【推荐1】Stauer Urban Blue

Packed with high-end watch performance and style, without the high-end price label.

It’s everything a high-end watch should be: Solid stainless steel (不锈钢) and real leather construction. What is the most attracting part is its precision timing that’s accurate to four seconds a day — that’s more precise than a 27 jewel (宝石) automatic watch priced at over $ 6,000. And, good looking — with simple, clean lines and a striking metallic blue face.

Your great escape from the over-priced watch.

At Stauer, we go directly to the source (cutting out the middleman), and engineer our own watch designs. This means we can offer a top quality timepiece that happens to only cost the same as two well-made cocktails at your favorite bar. So, while we’re busy innovating the watch industry to bring you more real value, you can avoid over-priced watches with the Urban Blue.

Your satisfaction is 100%promised.

Wear the Urban Blue for 30 days. If you’re not convinced that you achieved excellence for less, send it back for a refund of the item price. The Urban Blue is one of our fastest sellers. It takes six months to engineer this watch, so don’t wait. Take a stand against overpriced watches in perfect style.

Limited to the first 1900 responders to this ad only.
Don’t miss out…call today!
Stauer Urban Blue Watch $199
Offer Code Price $29+S&P Save $170
1-800-333-2045
Your Insider Offer Code: UBW598-02
You must use this insider offer code to get our special price.
Special price only for customers using the offer code and the price on Stauer.com without your offer code.
1. What’s the best thing about Stauer Urban Blue?

A．Its raw materials.	B．Its accurate timekeeping.
C．Its advanced design.	D．Its attractive appearance.

2. Why is the Urban Blue priced so low?

A．It is promoted at a local bar.	B．It is produced at a very low cost.
C．It is machine-made in large quantities.	D．It is self-designed from its own factory.

3. How much should you pay for an Urban Blue Watch if you are the 2000th customer?

A．$29.

B．$141.

C．$170.

D．$199.

【推荐2】Summer Camps 2020

Digging for Dinosaurs

June 10 to June 14,2020, July 15 to July 19,2020

$395 per person

What is a paleontologist (古生物学者) and what exactly do they do? Come find out with us this summer! We'll explore what paleontologists do, where they work and what tools they use while searching for fossils (化石). We'll dig deeper into how a fossil is made, the different types of fossils and what information paleontologists can learn from them.

Physics Past to Present

June 17 to June 21,2020, July 22 to July 26, 2020

$405 per person

Have you ever wondered why a baseball flies a certain way when it's hit or how to shoot the perfect basket? It's Physics! This summer we will explore terms like energy and force to see how they affect things we do every day. We will look at who discovered these terms, how they influence the activities we love and how sportsmen use them to their advantage.

Ancient Art

June 24 to June 28, 2020, July 29 to August 2,2020

$355 per person

Experience how art began! This summer we will explore how art has changed from the Stone Age through the Middle Ages. From cave paintings to building arches (拱门), we'll explore the world through the eyes of artists who came before us.

Space Explorers: Back to the Moon

August 5 to August 9,2020

$455 per person

Come join us in taking a closer look at our moon and how our astronauts got there. We'll learn about what a spaceship needs to escape Earth's pull, take a closer look at the moon's surface and simulate (模拟) our own moon landing!

1. What will campers do in Physics Past to Present?

A．Play   sports.	B．Talk with athletes.
C．Explore energy and force.	D．Learn the history of sports.

2. How much should you pay if you want to learn about cave paintings?

A．$355.	B．$395.
C．$405.	D．$455.

3. Which camp can you join if you are only free in August?

A．Digging for Dinosaurs.

B．Physics Past to Present.

C．Ancient Art.

D．Space Explorers: Back to the Moon.

【推荐3】Labor Day Weekend at Paramount Pictures Studios

This Labor Day weekend, join the Los Angeles Times for 3 evenings of amazing food, wine and chef experiences. Dozens of hand-picked local restaurants each evening will showcase our city’s rich and diverse cooking scene by serving you their best. Taste and celebrate Southern California’s most inviting food and drink. Your ticket is all-inclusive and is good for unlimited food, beer, wine & spirits tastings, plus all stage activities.

PLEASE NOTE: ALL EVENTS AT THE TASTE ARE 21 YEARS AND OLDER ONLY AND ALL SALES ARE FINAL.

A VIP Access level ticket gets you:

• Convenient and free parking inside the Paramount Pictures gates (savings of $15)

• Access to furnished lounge during the entire event

• Behind the scenes tour of Paramount Pictures Studios

• First in the door access to the main event

Due to the nature of this event, we are not able to offer refunds.

SCHEDULE

Friday, August 31: 7:30 p.m.-10:30p.m.

Saturday, September 1: 8:00 p.m.-10:30p.m.

Sunday, September 2: 8:00 p.m.-10:30p.m.

Make sure to also save the date for our new Costa Mesa weekend of Los Angeles Times The Taste on October 19 to 21. Details here.

1. On which day does the Labor Day event last longest?

A．August 31.	B．September 1.
C．September 2.	D．October 21.

2. What can you do on the Labor Day weekend?

A．Experience hands-on cooking.

B．Enjoy a family tour with children.

C．Watch performances in the daytime.

D．Have meals in local restaurants for free.

3. What privilege does VIP members have?

A．Parking a car at a discount.

B．Living in a furnished room.

C．Getting their money back as they like.

D．Having the chance to learn more about the Studios.

【推荐3】             Driving to a friend's house on a recent evening, I was attracted by the sight of the full moon rising just above my friend’s rooftops. I stopped to watch it for a few moments, thinking about what a pity it was that most city people? Myself included? Usually miss sights like this because we spend most of our lives indoors.

My friend had also seen it. He grew up living in a forest in Europe, and the moon meant a lot to him then. It had touched much of his life.

　   I know the feeling. Last December I took my seven-year-old daughter to the mountainous jungle of northern India with some friends. We stayed in a forest rest-house with no electricity or running hot water. Our group had campfires outside every night, and indoors when it was too cold outside. The moon grew to its fullest during our trip. Between me and the high mountains lay three or four valleys. Not a light shone in them and not a sound could be heard. It was one of the quietest places I have ever known, a bottomless well of silence. And above me was the full moon, which struck me deeply.

Today our lives are filled with glass, metal, plastic and fibre-glass. We have televisions, cell phones, pagers, electricity, heaters and ovens and air-conditioners, cars, computers.

Struggling through traffic that evening at the end of a tiring day, most of it spent indoors, I thought: before long, I would like to live in a small cottage. There I will grow vegetables and read books and walk in the mountains And perhaps write, but not in anger. I may become an old man there, and wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled and measure out my life in coffee spoons. But I will be able to walk outside on a cold silent night and touch the moon.

1. The best title for the passage would be______.

A．Touched by the moon	B．The pleasures of modern life
C．A bottomless well of silence	D．Break away from modern life

2. The writer felt sorry for himself because________.

A．there was too many pollution	B．he failed to see the fullest moon
C．he didn’t adapt to modern inventions	D．there were too accidents on the road

3. What impressed the writer most in the mountainous jungle of northern India?

A．No modern equipment	B．Complete silence.
C．The nice moonlight	D．The high mountains

4. Modern things (Paragraph 4) are mentioned mainly to______.

A．show that the writer likes city life very much

B．tell us that people greatly benefit from modern life

C．explain that people have less chances to enjoy nature

D．show that we can also enjoy nature at home through them

5. The author wrote the passage to_______.

A．express the feeling of returning to nature	B．show the love for the moonlight
C．advise modern people to learn to live	D．want to communicate longing for modern life

【推荐1】When I stepped out the plane from Miami into Charlotte, North Carolina, airport for a connecting flight home, I immediately knew something was wrong. Lots of desperate people crowded the terminal. I quickly learned that flights headed to the Northeast were called off because of a storm. The earliest they could get us out of Charlotte was Tuesday. It was Friday. A gate agent stood on the counter and shouted, “Don’t ask us for help! We cannot help you!”

I joined a crowd that ran from terminal to terminal in search of a flight out. Eventually, I found six strangers willing to rent a van with me. We drove through the night to Washington, where I took a train the rest of the way to Providence.

The real problem, of course, is that incidents like this happen every day, to everyone who flies, more and more often. It really gets to me, though, because for eight years I was on the other side, as a flight attendant for Trans-World Airlines(TWA).

I know the days are gone when attendants could be written up if we did not put the lines napkins with the TWA logo in the lower right-hand corner of the first-class diners’ trays. As are the days when there were three dinner options on flights from Boston to Los Angeles in economy class. When, once, stuck on a tarmac (机场停机坪) in Newark for four hours, a planeload of passengers got McDonald’s hamburgers and fries by thoughtfulness of the airline.

I have experienced the decline of service along with the rest of the flying public. But I believe everything will change little by little, because I remember the days when to fly was to soar (翱翔). The airlines, and their employees, took pride in how their passengers were treated. And I think the days are sure to come back one day in the near future.

1. Many people crowded the terminal because ________.

A．they were ready to board on the planes

B．something was wrong with the terminal

C．the flights to the Northeast were canceled

D．the gate agent wouldn’t help the passengers

2. The writer got to Providence ________ at last.

A．by air

B．by van

C．by train

D．by underground

3. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?

A．Incidents happened to those who fly quite often.

B．The writer used to be a flight attendant for Trans-World Airlines.

C．Even a small mistake might cause complaints from passengers in the past.

D．McDonald’s hamburgers and fries were among regular dinner options.

4. What can be implied from the passage?

A．The writer lived in Charlotte, North Carolina.

B．The writer thought the service was not as good as it used to be.

C．The writer with other passengers waited to be picked up patiently.

D．Passengers would feel proud of how they were treated on the plane.

【推荐2】Four Useful Products for Your Life

Electric Wine Opener

Cost: $19.89

Once you've tried this tool, you'll never go back to the old fashioned kind. This electric wine opener will remove the cork (瓶塞) easily within seconds, and can open up to 30 bottles with a single charge.

Fantastic Ice Cream Spoon

Cost: $14. 99

It’s always disappointing when you're really in the mood for ice cream, but have to wait forever for the ice cream to get to just the right softness. Well, this heated ice cream spoon exactly conducts heat from your hands, and will help soften the ice cream to make it ready to eat right away.

Express Baker

Cost: $58. 99

Making your own bread seems like a quite difficult job. But this baker makes it easier—within an hour. It has 12 different bread settings, and three different crust settings, so you can make bread, pizza and more. A quick look through the reviews shows that customers are pretty happy with it, too.

Corn Stripper

Cost: $7.99

There's no denying that corn on the cob (棒) is delicious But eating corn on the cob and dealing with all the little bits that get stuck in your teeth afterwards is a painful experience. This little device takes all the corns from the cob, by letting you strip (剥) your corn easily, without making a total mess.

1. What can people do with Express Baker?

A．Make some food.	B．Soften food.
C．Classify food.	D．Keep food fresh.

2. Which of the following applies the theory of heat conduction?

A．Electric Wine Opener.	B．Fantastic Ice Cream Spoon.
C．Express Baker.	D．Corn Stripper.

3. What do the four products have in common?

A．They are of the same price.

B．They are difficult to operate.

C．They make food more delicious to eat.

D．They make people's life easier.

【推荐3】The Milky Way is full of habitable (宜居) places, with roughly half of all sunlike stars hosting Earth-size worlds that could be friendly to life.

Here’s a good sign for alien hunters: More than 300 million worlds with similar   conditions to Earth are spread throughout the Milky Way galaxy. A new analysis concludes that roughly half of the galaxy’s sunlike stars host rocky worlds in habitable zones where liquid water could pool or flow over the planets’ surfaces.

Astronomers estimated the number of these planets using data from NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft. For nine years, Kepler stared at the stars and watched for the brief twinkles produced when orbiting planets block a portion of their star’s light. By the end of its mission in 2018, Kepler had spotted some 2,800 exoplanets (外星行星) — many of them nothing like the worlds orbiting our sun.

But Kepler’s primary goal was always to determine how common planets like Earth are. The calculation required help from the European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft, which monitors stars across the galaxy. With Gaia’s observations in hand, scientists were finally able to determine that the Milky Way is populated by hundreds of millions of Earth-size planets orbiting sunlike stars — and that the nearest one is probably within 20 light-years of the solar system.

It took more than half a century for scientists to start pinning down how many planets could possibly host life. In 1961, astronomers knew of no worlds orbiting stars other than the sun — and although planetary formation theories suggested exoplanets should be common, we had no observational evidence that they existed. But over the past decade, it’s become clear that planets are extremely common, outnumbering stars in the Milky Way. On average, nearly every star is home to at least one orbiting world.

Early estimates suggested that perhaps 20 percent of sunlike stars hosted a world that   met those criteria. We now know that the number is closer to 50 percent, if not more.

Of course, many factors determine whether a world in the habitable zone is truly friendly for life. Planetary characteristics such as magnetic fields, atmospheres, and plate tectonics all play a role, and those are difficult to observe on small, faraway worlds.

1. When the author says, “Here’s a good sign for alien hunters”, he probably means____.

A．that’s good news for hunters

B．we will find aliens soon

C．there is a clear signal from alien

D．many sunlike stars have been found that may be habitable

2. How did Kepler work to find exoplanets?

A．By observing the brief flicker that occurs when orbiting planets block some of the star’s light.

B．By using the data from the European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft.

C．By calculating the stars in the galaxy.

D．Through its own calculation.

3. What can we infer from paragraph 4?

A．Kepler’s primary goal was to make sure that the Earth is a common planet.

B．Kepler helped Gaia to calculate the planets.

C．Gaia is only 20 light-years away from the solar system.

D．Kepler monitors stars across the Milky Way.

4. What does paragraph 5 mainly talk about?

A．The importance of planetary formation theories.

B．Exoplanets are common.

C．Scientists spent more than half a century to find out how many planets host life.

D．Astronomers have known of no worlds orbiting stars other than the sun since 1961.

5. Many factors determine whether a world in the habitable zone is truly friendly for life EXCEPT____.

A．oxygen

B．atmospheres

C．magnetic fields

D．plate tectonics