The Fullness of Time
Most of us think we have very little time, but the truth is we actually have a lot - on average, five hours 49 minutes each day, which means we typically have somewhere between 36 and 40 hours available to be spent every
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week however we want. So why don’t we feel time - rich? 67
One is that we earn more, so time feels more expensive. Then there’s the
way we’ve come to see busyness as a status symbol: important people are busy, so we want to be busy, too. Add to that the flood of incoming emails and texts, along with the endless ocean of possibilities, and it’s easy to see where time goes.
A second factor is the comparison we make between what we can do and what
others are doing, making us anxious. 68 This fools us into thinking we’re being more productive with our work time, so we try to do it with our leisure time, too. When we’re playing with out kids, we check Facebook. When we’re hanging out with one group of friends, we post pictures to show another. This is something sociologists call ‘polluted time’.
We’re also addicted to our devices. In 2007, the amount of leisure time we
spent on devices like smart- phones could be measured in minutes. Now, we spend on average 3.5 hours a day online. 69
You might be wondering why you need help deciding how to spend your free
time -- after all you know the sort of things you enjoy, so what could be so difficult? Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has a surprising opinion on it. “The popular assumption is that no skills are involved in enjoying free time, anybody can do it. Yet the evidence suggests the opposite; free time is more difficult to enjoy than work.” Worryingly, scientists have found that people are often no happier after a holiday than if they’d never taken one. 70 The question still remains unsettled.
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Ⅳ.Summary Writing
Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.
Cryptocurrency（加密货币
）
Making payments online is very easy these days if you have a credit card or a bank card that used a payment network. Sending money online to a friend, you have to use a payment service like Google Pay or PayPal, or make a bank transfer. However, there is usually a significant delay before the receiver can use the money, and transfers can have sizeable fees.
In 2008, a group of people published a paper describing a process that would use crypto-graph（密码学）
to create a secure electronic cash system, known as a cryptocurrency. Person - to - person payments could be made online using a shared network of computers instead of a bank or other financial organization. Each transaction could happen very quickly. The shared network of computers would also serve as the means to confirm those transactions safely. Getting rid of the need for a centralized banking system would open up the possibility for anyone to become part of the digital economy.
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Today, there are over a thousand different cryptocurrencies. Most are still trying to be valid global payment systems like Bitcoin. They are held back by problems affecting the entire cryptocurrency industry. One issue is weak security on cryptocurrency websites where users either store their electronic cash. The websites are struggling to protect their users from such thefts.
Another problem is the large number of false cryptocurrencies advertised on the Internet. The advertisements invite Internet users to visit websites offering new cryptocurrencies. Many visitors are persuaded to buy their cryptocurrencies using actual money. Later, the websites disappear along with the victims’ money. In response to this problem, companies like Facebook and Google are limiting cryptocurrency advertising on their websites.
Ⅴ. Translation
Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets.
72. 我真的应该为自己失礼的行为向你道歉。(owe)
73. 我表哥每天步行一小时去单位，不为省钱，为了保持健康。(but)
74. 医生建议不要口渴了才喝水，而且要多喝白开水，而不是果汁或可口可乐。(before) 75. 这家网站常年以爆料名人的隐私来满足大家的好奇心，真令人不齿！(It)
Ⅵ. Guided Writing
Directions: Write an English composition in 120 - 150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.
假如你是李华，今年暑假在一家老年医疗中心当了一个星期的志愿者。请给你的朋友王平写一封信， 与其分享本次经历。你的信必须包括：
? 你的所见所闻
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