Writing
Directions: Suppose the business school of your university is conducting a survey to collect students’ opinions on the express delivery service industry in China. You are to write a response about its recent development and its impact on people’s lives. You will have 30 minutes to write the essay. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.
convenient !=
With the development of delivery service in China, people now can enjoy food at home without going out. Compared to the past, the situations are much more convenient. With the help of delivery service, we can also receive goods from other provinces in China, even from other countries.
Not only that, people can also work in this industries. Because it provided a lot of jobs, people can choose to become employees in that companies.
While deploying our
就业岗位:
provide many job opportunities
Delivery services have provided many job opportunities.
外卖服务提供了许多就业岗位。
create many jobs
The industry has created many jobs.
这个行业创造了许多就业岗位。
generate employment opportunities
The development of the industry has generated numerous employment opportunities.
该行业的发展创造了大量就业机会。
delivery:
Please allow 28 days for delivery…
Link to original
递送将需要 28 天的时间。
It is available at £108, including VAT and delivery.
其价格为 108 英镑，包括增值税和送货费在内。
//…the delivery of goods and resources.
货物和资源的运送
With the development of the delivery service industry in China, people can now enjoy food at home without going out. Compared with the past, life has become much more convenient. With the help of delivery services, we can also receive goods from other provinces and even from other countries within a short time.
In addition, the industry has created a large number of job opportunities. Many people choose to work as couriers, warehouse staff, or customer service representatives. Therefore, the rapid growth of the industry has contributed to both employment and economic development.
[U, C]work, especially when it is done to earn money; the state of being employed 工作；职业；受雇
to be in paid employment
有拿工资的工作
full-time/part-time employment
全职／兼职工作
conditions/terms of employment
雇用条件／条款
Graduates are finding it more and more difficult to find employment.
毕业生感到找工作越来越难。
pensions from previous employments
以前工作的退休金
However, while enjoying these benefits, we should also pay attention to some problems. For example, excessive packaging may cause environmental pollution, and delivery workers are often under great pressure to meet tight schedules.
In my opinion, the express delivery industry has greatly improved people’s lives. If these problems can be addressed properly, the industry will continue to develop and bring more benefits to society.
(formal) to think about a problem or a situation and decide how you are going to deal with it 设法解决；处理；对付
~ sth
Your essay does not address the real issues.
你的论文没有论证实质问题。
~ yourself to sth
We must address ourselves to the problem of traffic pollution.
我们必须设法解决交通污染问题。
Listening
The City of Fayetteville is making a special effort to recognize its bus drivers ahead of the newly proclaimed Transit Driver Appreciation Day happening Saturday. [1] As part of the event, the city is celebrating its longest-serving driver on the force.
[1] That driver is Sherry Christian. Christian has been a driver for 25 years. The Fayetteville native believes driving a school bus allows her to give back to her community. She says that the best part of the job is watching the children who ride her bus grow up.
Transit Driver Appreciation Day has been celebrated across the country as far back as 2009. However, this week, the City of Fayetteville issued a proclamation for the day to take place March 18th. [2] Officials said they want bus drivers to know how important they are to Fayetteville, serving almost 1.6 million riders a year.
[3] The Wilton School Board has proposed a 5.99% spending increase. If approved, it would be the largest jump in at least eight budget cycles. The 5.99% request more than doubles the highest previous year-over-year increase in the last eight years, which was 2.99% for the 2021-2022 school year.
Sales more than doubled last year.
销售额去年增长了两倍多。
The population more than tripled.
人口增长到三倍以上。
His income more than quadrupled.
他的收入增长到四倍以上。
more than: to a great degree : very, extremely在很大程度上；非常；极其
Please call me anytime. I’m more than happy to help (out) in any way I can.
请随时打电话联系我。我非常乐意尽我所能提供帮助。
The biggest driver of the $91.8 million proposed budget remains teacher salaries.
driver: one of the main things that influence sth or cause it to make progress 驱动因素
Housing is a key driver of the economy.
住房是个促使经济增长的主要因素。
These account for 64% of the total request at 59 million is up from the $56.7 million budgeted for the current school year.
There are some factors that could affect the budget moving forward. One of those is total enrollment. The district will have a total enrollment of 3,742 students. Almost all of these students will be in kindergarten through high school, but 66 will be in prekindergarten and other programs. This represents 47 fewer students than the current year. [4] Fewer students mean less federal and state funding.
A rare thundersnow event has taken place in Scotland. And alarmed locals contacted police, thinking they had heard bombs going off. The phenomenon happens when thunder and lightning mix with a heavy snowstorm—
[5] sometimes causing loud claps that can be confused with explosions.
clap:
[C]a sudden loud noise 砰然巨响；霹雳声
a clap of thunder
一声霹雳
One person described it as a loud boom, similar to a plane crash. Another person was woken up in the middle of the night by what he thought was early construction work starting. The noise was powerful enough to shake buildings and set off car alarms. The police were flooded with many calls from the public. [6] And they sent out a message asking people to remain calm. The police assured everyone that it was just thunder and lightning rather than some military exercise. The weather was the coldest it had been for the season, [7] so people were warned to be careful when traveling outside. In particular, dangerous conditions such as icy roads or wet ground could cause difficulty for drivers. The rail service also announced potential disruptions to trains due to the deep snow. Some roads were also closed because of the severe weather.
M: I’m going to the city centre to buy a new phone today.
W: Didn’t you buy a new phone just two months ago?
M: It was three months ago, and I already know what you’re going to say. You’re thinking I shouldn’t replace my phone this soon.
W: No, [8] actually, I was wondering how you could possibly afford a new phone. But now that you mention it, I do think getting another phone so soon is wasteful, regardless of the cost.
M: Maybe you’re right, [9] but the thing is, everyone at the office has a nice, expensive phone, and I’m a little embarrassed by mine. I just got a credit card, so I thought I might as well buy a new phone.
W: I don’t think buying a phone on credit is a good idea. Look, you’ve only been working for five months now. People understand that you are a recent graduate, and I doubt anyone cares about your phone other than yourself.
M: Maybe you’re right, [10] but the credit card has a very good special offer, where I don’t pay any interest for six months. I’ll be able to pay for the phone well before that period is over.
W: I still think it’s a bad idea to use a credit card for something you don’t need. [11] One of my colleagues bought a lot of things on credit during her first year of work, and it became a bad habit, and she accumulated a lot of debt.
M: Well, I can see how that might happen to someone, and I’m sure she regrets it, but I know it won’t happen to me.
W: Welcome to The Morning Show. Our guest today is a popular blog writer and a major figure in the tiny home community. Welcome, Bob Jones.
M: Hi, Mary.
W: Hi, Bob. You’re an advocate of the tiny home movement. A lot of people don’t know about this movement. Can you tell our audience what it’s about?
M: [12] Well, it’s mainly about increasing home ownership and protecting the environment.
[U]
the fact of owning sth 所有权；产权；物主身份
a growth in home ownership
拥有房产的人数的增加
Ownership of the land is currently being disputed.
这块土地的所有权现在还有争议。
to be in joint/private/public ownership
为共有／私有／公有产权
The restaurant is under new ownership.
这家餐厅易主了。
W: Of course, those are great goals. But I’ve seen your blog, and you write about houses that are as small as 20 square meters. [13] That’s not a realistic size for families.
M: I do talk about very small homes, but there’s no set definition of a tiny home. And other people include homes that are much larger, say, 60 square meters. And you’d be surprised many families of four are happy living in houses that are under 30 square meters.
W: But I think most of us want spacious homes. The average new house in this area is 150 square meters. And that’s what people dream of owning.
M: Yes, [14] but I think that dream needs to change, considering the cost of housing.
W: Housing costs are high, but do people really save that much by having a smaller home?
M: Absolutely. Many people who can only afford to rent a large home are able to buy a tiny home. In this city, the average home costs 50,000.
W: Those are huge savings.
M: [15] So, tiny homes might not be for everyone, but they’re a good option for many.
W: You mentioned the environment earlier. How does this benefit the planet?
M: Well, if people have smaller homes, they use less land and fewer resources to build them.
Kids need time every day to run, jump, stretch and play. These experiences have been shown to build children’s confidence and pleasure in physical activities, develop their motor skills, and even improve emotional well-being.
[16] To begin with, children seem to have a natural desire to overcome challenges and take risks. Taking healthy risks through physical movement builds children’s confidence and ability to solve problems and persist through frustration. Secondly, movement activities build children’s big body skills such as coordination and balance, as well as the fine motor skills they need for tasks like writing, tying their shoes, or throwing and catching a ball.
(specialist) connected with movement of the body that is produced by muscles; connected with the nerves that control movement 肌肉运动的；运动神经的
uncoordinated motor activity
不协调的肌肉运动
Both motor and sensory functions are affected.
运动功能和感觉功能都受到影响。
[17] Thirdly, according to the American Psychological Association, regular physical activity (and especially outdoor activity) reduces children’s stress and depression, and improves their ability to focus and learn. Regular exercise can significantly improve self-regulation and decrease disciplinary consequences for negative behavior. Physical activity provides a positive outlet for frustration, anxiety, or anger and can become a healthy coping skill throughout life. [18] Finally, we know that physical activity is important for our physical and mental health, and cultivating the habit of physical activity starts early. Children are more likely to develop a lifelong love of physical activity from frequent positive early experiences. Not every child enjoys competitive sports or playing with balls and that’s OK. There are plenty of other options such as imaginative play, non-competitive games, and gardening or nature experiences.
[19] A new study finds that job seekers are even willing to explore jobs with lower salaries when companies are more diverse. It finds that sharing information about diversity makes job postings more attractive to job seekers, even when pay is lower.
To conduct the study, the team partnered with an online job listings platform which emails postings relevant to individuals and their job search criteria. For the course of the 11-week study, the platform emailed job listings to some 180,000 users placed in one of two conditions. [20] In the baseline condition, participants saw emails in the normal format, with no information on diversity; in the diversity condition, participants saw a diversity score for each listing: information about the race, gender, education, and language skills of a company’s workforce compared to others in the same sector and location. Information was then gathered on whether the email was opened, and which job listings were clicked on by each user.
Participants in the diversity condition tended to click on job listings from companies with slightly higher diversity scores than those in the baseline condition: [21] that is, participants seemed to be paying attention to information about diversity, and using this when deciding whether to click on the listing. And the team also found that participants were willing to look at listings with lower salaries if they came from companies with a higher diversity score.
A new study from Oregon State University found that dogs tend to match their behavior with the children in their family. The findings are important because there is a growing body of evidence that dogs can help children in many ways. These include helping with social development, increasing physical activity, managing anxiety or serving as a source of attachment in the face of changing family structures.
Yet, very little research has focused on how dogs perceive and socially engage with children. [24] “The great news is that this study suggests dogs are paying a lot of attention to the kids that they live with,” said Monique Udell, the lead author of the study. “One interesting thing we have observed is that dogs are matching children’s behavior, but less frequently than what we have seen between dogs and adults. This suggests that while dogs may view children as social companions, there are also some differences that we need to understand better.”
While research has found dogs can have a lot of positive impacts on a child’s life, there are also risks associated with the dog-child relationship. For example, other studies have found dogs are more likely to bite children versus adults. “We still have a lot to learn about the dog-child relationship,” Udell said. [25] “But research does show that kids are very capable of training dogs.”
READING
Why it’s wrong to look at work-life balance as an achievement
A) Few topics have been so endlessly analysed as work-life balance. The quest to attain this mysterious state has dominated discussion around careers for years—especially for working parents. The concept is often presented as something to achieve, or a goal to reach. And once you’ve reached it, congratulations: you’ve made it; you’re a successful human being of the 21st century.
B) But the problem is that we often tell ourselves: “I’m going to put in eight hours’ worth of work, and then I’m going to put in eight hours’ worth of ‘me time’, which will include my family, my hobbies, my workout, my everything,” says Anat Lechner, clinical associate professor of management at New York University. “I don’t think it’s such a simple formula.”
C) And, according to new findings, it may not be. Some researchers are now encouraging us to stop thinking about work-life balance as an achievement that you either hit or don’t. Instead, they suggest it may be more of a lifelong process—a continuous, never-ending exercise that requires self-awareness and timely adjustments. Researchers Ioana Lupu and Mayra Ruiz-Castro argue that work-life balance is “a cycle, not an achievement”. In their 2020 study, the researchers interviewed nearly 80 employees at two London-based firms—an equal number of men and women between the ages of 30 and 50, all with at least one dependent child—who worked in middle or senior management roles.
D) Although it sounds like the respondents had a lot in common, here’s what separated them: about 30% of the men and 50% of the women reported resisting working long hours. The other respondents, meanwhile, all worked long hours because they thought that’s what successful professionals should do.
E) Lupu and Ruiz-Castro looked at those who rejected the long hours and they found that those workers actually had strikingly similar strategies for maintaining their work-life balance. They had a tendency to reflect and question assumptions in the name of self-awareness and regularly took steps to adjust the things standing in their way to work-life balance.
F) Lupu and Ruiz-Castro identified five steps that the respondents in the study who had better work-life balance used in their jobs. First, they paused and reconsidered beliefs such as “I’m a professional, so I should work, work, work”, and asked themselves questions like, “What’s currently causing me stress?” Second, after identifying the cause, they zeroed in on their resultant emotions. Did they feel angry, sad, energised? Third, they reprioritised, asking “Is working long hours really worth cutting back on family time?”, for example. Fourth, they considered their alternatives: is there anything at work that could be changed to accommodate these new priorities? And finally, they implemented changes, like asking their supervisor for greater flexibility, or deciding not to take on every project that comes their way.
G) This five-step process is something anyone can adopt. Going through the steps, and constantly checking in with yourself can help you shift and adapt your professional life to something that will better harmonise with your personal one. “Awareness of your emotional state is essential in order to determine the changes you want to make in your work and in your life,” says Lupu.
H) New York University’s Lechner agrees that finding that balance is an ongoing pursuit. It’s not simply about dividing up the hours in your day between work, the gym, kids and chores. If the underlying emotional sources of stress are still there, then the time you actually spend at home may not be enjoyable. “We come home and even though physically we are there, mentally we still may be processing things that happened at work. We’re not present,” she says. What we call “work-life balance” is actually just a substitute for having a sense of fulfillment and contentment.
I) Of course, finding that balance probably shouldn’t be something you have to do by yourself. Research by Erin Kelly, professor of work and organisation studies at MIT, shows companies and managers can play a key role in creating a better environment for workers. For her book Overload: How Good Jobs Went Bad and What to Do about It, she and co-author Phyllis Moen split more than 1,000 employees at a Fortune 500 company into two groups, one that worked under a management redesign and one that continued working within the existing management structure.
J) Under the management redesign, many steps were taken to ensure better work-life balance and prevent burnout. Managers were regularly reminded to explicitly support their employees. Workers were allowed to make changes, like cancelling 9 am meetings. All of this was done in the name of increasing job satisfaction and giving workers greater flexibility, and to assure workers that it was something management was committed to. Unsurprisingly, Kelly and Moen found that employees in the redesign group reported less stress and less burnout. They were less likely to quit their jobs; indeed, over the next four years, they were 40% less likely to quit than those who kept working under the old policies.
K) “Work-life balance is understood to be an individual’s response, so people think ‘it’s up to me to manage the craziness of my work life’”, says Kelly. But organisations need to examine the demands they’re placing on employees. “The root problem is not how the two pieces of work and life come together. It’s that we have unrealistic expectations of what we’re asked to do on the work side.” If your workplace isn’t an environment where work-life balance is possible in the first place, any effort you attempt to make toward it on a personal level will be in vain.
L) That’s a conversation that appears to be gathering pace. The new prevalence of remote and flexible working models will likely all play important roles in how we balance our professional and personal lives. And if it seems like finding that perfect balance remains difficult to achieve, the experts say that keeping some perspective can help. For millions of people, work is about being able to put food on the table. Talking about work-life balance “is a very privileged conversation”, says Lechner. “If we’re reflecting, maybe we should also reflect on that.”
36. According to a management expert, work-life balance is not as simple as giving equal amounts of time to work and personal life.
37. Research found that those who are given greater flexibility at work are less stressed and more likely to stay in their jobs.
38. Workers who rejected working long hours tended to make regular adjustments in order to achieve work-life balance.
39. Talking about work-life balance is said to be a privilege reserved for the better-off, not for those who barely make a living.
40. Knowing one’s emotional state is of utmost importance in deciding what changes to make for a better work-life balance.
41. More female professionals reported being reluctant to work overtime than their male counterparts.
42. Without organisational support, any personal effort to maintain work-life balance will be unsuccessful.
43. The question of how to achieve work-life balance has long been the main subject of discussion among workers.
44. You may not actually experience emotional wellbeing at home if you remain occupied with what happened at work.
45. Some researchers suggest that work-life balance is not a goal to achieve, but a process for life to be adjusted promptly.
1
And Morrison was not unique in this regard.
Such literary accomplishments highlight an important point. Our capacity to speak, write and learn new vocabulary does not seem to comprehend with age.
[C, usually singular, U]the ability to understand or to do sth 领悟（或理解、办事）能力intellectual capacity
智能
~ for sth
She has an enormous capacity for hard work.
她特别能吃苦耐劳。
~ for doing sth
Limited resources are restricting our capacity for developing new products.
有限的资源正制约着我们开发新产品的能力。
~ to do sth
your capacity to enjoy life
你那享受生活乐趣的能力
The weakening of the human connection to nature might be good for economic growth but is bad for people. A tipping point was reached in 2020 when human-made materials — such as steel, concrete and plastic — were found to weigh more than all life on Earth. Continuing to grow concrete forests rather than real ones is shortsighted. Simply being in the nearest wood has such health benefits that the Woodland Trust successfully lobbied for it to be prescribed by doctors.
[T, I]~ (sb) (for/against sth)to try to influence a politician or the government and, for example, persuade them to support or oppose a change in the law 游说（从政者或政府）Farmers will lobby Congress for higher subsidies.
农民将游说国会提高对农业的补贴。
Women’s groups are lobbying to get more public money for children.
妇女组织在游说政府，要求增加对儿童的拨款。
Yet slipping from popular culture is the wonder and beauty of the natural world. For every three nature-related words in hit songs of the 1950s, researchers found, there was only slightly more than one 50 years later. It is not a moment too soon that teenagers will be able to take a natural history test given that for decades children have been able to name more video game characters than wildlife species. Part of remedying this social disease would be for parliament to pass a “right to grow” law, allowing anyone to turn underused public spaces into vegetable and fruit gardens. The idea is for people to get back in touch with the soil — while producing food sustainably. Vegetable planting has a respectable tradition. In April 1649, locals responded to high prices and food shortages by cultivating vegetables on common land in Southern England. The practice of throwing seed bombs to turn vacant plots of land green took off in 1970s New York, and has been revived (使复活) by green-thumbed (有园艺才能的) social media influencers who defy local US regulations in a war on ugly spots in cities. Apart from the urgent task of providing more healthy nutrients to those who increasingly can’t afford them. Publicly accessible fruit and vegetable gardens connect what we eat to where it comes from—the means of production, if you will. They can make unlovely spaces lovely, and marry use and beauty as well as help promote a sense of community.
[T]~ sth and/to/with sth(formal) to combine two different things, ideas, etc. successfully （使不同的事物、观点等）相结合，结合在一起 SYN uniteThe music business marries art and commerce.
音乐行业将艺术和商业结合在一起。
Plants are also, of course, our first defense against species loss and climate change. Such planting is a small step for humanity — in the right direction.
2
Engineering in the U.S. has long been a male-dominated profession. Fifty years ago, it looked like that might change.
In 1970, the percentage of women majoring in engineering was less than 1%. In 1979, that number was 9%. Many hoped women would continue to enter the field at the same rate. But that’s not what happened. Today, only 21% of engineering majors are women, a number largely unchanged since 2000.
I am a historian who, along with my colleagues, surveyed 251 women engineers who graduated from college in the 1970s. These pioneers reflected on the challenges they faced — and had advice for women entering the field today.
One survey taker explained, “The greatest challenge for me was continuing to believe in myself, when all the messages I was getting were that I would never be taken seriously or promoted or given raises at the same rate as men, who were clearly less qualified and not as smart as I was.”
A chemical engineer who worked in manufacturing agreed, “You have to prove yourself just because you are female. And you have to work twice as hard!”
A civil engineer said, “We are ‘women engineers.’ People don’t refer to a man as a ‘man engineer’ — he’s an engineer. We are constantly reminded that we don’t truly belong.” Another civil engineer stated, “On many levels, you’re never quite one of the groups.”
Women also talked about family caregiving responsibilities. A retired vice president from a major chemical company stated, “Young women engineers are on an equal footing until they have children, then they struggle to balance work and family—and compete with men who don’t have the same household responsibilities.”
But over the years, things have changed a lot. Young women engineers are more accepted mostly because there are just more of them. Many women engineers hailed the benefits of their chosen career. A program manager in manufacturing stated that engineering is the best degree. A mechanical engineer said, “It will give you the flexibility to do almost anything. It is also satisfying to see the effects of what you have done.”
One survey taker says (that) her greatest challenge was X.
-
What does one survey taker(=survey participant) say was her greatest challenge?
A) Not to feel superior to less qualified male engineers.
B) Not to take seriously all the messages she was getting.
C) Not to think highly of her qualifications when promoted or given a pay raise.
D) Not to lose self-confidence though constantly discouraged or unfairly treated. -
What probably makes young women engineers more accepted nowadays?
A) Their success in gaining an equal footing.
C) The change in their responsibilities.
B) Their ability to balance work and family.
D) The increase in their number. -
What can we conclude about many female engineers from the statement of a mechanical engineer?
A) They take great pride in their chosen career.
B) They have reaped the benefits of being flexible.
C) They enjoy doing engineering to the best degree.
D) They have proved capable of doing almost anything.
[U, sing.]a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction that you get when you or people who are connected with you have done sth well or own sth that other people admire 自豪；骄傲；得意感
The sight of her son graduating filled her with pride.
看到儿子毕业她充满了自豪。
~ (in sth)
I take (a) pride in my work.
我为自己的工作感到骄傲。
~ (in doing sth)
We take great pride in offering the best service in town.
我们以能够提供全城最好的服务而自豪。
I looked with pride at what I had achieved.
回顾过去的成就，我感到十分光荣。
Success in sport is a source of national pride.
体育成就是民族自豪的源泉。
TRANSALTION
中国政府十分重视环境保护。近年来,中国在减少空气、水和土壤污染上取得了显著成效。为了不断改善人们的生活 环境,中国采取了一系列有效措施,包括大力发展清洁能源,改善公共交通,推广共享单车,实施垃圾分类。通过这些 措施,中国的城市和农村正在绿起来、美起来。中国还积极参与国际合作,为全球环境保护做出了重要贡献。
The Chinese government has been paying attention greatly to the environment protection. In recent years, China has made significant contributions to reduce the pollution of air, water and soil. In order to improve people’s live environment, China implemented a series of policies, including developing vigorously cleaning energy improving public transportation, promoting public bicycles, implementing trash sorting. By applying these methods, Chinese cities and rural areas are becoming beautiful and looking more natural. China is also engaged with international cooperation, contributing to the world’s environment protection greatly.
The Chinese government places great emphasis on environmental protection. In recent years, China has made remarkable progress in reducing air, water, and soil pollution. To continuously enhance people’s living environment, China has implemented a series of effective measures, such as vigorously developing clean energy, improving public transportation, promoting shared cycling, and introducing garbage classification. Through these initiatives, China’s cities and rural areas are becoming greener and more beautiful. Additionally, China actively participates in international cooperation, making significant contributions to global environmental protection.