I’d like to share 4 of my favorite blogs with you today. I’m guessing you know about some, but I’m hoping there might be a few new treasures for you to discover.

Design for Mankind

A lifestyle blog by Erin Loechner, filled with beautifully written articles on everything from design to parenting, to marriage, to work, to travel and more. And I have completely enjoyed the blog for six years.

A Cup of Jo

A lifestyle blog by Joanna Goddard, full of free topics, questions and regular posts on everything from food, design, travel, relationships to motherhood. This is another six-year read for me.

Enjoy it

A lifestyle and DIY blog by Elise Blaha Cripe, full of great ideas for all things DIY (memory-keeping, home decoration, photography, gardening...). I have been following Elise’s blog since ten years ago.

Cupcakes & Cashmere

A lifestyle and fashion blog by Emily Schuman, full of all sorts great posts on everything from fashion, to decoration, to recipes, to work, to attitudes towards life. I had always heard people talk about this blog, but didn’t start following regularly until a year or two ago.

1. Which blog will interest a fashion follower?

A．Design for Mankind.	B．A Cup of Jo.
C．Enjoy it.	D．Cupcakes & Cashmere.

2. What do the four blogs have in common?

A．DIY.	B．Travel.
C．Lifestyle.	D．Fashion.

3. Why does the author write the text?

A．To share some good blogs.

B．To show how to start a blog.

C．To prove the value of blogs.

D．To make money through blogs.

It was dinner time for the Rangers, a group of mostly Indigenous (本地的) Australians who had spent a long day cleaning up the polluted beaches of the continent’s northern coast. Soon they would be eating freshly caught fish and seafood cooked under the stars on an open fire, as their ancestors did.

The Rangers are of more than 100 Indigenous groups spread across Australia who have taken on the job of protecting the land of their forefathers. In Arnhem Land, they are the protectors of 3,300 square miles of land and sea. They comb the beaches by hand, picking up as much rubbish as possible. The task is very difficult as each day it delivers waves of new rubbish.

For the Rangers, cleaning the beaches is more than a vacation. For a people whose culture is strongly tied to the land, protecting the environment is equal to preserving their history.

However, colonization forcefully broke their connection to the land generations ago. Indigenous people were displaced and their cultural practices outlawed. Tens of thousands of years of traditional land management ended, and as a result many parts of the country now face serious disasters from invasive plant and animal species, bush fires and land mismanagement.

In recent years, the government has restored more than 20 percent of Australia’s land to Indigenous owners. Since 2007, the Indigenous Rangers Organizations have been at work protecting this land.

Luck, one of the few non-Indigenous employees working with the Rangers, said the combination of old and new techniques and an appreciation for the culture of Indigenous workers has been critical to the program’s success.

“You are working with staff who see the world different to you, so there is a much higher focus on the cultural aspects of work and life,” he said.

“Being a ranger is a source of confidence. You feel strong,” said Terence, a senior ranger. “Here we still live on the land. The culture is still alive.”

4. What did Indigenous Australians live on in the past?

A．Rubbish picked up by hand.	B．Catching the fish and seafood.
C．Protecting the land.	D．Invasive plants and animals.

5. Why has the government restored the land to Indigenous owners?

A．The polluted land needs better management.

B．Their cultural practices were outlawed.

C．The people were too strong.

D．The land belongs to them.

6. What do the Rangers think of cleaning the beaches?

A．It’s a job of their ancestors’.	B．It’s just a vacation.
C．It’s a difficult task.	D．It’s their culture.

7. What can we learn from the last three paragraphs?

A．Not many employees are the Indigenous Australians.

B．Culture is important to the Indigenous Australians.

C．Their new techniques are successful.

D．Both Luck and Terence are rangers.

Mary Lyon was a leader in women’s education in the nineteenth century. It was a time when women’s education was not considered important in the United States. States did require each town to provide a school for children, but there were not enough teachers. Most young women were not able to continue their education. If they did, they often were not taught much except the French language, how to sew clothing, and music.

Mary Lyon felt that women’s education was extremely important. She believed women were teachers both in the home and in the classroom. Mary opened a school for young women in the village of Buckland. She suggested new ways of teaching, including holding discussion groups for students.

Then, Mary began to raise money for her dream school for the higher education of women. This school would own its own property (财产), guided by an independent group of direction. Its   finances would be the responsibility of the directors. It would not depend on any one person to continue. And, the students would share in cleaning and cooking to keep costs down. In 1837, Mary Lyon opened Mount Holyoke Seminary for Women. In 1893, 34 years after her death, under a state law, Mount Holyoke Female Seminary became the first college to offer women the same kind of education as men.

Mary’s efforts led to the spread of higher education for women in the United States. Her influence lasted as the many students from her schools went out to teach others.

8. What was American women’s problem with education in the 19th century?

A．Teachers were careless about teaching.

B．They had few choices about the subjects.

C．The government paid no attention to education.

D．They had no chance to continue their education.

9. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?

A．Mary thought little of women’s education.

B．Mary preferred women to be educated at home.

C．Mary attached importance to women’s education.

D．Group discussions were not held in Mary’s school.

10. What was Mary’s dream school like?

A．It would have very strict rules.

B．It would be independent in finance.

C．It would be owned by the government.

D．It would depend on some important person.

11. Why is Mary still remembered by Americans?

A．She set up the first college.

B．She made women equal to men.

C．She helped to pass American education law.

D．She improved American women’s education.

If you use social media to chase away loneliness, a new study suggests you’re going against the gain.

We may have heard a lot about the benefits of interacting with others online, but the findings of a study conducted by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine scientists show a direct relationship between social media usage and feelings of isolation (隔绝). In short, the more time you spend on social media, the lonelier you may feel.

With increased interaction on a large number of apps that allow for endless virtual connectivity, loneliness seems like the last problem frequent social media users would face, but according to the leader of the study Brain Primack, it has the exact opposite effect.

“Mental health problems and social isolation are at widespread levels among young adults nowadays,” Primack said, “We are naturally social creature, but modem life tends to separate us instead of bringing us together. While it may seem that social media presents opportunities to fill the social void (空隙), I think this study suggests that it may not be the solution people were hoping for.”

Primack and his team examined the social media habits of 1,787 U.S. adults aged 19 to 32 via a questionnaire that asked about the time and frequency they spent on the most popular social media platforms. Eventually, they determined that young adults who are constantly logging into social media reported more feelings of isolation than those with less social media usage. Frequent exposure to unrealistic descriptions on social media instead of face-to-face social interactions may give people the impression that others are living happier, more connected lives, and this may users feel more socially isolated in comparison.

12. What does the underlined phrase “going against the grain” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Doing it all wrong.	B．On the way to success.
C．Taking a risk.	D．Making a difference.

13. How did Primack and his team conduct the study?

A．By providing explanations.	B．By collecting data online.
C．By doing a survey.	D．By describing their own experiences.

14. What can we learn from the study?

A．You will feel happier if you spend more time online.

B．Interaction online is not the solution to social isolation.

C．Virtual connectivity is best way to fill the social void.

D．Popular social media platforms can bring people together.

15. What does the text mainly tell us?

A．New study on social media usage has been published.

B．Face-to-face social interactions are on the way out.

C．Social media does users more harm than good.

D．Social media might make loneliness worse.