【推荐1】I’ve been taking time this week to stop and smell the roses. Literally, I bend over in my neighbors’ front yard, check that nobody is watching, and then bury my head in the flowers.

I’ve also been walking into bakeries, walking around without buying anything.

After having surgery on my broken nose 18 months ago, I haven’t been able to smell or taste things.

This week, however, my nose is back in business.

I’ve been overwhelmed by smells, and it’s given me a new way of thinking. A pleasant smell is just one of the little bits and pieces that make life enjoyable, but which we often ignore. I remember once, when my son was five months old, I was carrying him down the street. Wind swept through and almost tipped us over. He threw his little head back and giggled. He’d never felt the wind on his face. When is the last time I laughed at the weather?

The first time I ate bacon, I rushed home to my parents, determined that we ate this deliciousness at every meal. My father smiled and agreed.

We don’t write postcards about the small things. We don’t frame them in photographs. They aren’t that great or grand, but without them, life is altogether too loud. These quiet experiences give us a chance to enjoy the simple fact of being alive.

As my sense of smell returns to me, it’s like I’m smelling things for the first time. They’re full of memories and magic. Food tastes better, and the air is indeed sweet. I know what the poets mean now. It almost makes my broken nose worthwhile. Now, I am waiting for this bandage to come off. There’s an itch I can’t reach!

1. With the first two paragraphs, the writer mainly tries to      .

A．give examples of how she kills time	B．show that she loves doing secret things
C．get readers to wonder about her behavior	D．discuss new ways on how to enjoy spare time

2. What does the underline phrase “a new way of thinking” in paragraph 5 refer to?

A．A habit of overcoming ignorance.

B．A habit of giving personal consideration.

C．An ability to fully use our limited attention.

D．An ability to discover the pleasure of small things.

3. The tone of the story is      .

A．lively

B．sad

C．calm

D．serious

【推荐2】Holly O'Brien didn't know Meagan Hughes, another Korean American nurse working on the same floor at Doctors Hospital of Sarasota. After O'Brien and Hughes finally met, they did begin to notice parallels' in their lives. They were both certified (持证的) nursing assistants. They were both orphans who had been adopted by American families. And their reasons for ending up at the orphanages (孤儿院) were the same: abandonment.

Suddenly, the coincidences seemed more than merely interesting. In fact, for years, O'Brien sensed that she'd had a half-sister in Republic of Korea. Though her mother had disappeared when she was an infant and she was only five when her father was killed by a train, she had a memory of her and her father living, briefly, with his second wife and a baby girl. O'Brien was ultimately adopted by a loving couple from Alexandria, Virginia, but her Korean childhood never left her. She remembered one night, when she was about nine years old, she woke up from a dream and screamed, “My daddy died. I have a sister. I need to find her.” O'Brien's adoptive family contacted the orphanage in Korea for information, but there was no record of a sibling.

Hughes wasn't troubled by lingering memories; instead, she was haunted because she didn't have any. Adopted when she was four by a family in Kingston, New York, she couldn't remember either of her biological parents. “My whole life has been a question in my mind, and emptiness,” she said.

Now the coincidence of meeting O'Brien offered the chance to fill in the blanks. A year ago, the urses decided to take at-home DNA tests and mailed the samples away to be analyzed. Less than two weeks later, O'Brien got an e-mail. Their DNA matched -- they were half-sisters.

“Is this really happening?” said Hughes. O'Brien was shocked but also relieved. “In my heart, I knew,” she said "I knew she was out there somewhere.” After more than for long decades O'Brien had finally found the missing piece of her pest, working just a few feet away from her.

Today, the sisters wear special necklaces, each with a heart-shaped charm, as a symbol of their bond. “She will always be in my heart,” said O'Brien.

1. Which is true about Holly O'Brien and Meagan Hughes according to the passage?

A．They ended up in the same orphanage for the same reason.

B．They were adopted by the same American family.

C．They worked on the same floor in the same hospital.

D．They were both qualified nurses.

2. What can we learn from the second paragraph?

A．Their parents were both killed in a traffic accident

B．O'Brien's adoptive family treated her in earnest.

C．O'Brien was upset by unpleasant memories but Hughes wasn't.

D．O'Brien remembered she had had a half-sister in another American family.

3. Which of the following is the best to replace the underlined word “lingering” in Paragraph 3?

A．existing	B．miserable
C．unfading	D．earliest

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．Half-sisters	B．Special necklaces
C．Two orphans	D．Tight bonds

【推荐1】Claude Monet was born in Paris, France, on November 14,1840. By the time he was fifteen, Monet had become popular as a caricaturist. Through an exhibition of his drawings at a local frame shop in 1858, Monet met Eugene Boudin, a landscape painter. Boudin introduced Monet to outdoor painting, an activity that soon became his life’s work.

Monet was interested in natural light, atmosphere, and color, and recorded them in his paintings as accurately as possible. A striking example of his early style was the Terrace at St. Adresse, which contained a shining mixture of bright, natural colors.

Monet exhibited regularly in the group shows. His painting Impression: Sunrise inspired a newspaper critic Louis Leroy to call all of the artists in the group “impressionists,” and the name stuck.

Monet gradually gained critical and financial success during the late 1880s and the 1890s. This was due to the efforts of Durand-Ruel, who sponsored one-man exhibitions of Monet’s work.

During the 1890s he devoted his energy to paintings of haystacks. In these works Monet painted his subjects from the same physical position, allowing only the light and weather conditions to vary from picture to picture. By 1899 he began to work on his famous paintings of the water lilies in his garden at Giverny, France.

Monet’s late years were very difficult. His health declined rapidly, and he was almost blind. Besides, he struggled with the problems of his art. In 1920 he began to work on twelve large canvases of water lilies, which he planned to give to his country. To complete them, he fought against his own failing eyesight and the fact that he had no experience in creating large-scale mural art. In fact, the task required him to learn a new kind of painting at the age of eighty. The painting was characterized by a broad, sweeping style and depended almost entirely on color.

Monet died on December 5,1926,at his home. He once wrote, “My only merit lies in having painted directly in front of nature, seeking to express my impressions of the fleeting effects.” Most art historians believe that Monet accomplished much more than this. He helped change the world of painting by shaking off the convention of the past. By dissolving forms in his works, Monet opened the door for further abstraction in art and influenced such later artists as Jackson Pollack, Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning.

1. Who helped Monet find his life’s work?

A．Eugene Boudin.

B．Durand-Ruel.

C．Louis Leroy.

D．Mark Rothko.

2. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Monet tended to paint haystacks from different positions.

B．The painting Terrace at St. Adresse reflects Monet’ s late style.

C．The name “impressionist” originated from Impression: Sunrise.

D．Durand-Ruel was so interested in Monet’ s paintings that he bought a lot.

3. What do we know about Monet’ s late years?

A．He failed to learn a new painting skill due to old age.

B．Monet made a fortune by selling canvases to his country.

C．Monet came across difficulties in creating large-scale mural art.

D．Monet committed himself to maintaining traditional painting style.

4. What might be the best title of this passage?

A．A great artist-Claude Monet	B．Claude Monet and Impressionism
C．Brilliant achievements of Monet	D．The greatest painter in the world

【推荐1】I was fifteen months old, a happy carefree kid until the day fell. It was a bad fall. I landed on a glass rabbit which cut my eye badly enough to blind it. Trying to save the eye, the doctors stitched the eyeball together where it was cut, leaving a big ugly scar in the middle of my eye. The attempt failed, but my mama, in all of her wisdom, found a doctor who knew that if the eye were removed entirely, my face would grow up badly twisted, so my scarred, sightless, cloudy and gray eye lived on with me. And as I grew, this sightless eye in so many ways controlled me.

I walked with my face looking at the floor so people would not see the ugly me. Sometimes people, even strangers, asked me embarrassing questions or made hurtful remarks. When the kids played games, I was always the “monster”. I grew up imagining that people looked at me in an unusual way, as if my appearance were my fault. I always felt like I was a freak.

Yet mama would say to me, at every turn, “Hold your head up high and face the world.” It became a litany that I relied on. She had started when I was young. She would hold me in her arms and stroke my hair and say, “If you hold your head up high, it will be okay, and people will see your beautiful soul.” She continued this message whenever I wanted to hide. Those words have meant different things to me over the years. As a little child, I thought mama meant, “Be careful or you will fall down or bump into something because you are not looking. ”As an adolescent, even though I tended to look down to hide my shame, I found that sometimes when I held my head up high and let people know me, they liked me. My mama’s words helped me begin to realize that by letting people look at my face, I let them recognize the intelligence and beauty behind both eyes even if they couldn’t see it on the surface.     

In high school I was successful both academically and socially. I was even elected class president, but on the inside I still felt like a freak. All I really wanted was to look like everyone else. When things got really bad, I would cry to my mama and she would look at me with loving eyes and say, “Hold your head up high and face the world. Let them see the beauty that is inside.”

When I met the man who became my partner for life, we looked each other straight in the eye, and he told me I was beautiful inside and out. He meant it. My mama’s love and encouragement were the spark that gave me the confidence to overcome my own doubt. I had faced adversity, encountered my problems head on, and learned not only to appreciate myself but to have deep compassion for others.

“Hold your head up high”, has been heard many times in my home. Each of my children has felt its invitation. The gift my mama gave me lives on in another generation.

1. As a result of the terrible accident, the writer ________.

A．became deaf and blind.	B．had her eye hurt.
C．had some hearing loss.	D．had her eye moved away.

2. By saying “Hold your head up high and face the world”, her mother meant to ________.

A．blame her for lack of confidence.	B．warn her of the inconvenience.
C．encourage her in her daily life.	D．praise her for her great courage.

3. The underlined sentence “Each of my children has felt its invitation.” in the last paragraph means ________.

A．all of the writer’s children grew up with an inviting prospect.

B．Mama’s inspirational words had deep effects on the writer’s children.

C．each of the writer’s children received their grandma’s invitation.

D．the writer’s children had no choice but to accept the invitation.

4. Which of the following is conveyed in this passage?

A．Failure is the mother of success.	B．One’s mind works faster in danger.
C．Never give up whenever in trouble.	D．Two hands make the work light.

【推荐2】As the pandemic separates us from loved ones, many of us are trying to stay connected through texting, email, and social media, even taking the opportunity to reconnect with long-lost friends.

But if our goal is to feel closer to people and enjoy our conversations more, we’d better pick up the phone, according to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology.

In the study, participants (参与者)imagined having a conversation with a friend they hadn't been in touch with for at least two years and made predictions (预测) about how it would feel to connect by phone versus(对比)email. "We think it's going to be awkward to talk to somebody, but that just turns out not to be the case," says lead author Amit Kumar. "Instead... people form stronger connection when they're talking on the phone than when communicating over email. ”

The same result held true when the researchers had participants do a conversation exercise with strangers using either video chatting, audio(声音的),only chatting, or text-chatting. People who used media that included the voice had more satisfying exchanges and felt closer to their new friends than the text-chatters.

Why? Likely it's because our voices communicate a variety of emotions, helping others to read us better and to feel like they really know us. Hearing someone's voice helps understand each other better —in some cases, even better than video chatting.

So, while texting can be useful, it's not the best way to get the most out of socializing. If we're looking for greater happiness and connection, we should give someone a call.

1. What do the underlined words “the case” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Stronger connection is possible.

B．Predictions agree with the results.

C．Talking on the phone is awkward.

D．Communication over e-mail is effective.

2. Why do participants communicating with voice feel closer?

A．They can talk more quickly.

B．Voices show more emotions.

C．Voices are easier to understand.

D．They are more familiar with voice.

3. How do researchers get the study result?

A．By quoting experts' words.	B．By telling stories.
C．By making comparisons.	D．By introducing theories.

4. What is considered the best way to connect with someone?

A．Text chatting.	B．Sending emails.
C．Making calls.	D．Writing letters.

【推荐3】What is the capital of Canada? If you’re well-versed in geographic knowledge, you know the answer is Ottawa. But why is that? After all, Toronto is much larger than any other city in Canada. Montreal is an international city with ties to Europe. Vancouver is a major city with a very strategic port. Quebec City is centrally located.

Why were none of these cities chosen to be the capital of Canada? As it turns out, choosing a capital city is more complicated than pointing to the biggest city on the map.

Ottawa was a good choice because it was centrally located between two other major contenders. Montreal (which was predominantly French) and York (now Toronto, which was predominantly British). These two cities were the largest in Ontario and Quebec, which were at the center of Canada in the middle of 19th century. Picking Ottawa was a good compromise, as the Queen did not want to appear to favor one major city over the other.

Also, unlike Toronto and Montreal, Ottawa was central but also a safe distance away from Canada’s southern neighbor, the United States. It meant the capital would be safer in the event the U.S. decided to attack again. After all, it had only been 40 years since the War of 1812 when American troops had invaded as a result of British interference(干涉) in shipping. Although America was unable to capture Canada, the invasion was costly for the British government, who was not about to let it happen again.

Hence, Ottawa was a great choice for the capital of Canada.

1. Which is the biggest city in Canada?

A．Toronto.	B．Ottawa.
C．Montreal.	D．Vancouver.

2. Why was neither Montreal nor Toronto chosen to be the capital?

A．Ottawa was in the middle of Canada.

B．The Queen did not want to be criticized.

C．The two cities were in the middle of Canada.

D．There were different languages between the two cities.

3. What can we infer from Paragraph 4?

A．The United States was a good neighbor.

B．The United States often attacked Canada.

C．Toronto and Montreal were in the middle of Canada.

D．The capital was not easy to be attacked.

【推荐2】Flu season generally dies down in March and April, but will the coronavirus( 冠状病毒) go with it? Whether the coronavirus that's quickly spreading around the world will follow the flu season and fade away with spring's arrival is unsatisfyingly uncertain. And many scientists say it's too soon to know how the dangerous virus will behave in warmer weather.

Dozens of viruses exist in the coronavirus family, but only seven afflict (折磨) humans. Four are known to cause mild colds in people, which are common, while others are more novel, deadly, and thought to be transmitted from animals like bats and camels. Health officials have labeled this new virus SARS-CoV-2 and its disease COVID-19. The prospect that summer could delay a pandemic is tempting. Earlier this year, Donald Trump tweeted about China’s efforts to contain the virus, saying they would be successful, “especially as the weather starts to warm.”

Viruses that cause influenza or milder coronavirus colds do tend to subside in warmer months because these types of viruses have what scientists refer to as “seasonality,” so the president's comments have some scientific backing. But it's highly uncertain that SARS-CoV-2 will behave the same way. Those currently studying the disease say their research is too early to predict how the virus will respond to changing weather.

“I hope it will show seasonality, but it's hard to know,” says Stuart Weston, a researcher at the University of Maryland, where the virus is being actively studied. As of Tuesday morning, more than 800,000 coronavirus cases had been confirmed in 74 different countries, with experts saying the disease is likely to keep spreading.

And relatively recent research suggests that dry, cold air may also help viruses stay unbroken in the air or travel farther as they become airborne.

Scientists assume that low humidity, which often occurs in winter, might weaken the function of the mucus(粘液)in your nose, which your body uses to trap and drive foreign bodies like viruses or bacteria away. Cold, dry air can make that normally thick mucus drier and less efficient at trapping a virus.

1. When does flu season usually die down?

A．Early autumn.

B．Late Summer.

C．Late Spring.

D．Mid Summer.

2. What does the underlined word mean?

A．Frightening

B．Decent

C．Critical

D．Unfamiliar

3. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．The reason why people easily get viruses in winter.

B．If you stay at a warm room, you can't get any viruses.

C．Viruses do agree with the dry and cold atmosphere in winter.

D．The low temperature in winter is the main reason for viruses to spread.

4. From which is the text probably taken?

A．A health magazine.	B．A biology research.
C．An educational paper.	D．A medical report.

【推荐3】Scientists can figure out a movie's emotional tone from the gasps(喘气) of its audience. These gases could point the way to a subtle(微妙的，精细的) form of human communication, a new study suggests.

"When you see a movie, you can hear the music and see the pictures. However, you don't realize here are chemical signals in the air. And they, too, could be affecting you, says Williams, who led the study. As an atmospheric chemist, he studies the chemical makeup of the air around us.

Williams started out measuring the air in a soccer stadium. He noticed that levels of carbon dioxide and other gases changed wildly whenever the crowd cheered. That got him wondering -- Could the gases people breathe out be influenced by emotions?

To find out, he went to the movies.

Williams and his coworkers measured air samples collected over six weeks in two movie theaters. Overall, 9,500 movie goers watched 16 films. They included a mix of comedy, romance, action and horror films. Among them were The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Carrie, and Walking with Dinosaurs. The researchers gave scenes from the movies such labels as “suspense(悬疑)”, "laughter" and "crying". Then they looked for hundreds of chemicals in the air that showed up as people were watching particular movie scenes.

And certain scenes had distinct chemical "fingerprints". Scenes that had people laughing or on the edge of their seats were especially distinctive. During screenings of The Hunger Games, levels of carbon dioxide and isoprene got to the highest at two suspenseful moments. Because isoprene is related to muscle movement, the researchers think tense movie moments likely led to its spikes(尖峰). Williams and his colleagues think the increase in carbon dioxide was due to the viewers' increased pulse and breathing rates.

Scientists need more data to make stronger links between human emotions and what's in their breath. But Williams can see potential practical uses. Companies, for instance, could quickly measure the air during tests to see how people feel about new products. He pictures future studies recording other body variables(变数) as well. These might include heart rate and body temperature, for instance. "It's something to find out."

1. What was Williams's purpose of the research?

A．To know more about the makeup of the air.

B．To find out how the air changes in a crowded stadium.

C．To study how greatly the movies influence people's emotion.

D．To see whether people's emotion affects the air they breathe out.

2. What do we know about the experiment?

A．Each participant watched about 16 films.

B．The movies were a mixture of comedy and romance.

C．The film scenes were labeled with three main features.

D．The samples were taken in two theaters over six weeks.

3. In which situation are people most emotional?

A．Romantic moments.	B．Exciting situations.
C．Suspenseful situations.	D．Horrible moments.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Human emotions are strongly related to the chemicals humans breathe out.

B．People's temperature will be measured when they' re watching movies.

C．Williams thinks more measures should be taken for practical uses.

D．Companies will spend much money testing their new product.