【推荐1】I was speaking to the faculty (全体教师) at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Canton, Massachusetts, a couple weeks ago. I arrived early and decided to take a walk.

There was a Little League field nearby. I spotted a sign on the fence .

The sign, posted by the Canton Little League, read:

PLEASE REMEMBER

·These are kids.

·This is a game.

·The coaches volunteer.

·You don’t play for the Red Sox (an American professional baseball team).

I had to laugh, especially at the joke about the Red Sox. But I think the sign is a good reminder to everyone connected with youth sports－kids, parents, coaches and the folks who run the leagues－what is important about the games.

First, kids who play are just kids. They are not mini professional athletes. So youth sports leagues and coaches should take it easy on them. Kids don’t need long schedules and lots of faraway games or high-pressure tournaments.

Adults should try to set up youth leagues so more kids play with and against kids from nearby schools and neighborhoods. They should make it easier for kids to play a sport for just a few months so that they can try other sports. Kids shouldn’t play one sport year-round.

And everyone should stop worrying about which team wins or loses. A friend of mine who coached a lot of youth teams once told me, “When you coach kids, it’s not how many you win or lose, but how many sign up for next season.” According to the Aspen Institute’s latest “State of Play” report, fewer kids are signing up. Research indicates a smaller percentage of kids ages 6 to 12 (37 percent) are playing team sports on a regular basis than in 2011 (42 percent).

The aim of youth sports should be to have fun, learn some skills and enjoy being part of a team. When we lose sight of those simple goals, the games suffer, and the kids stay away.

Maybe in 2021 every field or gym where kids play should have a sign like the one in Canton. All you would have to do is change the name of the team.

1. How might the author feel seeing the sign on the fence?

A．Relieved.

B．Worried.

C．Confident.

D．Disappointed.

2. What’s the author’s advice for adults?

A．Go easy on kids.	B．Choose youth leagues carefully.
C．Encourage kids to stick to one sport.	D．Make a year-round schedule for kids.

3. What can be inferred from the Aspen Institute’s report?

A．Kids today are less athletic.

B．Fewer youth leagues are being set up.

C．Youth group sports are losing popularity.

D．Kids are focusing more on succeeding than trying.

4. What is the author trying to do in the last paragraph?

A．Give praise.	B．Express a wish.
C．Offer sympathy.	D．Show determination.

【推荐3】Tired of your quiet day-to-day life? How about leaving your computer games behind and taking up an extreme sport?

You can ride a bicycle, right? In that case you’re halfway to becoming a mountain biker. All you have to do is take your bike off the road and try some hilly areas. Mountain biking was developed in California in the 1970s and became an Olympic sport in 1996.

Not challenging enough? Skydivers jump from planes at a height of 1,000 to 4,000 meters. You have to be fit but there’s no age limit with this sport. For example, Dilys Price from Cardiff went on her first jump aged 54. The minute she came down, she wanted to go up again. She said: “It was so attractive”.

Some adventures have invented base jumping, in which people jump from tall structures, such as buildings or bridges, with a parachute. Many of their jumps aren’t legal, especially in the cities.Dan Witchalls has jumped off The Shard —London’s 310 meter-high building four times.He says, “Base jumping is scarier than jumping out of a plane. In a plane there is no sense of height, but when you are standing on the edge of the building you can see people and cars, the experience makes it very real.”

It seems there’s no shortage of imagination when it comes to risking life to look cool and get the heart beating wildly. Surfing, diving, rock climbing ...And how about extreme ironing? That is, pressing your clothes on top of a mountain! Extreme ironing is said to have been created in the 1990s in England by a man who saw a large amount of wrinkled clothes and felt bored when doing the cloth ironing. That man was Phil Shaw. For him, the excitement of this sport comes from looking at the viewers’ faces. Shaw says, “Sometimes they look confused; sometimes they laugh. It’s fun to see how people react to it.”

1. What does the author think about mountain biking?

A．A bit boring.	B．Challenging indeed.
C．Great fun.	D．Not very hard.

2. What does the author want to show with the example in paragraph 3?

A．Skydivers have to be very healthy.	B．Skydiving is not challenging enough.
C．Elderly people can also take up skydiving.	D．People can easily become crazy about skydiving.

3. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．The sense of height.	B．Base jumping experience.
C．The edge of the building.	D．Jumping out of a plane.

4. Why did Phil Shaw invent extreme ironing?

A．He liked ironing clothes.	B．He wanted to make clothes ironing more fun.
C．He enjoyed different looks on people's faces.	D．He had a good view standing on top of a mountain.

【推荐2】What do you usually do to comfort your friends when they are feeling sad or depressed? You probably pat them on the back or shoulder, or maybe you give them a big, warm hug.

We used to think that knowing when and how to comfort others was an ability that only humans have. But scientists have discovered that apes （猩猩）have this ability, too. Two researchers from Emory University in Atlanta, US, went to an Ape Protection Centre in Congo to study bonobos （倭黑猩猩）,which are closely related to humans.

The researchers analyzed the bonobos' reactions after more than 370 cases of stressful situations, such as fights and losing temper, and found that some bonobos rushed to hug those that were screaming after being attacked, just like humans would have done.

However, researchers said that not all bonobos were able to comfort others. In the protection centre, many bonobos are orphans （孤儿）whose mothers were killed by hunters. They were found to be more anxious in times of tension and have greater difficulty controlling their own emotions, malting them worse at reaching out to help friends in need.

"Orphans, who have not had the benefit of a mother helping them handling their emotions, are much worse al comforting others,” Professor Frans de Waal, one of the researchers, told The Telegraph. "Bonobos with moms were able to curb their negative emotional reactions more quickly. Therefore, they pay more attention to others.” This pattern mirrors the way that human children have been found to react. Those who seem more capable of handling their own emotions—for example, the ones who can calm themselves down more quickly after upsetting experiences—are usually better at expressing their concerns for others .

1. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Orphan bonobos never give a hand to friends.

B．There were 370 bonobos involved in the research.

C．Moms play a significant role in handling kids' emotions.

D．The ability to comfort others is unique to human beings.

2. The underlined word “curb" in the 5th paragraph probably means

A．express

B．observe

C．hide

D．control

3. Where are you most likely to find the passage?

A．A science journal	B．A travel leaflet
C．A literature review	D．A science fiction

4. What's the main purpose of this passage?

A．To uncover the mystery of Apes.

B．To inform readers of a new study.

C．To provide better protection for Apes.

D．To compare human behaviors with Apes.

【推荐1】I came home one day recently and, for reasons I don’t quite understand, my living room smelled like my grandmother’s house. Suddenly I felt as if I were 12 years old, happy and relaxed, sitting in her kitchen. I can remember what her house looked like, though it was sold 20 years ago — her three-level plant stand, the plates lining the walls, the window over her sink — but these visual memories don’t have the power that smell does. The funny thing is, I can’t even begin to describe the odor that was so distinctively hers. The best I can do is this: “It smelled like my grandmother’s house.”

It’s a common experience, and a common linguistic problem. In cultures worldwide, people have powerful olfactory memories. This odor-memory link is also called “the Proust phenomenon,” after Marcel Proust’s famous description of the feelings aroused by a cake dipped in tea in “Remembrance of Things Past.”

Olfactory memories seem to be more closely bound up with emotions than are visual or auditory ones.

Not all these memories are pleasant, of course, and smells can also trigger feelings of pain.

It is surprisingly hard for English-speakers to describe the odors that occasion such strong emotions, however. English possesses almost no abstract smell words that pick out links or themes among unrelated aromas.

We have plenty of these in the visual field. “Yellow,” for example, identifies a characteristic that bananas, lemons, some cars, some flowers, old book pages, and the sun all share.

But for odors, we don’t have many more than the vague “musty” (smells old and stale) and “musky” (smells perfumey). We usually have no choice but to say that one thing smells like another—like a banana, like garlic, like diesel fuel.

A few languages, though, do have a rich odor vocabulary. Linguist Asifa Majid has found that the Jahai, the Semaq Beri, and the Maniq, hunter-gatherer groups in Malaysia and Thailand, employ a wide range of abstract smell words and can identify aromas as easily as we can colors. The Jahai have a word, for example, that describes “the seemingly dissimilar smell of petrol, smoke, bat poop, root of wild ginger and wood of wild mango.”

Last year my cat got sprayed by a skunk, and the vet told me to wash its face with coffee to cover the bad smell. Until then, I had never realized that coffee, which I find delicious, smells remarkably like skunk spray, which I do not.

Science has identified the chemicals that both share. They are called mercaptans. But in oral English, we have no word for the underlying note that connects these two odors. If the Jahai drank coffee and encountered skunks, I bet they would.

1. The opening paragraph is mainly intended to_______.

A．express the writer’s affection for his grandmother.

B．direct the readers’ attention to a linguistic problem.

C．tell us the odor of the grandmother’s house stayed the same.

D．prove smell has a greater power than visual memories.

2. Which of the following is related to olfactory memories?

A．Forming an image in mind after seeing the word “injury”.

B．Feeling sympathetic when seeing a sick cat.

C．Dancing to the music upon hearing it played.

D．Missing fried eggs with garlic cooked by mum.

3. The example of the Jahai suggests that_______.

A．the Jahai don’t have many words in the visual field.

B．English possesses many vague words like “musty” and “musky”.

C．the Jahai has more abstract smell words than English.

D．skunk and coffee have the same smell, but different functions.

【推荐3】The idea that animals can remember past experiences seemed so absurd that few researchers bothered to study it. Surely only humans could be capable of “episodic” memories — recalling a trip to the grocery store last Saturday, for example. We now know that we were mistaken — and a study from the animal world might even help us improve how we treat Alzheimer’s disease(阿兹海默症).

Crystal and her students conducted a study of whether animals are capable of episodic memory. First, they trained 13 rats to memorize 12 odours(气味). They built a special rat “area” with 12 stops, numbered 1 to 12, each scented with a different odour. When the rat identified the odour in a particular stop on the route, such as second-to-last or fourth-to-last, it received a reward. Then the researchers changed the number of odours and watched to see if the training had taken hold: would the rats identify the second-to-last and fourth-to-last odour in the sequence(次序), even if the number of odours was different? This ensured that the rats were identifying the odours according to their position in the sequence, not just by smell. “We wanted to know if the animals can remember a lot of items and the order in which those items occur,” Crystal said.

After a year of these tests, the team found that the rats succeeded in the task about 87 percent of the time. Further tests confirmed that their memories stuck with them, and wasn’t influenced by other memories.

The new genetic tools such as gene-editing allow scientists to create rats with an Alzheimer’s-like condition, making them the perfect subjects to test new Alzheimer’s drugs. In the United States alone, the number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s will increase from 5.8 million today to 14 million by 2050 as the population ages. If rats with episodic memory can help to break the Alzheimer’s code, this thief of the past might finally be defeated.

1. Which of the following can be an “episodic" memory?

A．To work out math problems.	B．To imagine a future scene.
C．To recall an early experience.	D．To speak out a person’s name

2. How did the rats get their reward in the experiment?

A．By finishing the twelve stops.	B．By making out the smell in a specific stop.
C．By drawing a circle in their position.	D．By identifying the name of different odours.

3. What did Crystal’s team find about the rats?

A．They could understand simple words.	B．They could hold their attention for long.
C．They could memorize the order of items.	D．They are not influenced by disturbance.

4. In which section of a magazine may this text appear?

A．Entertainment.

B．Art.

C．Education.

D．Science.

【推荐1】Josh Katz works at the New York Times. His common job is to use information to tell interesting stories. In December 2013, Katz built a quiz on the Times website. It asked people about the words they used to describe things and events. It also asked how they pronounced common words. The quiz then used people’s answers to decide where in the United States they were from.

The quiz got more than 350, 000 results. Katz turned the results into a book. In Speaking American, he studies regional differences in how Americans talk.

“A lot of people’s language shows who they are and where they are from, in a very personal way”, Katz said.

Katz says people are often surprised to learn that the way they talk can show where they grew up. Most Americans don’t realize they use regionalisms --- or words and phrases specific to a particular part of the country. But just about everyone does. Almost every major U.S. city has a few unique terms. For example, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the night before Halloween is known as Mischief Night. Anyone who calls it that is likely to be connected to the city.

Katz himself was surprised by how many common words are regional. “There are a lot of words I use that I just thought were standard words,” he says. “Then I found out some of these words were actually a product of my upbringing.”

For example, he says, “I thought everyone said ‘sneakers’ (运动鞋) and not ‘tennis shoes’.”   But it turns out “sneakers” is connected mostly to the Northeast. That’s where Katz is from.

Some scholars think that language in the U.S. is growing more homogeneous (同类的). But Katz disagrees. “These regional differences are here to stay.” he says.

Not only are people still using common regionalisms, but there are new ones appearing all the time, according to Katz. There’s no way to predict how language will change in the future. But Katz sees more changes coming. “The only sure thing about language is that it’s going to keep moving.” he says.

1. What’ s the purpose of the quiz?

A．To test people on common knowledge.

B．To find out what words are mostly used.

C．To help people learn about their hometown better.

D．To see whether people’s language shows their backgrounds.

2. How do most Americans look at their using regionalisms?

A．They are proud of it.

B．They do it unintentionally.

C．They find it quite interesting.

D．They have no idea why everybody does it.

3. Why does Katz mention “ sneakers” in the 6th paragraph?

A．Because it’s different from “tennis shoes”.

B．Because it’s an example of a standard word.

C．Because his hometown is possibly the birthplace of it.

D．Because many common words come from a specific area.

4. What is Katz’s opinion on regional differences?

A．They will finally disappear in the future.

B．They have a bad influence on people’s life.

C．They will remain a part of people’s everyday life.

D．They prevent language from being homogeneous.

【推荐2】Giving Back
Fair Way

The Westborough High School golf team had taken the official photos with the state prize. The other teams, disappointed, were on the bus heading home. And then Westborough instructor Greg Rota noticed something wrong on one of the score cards. A 9 had been recorded as a 7. They were not the state prize winner; Wobum High had won. "No one would have known," said Wobum's instructor, Bob Doran. For Rota, it wasn't a difficult decision: "The prize wasn't ours to take."

Coin Stars

"College students are lazy, but they also want to help," says University of Pennsylvania graduate Dana Hork. So she made it easy, placing cups in rooms where students could leave their spare coins, and handing out cups to first-year students to keep in their rooms. Her " Change for Change" effort has collected $40,000 for charities （慈善机构) , which were decided upon by students.

Never Forgotten

A school in Massachusetts received a $ 9.5 million check from Jacques LeBermuth. But it took officials several days of digging to discover his connection to the school. Records showed the LeBermuth came from Belgium and studied in the school in the 1920s. When his family fell on hard times, he was offered free room and board. LeBermuth became a trader, owned shares of AT&T and lived off the earnings until he died, at age 89.

1. What did Greg Rota probably do in the end?

A．Took photos of Doran.

B．Had a meeting with Doran.

C．Returned the prize to the organizer.

D．Apologized to Wobum High School.

2. The underlined word "Change" in the second paragraph means _______.

A．Idea

B．Decision

C．Cups

D．Coins

3. What did the school officials do after receiving the check from Mr. LeBermuth?

A．They tried to find out why he gave them the money.

B．They went to Belgium to pay their respects to him.

C．They dug out the records that were buried underground.

D．They decided to offer their students free room and board.

4. Jacques LeBermuth gave the money to the school because _______.

A．the school asked for it

B．he had no need for that much money

C．the school had helped him in the past

D．he wanted to be remembered by the students

【推荐3】Australia and New Zealand’s health organizations have given their advice on when to use sunscreen (防晒霜), suggesting Australians apply it every day to avoid bad health effects.

A Sunscreen Summit took place in the Australian State of Queensland. During the summit, representatives from some of Australia’s leading research, medical and public health organizations examined the evidence on sunscreen use the determined that in most parts of the country it is beneficial to apply sunscreen every day.

“Up until now, public health organizations have recommended applying sunscreen ahead of planned outdoor activities but haven’t recommended applying it every day as part of a morning routine (惯例),” professor Rachel Neale from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute said. “In recent years, it has become clear that the DNA damage causes skin cancer and melanoma (黑色素瘤), which is caused by repeated small exposure to sunlight over a period of time,” Neale said. “In Australia, we get a lot of sun exposure from everyday activities such as walking to the bus stop or train station,” Neale said.

A study showed that one in two Australians believed it was unhealthy and potentially dangerous to use sunscreen every day. However, Terry Slevin from the Public Health Association of Australia says it is wrong. “There is consistent and compelling evidence that sunscreens are safe,” Slevin said. “Importantly, medical trials have found that people who use sunscreen daily have the same levels of vitamin D as those who don’t,” Slevin added.

Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, which is made worse by the country’s close to Antarctica where there is a hole in the ozone layer (臭氧层), letting in higher numbers of UV rays.

1. What made Australian health organizations advise Australians to use sunscreen?

A．The makers of sunscreen.

B．Australian government.

C．The Sunscreen Summit.

D．New Zealand’s researchers.

2. What is not recommended before the Sunscreen Summit?

A．Using sunscreen as a morning routine.

B．Using sunscreen before outdoor activities.

C．Reducing the use of sunscreen.

D．Reducing outdoor activities.

3. What is the misunderstanding of many Australians?

A．Sunscreen will never take effect.

B．Sunscreen is bad for people’s health.

C．People using sunscreen have the same levels of vitamin.

D．D. People using sunscreen won’t have skin cancer.

4. Which of the following best explains “compelling” underlined in paragraph 4?

A．Interesting.	B．Disappointing.
C．Boring.	D．Convincing.