Community Learning HubA free program sponsored by the City Public Library SystemThe Community Learning Hub is a new initiative that transforms local libraries into dynamic education centers. Open to residents of all ages, the program aims to make lifelong learning accessible to everyone, regardless of background or income.What We OfferDigital Skills Workshops: From basic computer operation to advanced coding, our volunteer instructors provide one-on-one guidance. Devices are provided free of charge during sessions. Due to limited equipment, all participants need to complete advance registration after obtaining membership cards.Language Exchange Program: Practice conversation with native speakers in over 15 languages. Small group sessions are held twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.Career Support Services: Participants can receive professional guidance on résumé writing, online job applications, and interview preparation.Cultural Access Pass: Hub members can reserve free single-entry admission tickets to the City Museum, Science Center, and Botanical Gardens every month.How to JoinMembership is free and open to all city residents. Applicants simply need to visit any branch library with proof of address to apply for a Hub membership card. Most workshops require advance sign-up due to limited space.Additional InformationThe Hub operates during regular library hours. A complete weekly workshop schedule is posted on the library’s official website and at each branch. For residents unable to attend in-person sessions, selected workshops are available for live online viewing after the on-site courses end.21. What can participants do through the Cultural Access Pass?A. Enjoy free borrowing service across all city public librariesB. Take unlimited free native-speaker language coursesC. Visit certain local cultural attractions free of admission feesD. Gain permanent access to all online workshop resources22. What is a necessary preparation for Digital Skills Workshops participants?A. Pay small fees to rent electronic learning devicesB. Finish a fundamental computer course ahead of timeC. Own previous practical coding experienceD. Obtain Hub membership and sign up ahead of schedule23. What is the main purpose of the text?A. To inform local citizens of a cost-free community learning projectB. To persuade the government to fund local public library developmentC. To compare various adult-oriented lifelong learning channelsD. To recruit volunteer tutors for ongoing community courses
B（记叙文｜社区垂直花园的价值）
When Sara Méndez first proposed covering the bare outer walls of her apartment building with layered green plants, her nearby neighbors remained deeply skeptical. "They thought it would attract annoying insects and end up looking untidy," she recalls. That was three years ago. Today, the vertical garden she spent months building has transformed not only the building’s outer appearance but also the whole community’s attitudes toward limited urban green space.Méndez, a professional landscape designer by training, launched the whole project relying on her personal savings and financial donations from a nearby environmental group. The installation work was physically exhausting: workers needed professional climbing tools, complete irrigation systems, and careful selection of plant species adaptable to local hot summers and cold winters. Yet the final outcomes far exceeded all early expectations. Within several months, the indoor temperature of ground-floor apartments dropped noticeably in hot summer days, cutting residents’ monthly spending on air conditioning. Neighbors also found that continuous highway noise nearby was largely absorbed by thick plant leaves.What Méndez had never predicted was the powerful social value hidden behind these green walls. Neighbors who barely exchanged greetings before gradually gathered together to take turns watering and trimming plants. Local kids with little interest in natural science started asking questions about plant growth and small insects living among the leaves. "It turned into a shared community mission," Méndez says. "Neighbors living side by side for years began cooperating closely on daily garden maintenance."Urban ecologists point out that such wall gardens bring benefits beyond environmental improvement. While vertical greenery effectively improves urban air quality and eases the urban heat island effect, its ability to strengthen community bonds carries equal social value. As global cities struggle with widespread citizen loneliness, Méndez’s plant-covered wall offers a practical and inspiring solution.24. What was neighbors’ initial attitude toward Méndez’s garden plan?A. They donated money to support the project right awayB. They held doubts about its possible downsidesC. They showed strong passion for urban vertical gardeningD. They worried the plants would destroy the building structure25. What positive environmental influence does the vertical garden bring to the apartment building?A. Residents no longer need to use air conditioning in summerB. Traffic noise from adjacent roads gets completely blockedC. Ground-floor room temperature sees a remarkable decrease in hot seasonsD. The whole building’s market price rises sharply after green transformation26. Which unexpected reward surprised Méndez most about the garden project?A. It pulled previously unfamiliar neighborhood residents closer togetherB. Household spending on cooling equipment dropped sharply in summerC. Various rare local plants successfully survived tough local climateD. Local environmental organizations offered unexpected financial aid27. What is the best title for the text?A. Urban Green Projects: An Easy Way to Cut Household Energy CostB. A Wall of Green Plants That Builds Up a Whole CommunityC. Sara Méndez: The Lifelong Career of a Famous Landscape DesignerD. Vertical Gardens: An Effective Cure for City Air Pollution
C（说明文｜心理学：期待效应与蔡格尼克效应）
Why do certain performers keep steady performance under pressure while others fail to reach their real ability? Increasing psychological research indicates that individual performance gaps result not merely from natural talent or adequate preparation, but from fixed mental thinking modes formed before people start a specific task.One influential mental rule lies in the expectation effect. Researchers prove that personal prediction can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy via two separate paths. The first is behavioral influence: a student convinced of exam failure may purposely cut study hours and eventually bring about the bad result. The second is interpretive bias: during tests, such students tend to regard teachers’ neutral facial expressions as disappointment signals, raising inner anxiety and furthercompromisingtheir on-site performance. In both cases, final results depend more on subjective expectation than on personal real competence.Another influential psychological rule is the Zeigarnik effect, referring to people’s tendency to keep unfinished tasks lingering in mind longer than completed work. Though this mental mechanism helps remind people of pending work, it has obvious drawbacks. When numerous tasks remain unfinished, accumulated mental stress will damage people’s focus on ongoing work. Stuck in repeatedly recalling incomplete matters, human brains can hardly concentrate fully on present assignments.Practical guidance can be concluded from the above two rules. Dividing huge tasks into small achievable goals effectively relieves Zeigarnik-effect-caused mental pressure. Meanwhile, forming realistic and positive expectations instead of blind over-optimism helps break negative self-anticipation circles. As one researcher puts it, "Humans are not controlled passively by inner mental habits. Understanding the working rules of our mind is the first step to make psychological features serve us."28. What can we learn from Paragraph 1 about varied performances under pressure?A. It mainly comes from natural talent and sufficient daily preparationB. It originates from pre-task mental thinking patternsC. Recent studies prove psychological factors barely affect performanceD. Training time difference leads to most performance gaps29. What’s the closest meaning of the underlined word "compromising" in Paragraph 2?A. demonstrating B. weakening C. evaluating D. rewarding30. What negative effect of the Zeigarnik effect is mentioned in the text?A. It makes people forget finished assignments rapidlyB. It stops people starting any brand-new tasks totallyC. People become over-confident about their unfinished targetsD. Unfinished tasks distract people and reduce focus on current work31. What practical advice does the text put forward?A. Split big tasks into small parts and keep reasonable self-confidenceB. Never set any expectation ahead of important challengesC. Finish all listed tasks continuously without short breaksD. Only concentrate on finished tasks and ignore future plans
D（议论文｜AI发展与人类认知保护）
Discussions about artificial intelligence have long fallen into extreme arguments. Tech enthusiasts hold the view that advanced AI will tackle global tough challenges ranging from serious illnesses to climate warming. On the opposite side, alarmists warn of massive job losses and potential long-term risks to human existence. However, this polarized argument ignores an urgent hidden change: AI is quietly transforming human’s natural thinking modes day by day.Such transformation has already taken place, having nothing to do with futuristic super-intelligent robots. Gradually, people outsource many traditional cognitive jobs to digital tools. Navigation applications replace people’s ability to judge directions via spatial sense; search engines free us from memorizing and sorting facts; AI writing tools substitute the tough process of organizing scattered thoughts into coherent articles. Every single digital tool seems harmless and convenient, but collectively, they bring a worrying question: what will happen if human brains stop practicing core cognitive abilities?Psychologists name such phenomenon "skill erosion", meaning the gradual decline of abilities without regular daily practice. Similar worries date back to Socrates, who feared written words would weaken human memory. What makes the modern situation unique is the faster speed and wider coverage of ability loss. Instead of losing single small skills, people lose whole categories of cognitive competence. Without independent navigation practice, people lose not only map-reading skills but overall environmental spatial awareness; over-reliance on AI writing makes people lose both sentence-building skills and the ability to polish thoughts via writing.Nevertheless, rejecting all AI tools completely is neither practical nor wise. Experts suggest a solution called cognitive preservation: actively practice skills replaced by AI while making good use of digital convenience. For instance, try reading maps without GPS occasionally or draft important articles manually before turning to AI for polishing. The core goal is not competing against machine advantages but protecting unique human cognitive features.32. What is the author’s concern about current AI-related discussions?A. Debaters split into two extreme sides and overlook immediate mental transformationB. People underestimate AI’s upcoming superintelligent development speedC. Most arguments overemphasize tech unemployment’s economic lossesD. Discussions pay too little attention to AI’s future potential advantages33. What does "skill erosion" in Paragraph 3 refer to?A. Gradual loss of abilities due to lack of regular practiceB. Companies replacing human workers with intelligent machines purposelyC. Rapid ability improvement brought by various digital trainingD. Some people refusing advanced technology on purpose34. What is the author’s suggestion to deal with skill erosion?A. Abandon all intelligent digital tools thoroughlyB. Develop more advanced AI to finish all complicated mental workC. Use AI properly meanwhile consciously keep core human skills activeD. Only develop practical abilities popular in present job markets35. What is the best title for the text?A. AI’s Bright Future: Great Help for Entire Human CivilizationB. Beyond Polarized AI Debates: Safeguard Human Unique Thinking AbilityC. Skill Erosion: How Modern Tech Makes Human Brains SmarterD. A Brief History of Human Resistance Against Emerging New Tech
第二套·2024年真题对应定稿版
A（应用文｜户外探险夏令营招生）
Full-Day Adventure CampAges: 8-14Dates: July 10-28, Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.Sessions: Week 1 (July 10-14), Week 2 (July 17-21), Week 3 (July 24-28)Fee: $385 per week; families can sign up for any single week or continuous weeks.Registration Deadline: All applications must be submitted before July 1.Cancellation Policy: Full payment refund is available for cancellations before June 20; no refund will be provided for withdrawals after the date.Camp StructureThe daily schedule includes two themed age-group activities: 3-hour morning outdoor exploration (8:30-11:30), a supervised lunch break, another 3-hour afternoon adventure (12:30-3:30), and a daily sharing session from 3:30 to 4:30. Short snack breaks are arranged within each activity period. All campers are required to prepare packed lunch and two daily snacks by themselves.Camp ActivitiesAll activities focus on outdoor nature practice, aiming to cultivate teamwork, creative problem-solving and environmental awareness. Tasks including mountain hiking, wild animal observation, outdoor handcrafts and basic survival skills are adjusted to match children’s different cognitive levels. No prior outdoor experience is required for enrollment.Camp StaffAll instructors hold official outdoor educator certificates and have received professional first-aid and water-safety training. A fixed coach-child ratio of 1:6 is adopted to guarantee personalized guidance and full-time safety protection.21. What rule should campers follow concerning daily food arrangement?A. Bring homemade lunch and extra snacks every single dayB. Buy all daily meals from camp in-house dining hallC. Order outside takeout food freely during lunch hourD. Receive free camp-provided snacks during activity breaks22. What can we learn about the camp activities?A. Previous outdoor experience is a must for participantsB. Activity contents are tailored for kids of different agesC. Most programs focus on competitive sports matchesD. Main activities are carried out inside fixed rooms23. Where is the text most probably taken from?A. Parenting blog reviewing local summer campsB. Official government youth fitness research reportC. School internal notice about student holiday plansD. Promotional brochure for a summer outdoor project
B（记叙文｜天文观测与文学思维的融合）
When Mr. Chen, a high school literature teacher, first took his students to the school’s newly-built astronomical observatory, he only expected this activity to serve as a short break from tedious poetry learning. Unexpectedly, that night’s star-watching experience completely changed his classroom teaching logic.Students queued to watch Saturn’s rings and lunar craters through the telescope, and their usual noisy chatting turned into quiet amazement. The biggest transformation showed up in the next week’s poetry class. While analyzing a poem describing loneliness, one student shared her insight: "Staring at stars makes us feel tiny but connected to all human beings around us." Other classmates fully agreed with her opinion.This unexpected link between cosmic watching and literary understanding drove Mr. Chen to conduct relevant research. Cognitive scientists name such mental shift the overview effect: people break self-centered thinking and build a sense of shared humanity after changing their viewpoints. Initially discovered among astronauts overlooking Earth from space, this effect can also be triggered via accessible ways including astronomy courses and in-depth literary reading.Excellent literary works follow the same logic. Instead of providing a fixed single explanation, great poems and novels guide readers to step out of personal daily troubles and stand in others’ shoes. From Mr. Chen’s new viewpoint, telescopes and literary texts serve as identical tools helping people go beyond personal limited vision. His later classes combine astronomical knowledge and poetry appreciation to developperspective-taking: the ability to realize that personal opinion is never the only reasonable interpretation of things.24. What was Mr. Chen’s original expectation of the observatory visit?A. A temporary escape from regular textbook studyB. A systematic school-based scientific researchC. An effective way to lift students’ astronomy gradesD. A new pre-designed teaching method combining science and poetry25. What does the word "perspective-taking" in the last paragraph mean?A. Mastery of operating various optical observation toolsB. Professional skills of analyzing complicated literary worksC. Blind acceptance of all other people’s different viewpointsD. The competence to understand opinions from alternative standpoints26. In Mr. Chen’s opinion, what is the shared value of telescopes and literature?A. Deliver accurate objective facts about outer spaceB. Inspire people to think beyond personal daily concernsC. Help readers escape unpleasant real-life troubles completelyD. Require long-time professional training to be fully appreciated27. What is the best title for the text?A. Astronomy Courses Become Mandatory in Literature ClassB. How Telescope Equipment Improves Students’ Exam ScoresC. Beyond Personal Sight: Cosmic Exploration Connects with Literary UnderstandingD. Hidden Scientific Rules Behind Classical Literature Works
C（说明文｜历史教育对青少年心理的治愈价值）
Latest nationwide survey reveals that nearly half of high school teenagers suffer from persistent sadness or hopelessness that disrupts their normal daily study, a striking increase compared with data from ten years ago. Schools have first chosen to enrich mental health counseling resources as an essential emergency measure; meanwhile, more educators begin to reflect on the missing curriculum elements that contribute to teenagers’ mental crisis.Many educators point out that the missing part is practical history education, rather than mechanical memorization of historical dates and facts. When students learn how ordinary ancestors survived economic depressions, destructive wars and natural disasters, they gain valuable experience rarely acquired from short-form social media: personal suffering never belongs to a single generation, and human beings have long possessed the ability to overcome hardships.Researchers define such teaching mode as historical perspective-building: realizing that personal troubles are part of human history can effectively ease individual loneliness. Students burdened with heavy academic pressure gain comfort from learning about young predecessors who faced even tougher challenges. History conveys a core message: one’s struggle is a common experience for humans rather than unique misfortune.Critics reasonably remind us that history education cannot replace professional psychological treatment, and the two forms of assistance should cooperate closely. Even so, many education advocates argue that modern curricula overemphasize practical vocational and digital skills while ignoring history’s unique mental healing value for teenagers trapped in a sense of personal misfortune. As one historian puts it, "History records human’s shared experience of joys and pains, which naturally comforts youngsters stuck in negative feelings."28. What problem does the opening survey indicate?A. A worrying worsening trend in teenagers’ mental healthB. A severe shortage of professional teen mental care workersC. A serious lack of qualified history teachers nationwideD. Students’ declining interest in digital skill courses29. How does history education benefit teenagers mentally?A. Help students memorize massive historical dates and factsB. Train students to become professional psychological consultantsC. Make teens realize personal troubles are part of shared human experienceD. Distract students’ negative feelings by telling historical stories30. Why does the author mention social media in Paragraph 2?A. Social media supplies healthy stress-relief resources for teensB. Historical learning offers a viewpoint missing from short online contentC. Schools should encourage more daily social media usageD. Modern social media has made traditional history lessons useless31. What is the author’s overall attitude toward history’s mental-help function?A. Fully opposed and regard it as useless replacementB. Fully convinced history can take the place of clinical therapyC. Optimistic about its value meanwhile aware of its limitsD. Remain neutral without any personal preference
D（书评类议论文｜数字时代的注意力危机）
In the flood of books discussing the influences of digital development, most fall into two fixed categories: optimistic works forecasting a tech-driven bright future and pessimistic ones warning of human ability decline.The Attention Rebellion: Reclaiming Focus in an Age of Distraction, written by cognitive scientist Dr. Lena Voss, stands out from these two extreme genres with solid research analysis. It analyzes the prevalent problem of modern attention loss and puts forward practical, research-based improvement methods.Voss’s core argument is realistic and down-to-earth. While tech companies keep promoting futuristic concepts including AGI and the metaverse, ordinary users are gradually losing sustained focus, an essential ability that supports all human creation. Based on twenty years of tracking research, the average time people can stay focused on a single screen task has dropped to merely 47 seconds. Suchfragmentedattention is not an accidental side effect but a deliberately designed feature of the attention economy to gain commercial profits.The book’s most persuasive chapters analyze the changes in reading habits under fragmented attention. Plenty of research proves that screen reading leads to poorer content understanding than paper reading. Voss further explores the root cause: the digital environment is filled with constant disturbances such as pop-up notifications and jumping links. Constantly preparing for unexpected interruptions makes readers’ brains tend to skim information rather than absorb content deeply.Voss provides solutions for both individuals and society. On a personal level, readers can set digital-free days and practice focus-training exercises. On a social level, she calls for attention environmentalism, urging relevant institutions to formulate rules to limit product designs that intentionally split human focus. Instead of advising readers to abandon smartphones entirely, this book helps people understand the sources of distraction and fight against them rationally.32. What makes Voss’s book different from most other digital-themed works?A. It analyzes real existing losses rather than speculative future guessesB. It fully believes technological development will benefit humansC. It mainly predicts upcoming high-tech industry breakthroughsD. It centers all discussion around artificial intelligence development33. What is the closest meaning of the underlined word "fragmented" in Paragraph 2?A. analyzed B. expanded C. split up D. protected34. According to Voss, what essentially causes poor deep reading on digital devices?A. Low screen display quality of mainstream electronic equipmentB. Widespread disruptive culture embedded in the digital ecosystemC. Shortage of high-quality digital reading materials onlineD. High purchase cost of e-books and reading tablets35. What is the best title for the text?A. AI Future: Paradise or Disastrous EndingB. Lena Voss: Complete Life Story of a Brain ScientistC. Paper vs Screen: Full History of Human Reading EvolutionD. Escape Constant Distraction: A Book Exploring Modern Attention Crisis
第三套·2023年真题对应定稿版
A（应用文｜图书馆青少年志愿者招募）
Teen Volunteer Program | City Public Library SystemProgram OverviewOpen to students aged 14-18, this volunteer project enables teenagers to gain practical work experience while serving the local community. Volunteers assist with daily library operations, organize reading courses for children, and prepare various community-themed events. New volunteer intakes take place every September, January and June throughout the year. Applications for the June intake close on May 15.Volunteer RolesReading Buddies: Provide one-on-one reading guidance for children aged 5-10; all new volunteers will receive professional literacy training before taking up their posts.Event Assistants: Help organize guest-speaker lectures, regular book clubs and seasonal festival activities, including guest reception and material preparation.Tech Helpers: Guide elderly visitors to operate e-readers and search for books via the library’s online resource system.Requirements & CommitmentApplicants are required to write a short personal statement and obtain a teacher’s recommendation via the official reference form. Accepted volunteers must serve at least two hours per week for no less than three months and attend a half-day pre-service orientation before starting work.How to ApplyApplication forms are available on the library’s official website and at every branch service desk. For further questions, send emails to volunteer@citylibrary.org.21. What is the main duty of Event Assistants?A. Give face-to-face reading tutoring to little kidsB. Assist preparation for speeches and seasonal community activitiesC. Teach seniors how to search books through online databaseD. Design library’s offline promotional posters22. What requirement should applicants meet?A. Previous experience working with young childrenB. Pay registration fees for volunteer qualificationC. Get teacher’s recommendation via official reference documentD. Promise five-hour weekly service at minimum23. Where does the text most probably appear?A. Government youth employment investigation reportB. College textbook focusing on library managementC. Academic journal about adolescent growth researchD. Local community bulletin or official library webpage
B（记叙文｜校园菜园的育人价值）
When Greenview High School first launched its student-run school garden, school leaders only viewed it as an economical way to cut the cafeteria’s fresh vegetable purchasing costs by growing edible crops on unused campus land. However, social studies teacher Ms. Rivera discovered far greater educational value in this small field: an open-air classroom that integrates economics, agricultural history and interpersonal cooperation beyond printed textbooks.The garden initially consisted of six planting beds on a neglected corner of the school campus. Club participants had diverse motivations: some were sincere nature lovers, while others joined merely to enrich their college application resumes. Yet obvious changes took place after the first tomatoes and carrots sprouted from the soil. Students who once paid no attention to food sources began to raise in-depth social questions: why doproduce scarcity zonesexist where people can hardly access affordable fresh vegetables? How has large-scale commercial agriculture affected small traditional farming communities?Ms. Rivera soon combined garden practice with regular social study courses. Students connect on-site planting troubles such as pest invasions and unexpected bad weather with historical events including the Dust Bowl and early farm worker labor movements. Students who were inactive in textbook-based learning gain real experience of historical hardships through daily planting challenges.Two years later, the number of planting beds has expanded to twelve, and the waiting list for club admission keeps growing. Nevertheless, Ms. Rivera’s greatest satisfaction never comes from rich harvests. She is proud to see quiet freshmen confidently share soil pH knowledge and once silent students heatedly discuss compost plans. "This garden produces more than seasonal vegetables; it cultivates responsible citizens who are closely connected to the land and the local community."24. What was the school’s original purpose of building the student garden?A. Cut fresh food spending for school dining serviceB. Turn the garden into core part of official school curriculumC. Attract large amounts of outside social financial supportD. Carry out Ms. Rivera’s unique educational design25. What unexpected positive influence does the garden bring to students?A. They devote more energy into prestigious college applicationB. They start thinking over wider social and economic issuesC. Students master advanced indoor soilless planting skillsD. Students totally lose interest in traditional textbook classes26. What does "produce scarcity zones" in Paragraph 2 refer to?A. Areas hard to get affordable fresh farm produceB. Regions focusing only on one single crop plantingC. Land with poor soil leading to constant crop failureD. Communities refusing to buy fresh local agricultural goods27. What is the best title for the text?A. Traditional School Courses Gradually Lose PopularityB. Ms. Rivera: An Agriculture-Focused Teacher’s Life StoryC. Economic Benefits Brought by Student-Run School FarmsD. Beyond Vegetable Harvest: A School Garden Cultivates Qualified Citizens
C（说明文｜人类累积文化与棘轮效应）
What makes human beings biologically unique among all earth creatures? For decades, people believed the answer was outstanding individual intelligence. However, recent interdisciplinary research covering biology and anthropology points to another core human advantage: cumulative culture—the ability to inherit predecessors’ wisdom and continuously improve relevant knowledge from generation to generation.Evolutionary scientists conducted a puzzle-box experiment to compare human children with chimpanzees, humans’ closest genetic relatives. The box requires multi-step operations to open and obtain the snacks inside, with later steps relying on the completion of previous ones. While chimpanzees can solve single simple puzzles skillfully, none can finish complete multi-stage tasks, lacking the ability to accumulate progressive experience. In contrast, human children can quickly learn full operational steps by watching demonstrations and pass on mastered skills to their peers.Researchers name this progressive improvement theratchet effect, the core driving force behind human civilization progress. It relies on two essential abilities: innovation to create new ideas and faithful social learning to spread existing achievements accurately. Without innovation, no new knowledge can be produced; without reliable knowledge inheritance, valuable inventions will disappear with their creators, forcing later generations to start from scratch. Other animals can occasionally create smart new behaviors but fail to pass down skills steadily to form cumulative culture.This theory has practical significance in the current information-explosion era. When online information spreads casually with distorted details, accurate inheritance and reasonable innovation remain the key to sustainable human social progress. As one researcher summarizes: "Human’s greatest creation is not the wheel or the internet, but the inheritance system that helps people upgrade inventions continuously."28. What is the core finding of the experiment?A. Chimpanzees cannot solve any kinds of puzzle problemsB. Human kids and chimps own identical learning modesC. Kids are capable of cumulative knowledge building unlike chimpanzeesD. Chimps prefer complicated hidden-food puzzle boxes29. What does "ratchet effect" in Paragraph 3 mean?A. Make mechanical rattling noisesB. Lose mastered knowledge gradually over timeC. Divide reward money equally among group membersD. Advance step by step without going backward30. Why is faithful social learning vital for cumulative culture?A. It completely replaces the demand for personal creative innovationB. It preserves valuable discoveries for future further improvementC. It helps test subjects finish puzzles faster than watching demosD. It enables chimpanzees to develop human-level intelligence31. What is the modern implication of cumulative culture?A. It highlights accurate knowledge sharing for sustainable progressB. It mainly supplies solutions to global information overloadC. Modern tech makes cumulative culture less important nowadaysD. The internet ranks as the most valuable human invention ever
D（社科议论文｜群体智慧的适用与局限）
Many organizations firmly believe that group decisions are always superior to individual judgments, so they widely apply the "wisdom of crowds" in board meetings and jury discussions. Plenty of research confirms that groups can outperform individuals under certain circumstances, yet scholars warn that this rule only works under strict preconditions rather than in all scenarios. The core research question is: under what conditions can crowds produce wise decisions?The earliest supporting evidence comes from quantity-estimation experiments. Participants separately guess the weight of an ox or the number of candies in a jar, and the average value of all guesses proves more precise than any single answer, because random personal errors cancel each other out. Such ideal crowd wisdom only exists when all individuals make independent judgments without mutual influence, a condition rarely met in real-world scenarios.Most real-world group discussions break the rule of independent judgment. Participants share opinions face to face before stating their personal views, and the viewpoints of early speakers become an invisibleanchorthat unconsciously guides the judgment of subsequent participants. The final result is repeated similar opinions rather than diverse independent thoughts, forming a false unified consensus.Researchers define this phenomenon as social influence bias, which brings severe practical drawbacks. In a reasoning test experiment, group discussion led to lower final scores: confident but incompetent speakers can easily influence the majority’s choices. The solution is not to cancel group discussions entirely. Instead, collecting private opinions before public discussions and valuing minority opposing voices can effectively avoid the loss of collective intelligence.32. What is the author’s attitude towards the idea that "group decisions are always better"?A. Totally wrong and needs full abandonmentB. Partly reasonable but with obvious applicable limitsC. Only effective inside company board discussionsD. Fully verified by latest social science research33. What is the closest meaning of "anchor" in Paragraph 3?A. Final ruling ending all group discussionB. Minor opinion challenging mainstream consensusC. Safety equipment preventing group argument drifting offD. Initial viewpoint affecting subsequent participants’ judgments34. What damages collective intelligence in group discussions?A. Too many independent-minded group participantsB. Unclear meeting agenda before group discussionC. Early speakers’ ideas overly influence following members’ judgmentD. Excessively tough questions waiting for group solutions35. What is the best title for the text?A. Wisdom of Crowds: When Groups Win or Fail in DecisionsB. Full History of Enterprise Group Decision DevelopmentC. How Social Bias Shapes Company Internal CultureD. Hidden Merits Brought by Group Consensus Building
