【推荐1】It feels like every time my mother and I start to have a conversation, it turns into an argument. We talk about something as simple as dinner plans and suddenly my mother will push the conversation into the Third World War. She’ll talk about my lack of (缺乏) bright future because I don’t plan to be a doctor. And much to her disappointment, I don’t want to do any job related to science, either. In fact, when I was pushed to say that I planned to major (主修) in English, she nearly had a heart attack.

“Why can’t you be like my co-worker’s son?” she shouts all the time. Her co-worker’s son received a four-year scholarship and is now earning 70,000 dollars a year as an engineer. I don’t know what to say except that I simply can’t be like Mr. Perfect as I’ve called the unnamed co-worker’s son. I can’t be like him. I am the type of the person who loves to help out in the community, write until the sun goes down, and most of all, wants to achieve something because of loving it, not because of fame or salary.

I understand why my mother is worried about my future major. I’ve seen my mother struggle to raise me on her small salary and work long hours. She leaves the house around 6:30 am and usually comes back home around 5:00 pm or even 6:00 pm.

However, I want her to know that by becoming a doctor, it doesn’t mean I’ll be successful. I’d rather follow my dreams and create my own future.

1. What does the underlined word “push” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．to increase or decrease an amount, value, or number

B．to encourage or force someone to do something or to work hard

C．to make someone or something move by pressing them with arms

D．to press a button to make a piece of equipment start or stop working

2. Why does the author’s mother mention her co-worker’s son?

A．To persuade the author to become a doctor.

B．To tell the author to learn as hard as he can.

C．To encourage the author to receive a scholarship.

D．To ask the author to earn much more money.

3. What makes the author’s mother worried about his major?

A．Her plans for future.	B．Her need to control.
C．Her poor knowledge.	D．Her struggle with life.

4. What can be inferred from the text?

A．The author will become an engineer as his mother wishes.

B．Being a scientist is sure to earn high fame and salary.

C．The author may choose major according to his interest.

D．The author shows little interest in learning English.

【推荐2】You may never know why. The email will arrive and reasons offered for your rejection might be the real ones—or not. Companies do not always like to admit that they have been scrolling through your information posted on your social media sites. Yet many, particularly the big ones, are doing just that. And in increasing numbers, they are acting on what they find when deciding whom to hire and whom to pass over.

Even before the pandemic, online checks on applicants were common. Research in 2017 found that 28% of large companies had turned down applicants after carrying out such checks. Reed Screening, a large agency doing this work, was asked to run over a third more social-media checks in December 2021 than a year earlier. And in 2022, the UK government gave the practice approval when the Department for Education said schools and colleges “should consider carrying out an online search (including social media) as part of their due diligence (尽职调查)”.

The way screening works is simple. Any “problematic” behaviour will be marked with a red flag. There are laws governing such online screening. David Erdos, Co-Director of the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law at the University of Cambridge, says that companies are supposed to warn candidates before screening their social media and tell them that they have the right to refuse consent (同意). Some companies follow these rules, but others may not. As for the right to refuse, it is hardly practicable. “Who on earth is going to be that person who says ‘Hang on a minute — I’m not happy about that’?” says Mr Erdos. “That itself is likely to be a red flag.”

All agree that the spread of online screening is alarming, as it is so unforgiving. People may be unable ever to be free of their online past, says Mr Erdos. Some footballers recently were punished for comments made almost a decade ago when they were but teenagers, as they have found to their cost.

Those within the industry think laws should be tightened, with punishment for illegal acts. In the meantime, caution (谨慎) is advisable. In talks with university students, Keith Rosser, director of Reed Screening warns them what companies will do to their social media when they apply for jobs. They are “universally terrified”, he says. And rightly.

1. What can we infer about online screening from paragraph 2?

A．It is turned down by large companies.	B．It boosts the development of education.
C．It is becoming more socially acceptable.	D．It highlights the wisdom of employers.

2. What do applicants tend to do with online screening?

A．They reject the red flags.	B．They have to give in to it.
C．They will charge the company.	D．They postpone carrying it out.

3. What is David Erdos’ opinion on posting comments online?

A．Companies are tolerant of it.	B．It should be under strict laws.
C．Its influence is hard to remove.	D．University students are free to do it.

4. What could be a suitable title for the text?

A．Social-media Checks Are Around the Corner

B．Companies Are Watching Job Candidates Online

C．Online Checks Are to Blame for Unemployment

D．Laws Governing Online Screening Are Being Introduced

【推荐3】Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

No matter what the reason, though, juggling more than one job is guaranteed to be a crash course in time management. If you’re not careful, the word “crash” could become more than figurative.

We all know that we’ll have to figure out a time management system when we take on a second job. Equally obvious is the fact that what works for one person (and their jobs) probably won’t work for anyone else.     1     There are a few tricks, though, that can help.

    2    . Even if you are the boss on your second job——you’re working for yourself——you have an obligation to keep that work separate from you day job. Focus on what’s in front of you. There’s actually a benefit to punching a clock when you work for more than one supervisor. When you’re on the clock for Company A, you know exactly which projects you should be working on. If Company A is paying for this time, you should be theirs, heart and soul, at least until you clock out.

Good records can also help. I’m not just talking about the calendars and task lists most of us rely on, either. Making sure that you have any contact information available no matter whether you’re   at   Job     A,     Job     B     or     home     can     take     some     extra     effort,     but     it’s     worth it.     3    

I know plenty of people who bring their work to their primary job. It seems to be a favorite tactic of folks starting up a freelancing career or small business. I don’t think that’s the best way to manage a packed schedule. If you don’t have your primary employer’s permission, the best advice is to just keep things quiet. Give preference to the employer who is paying you for this specific chunk of time.

Some companies don’t want you to work anywhere else. They want you to put in your eight hours, go home, sleep well and come back rested. Others consider employees who go looking for other projects as its benefits —— such employees have a jump start on networking and have a wider variety of experiences.

    4    . Because it can be very hard to figure out your boss’s attitude, the general rule seems to be that you keep quiet on your extracurricular activities. I wouldn’t talk about Job A at Job B, although, if my boss was to bring up the matter, I’d be entirely truthful.

A．Priority should definitely be given to your day job.

B．The same goes for your notes and other paperwork.

C．It’s up to you to find a system and stick with it.

D．Sometimes it is no easy task to make decisions between Job A and Job B.

E．Keep firm dividers between your different jobs.

F．Unfortunately, most supervisors do not come with a label which variety they are.

【推荐2】Optimism May Help People Live Longer

People who have an optimistic view on life are more likely to live longer, a US study said Wednesday.

The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, analyzed data from 2004 to 2012 from 70,000 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-running US study tracking women’s health via surveys every two years.

The researchers looked at participants’ levels of optimism and other factors that might play a role in how optimism may affect mortality risk, such as race, high blood pressure, diet, and physical activity.

It found the most optimistic women, or the top 25%, had a nearly 30 percent lower risk of dying from any of the diseases analyzed in the study compared with the least optimistic women, or the bottom 25%.

The most optimistic women had a 16 percent lower risk of dying from cancer; 38 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease; 39 percent lower risk of dying from stroke; 38 percent lower risk of dying from respiratory disease; and 52 percent lower risk of dying from infection.

Previous studies have linked optimism with reduced risk of early death from cardiovascular (心脑血管的) problems, but this was the first to find a link between optimism and reduced risk from other major causes.

“While most medical and public health efforts today focus on reducing risk factors for diseases, evidence has been mounting that enhancing psychological resilience (弹性，复原力) may also make a difference,” said Eric Kim, research fellow at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and co-lead author of the study.

“Our new findings suggest that we should make efforts to boost optimism, which has been shown to be associated with healthier behaviors and healthier ways of coping with life challenges.”

The study also found that healthy behaviors only partially explain the link between optimism and reduced mortality risk. One other possibility is that higher optimism directly affects our biological systems, Kim said.

Co-lead author and postdoctoral research fellow Kaitlin Hagan said optimism can be varied with relatively uncomplicated and low-cost interventions (干预), even things as simple as having people write down and think about the best possible outcomes for various areas of their lives, such as careers or friendships.

“Encouraging use of these interventions could be an innovative way to enhance health in the future,” Hagan said.

1. According to the recent study, optimism can ________.

A．help women live longer than men

B．enable people to stay healthy

C．cure people of high blood pressure

D．make woman stay young and nice

2. From the recent study, the optimistic women ________.

A．took the risk of dying from infection

B．were less likely to die from some disease

C．had a 39% lower risk of suffering from cancer

D．were less likely to suffer from low emotions

3. The underlined word “mounting” in paragraph 7 might be best placed by ________.

A．increasing	B．appearing
C．doubling	D．showing

4. Both Kim and Hagan believed that ________.

A．simple but high-cost interventions should be tried out

B．higher optimism indirectly influences our body

C．optimism should be encouraged and developed

D．optimism can help people meet all kinds of challenges

【推荐3】Let Moments Inspire You

When I was a teenager I volunteered to work at the water station at a 10,000m race. My job was to hand out water to the runners. I remember being so excited to see all the different kinds of people who passed by and grabbed a cup of water. I saw so many types of people doing it. I thought maybe I could do it too! So the next year I signed up for the race.

That first 10,000m race was quite an experience. At times, I didn’t know if I could finish. Then came a defining moment. At one point near the end, a 70-year-old ran past me, very fast and I felt embarrassed that I was 50 years younger than he and I couldn’t even keep up with him. I felt defeated for a second. But then I realized something. He was running his race and I was running mine. He had different abilities, experience, training and goals for himself. I had mine. Remember my goal was only to finish. After a minute, it hit me that this was a lesson I could draw from. I learned something about myself in that moment. I turned my embarrassment into inspiration. I decided that I would not give up on running races. In fact, I would run even more races and I would learn how to train and prepare properly and one day I would be one of those 70-year-olds who was still running. As I crossed the finish line, I was proud of my accomplishment.

In life we all have those moments when we compare ourselves to others. It’s natural. Don’t allow those moments to weaken you. Turn them into motivation and let them inspire you. Use them to show you what is possible. With a proper preparation and training, you can improve your results to achieve anything you want in life.

1. The author signed up for the race because of _______.

A．her running gift	B．the racers’ inspiration
C．her interest in sports	D．the racers’ excitement

2. Which of the following can best describe the author?

A．Positive	B．Negative
C．Doubtful	D．Serious

3. How did the author feel at her race result?

A．Regretful	B．Satisfied
C．Embarrassed	D．Amazed

4. According to the article, finding yourself not as good as others, you should ________.

A．try to find out other gifts you might have

B．avoid comparing yourself with others

C．change or reset your goal

D．try to motivate yourself

【推荐1】Diet pills ,diet Coke, diet Pepsi,   no-fat diet, vegetable diet… We are surrounded by the word “diet” everywhere we look and listen. We have so easily been attracted by the promise and potential of diet products that we have stopped thinking about what diet products are doing to us. We are paying for products that harm us psychologically and physically.

Diet products significantly weaken us psychologically. On one level, we are not allowing   our brains to admit that our weight problems lie not in actually losing the weight, but in controlling the consumption of fatty, high-calorie, unhealthy foods. Diet products allow us to jump over the thinking stage and go straight for the scale ( 秤 ) instead. All we have to do is to swallow or recognize the word “diet” in food labels.

On another level, diet products have greater psychological effects. Every time we have a zero-calorie drink, we are telling ourselves without our awareness that we don’t have to work to get results. Diet products make people believe that gain comes without pain, and that life can be without resistance and struggle.

The danger of diet products lies not only in the psychological effects they have on us, but also in the physical harm that they cause. Diet foods can indirectly harm our bodies because consuming them instead of healthy foods means we are preventing our bodies from having basic nutrients. Diet foods and diet pills contain zero calorie only because the diet industry has created chemicals to produce these wonder products. Diet products may not be nutritional, and the chemicals that go into diet products are potentially dangerous.

Now that we are aware of the effects that diet products have on us, it is time to seriously think about buying them. Losing weight lies in the power of minds, not in the power of chemicals. Once we realize this, we will be much better able to resist diet products, and therefore prevent the psychological and physical harm that comes from using them.

1. From Paragraph 1, we can learn that .

A．people are fed up with diet products

B．diet products are misleading people

C．diet products fail to bring out people’s potential

D．people have difficulty in choosing diet products

2. One psychological effect of diet   products is that people tend to .

A．try out a variety of diet foods

B．hesitate before they enjoy diet foods

C．watch their weight rather than their diet

D．pay attention to their   own eating habits

3. In Paragraph 3, “gain comes without pain” probably means______

A．diet products bring no harm

B．diet products have no calorie

C．it costs little to stay healthy

D．losing weight needs no efforts

4. Diet   products indirectly affect people physically   because such products__

A．lack basic nutrients

B．are over-consumed

C．are short of chemicals

D．provide too much energy

【推荐2】For some people, running outdoors is a great way to exercise. What may not be so great is seeing trash all over the ground. Well, some people are doing something about it. They are plogging! Plogging began in Sweden in 2016. A Swedish man named Erik Ahlstrom became concerned about the amount of trash and litter he saw each day on his way to work and he began picking up the trash. That is how plogging was born!

Plogging, by that term，may have officially begun in Sweden. But many people who exercise outdoors have been doing this for years. Take Jeff Horowitz for example. He is a personal trainer in Washington，D. C. He would often pick up trash while running outside. He even turned it into a game; he would try to pick up the trash without stopping.

Today, plogging is an official activity, one that is becoming increasingly popular. Plogging can build closer social connections in a community, and it can also be fun. When Dana Allen goes plogging around D. C., she invites her friends, and they make a day of it. Although Allen enjoys plogging，she doesn’t do it all the time. When she is training for a serious marathon race，the trash has to wait.

Cities around the world now hold plogging events. The goal is to spread the idea that littering is not acceptable. Along with cleaning up the environment, there may be another reason to choose plogging. One fitness app，Lifesum，records one hour of plogging as burning 288 calories. Usual jogging burns about 235 calories.

Getting ready to plog is similar to getting ready to jog. Ploggers do some deep knee bends as well as some balancing exercises and then they put on protective gloves. There are other safety rules for plogging. The main one is to plog in areas where there are not too many people. Stopping quickly in front of someone. to pick up an empty bag of potato chips, for example, could cause a crash.

1. What do we know about Jeff Horowitz from the text?

A．He was the first person to plog.	B．He has been actually plogging.
C．He is in support of eco-travelling.	D．He is an expert in picking up trash.

2. What is so special about Dana Allen’s plogging?

A．She doesn’t always do it with her friends.

B．She always finds it interesting to do it.

C．She nearly does it in a park every day.

D．She doesn’t insist doing it every day.

3. What do the numbers in Paragraph 4 mainly tell us?

A．Picking up trash is important.	B．Plogging events are of little use.
C．Plogging is a better workout.	D．The idea of plogging is strange.

4. Why should ploggers choose to plog in less crowded areas?

A．To avoid a crash.	B．To save energy.
C．To pick up more trash.	D．To make it unknown.