Section C Reading in Depth
Read the following passages carefully and then choose the best answer for each question below．
PASSAGE 1
In New Jersey，the charter system is making real estate investors rich．They use federal money to build school buildings，then rent them to charter schools for a hefty profit．The IRS（美国国税局）has stepped in，reviewing the practice．
Across the USA，charter schools face a reckoning．After charters spread rapidly for a generation，under few rules or little oversight in many states，the pace of growth is slowing．Politicians call for more regulation for the schools，which use taxpayer’s money but have private operators．The political winds have shifted as well，killing the kind of bipartisan（两党的）agreements that allowed charter schools to blossom．
Outside Washington，the rollback on charters is well underway．The Los Angeles school board，the nation’s second-largest，called for a statewide moratorium（暂停）on new charter schools．In Minnesota—the first state to legalize charters，in 1991—the growth in schools declined in 2017，even as the number of children attending charters has increased．In Nashville，Tennessee，the school board hasn’t approved a new charter in two years，since anti-charter officials swept into office．Just 355 new charter schools opened nationwide in the 2016-2017 school year，the fewest in a decade，according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools，an advocacy group．
Charters enroll a small proportion of the nation’s public school students：just 6 percent．But the schools have always received outsize attention because they pledged to succeed where other schools failed，particularly in urban centers．They were designed to foster innovation and to offer parents more options beyond traditional schools．
Charter schools are public schools that are privately managed，usually by nonprofit companies．The schools are given freedom from some state rules in exchange for meeting performance targets spelled out in their contract，or charter．Many charters choose to operate longer school days and employ stricter rules around student behavior and academics than what traditional schools can legally enforce．In a number of urban cities，charters have outperformed their public school counterparts，research shows．In other cases，the schools have opened，then closed a couple of years later—or even in the middle of the academic year．Vulnerable students hop from school to school，losing the stability they need．
New rules and accountability measures seek to stop that instability．But the rules stifle people who want to start new schools，some charter proponents say，thwarting the very innovation the schools were designed to foster．
“That’s contrary to the original idea of charter schools，which was to allow citizens or teachers or parents to solicit（征求）expertise or develop their own idea，and then we’d give them flexibility to pursue that idea，”said Jeanne Allen，founder of the Center for Education Reform，a pro-charter group．
Other charter supporters welcome efforts aimed at increasing quality．Todd Ziebarth，a senior vice president at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools，noted that lawmakers in Ohio，Arizona and Texas have taken steps to close chronically underperforming charters．“Many of those schools probably shouldn’t have been open to begin with，”he said．
1．What are charter schools in the U．S facing with currently？
A．Charter schools are popular all over the country．
B．The charter system is under investigation．
C．Charter schools are making great profits for the public．
D．Charter schools are blossoming in some states．
2．What are charter schools supposed to bring to the society？
A．Competition among schools．
B．Political change．
C．Profits to the sponsors．
D．Innovation of the public education．
3．What do the new rules and regulations aim at？
A．stabilizing teaching and learning in charters．
B．instilling charters with the impetus of education reform．
C．making charters more competent than public schools．
D．helping teachers and parents seek flexibility．
4．What can be inferred about the charter schools from the passage？
A．They have been shrinking in the past decade．
B．They have promoted local economic development．
C．They have satisfied the need of some educators and parents．
D．They are available to six percent of urban students．
5．What is the future for charter schools？
A．Gloomy．
B．Unpredictable．
C．Thriving．
D．Promising．
PASSAGE 2
Carmakers have been hit hard by a global_________
Silicon chips are the lifeblood of the tech-obsessed world we live in，but today they’re in short supply．
Demand for these chips，or semiconductors，soared during the Corona-virus pandemic as people panic-bought games consoles（游戏机），laptops and TVs to help get through lockdowns．Now，many of these products—including certain Chrome-book laptops（谷歌笔记本）and next-generation consoles like the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5—are sold out，or subject to lengthy shipping time．
It’s just one of a number of factors that have driven demand for semiconductors，but as supply struggles to keep up，it’s the chip-reliant car industry that has been hit especially hard．
“We have seen in the short term，the automotive industry has been very adversely affected，”Bryce Johnstone，director of automotive segment marketing at chip designer Imagination Technologies，told CNBC（美国全国广播公司财经频道）via email．“This stems from their just-in-time production methodology and their incredibly complicated supply chains．”
Carmakers use semiconductors in everything from power steering and brake sensors，to entertainment systems and parking cameras．The smarter cars get，the more chips they use．
“If the chip that powers the in-car dials or automatic braking is delayed，then so will the rest of the vehicle，”said Johnstone．
U．S．car giant General Motors announced last Wednesday that it is shutting three plants and slowing production at a fourth due to the semiconductor shortage．The Detroit car manufacturer said it could miss its 2021 targets as a result．
“Despite our mitigation efforts，the semiconductor shortage will impact GM production in 2021，”a company spokesman said in a statement．“Semiconductor supply for the global auto industry remains very changeable，”they added．“Our supply chain organization is working closely with our supply base to find solutions for our suppliers’semiconductor requirements and to mitigate impacts on GM．”
Several other car manufacturers have also put production on hold in recent weeks．Honda U．K．’s main plant in Swindon was shut down for several days last month due to a chip shortage，for example．Elsewhere，Ford and Volkswagen have also shut plants or cut production while they wait for supplies to pick up．Ford said in January that it was shutting a factory in Germany for a month，while Volkswagen said in December it will make 100，000 fewer cars this quarter as a result of the shortage．Speaking about the chip shortage on a Davos panel on Jan．25，VW CEO Herbert Diess said：“We have to make sure that the markets and supply chains remain intact．”
Hermann Hauser，who was essential in the creation of the British chip designer Arm，told CNBC that the automotive industry has been hurt the most because it is“incredibly cost conscious．”“When the chip industry decides should we allocate our capacity to the car industry or the telecoms industry or the server industry，it’s an easy decision，”he said．“Go for the server industry because their gross margins are so much better．That’s why the car industry is in a particularly tight spot．”
Hauser said there isn’t enough competition in the semiconductor manufacturing market，pointing to the fact that it has a very high Herfindahl-Hirschman index（赫芬德尔-赫希曼指数），which measures market concentration in a specific industry．It is calculated by squaring the market share of each company competing in a market and then adding the resulting numbers．For example，chip manufacturers have battled it out to build the smallest chips possible over the years，but only a couple of companies can create the new five nanometer（or 5nm）chips on a commercial level．
“Samsung and TSMC（台积电）are the only two semiconductor companies in the world that have a working 5nm process，”he said．“It’s just too high a concentration．”
One of the reasons there are so few 5nm chip manufacturing plants is because they’re expensive，according to Hauser．Building something so small requires hi-tech equipment that isn’t cheap．
Question 1-5：
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Passage 2？
Write TRUE／FALSE／NOT GIVEN before each statement accordingly．
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1．________Semiconductors are in short supply all over the world．
2．________Carmakers could continue to manufacture cars without much influence brought by silicon chips．
3．________Chip manufacturers have trouble making more chips because they have been closed during the Corona-virus pandemic．
4．________Shutting some plants will mitigate the chip trouble for many carmakers such as GM，Ford，Volkswagen and so on．
5．________Very few chip companies produce the smallest chips for less market demand except Samsung and TSMC．
Question 6-10
Complete the sentences below．
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer．
6．Carmakers have been hit hard by a global________．
7．The automotive industry has been________in the short term．
8．A couple of car manufacturers have to put production________recently．
9．The semiconductor manufacturing market has a________for there are only two semiconductor companies．
10．The 5nm chip manufacturing requires________equipment．
PASSAGE 3
Nomophobia was coined by British research in 2011，which measured the level of anxiety produced by mobile phones in a sample of more than 2，000 people．The results：More than 50% of the sample manifests anxiety when they lose their cell phone．According to the research，nomophobia occurs in a higher percentage in men than in women（58% versus 48%respectively）．Qualitatively，the investigation allowed to know that for many subjects the anxiety felt to be without their mobile phones is similar to the day before the wedding itself or the visit to a dentist．Statistics indicate that most users may already have nomophobia without knowing it or be prone to feel its effects．It is worthwhile，then，to know its symptoms and treatments．
A brief list of signs and symptoms can be made that appear in most people who have been interviewed about it．It is already known that it is not possible to conclude from this if it is a phobia，anxiety or an addiction，but it serves to identify the features in common．
In addition to the fear of losing the mobile phone and other associated fears，other clinically significant characteristics are the excessive or impulsive use of the telephone，or its use as protection（of other fears or social anxieties，such as communicating）．It can also be used as a contraphobic object for the person who feels the need to have it always in his hand，even if he does not use it，for example，when he sleeps．
The most clear or frequent symptoms，in general lines，are anxiety，respiratory alterations（呼吸紊乱），tremor，perspiration，agitation，disorientation and tachycardia（心动过速）…In the emotional pole，the symptoms would be depression，panic attacks，dependence，low self-esteem and feeling of loneliness，among others．
People who suffer from panic attacks may feel the similar panic as they fail to use mobile phone as a counterofficic object．This happens，for the most part，in places where the use of mobile phones is forbidden，such as in airports，hospitals or work．Other people with nomophobia may also feel high anxiety in these circumstances，even when they do not have panic attacks．They might even try to circumvent the regulations of the place．
Because of the recent description of this condition，there is little conclusive information about what is the most appropriate treatment．As in other phobias，the combination of a pharmacological treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy may be the best option．But there are other alternatives．
Digital detoxification programs already exist in some countries，and are analogous to centers for substance abuse detoxification．In these centers the use of electronic devices such as mobile phones and computers is totally or partially restricted．At the same time，activities are carried out to promote relaxation and self-control．
Some companies also offer extramural activities for their employees，focused on digital detoxification，to help their staff reduce the anxiety that comes from being continuously connected to technology．This is more common in companies or positions that require continuous use of technology．
1．What is the British research about in Paragraph 1？
A．A fatal disease relating to mobile phones．
B．A state of loneliness caused by mobile phones．
C．A phobia caused by using phones．
D．A fear of being with no mobile phones．
2．The symptoms of nomophobia could be the following EXCEPT________．
A．An intense fear of working through mobile phones．
B．Depression，panic attacks，dependence，low self-esteem and feeling of loneliness．
C．Difficulty in concentrating or falling asleep，sweating，tremor．
D．The fear of running out of battery，running out of coverage，no credit．
3．People suffering from panic attacks may________．
A．Have the feeling weaker to general anxiety．
B．Take mobile phone as a counter-phobic object．
C．Feel different from people with nomophobia．
D．Violate the regulations of the place wherever they go．
4．Nomophobic people may find better treatments________．
A．In hospitals．
B．In centers for digital detoxification．
C．In cognitive behavioral therapy with certain medicine．
D．In extramural activities and self-control．
5．What can be inferred from the passage？
A．Men are more likely to be nomophobic．
B．Nomophobia is prevalent due to modern digital life．
C．Mobile phones are very important in people’s life．
D．It is difficult and complicated to treat nomophobia．