【推荐1】In January 2015,I left my hometown and family in Virginia and moved to Iowa so I could be coached by Jackson. I'd been dreaming of an Olympic gold medal since I was eight—but gradually, that dream seemed like a million miles away.

On February 2,2016,while Mom was visiting me in Iowa, I told her," I don't like swimming any more. I want to try dancing, or become a singer. I can get a job in Virginia. I just want to come home."

Mom's eyes narrowed and her expression turned to stone." You're breaking my heart! Brie," she said. "You've been doing swimming for ten years, and now you want to quit? Have you lost your mind?"

I hadn't lost my mind, but I had lost my fire. It's an entirely different thing to push toward that dream when you feel alone.

"I'm not trying to break your heart, Mom,"I said." I just don't want to do it any more."

"I know you miss home. But you've signed a contract that says you will represent your country to the best of your ability. You've got a responsibility to your teammates. And now you just want to walk away? I will not let you be dishonorable. If you don't like swimming, then at the very least, you'll finish the season."

The next afternoon as I dragged myself into Jackson's swimming center, I thought of the efforts Mom had made in order to pay for my training. I thought of my two sisters: Arielle, who gave up ballroom dancing, and Joyelle, who stopped ice skating so that our single mom could afford to keep me in swimming.

For now, here's what you need to know: Exactly 210 days before I ever attempted my first event（赛事）in the Rio Summer Olympics, my leap(飞跃，跳跃) of faith came this close to ending in a crash of disaster.

1. How did the author's mother feel toward her intention to quit swimming?

A．Heart-broken

B．Dishonorable

C．Helpless

D．Calm

2. We can infer from the passage that the author      .

A．changed her mind in the end

B．realized her Olympic dream

C．loved singing and dancing more

D．was so overcome with homesickness that she gave up her dream

3. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．My Dream	B．My Mother
C．My Leap of Faith	D．Responsibility

4. Who will be interested in the passage?

A．Those who are graduating from university.	B．Those who want to give up dreams.
C．Those who are looking for customers.	D．Those who dislike swimming.

【推荐1】A beautiful and very successful actress (女演员) was the star for a new musical show. Her home was in the countryside, but she did not want to go back there every night, so she bought an expensive house in the centre of the city, got some beautiful furniture and got a man to paint the rooms in new colours.
It was very difficult to get tickets for her show, because everybody wanted to see it. So she decided to give the painter two of the best seats. She hoped that this would make him work better for her. He took the tickets without saying anything, and she heard no more about them until the end of the month, when she got the painter’s bill (账单). At the bottom of it were these words: “ Four hours watching Miss Hall sing and dance : 3 pounds,” with this note: “ After 5 p.m. I get 15 shillings (先令) an hour instead of 10 shillings.”
1. The actress bought a house in the centre of the city because _______.

A．she liked to live in the busiest place.

B．she didn’t like to live in the country.

C．her home was far away from where she worked.

D．she didn’t want to go back to her hometown any longer.

2. . In order to make the painter work better for her, the actress ___________.

A．gave him two tickets for her show

B．sang and danced for him for hours

C．paid him 3 pounds

D．decided to pay him 15 shillings an hour

3. . The actress got the painter’s bill ______.

A．to ask for the money of his painting work.

B．to ask her to pay for his watching her show

C．in which he showed his thanks for the tickets

D．in which he expressed his dissatisfaction

4. . It can be learned from the text that one pound is___________ shillings.

A．10

B．12

C．20

D．15

5. . What kind of man was the painter?

A．He was a careful man.	B．He was a poor man.
C．He was not friendly to others.	D．He knew little about music and dances.

【推荐2】Walter Wetzel had met Ryan Lamantia nearly eight years ago in a hospital waiting room. Both were very sick——Ryan with brain cancer, Walter with leukemia (白血病). Ryan, who was 3 at the time, began making silly faces at Walter and chatted about going home to change into his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costume. Several days later, Ryan moved to another hospital. Though they saw each other only a handful of times after that, Walter never forgot Ryan.
"He inspired me to fight against my cancer," said Walter, now 17, a football player. Then one day, Walter saw a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt at a mall, which made him decide to search out Ryan. Back home, Walter typed in "Ryan Lake in the Hills brain cancer" on his computer, and a link to a Facebook page for Ryan came up. But, the news was shocking.
Ryan had died on Sept. 8, 2005. He was 6. The Facebook   page   was   for   the   Ryan   Lamantia Foundation, a non-profit organization that Ryan's family formed after his death to raise money for brain cancer research.
Walter left this message right away: ."Ryan is my hero. My trips to the hospital were always horrible, until the day I met Ryan."
Ryan's mom's eyes were filled with tears as she read Waiter's message. "We always knew Ryan was special, but to hear it from somebody else, it really means the world to us," Lamantia said.
Walter wasn't the only person who was greatly impressed with Ryan.
"He was a little superhero," said Wendy Stellpflug, a nurse at Children' s Memorial Hospital. "Ryan always kept his spirits high, even after he suffered hearing loss and experienced 14 operations."
"Ryan didn’ t let his illness stop him. He always had a smile on his face," said Dr. Stewart Goldman, the doctor who treated Ryan.
Walter and his family have been in touch with the Lamantias for the past few weeks. And last week, they met for the first time since Ryan's death. The families told stories of being affected by cancer so young and Walter expressed his hope to volunteer with Ryan' s foundation.
1. Walter finally wanted to get in touch with Ryan because___________.

A．he saw the news about Ryan on the Internet

B．he wanted to thank Ryan in person

C．an object reminded him of Ryan

D．he raised money for Ryan

2. After reading Walter's message online, Ryan' s mom felt_____.

A．proud of her son	B．grateful for his help
C．happy about his recovery	D．sad again at her son' s death

3. Which of the following can best describe Ryan?

A．Determined and considerate.	B．Optimistic and brave.
C．Friendly and patient.	D．Brave and proud.

4. We know from the text that Walter_________.

A．survived the cancer

B．experienced 14 operations

C．searched for Ryan on the Facebook

D．founded the Ryan Lamantia Foundation

【推荐3】"Her grades are fine； I'm not worried about that， but she just doesn't seem to love learning any more，"

Alice's mum said．

She's absolutely right． I'd noticed the same thing about her daughter over the previous two or three years when I'd been Alice's middle school teacher， and I have an answer， right there on the tip of my tongue， to what has gone wrong． Yet I'm torn between my responsibility to help Alice and the knowledge that what I have to say is a truth I'm not sure this mother is ready to hear．

The truth for this parent and so many others is this： Her child has sacrificed her natural curiosity and love of learning at the altar of achievement， and it's our fault． Alice's parents， her teachers， society at large - we are all supposed to be blamed in this crime against learning． From her first day of school， we pointed her toward that altar and trained her to measure her progress by means of points， scores， and awards．

We taught Alice that her potential is tied to her intellect（智力）， and that her intellect is more important than her character． We taught her to come home proudly bearing grade As， championship prizes， and college acceptance， and not on purpose， we taught her that we don't really care how she obtains them． We taught her to protect her academic and extracurricular（课外的）perfection at all costs and that it's better to quit when things get challenging rather than risk losing that perfect record． Above all else， we taught her to fear failure． That fear is what has destroyed her love of learning．

1. We can infer from Paragraph 2 that the author ______ ．

A．thinks Alice is right

B．is uncertain of the answer

C．hesitates to express an idea

D．wonders why the mother is worried

2. Which can replace the underlined words"at the altar of"？ ______

A．instead of	B．at the risk of
C．at the loss of	D．in the interest of

3. What has really made Alice change her attitude to learning？ ______

A．Being slow in study．	B．Fear of bad grades．
C．Difficulty in study．	D．Press from parents．

4. What is more important for a teenager in the author's opinion？ ______

A．His knowledge．	B．His intellect．
C．His character．	D．His achievement．

【推荐1】Saving money for the future is one of the great passions of wealthy people. The rich are getting richer because of the way they spend their money and successful habits of controlling their expenses. Warren Buffett is considered one of the most successful investors (投资者) in the world and his money totals over $105.2 billion as of November 2021. Well aware of the benefits of saving money, he is not fond of buying expensive things and always practices spending money wisely.

Did you know that Mark Zuckerberg, one of the youngest billionaires and co-founders of Facebook, is a great saver? His wedding was held in the backyard in Palo Alto, California, rather than in a fancy five-star hotel. During the couple’s honeymoon in Italy many people saw them eating in McDonald’s. This guy is still wearing ordinary T-shirts to work every day. Saving money is important to him to grow his wealth and grow it quickly. He uses extra money to put into other businesses and investments. With your savings you can immediately start investing. However, if you are overspending your income, there is no money left for investment.

“The man with extra money controls circumstances and the man without it is controlled by circumstances.” said Henry Buckley. Saving money for the future gives you protection for unexpected circumstances. You don’t know what will happen to you over the next days or weeks. If you lose your job, you can still survive while looking for a job because you have your savings. You will not stress out if there is an emergency because you have money to spend.

And living below your means can give you plenty of room to save. You can use your savings to pay off your house loan early. You can also pay down your debts from friends, family and even other lenders. The bigger you have saved, the earlier you can achieve debt-free life. Also, people who are fond of saving money for the future can retire early. These are the people who are thinking about their future dream life without pressure after 10 years or 20 years.

Saving money for the future is essential. Today will not be the same as tomorrow. You don’t know when the rainy season will come. Every day is full of surprises, and to be ready for uncertainty, save now for your future.

1. What does the example of Warren Buffett explain?

A．The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

B．The rich are not much into expensive things.

C．Saving money can help us buy more expensive things.

D．Saving money helps increase our wealth.

2. Why did Mark Zuckerberg hold his wedding in his backyard?

A．He was not a generous man although he was rich.

B．He had to save money for his honeymoon with his wife.

C．He wanted to save money to expand his business.

D．He wanted to improve his skill of saving money.

3. What does the underlined part in the fourth paragraph probably mean?

A．Spending according to your habit.

B．Saving money for tomorrow’s uncertainty.

C．Saving money for living better in the future.

D．Spending less than you can afford.

4. Which benefit of saving money is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．It makes you feel safe when an emergency happens.

B．It helps you achieve a debt-free life early.

C．It leads you to live a high-quality life.

D．It allows you to quit the stressful work early.

【推荐2】I have just arrived in a country where I don't know the language, where I have no family roots and where I find myself all alone. It may sound frightening. But let me tell you a little secret: it is not.

When you travel abroad by yourself for whatever reason-exchange program, internship, volunteering, or simply as tourist-a- new and fascinating world will open up for you, world you would have never been able to see if you had just stayed at home.

People from a different country are not aliens. They are simply people like you who happened to be born in another region. They have pretty much the same wishes and worries as people from your own country.

I know that you see a lot of news on TV saying terrible things people do all the time. Your family may have spent a great deal of time telling you not to trust strangers. However, when you travel alone you will realize that people are just as good as you. Everyone is just leading their lives, working, studying and having a good time with their friends. Most people will be happy to help you and get to know you.

Maybe in the past when you would need months to travel from one place to another, traveling could be expensive. Nowadays, the world is just so connected that it is perfectly possible to find cheap flights, accommodation for all budgets and cheap and quality food.

You will get lost, but it's fine! I can't even count how many times I didn't know where I was going or how to find the right direction. Everything looks great on Google maps, but sometimes your phone will die or your data will end. Just calm down. Go to a store or stop someone in the street and ask! Or simply walk around and be curious.

1. The first paragraph is written to           .

A．encourage people to travel	B．show the advantages of traveling
C．introduce the topic of the passage	D．show the difficulty of traveling alone

2. The underlined part “pretty much” in paragraph 3 probably means           .

A．almost

B．all

C．only

D．just

3. What's the main idea of Paragraph 4?

A．People do terrible things all the time.

B．It's dangerous to trust strangers when travelling alone.

C．People will always be happy to help you and get to know you.

D．People are not so bad as you see on TV or hear in your family.

4. We can infer from the passage that           .

A．most people travel abroad alone as tourists

B．travelling abroad is better than travelling at home

C．people from a different country are simply people like you

D．it's cheaper and easier to travel abroad now than in the past

【推荐3】My Ph. D. adviser called me into his office, saying I needn't bring my notebook. After 15 minutes of listing my positive things, he looked me in the eye and said,“You are fired from the lab.”

I had moved to Israel from my native India the year before, excited to experience a new culture and study for a Ph. D.   At first things went well in my new lab. Then, 3 months before I was fired, I ran into some problems. I made a few mistakes in the lab that slowed my research, but I wasn't aware that my adviser noticed them, and he never spoke to me about any concerns. I’m still not sure why he fired me, but I guess it was because of those mistakes. He wasn't confident that I could complete my research in time as we'd planned.

The first few days after I was fired were especially difficult. I spent hours staring at my computer screen, unable to get anything done. One day all I could do was sit on a beach, crying. I tried to change his mind with promising results, but he stuck to his decision. I could not break the news to my family in India, as the fear of disappointing them overwhelmed （压垮）me. I soon got into a state of sadness and anxiety. Meanwhile, the date for me to leave the country was drawing near, as my visa required me to be registered as a student. I was lonely and without hope.

Around that time, I watched Dasvidaniya, a Bollywood movie that's about a man who has 3 months to live. One line from the movie stuck out to me :“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade（柠檬水）” .What kind of lemonade could I make out of my present situation? My desire to complete a Ph. D. was never in doubt. After much reflection, I told myself that one failed attempt was not the end of the world, and that I needed to give it another try. With renewed confidence, I emailed expected advisers and applied to other programs. Within 2 months, I landed an offer from a Ph. D. program in Italy. I accepted it and relocated to Europe, happy that my goal of completing a Ph. D. was alive once again.

I’m thankful that I didn't give up on my dream and that I found another professor willing to take me on.

1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The personality of the adviser.

B．The author's problems in study.

C．The possible reason for the author's being fired.

D．The author's difficulty in adapting to a new culture.

2. What did the author do after being fired?

A．He applied for a new visa.

B．He got addicted to computer games.

C．He tried to change the adviser's mind.

D．He shared the news with his family in India.

3. What kind of "lemonade” did the author make out of the difficult situation?

A．Persuading the adviser to let him stay.

B．Being responsible for different programs.

C．Holding the belief to get a doctor's degree.

D．Getting accepted by another Ph. D. program.

4. What lesson can we learn from the story?

A．Direction is more important than effort,

B．Turn to movies for comfort when in trouble.

C．A doctor’s degree is important for the future.

D．Difficulties in life can be turned into something positive.

【推荐1】They wear the latest fashions with the most up-to-date accessories(配饰)．Yet these are not girls in their teens or twenties but women in their sixties and seventies．A generation which would once only wear old-fashioned clothes is now favouring the same high street looks worn by those half their age．

Professor Julia Twigg, a social policy expert, said, “Women over 75 are now shopping for clothes more frequently than they did when they were young in the 1960s．In the 1960s buying a coat for a woman was a serious matter．It was an expensive item that they would purchase only every three or four years — now you can pick one up at the supermarket whenever you wish to．Fashion is a lot cheaper and people get tired of things more quickly．”

Professor Twigg analysed family expenditure(支出) data and found that while the percentage of spending on clothes and shoes by women had stayed around the same — at 5 or 6 percent of spending — the amount of clothes bought had risen sharply．

The professor said, “Clothes are now 70 percent cheaper than they were in the 1960s because of the huge expansion of production in the Far East．In the 1960s Leeds was the heart of the British fashion industry and that was where most of the clothes came from, but now almost all of our clothes are sourced elsewhere．Everyone is buying more clothes but in general we are not spending more money on them．”

Fashion designer Angela Barnard, who runs her own fashion business in London, said older women were much more affected celebrity(名流) style than in previous years．

She said, “When people see stars such as Judi Dench and Helen Mirren looking attractive and fashionable in their sixties, they want to follow them．Older women are much more aware of celebrities．There’s also the boom in TV programmes showing people how they can change their look, and many of my older customers do yoga to stay in shape well in their fifties．When I started my business a few years ago, my older customers tended to be very rich, but now they are what I would call ordinary women．My own mother is 61 and she wears the latest fashions in a way she would never have done ten years ago．”

1. Professor Twigg found that, compared with the 1960s, _________．

A．the price of clothes has generally fallen by 70%

B．the spending on clothes has increased by 5% or 6%

C．people spend 30% less than they did on clothes

D．the amount of clothes bought has risen by 5% or 6%

2. What can we learn about old women in terms of fashion?

A．They are often ignored by fashion designers．

B．They are now more easily influenced by stars．

C．They are regarded as pioneers in the latest fashion．

D．They are more interested in clothes because of their old age．

3. It can be concluded that old women tend to wear the latest fashions today mainly because _________．

A．they get tired of things more quickly	B．TV shows teach them how to change their look
C．they are in much better shape now	D．clothes are much cheaper than before

4. Which is the best possible title of the passage?

A．Age Is No Barrier for Fashion Fans	B．The More Fashionable, the Less Expensive
C．Unexpected Changes in Fashion	D．Boom of the British Fashion Industry

【推荐3】Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) has been greatly contributing to the treatment of the COVID-19, which changed the altitude of the western world to it to some extent. However, in the past, foreigners knew little about it. According to a government report, although TCM has been introduced into 183 countries and regions around the world, their understanding of TCM may be limited to acupuncture(针灸), cupping and massage(按摩) .For instance, the purple, injury-like marks left on a U. S. famous swimmers back from cupping to relax his muscles and reduce pain became the center of attention during the Rio Olympics in 2016.

In fact, Chinese herbs(药草) play a more important role in curing diseases and keeping the body in good condition in the TCM treatment system than physical treatment. Therefore, it is disappointing to know that although 103 world Health Organization member countries have given approval to the practice of acupuncture, not many recognize Chinese herbal medicine. TCM is much less popular than Western medicine partly due to the slow development of Chinese herbs.

Herbs can be made into pills, powder and soup. The kind of herbs used, their quality, quantity and the processing together determine the effectiveness of the prescription (处方). Compared with Western medicine, which has standardized drug production processes and treatment methods, TCM lacks standardization. The chemical composition and functions of its medicine are still unclear and their effects are unstable. Fortunately, standardization has improved in recent decades and a number of factories are increasingly producing patented TCM drugs.

Another reason why TCM prescription drugs have developed slowly is that it lacks creativity. While Western medicine-making companies come up with new products every year, TCM drug producers tend to make medicine according to prescriptions handed down from the past. That Chinese chemist Tu Yoyo won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her research into malaria(痢疾) treatment may drive creativity to some extent in China's TCM industry.

However, Rome was not built in a day. The current situation cannot be changed within a short time.

1. Why did the US swimmer attract the audience's attention in the 2016 Rio Olympics?

A．The injury on his back.	B．The golden cup he won in the games.
C．His relaxed muscles and reduced pain.	D．The purple, injury-like marks left on his back.

2. What should we do to make TCM be recognized by more countries?

A．Set standards and improve creativity.

B．Increase functions and decrease production.

C．Increase functions and improve creativity.

D．Set standards and create more prescriptions.

3. How does the writer feel about the future of TCM?

A．Anxious.	B．Negative.
C．Disappointed.	D．Positive.

4. Westerners DON'T think              .

A．acupuncture treatment is effective	B．cupping can cure some diseases
C．massage can relax body muscles	D．herbs can keep the body in good condition