If there is any such thing as a sea monster, chances are that it looks much like a frilled shark(皱鳃鲨)！This fearsome but interesting creature is one of the most rarely sighted species on earth. Let’s take a closer look at the habitat, appearance and feeding behavior of the frilled shark.
While very little is known about the frilled shark, it is thought to live in the deepest, darkest parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and only come to the surface when sick or injured. It is believed that they are able to survive at a depth of about 5,150 feet but are more commonly found in waters 50-200 feet deep. There is a small but convincing body of research that suggests the frilled shark is a vertical migrator, moving from deep to deeper waters on a regular basis.
While this mysterious beast is called a shark, many believe it looks more like an eel with a long, slim body about five to six feet in length. It has a head that’s triangular in shape similar to that of a poisonous snake and large oval eyes giving off a strange and frightening green light. The unusual creature has six pairs of gills (鳃), each with the frilled edges for which the sea monster was named.
The feeding behavior of the frilled shark has never been studied or even observed by human eyes. However, it is almost certainly a predator (食肉动物). After all, researchers believe, why else would it need 300 sharp teeth?! Scientists theorize that these dangerous teeth make it possible for a slow moving fish like the frilled shark to catch squid and other deep-sea creatures.
As research into the habitat, appearance and feeding behavior of this strange creature continues, there’s a good chance that we will gain a full understanding of this unusual species one day. Until then, the frilled shark remains one of the great mysteries of the deep.
1. What can we infer about the frilled shark from Paragraph 2?| A．It is hard to see them in a healthy state on the ocean surface. |
| B．They migrate from ocean to ocean in the deepest waters. |
| C．They usually live in oceans at a depth of over 5,150 feet. |
| D．It is a rare species threatened by human activities. |
| A．the place where it was found | B．the place where it was born |
| C．its appearance | D．its character |
| A．From its behavior. | B．From its habitat. |
| C．From its teeth. | D．From its gills. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Cautious. | C．Disapproving. | D．Optimistic. |
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【推荐1】After Hurricane Maria swept through Puerto Rico in 2017 and caused huge damage, researchers found rhesus macaques, a species of monkey living on Cayo Santiago, became more sociable with each other, according to a study published in the journal Current Biology.
“The monkeys live in a highly competitive society and can become aggressively protective over resources like food and water,” said study author Camille Testard, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. “That’s why researchers predicted that after the hurricane, the monkeys would stick with their closest friends in order to survive,” Testard said. Instead, the island’s residents became more tolerant of each other and greatly expanded their friend group.
“To measure the monkeys’ socialization and friendship-building, researchers tracked who they groomed (梳毛), which is one of the ways monkeys bond with one another,” Testard said. “It serves a similar function for us to getting coffee or a beer with friends,” she added. After the hurricane, the “grooming networks” became denser, Testard said, meaning there were more connections being formed compared to the monkeys’ behavior before the storm. The scientists found the animals made friends with friends of their friends, which she said is a common “easy” route to making friends that’s mirrored in human social circles.
The researchers didn’t know why the monkeys decided to make more friends, but Testard assumed it could be “a strategy to gain tolerance and support from the greatest number of individuals and thereby access to limited resources like shade.”
The monkeys could be forming additional bonds to “buffer” them from future hardship from the natural disaster, said Brenda MeCowan, a professor of population health and reproduction, who was not involved in the study. She said the findings also provide an insight into how humans might cope with the increasing threat of climate crisis. “Rhesus macaques are close evolutionary relatives to humans and share many features of their biology and behavior with us, ”said McCowan. “Our best friends can give us many things, but sometimes, what we need is a social network where everyone is just friendly enough.”
1. What was the researchers’ prediction about the monkeys alter the hurricane?| A．They would narrow their circle of friends. |
| B．They would spend more time making friends. |
| C．They would become less aggressive than before. |
| D．They would value the accessible resources. |
| A．To build closer bonds. |
| B．To get food opportunities. |
| C．To keep safe physically. |
| D．To show tolerance and support. |
| A．We must learn to live in harmony with wildlife. |
| B．We should be more united to face global challenges. |
| C．Human behavior has a great influence on monkeys. |
| D．Climate crisis is now the biggest threat to our survival. |
| A．Monkeys and humans have similar behavior. |
| B．Monkeys managed to survive natural disasters. |
| C．Biological ties do exist between humans and monkeys. |
| D．Monkeys formed unexpected friendship after the hurricane. |
【推荐2】The Beagle Brigade
Return to the United States from a trip abroad, and your luggage will get inspected by the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s Beagle Brigade. Working with human canine officer partners, the beagles sniff out potential threats to American agriculture.
An orange or apple, for example, might harbor a Mediterranean fruit fly. Hams could carry a disease such as hog cholera. These and other pests could destroy farmer’s crops and livestock. “Once we introduce something that is not part of the environment, there may riot be any controls for it in the environment,” notes USDA’s Lisa Davis at the National Dog Detector Training Center in Orlando, Florida. “The best thing for us to do is to prevent it from coming across the border and becoming established. ’’
When a beagle sniffs specific food odors, it signals its partners by sitting. The human officer then investigates. When the dog is right—which happens 90 percent of the time——it gets an edible treat.
“The dog is not out there working,” explains Davis. “It’s out there playing. It’s a game to the dog.” The handlers give the beagles plenty of food and loving. They make sure they get first-class medical attention, too. When the dogs finally retire after 9 to 11 years, the USDA finds caring homes for them. It’s a dog’s life indeed!
How well does the Beagle Brigade do its job? “On average,” notes Davis, “each year our 54 teams prevent around 75,000 prohibited, restricted items.” Since even one infested (为患的) item could cause widespread destruction, that’s a great result for America’s agricultural environment.
1. According to the article, what is a problem with agricultural products brought into the United States by passengers traveling from abroad?| A．They generate similar types of food odors. |
| B．They are difficult to identify, even with trained dogs. |
| C．They must be inspected before being allowed to enter the country. |
| D．They may carry something that could harm the agricultural environment. |
| A．By barking at its partner. | B．By begging for a treat. |
| C．By sitting next to the item. | D．By playing a game. |
| A．The handler praises it with a hug. |
| B．The beagle gets to play for a few hours. |
| C．The beagle gets to retire to a caring home. |
| D．The handler gives it an edible reward. |
| A．providing statistics about the number of items detected by the dogs |
| B．showing that the dogs enjoy discovering prohibited items |
| C．pointing out that good homes are found for the dogs when they retire |
| D．praising the fact that the dogs work for a government agency |
【推荐3】As evening fell, five people moved nervously around a baby elephant. All the science, all the ideas leading up to this moment, checked out. But now, it was a question of practice: Would this baby elephant like the newly developed baby formula(配方奶)?Would her body react(反应)well to it?
The five people, keepers at Reteti Elephant Sanctuary, northern Kenya’s only elephant orphanage (孤儿院), held one another’s hands. They hoped that she would be healthy. As baby Sera gulped down one bottle after another, they smiled with relief. And in the days that followed, the weak two-week-old put on weight and had the strength to play with the other baby elephants at the orphanage.
The keepers celebrated the breakthrough. The formula was simple and the main ingredient (成分) of the new formula was easy to get: goat(山羊)milk.
The team had been thinking about how to improve their milk recipe for a long time, says Katie Rowe, co-founder of Reteti, in the community-owned Namunyak Conservancy. The orphanage had used human baby formula since its establishment in 2016, but costs were high, cans had to be bought from foreign countries, and ingredients weren’t always natural. “I was looking at the ingredients, believing there were better choices out there,” Rowe says.
The new formula has also been a success for the Samburu community, which sells goat milk to the orphanage. Each morning, Stamen Lemajong’s family and others travel along tree-lined roads to sell more than 150 liters of milk to the orphanage. “We use the money from selling goat milk for everything-taking the kids to school, paying hospital bills,” Lemajong says. “And in times of hardship last year it has been a huge help. Then we could even buy food with it.”
1. What were the five people doing toward the evening?| A．Testing a new formula. | B．Treating an ill elephant. |
| C．Having a science lesson. | D．Examining a newly born baby. |
| A．Discovered. | B．Drank. | C．Filled. | D．Brought. |
| A．It is less expensive. | B．It tastes more delicious. |
| C．It has fresher ingredients. | D．It is more popular worldwide. |
| A．It lets kids realize the value of hard work. |
| B．It brings in less money than usual. |
| C．It gives local people big benefits. |
| D．It faces a lot of challenges. |
| A．Sports. | B．Science. | C．Education. | D．Society. |
【推荐1】In many parts of the world, cars play an important role in daily life and many societies would not exist without them. So the idea that in 20 years’ time, no one will own cars may be hard to believe. But this is the prediction made by a team of transport researchers, which are taken seriously, not only by government but also by car manufacturers.
The Human Science and Advanced Technology Institute at Loughborough in the UK is part of an international research program. The team there believes that by 2030 all cars will be computerized, which will mean much saving, no accidents and better use of roads. The super-intelligent car of the 21st century will drive itself, and it will not be owned by one individual. Instead, we will have a choice of cars and change them as frequently as we change our clothing.
According to Dr. David Davis, who leads the research team, these predictions are based on the rising cost of the car culture, which had blocked up our cities, polluted our air, and caused more deaths than both world wars put together.
Davis says, cars will be fitted with some intelligent devices to regulate the distance between one car and another. The car will automatically (自动的) speed up, or slow down, to match the speed of the car in front. Computers are much safer drivers than people, so cars in a road train will be able to drive much closer together than cars driven by people.
By 2020. Dr. David Davis believes, car technology will give motorists a clear view of the road, whatever the weather conditions, by projecting an image of the road ahead on to the car’s windscreen. And by 2030, cars will travel in convoy, linked to each other electronically. Cars will be connected to the car in front, just like a train. “The front vehicle in such a train burns the normal amount of fuel.” says Davis. ‘‘But all the others in the train would burn about ten percent of the normal amount, and so produce about ten percent of the pollution.”
1. We know from the passage that governments and car manufacturers_______.| A．are devoted to the technological revolution in car industry |
| B．consider the predictions seriously |
| C．do not believe the prediction that no one will own cars by 2030 |
| D．have put the super-intelligent car into mass production |
| A．The car will speed up out of control. |
| B．We will own as many cars as we want. |
| C．Cars will produce more pollution than present ones. |
| D．All cars will be driven by computers. |
| A．sidelong | B．in line |
| C．side by side | D．shoulder to shoulder |
| A．There will be less pollution caused by car. |
| B．Motorists will get a clear view of the road. |
| C．The weather condition will not have effect on motorists. |
| D．All trains will burn less fuel than present. |
【推荐2】A breathtaking trick potentially left over from our ancestors might be found in us-the ability to sense oxygen through our skin.
Amphibians, animals such as frogs that can live both on land and in water, have long been known to be capable of breathing through their skin. In fact, the first known lungless frog that breathes only through its skin was discovered recently in the rivers of Borneo.
Now the same oxygen sensors found in frog skins and in the lungs of mammals have unexpectedly been discovered in the skin of mice. “No one had ever looked,” explained Randall Johnson, a biologist researcher. Mice and frogs are quite distant relatives, so the fact they have these molecules in common in their skin suggests they might well be found in the skin of other mammals, such as humans. “We have no reason to think that they are not in the skin of people too.” Johnson said.
These molecules not only detect oxygen, but help increase levels of vital red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body. Normal mice breathing in air that is 10 percent oxygen-a dangerously low level similar to conditions at the top of Mount Everest, and about half that of air at sea level. However, mice that had the oxygen sensor HIF-la genetically removed from their skin failed to produce this hormone even after hours of such low oxygen.
These findings, if they hold true in humans, suggest one could raise the level of oxygen circulating inside the body. This could help treat lung diseases and disorders such as anemia without injecting drugs, which make up a multibillion- dollar market, Johnson said.
Athletes also often try to get more oxygen delivered to their muscles in order to improve their performance. They often do this by training at high altitudes or in low-oxygen tents. The new study suggests they might want to expose their skin as well as breathing in low-oxygen air to improve their performance. “It's hard to say what exactly might be done, however-there's a lot we don't know yet,” Johnson explained. The scientists detailed their findings in the April 18 issue of the journal Cell.
1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?| A．Johnson believes that Oxygen sensors also exist in human skin. |
| B．People have to surf the Internet to read detailed findings. |
| C．It has been proved that these findings help treat lung diseases. |
| D．It has long been expected oxygen sensors exist in mice's skin. |
| A．carrying-oxygen around the body |
| B．improving athletes'performance |
| C．detecting oxygen |
| D．increasing level of oxygen |
| A．Negative | B．Pessimistic | C．Positive | D．Hesitating |
| A．Great Findings Benefits Athletes A Lot |
| B．Frogs And Mice Are Distant Relatives |
| C．First Known Animal Breathes Through Skin |
| D．Humans Might Sense Oxygen Through Skin |
【推荐3】Zibo has long sought to publicize its unique idea on roasted skewers (串肉扦) of meat, vegetables, seafood and other foodstuffs in the hope of attracting business. But it was only in March, when college students tried the barbecue food, took videos of themselves enjoying it, and posted the clips on social media that it went viral. Since then, young people from across the country have flocked to Zibo to try its barbecued food.
During weekends last month, Yang Benxin, who has run a barbecue restaurant in the city for nearly three decades, used a loudspeaker to tell people waiting in line for a table to choose another restaurant because the meat at his business had sold out. Yang’s restaurant has 200 tables, which can accommodate about 1,000 diners. But almost every weekend for the past month, the number of people visiting the restaurant rose beyond its capacity, forcing him to tell those waiting to try elsewhere.
In Zibo, the food on barbecue skewers is 70-80 percent precooked before it is brought to the table, where diners complete the cooking process on small stoves fueled by hot coals. Zhang Hanzhe, 27, who visited Zibo with friends from Jinan, capital of Shandong, during the May Day holiday to try the city’s barbecued food, said, “We prepared the food according to our own tastes, and it’s also affordable.”
The authorities in Zibo have been quick to gain a further advantage from the sudden inflow of visitors. The market supervision and public security authorities acted to ensure food safety and reasonable pricing in the barbecue sector, while the city’s public transportation company launched bus routes especially for people visiting barbecue restaurants. The city issued a notice ahead of the May Day holiday, warning that hotels in Zibo that raised their room rates by more than 50 percent during the holiday would be punished.
Qu Chuang, a professor at Shandong University’s School of Economics, doubted whether the barbecue craze in Zibo would last long, but said the city’s biggest gain is that it is now known by more people.
1. What made the barbecue in Zibo go viral?| A．The government’s efforts to publicize it. |
| B．College students’ videos of themselves enjoying it. |
| C．Young people’s craziness about Zibo’s culture. |
| D．Zibo’s specially tailored policies about it. |
| A．To prove the popularity of Zibo’s barbecue. |
| B．To highlight the poor capacity of Zibo’s restaurants. |
| C．To call for improvements in Zibo’s services. |
| D．To warn potential visitors of the inconvenience. |
| A．Its advantages outweigh its disadvantages. | B．It might cool down eventually. |
| C．It is of no benefit in the long run. | D．It is of little help in Zibo’s popularity. |
| A．Zibo sets hot pace with economic transformation |
| B．Zibo unintentionally draws eyes to its economic transformation |
| C．Zibo achieves its goal of economic transformation |
| D．Zibo starts heated arguments about economic transformation |
【推荐1】A recent survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre showed that a mere 16% of Americans think that a four-year degree course prepares students very well for a high-paying job in the modern economy. But technology also seems to be complicating the picture.
A paper published by a trio (三人小组) of Canadian economists, Paul Beaudry, David Green and Benjamin Sand, questions optimistic assumptions about demand for non-routine work and shows that since 2000 the share of employment accounted for by high-skilled jobs in America has been falling. This analysis supports the view that technology has come as a blow to employment. Skilled and unskilled workers alike are in trouble. Those with a better education are still more likely to find work, but there is now a fair chance that it will be unenjoyable. Those who never made it to college face being squeezed out of the workforce altogether. This is the argument of the techno-pessimists.
There is another, less pessimistic possibility. James Bessen, an economist at Boston University, finds that since 1980 employment has been growing faster in occupations that use computers than in those that do not. Partial automation can actually increase demand by reducing costs. But even though technology may not destroy jobs in all, it does force change upon many people.
In many occupations it has become essential to acquire new skills as established ones become out-of-date. Burning Glass Technologies, a Boston-based startup that analyses labor markets by obtaining data from online job advertisements, finds that the biggest demand is for new combinations of skills—what its boss, Matt Sigelman, calls “hybrid jobs”. The composition of new jobs is also changing rapidly.
A college degree at the start of a working career does not answer the need for the continuous acquisition of new skills, especially as career spans (持续时间) are lengthening. Vocational training is good at giving people job-specific skills, but those, too, will need to be updated over and over again during a career lasting decades. Vocational training has a role, but training someone early to do one thing all their lives is not the answer to lifelong learning.
Add all of this up, and it becomes clear that times have got tougher for workers of all kinds. A college degree is still a prerequisite (必备条件) for many jobs, but employers often do not trust it enough to hire workers just on the strength of that, without experience. In many occupations workers on company payrolls face the prospect that their existing skills will become outdated, yet it is often not obvious how they can gain new ones.
1. We can learn from the paper conducted by the Canadian economists that ____________.| A．employment has been shaken by technology |
| B．college degree is a necessity in career success |
| C．skilled workers are no longer required in most American industries |
| D．techno-pessimism paves the way for future technology development |
| A．increased demand can bring about cost reduction |
| B．progressive automation is beneficial to companies |
| C．technology advancement has a positive impact on most people |
| D．computer has always been an essential factor in employment |
| A．online job advertisements require a precise data analysis |
| B．acquisition of new skills is essential in current job market |
| C．the composition of new jobs is shaped by technology |
| D．Matt Sigelman predicts a bright future of job market |
| A．Lifelong Learning: an Economic Priority |
| B．Technology Revolution: the Way to Success |
| C．College Degree: a Guarantee for Career Change |
| D．Vocational Training: a Blessing for Job Seekers |
【推荐2】As children, many of us dreamed of being treasure hunters when we grew up. Few of us grow up to do this work, and those who do are often professional archeologists (考古学家). And then there’s Lara Maiklem, an editor, who has taken up the hobby of mudlarking, which is a kind of treasure finding, done along the banks of rivers.
Maiklem’s idea of “treasure” is self-defined. She says she was blessed with a mother who really taught her to look, and to take pleasure in the small things around her. So for her, treasure is anything extraordinary. “Finding dry snakeskin in the long grass, or broken china in the garden bed is like finding treasure to me,” she says.
About 20 years ago, Maiklem moved to London, but having grown up on a farm, she missed the peace of the countryside. Then, one day, she found herself at the top of a set of rickety (摇晃的) wooden steps looking down at the Thames’s foreshore. “The tide (潮) was low and the riverbed was exposed. I went down and started to look about. That day I found a short piece of clay pipe stem and reasoned that there was probably more, so I went back on another low tide and I found some china. Then I found myself going there regularly,” she says.
Maiklem says after she’s photographed and researched what she finds, she often takes objects back to the foreshore of the river. “What I do keep is limited to things I don’t already have, or better examples of things I already have,” she says.
In today’s busy, stressful world, arguably the best thing treasure mudlarkers take home is the relaxation and peace of mind found in the work of mudlarking. “You’ re doing a search, yet not really doing anything so you can let your brain wander. I mudlark for 5-6 hours, which sounds like a long time, but the time flies. By the time I leave the foreshore the river has taken away my problems, and that’s more valuable than treasure,” says Maiklem.
1. What does “treasure” mean to Maiklem?| A．Anything she believes special. |
| B．Anything her mother places around her. |
| C．Anything she and her mother take pleasure in. |
| D．Anything archeologists consider extraordinary. |
| A．The best place for mudlarking. |
| B．The typical way of mudlarking. |
| C．How Maiklem got into mudlarking. |
| D．What mudlarking brought for Maiklem. |
| A．She cleans them carefully. |
| B．She gives them to photographers. |
| C．She classifies them as limited editions. |
| D．She gets them back to their original places. |
| A．Finding special and valuable things. |
| B．Searching for solutions to problems. |
| C．Enjoying the beauty of the foreshore. |
| D．Gaining a peaceful state of mind. |
【推荐3】A knight (骑士) was a mounted warrior of medieval Europe who served a king or other feudal superior, usually in return for land. Knighthood was taken quite seriously and had to be earned.
At about the age of eight, a boy would begin training in preparation for knighthood. This young trainee, known as a page (学习骑士),would train with mentors to learn about horses, armor, and weapons. Pages practiced fighting with a sword against a wooden stake and learned to skillfully use a bow and arrow. The lady of the castle taught a young page about manners and social graces, as well as how to sing, play instruments, and dance. A priest might give a page religious training and teach him to read and write. By the age of fourteen, the page would become a squire (骑士的随从). A squire was responsible for dressing a knight for battles and tournaments and taking care of the knight armor and weapons. He would even follow his master on the battlefield to protect him if the knight fell.
A squire had to gain skill in using a lance (长矛), spear, or sword, so he would practice against a wooden dummy called a quintain(矛靶). The quintain and a shield were hung on a wooden pole, and when hit, the whole structure would spin. The squire would learn to ride up and hit the shield’s center, but then quickly move out of the way without getting hit and knocked off his horse by the quintain.
At about age twenty, a squire was finally prepared to be called a knight, which involved an extended ceremony. On the evening before becoming a knight the squire confessed his sins to a priest, was given a symbolic bath, and then fasted in order to cleanse his soul. The squire would dress all in white and stay in a chapel all night praying and watching over his weapons and armor.
In the morning, the squire would dress in symbolically-colored clothing: red for his blood, white for purity, and brown for his return to the earth after death. At this ceremony, the knight wore a code of chivalry, which required him always to be brave, loyal, courteous, and to protect the defenseless. Knighthood was granted by the overlord (领主) and the new knight was tapped on the shoulders or neck with the flat side of the sword.
If this new knight ever broke his promise or acted dishonorably, he would be stripped of his knighthood in another ceremony, in which he was 14 buried. In the Middle Ages, a knight without honor was considered as good as dead.
1. What were the responsibilities of a squire?| A．Practicing fighting with a sword and using a bow and arrow skillfully. |
| B．Looking after weapons and learning manners from the Lady of the castle. |
| C．Confessing his sin and praying for his mentors. |
| D．Dressing a knight for fighting and protecting him. |
| A．The noble spirit a knight possesses. | B．The tough task a knight has to finish. |
| C．The high goal a knight must achieve. | D．The military discipline a knight should obey. |
| A．He would be sentenced to death. | B．He would be robbed of his title. |
| C．He would be forced to leave Court. | D．His land would be returned to the King. |
| A．Why people wanted to be knights. | B．How one became a knight. |
| C．When knighthood started. | D．Who knights had to serve. |
【推荐1】I promised to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.
The idea had occurred to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was reading a passage about husbands being thoughtful of their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.
And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the doctor and said, “That new yellow sweater looks good on you.”
“Oh, Tom, you noticed,” she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled.
After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I changed my mind. We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.
So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed.
There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. On the last night at our cottage, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress, “do you know something I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well… that checkup I had several weeks ago… our doctor… did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me… am I dying?”
It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.
“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”
1. What do”No ifs, ands or buts”in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Unnecessarily. | B．Unexpectedly. |
| C．Impossibly. | D．Unconditionally. |
| A．Evelyn looked lovely in her sweater. |
| B．Evelyn suffered a deadly disease. |
| C．He regretted about his past behaviors. |
| D．He had made lots of money in Wall Street. |
| A．Tom thought Evelyn’s words were funny. |
| B．It took Tom a while to understand Evelyn’s words. |
| C．Tom’s heart sank suddenly on hearing Evelyn’s words. |
| D．Tom tried to prevent Evelyn knowing the truth about her illness. |
| A．Relaxed and happy. | B．Pleased and grateful. |
| C．Pleased but sorrowful. | D．Surprised but pleased. |
【推荐2】One day a man found a cocoon(茧) of a butterfly in the forest. He sat there for several hours and watched the butterfly. Suddenly a small opening appeared, and the butterfly struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could go no further. So the man decided to help the butterfly.
He took a pair of scissors and cut off the remaining bit of the cocoon so that the butterfly could come out easily. Much to his surprise, the butterfly got a swollen body but very small, weak wings when it came out of the cocoon.
The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that the body would grow smaller at any moment and the wings would enlarge and be able to support the body. But neither happened! In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and small wings. It was never able to fly.
The man was in his kindness, but he did not understand the nature rules. The struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening was God's way of forcing fluid (流体) from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any difficulties, it would make us fail. We would not be as strong as we could have been. And we could never fly.
1. In the first paragraph the butterfly was ______.| A．flying in the forest. | B．playing with the man. |
| C．busy making a cocoon for itself. | D．trying to get out of the cocoon. |
| A．The butterfly would come out easily. |
| B．The butterfly could crawl on its wings. |
| C．The butterfly would have got to prepared to fly. |
| D．The butterfly would never gain its freedom. |
| A．Warm﹣hearted people are always around us. |
| B．Struggles are necessary in our life sometimes. |
| C．Helping others could make oneself happy. |
| D．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| A．The struggle for freedom. | B．A kind man. |
| C．The joy of helping a butterfly. | D．A lucky butterfly. |
【推荐3】Tokyo's newly completed National Stadium was formally opened at a ceremony attended by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the famous architect Kengo Kuma. Costing around 157 billion yen （$1.4 billion）, the 68,000-seat stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies at both the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. It will also be used for soccer matches and various track-and-field events during the Games.
Kuma said his design features three tiers （层）of seats beneath a partially covered roof made from steel and wood. “With the 2020 Olympics, we wanted to create something that focuses public attention on the environment or the Earth at the time/' he told CNN in an interview in June. “So., we thought that the best material for this era would be wood/'
At Sunday's ceremony, Abe praised the design for achieving ''harmony with the surrounding environment and a Japanese character." But as recently as 2015, the new National Stadium could have looked dramatically different. A futuristic design by the late British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid had initially been selected, though Japan's Olympic organizers eventually gave up the plan because of enormous costs and fierce criticisms. Celebrated architect Arata Isozaki described Hadid's design as a "disgrace to future generations/'
The mission was then passed to 65-year-old Kuma. and he set about reimagining the project in his characteristically organic style. The architect said that his stadium design was partly inspired by Tokyo's Edo-period temples. "All over the world, architecture in the 20th century that uses concrete and steel feels cold and stiff I want to make it softer, kinder, warmer/' said Kuma, whose firm designed the stadium alongside architecture firm Azusa Sekkei. His final design features large roof eaves （屋檐）that encourage air to circulate, allowing breeze （微风）to enter the stadium during hot weather.
"We would like both athletes and audiences to enjoy the stadium, but we also thought of something we can contribute to the community," Kuma said, highlighting the pedestrianized areas he designed around the structure. The late switch of design meant that construction on the stadium did not begin until late 2016. As such, plans for the stadium to host matches in the recent Rugby World Cup were canceled.
1. What can we learn about Tokyo's new National Stadium?| A．It cost about $157 billion in all |
| B．It uses wood as one of its leading materials. |
| C．It has several partially covered wooden roofs. |
| D．It will be used for all ball games during the Games. |
| A．To expose the beauty of the futuristic design. |
| B．To report Abe's great appreciation tor her design. |
| C．To show her contribution to Japanese architecture. |
| D．To explain why Kama's design was adopted later. |
| A．Zaha Hadid's designs. |
| B．Ancient temples in Tokyo. |
| C．Arata Isozaki's masterpieces. |
| D．Architecture in the 20th century. |
| A．The Rugby World Cup matches will be put off. |
| B．The National Stadium wasn't completed on time. |
| C．Kuma's design of the community was controversial |
| D．The construction of the stadium didn't begin until 2017. |
