Some people believe that greed and selfishness has become the basis of modern society, and we should return to the old traditions of family and community, then we will have a better life. To that extent do you agree or disagree with the above opinion?
In this fast-paced world, many values are undergoing major changes. While people traditionally prioritize caring, sharing and generosity in life and work, modern people seem to be more self-absorbed and self-concerned.
Modern people act selfishly to survive the harsh competition of life. They say that it is a jungle out there. To survive, you have to fight with whatever means that come handy. Obviously greed and selfishness go perfectly well with such ideas. In a company, employees do everything they can to get better pay and higher position, even at the cost of colleagues. We are in any way advocating any selfish conduct. It is just that people are pressured to act in a certain way due to outside influences.
In spite of common practice, it is hard to conclude that modern society is built on greed and selfishness, both of which are not newly invented vocabulary. In ancient times people also did greedy and selfish things though such behaviors were more condemned then. But we can not ignore the fact that people in the past lived a relatively more isolated life and faced less pressure compared with their modern counterparts.
Are we happier to share with others and be generous to them? There is no fixed answer either. Some people take great pleasure helping and giving to others while others feel happy doing the opposite. But I personally think that people should not be too selfish. Caring for others can actually encourage the development of a mutually beneficial relationship.
In conclusion, modern people appear to be more self-centered than those in the past due to strong outside pressure. However, we should encourage people to know the importance of being caring and generous and to build a mutually beneficial relationship with others.
Are Modern People Becoming More Selfish?
Main comparisons |
Contexts |
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In the past people put caring, sharing and generosity in the first |
Nowadays, people seem to be more |
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People in the past appeared to be modest and self-effacing(谦逊的). |
People may strive to achieve their own |
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The author’s understanding |
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Fierce |
The author’s |
A relationship which can |
阅读下面短文,根据所读内容在表格中的空白处填入恰当的单词。
注意:每个空格只填一个单词。
It’s necessary to use different ways to communicate for different purposes. Study, made by Jeff Hancock of Cornell University in New York, has found that people are twice as likely to tell lies in phone conversations as they are in e-mails.
Hancock made an investigation by asking 30 students to keep a communication diary for a week. In it they noted the number of conversations or e-mail exchanges they had lasting more than 10 minutes, and how many lies they told. Hancock then worked out the number of lies per conversation for each medium. He found that lies made up 14% of e-mails, 21% of instant messages, 27% of face-to-face interactions and an astonishing 37% of phone calls.
His results, to be presented at the conferences on human computer interaction in Vienna, Austria, in April, have surprised psychologists.
Hancock says it is very important and effective whether a conversation is being recorded and could be reread, and whether it occurs in real time. People appear to be afraid to lie when they know that they will be responsible for what they have said in the conversation. This is why fewer lies appear in e-mail than on the phone.
People are even more likely to lie in real time—in an instant message or phone call. Many lies are sudden or immediate responses to demands that they don’t expect.”
Hancock hopes his research will help many a company work out the best ways for their employees to communicate. For instance, the phone might be the best medium for selling their products where employees are encouraged to stretch the truth. But given his results, work assessment, where honesty is regarded as more important than others, might be best done using e-mail.
Hancock’s study on people |
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Lies |
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Reasons why people lie or don’t |
●People won’t lie when their ●People lie in real time mostly because they have to answer |
Benefits that |
●Using telephones for ●Using e-mails for work assessment because their employees must say what they have done |
Inference from the study |
Suitable media should be chosen for different |
(共10小题;每小题1.5分,满分15分)
阅读下面材料,在空白处填入适当的内容(不多于3个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。
Smith: Mary, have you got the result of the exam?
Mary: No. How is it?
Smith: Terrible. It seems that only half of the students passed the final exam.
Mary: Really? The exam_ been very difficultthis time.
Smith: Well, I’m really(surprise) too. There are many students who definitely didn’t fail. According to Carl, there are eight boys in his class who failed,
(include) himself and Gorge.
Mary: Oh! Gorge is of the top students in the college. What about his sister, Catherine? Did she pass?
Smith: Oh, yes. It seems that she (get) good marks.
Mary: That’s (absolute) unbelievable! Gorge was
much better student than his sister, and has been working so hard for the last few months.
Smith: It seems (fair), doesn’t it? But, from
I’ve heard, perhaps he worked too hard. He was ill during the week of the exam.
Mary: Oh, I see. These things happen, sometimes. I suppose the teacher will take his illness into account and give him a pass.
Smith: Well, there is a rumor going around the head of the Department is leaving.
Mary: Because of the bad result, you mean?
Smith: Well, I suppose so. I’m not sure. Maybe Mr. Dustin is going to be the new Department Head.
任务型阅读(每空一词)(共10小题;每小题1分,满分10分)
Educating girls quite possibly harvests a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world. Women’s education may be an unusual economical field, but increasing women’s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue. And economics, with its focus on encouragement, provides an explanation for why so many girls are rid of an education.
Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else’s family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and are kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school-the prophecy becomes self-fulfilling, trapping women in a vicious(恶性的) circle of neglect.
An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be educated and healthy. The vicious circle is thus transformed into a virtuous circle.
Few will argue that educating women has great social benefits. But it has enormous economic advantages as well. Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers. Wages rise by 10 to 20 per cent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant effect on health practices, including family planning.
Topic: The significance of female in developing countries
Viewpoint |
Educating girls is more |
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Families |
From low-income families |
From educated mothers’ families |
Attitudes |
Girls are of |
Development should be for all the |
Practices |
There is little Girls are made to stay at home, |
It is insisted that girls and boys be offered chances to be |
Consequences |
A vicious circle |
A virtuous circle |
Significance |
Educating women contributes to social |
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Educating girls in developing countries is important and rewarding. |
阅读下面短文,根据以下要求:1)汉语提示;2)首字母提示;3)语境提示, 在每个空格内填入一个适当的英语单词,所填单词要求意义准确、拼写正确。(每题1分;共10分)
All the students present, may I have your attention, please? I'm Elizabeth Taylor. As editor of the Voice, I'd like to iyou to our school newspaper. We need new hands to help us
can tell the students what's new every day through our newspaper. Experience isn’t quite necessary, but writing and typing skills are in great
. We need people to read our
(文章)to type and check them. We could also use a good photographer and several engineers. Since the Voice comes
five days a week. We need good students who know how to make the
of their time. There’s some money for salaries
on how much work to do, but don't expect to get rich. This isn’t something you do for money. Mostly it's just for fun. Anyone who’s w
to joining us should speak to me
(立刻)after this meeting. Be p
to start right away. Our first paper appears tomorrow.
请认真阅读下列短文,并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词(注意:每个空格只填一个单词)
The Chinese are very generous when it comes to educating their children. Some parents send their children to the best schools or even abroad to England, the US or Australia, regardless of how much this costs. Many also want their children to take extra-curriculum (课外的) activities where they either learn a musical instrument or ballet, or other classes that will give them a head start in life. The Chinese believe that the more expensive an education is, the better it is, so parents often spend unreasonable amount of money on education. Even poor couples buy a computer for their son or daughter.
However, what most parents fail to see is that the best education they can give their children is usually very cheap. Parents can see that their children's skills vary; they will usually be skilled in some areas while poor in others. What most parents fail to realize though, is that today's children lack self-respect and self-confidence.
The problem is that parents are only educating their children on how to take multiple-choice tests and how to study effectively. They are not teaching them the most important skills they need to be confident, happy and clever.
Parents can help achieve this by teaching their children practical skills like cooking, sewing and other housework.
Teaching a child to cook will improve many of the skills that he will need later in life. Cooking demands patience and time. It is an enjoyable but difficult experience. A good cook always tries to improve his cooking, so he will learn to work hard and gradually finish his job successfully. The result, a well-cooked dinner, will give a child a lot of satisfaction and confidence.
An old machine such as a broken radio or TV set that you give your child as a toy may make him curious and arouse his interest. If he will spend hours looking at it, and try to mend it, your child might become an engineer when he grows up. Such activities do more than teach a child to read a book; but rather they teach them to think, and to use their minds. This is much more important than learning by reading a book.
Title |
How Chinese Parents Should Educate Their |
practice |
Being generous with Sending them to the Taking extra curriculum activities in order to start in life. |
Bad results |
Children's lack of |
Suggested |
Teaching their children practical skills, which are the most important. Cooking. Sewing. Other housework. Repairing a |
Good results |
To make the children hardworking and confident. To enable them to think and to use their |