correctly．But they did come up with a lot of good ideas．
The students were then tested on what they had 1earned．The group without any help from a teacher scored much higher than the group who had help．Kapur said working to find the answers helped students understand the process(过程)，not just the solution．
Kapur’s advice for kids is to put a 1ot of effort(努力)into learning something new rather than going to your teacher for help．“Simply doing a little work or nothing at all won’t work.”says Kapur．“Try to solve a problem in as many ways as possible．’’What is the best title for the text?
| A．Work Your Mind |
| B．Practice Makes Perfect |
| C．The Best Way to Learn |
| D．Teachers’ Role in Schoolwork |
Manu Kapur holds that _______．
| A．it’s necessary for students to ask for teachers’ help |
| B．students should try to solve problems by themselves |
| C．students with teachers’ help have more good ideas |
| D．students in the first group are cleverer than those in the second group |
The author develops the text mainly by _________ ．
| A．presenting research findings |
| B．comparing different opinions |
| C．showing scientific information |
| D．setting down general rules |
Even though Brisbane is all about sun and surfing during the summer, spring time still brings a nice change to the place. That entire region is known as the gold coast, and it extends miles and miles of beaches with some of the best surfing condition in the world. In fact, you would be more pressed for time if you are just visiting, because there is so much for the nature buffs to see. They can see the wild animals and quiet and beautiful environment, and there are many interesting activities for them to do.
If you are going there to relax then it’s probably safe to say that you want your hotel with a quiet and relaxing environment. You may even want to stay at a place like Urban Hotels located in Brisbane. You have everything you need right there in the hotel. A trip to Brisbane should not be spent indoors, especially during spring time when you have all of that natural beauty that surrounds you. The Botanical(植物) Gardens is a must to see during spring because plants have come to life from the cold weather and you get to see more flowers after a boring and cold winter. There are plenty of sports sites for you to visit, where you can do some climbing, boating and cycling. You can enjoy the fresh spring air and get some exercise at the same time. If you are in the mood for a bit of culture, then you can visit some of the galleries and museums located throughout the city. You can even go on a cruise(乘船游览) up the river.
It’s not quite the right time for surfing in spring, but surfing is still good in some places if you are brave enough to hit the water.The region of Brisbane is famous for .
| A．miles and miles of beautiful beaches |
| B．its gold coast and the surfing condition |
| C．wild animals and the botanical gardens |
| D．the quiet and beautiful environment |
What does the underlined word “buffs” in paragraph 1 mean?
| A．Fans of something. |
| B．Plants that are special. |
| C．Animals that are special. |
| D．People who live there. |
The writer advises you to visit the galleries and museums .
| A．when you have plenty of time |
| B．when you want to have a rest |
| C．if you are interested in art and culture |
| D．if you want to learn more about Brisbane |
The text is written mainly to tell readers that .
| A．it is wonderful to surf in Brisbane |
| B．Brisbane has many attractions to see |
| C．it is good to visit Brisbane in spring |
| D．there are many sports sites in Brisbane |