【推荐1】When Jack, my husband, and I drove past a fire station with a sign reading, “Are you ready for the next storm?” Our area had just been in the path of Hurricane Irma, causing downed trees and outages. We were stuck in the dark and cut off from the outside world.

We have had our share of storms in the past — a snowstorm and other heavy snows that knocked down trees, sometimes up to a week at a time. Those days in a cold house weren’t fun, but we learned so much from those early storms, things that made later storms easier to bear.

Now we have stored up flashlights, lanterns and candles. We bought a battery-operated radio to keep up with the news. We stocked up on batteries so that we’d have plenty for extended power failures. We make sure our grill (烤架) is ready and its tank is full, and we purchase food that can be easily prepared and then cooked or heated on the grill. And we don’t forget to buy emergency chocolate! We have book lights to read in the dark. We keep our car gas tanks full and have emergency cash on hand.

We’re ready for the next storm, but we wouldn’t have learned to do all those things if we hadn’t encountered a storm in the past. The same is true spiritually. Those little storms in our lives are never fun, but they prepare us for the big storms — the big trials — that will come our way. They can teach us some valuable lessons.

Are you ready for the next storm? Now is the time to get ready... not when the storm arrives.

1. Which can replace the underlined word “outages” in Paragraph 1?

A．Power cuts.	B．Traffic accidents.
C．Bad weathers.	D．Natural disasters.

2. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．The importance of storing up daily goods.

B．The experience of dealing with housework.

C．The items the author bought for her daily life.

D．The preparations the author made for emergency.

3. What does the author think of experiencing the past storms?

A．It was satisfactory.	B．It was instructive.
C．It was unforgettable.	D．It was unbearable.

4. What can we learn from the author’s story?

A．When it rains, it pours.	B．Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
C．Strike while the iron is hot.	D．Take precautions before it is too late.

【推荐3】Dust storms don’t just happen in the middle of the desert.They happen in any dry area where loose dirt can easily be picked up.The sand blown into the air by the wind usually falls back down to the ground after a few hours.Smaller bits of particles (微粒) stay in the air for a week or longer and can be blown thousands of miles away.Dust from the Sahara desert is always blown across the Atlantic and keeps travelling as far as the Caribbean.

The scary thing about dust storms is that they can spread over hundreds of miles and rise over 10，000 feet (305 metres).They also have wind speeds of at least 25 miles (40 kilometres) per hour.Not strong enough to blow the feathers off a chicken but still something worth avoiding.

Don’t be surprised if you suddenly see a dust storm heading your way.Dust storms usually arrive without warning and move in the form of a big wall of dust.The dust makes driving impossible.Often they only last for a few minutes but storms usually leave serious car accidents behind.If you’re in a car during a dust storm, remind the driver to pull over and turn off the headlights.

In mild (轻微的) dust storms it’s still possible to walk around although you wouldn’t want to.You can’t see anything because of the dust particles flying around.It’s not just the dust you want to avoid.The wind carrying the dust will leave things looking like they were just hit by a tornado (龙卷风).The best thing to do is find safe cover in a building.

1. We can know from the first paragraph that         .

A．dust storms mostly happen in the desert

B．dust storms usually last for a few hours

C．sand blown into the air can float for a few weeks

D．dust blown into the air can travel a long distance

2. The second paragraph talks about         .

A．the movement of dust

B．the speed of the wind

C．the power of dust storms

D．the harm of dust storms

3. What should a driver do if he is caught in a dust storm?

A．Slow down.

B．Move to the side of the road and stop.

C．Turn on the headlights.

D．Drive on the side of the road.

4. If the dust storm is not strong,         .

A．people can see everything clearly

B．the wind is light

C．there is no need to avoid the dust

D．people still should take cover

【推荐1】When I was nine years old, I loved to go fishing with my dad. But the only thing that wasn’t very fun about it was that he could catch many fish while I couldn’t catch anything. I usually got pretty upset and kept asking him why. He always answered, “Son, if you want to catch a fish, you have to think like a fish.” I remember being even more upset then because, “I’m not a fish!” I didn’t know how to think like a fish. Besides, I reasoned, how could what I think influence what a fish does?

As I got a little older I began to understand what my dad really meant. So, I read some books on fish. And I even joined the local fishing club and started attending the monthly meetings. I learned that a fish is a cold-blooded animal and therefore is very sensitive to water temperature. That is why fish prefer shallow water to deep water because the former is warmer. Besides, water is usually warmer in direct sunlight than in the shade. Yet, fish don’t have any eyelids (眼皮) and the sun hurts their eyes. The more I understood fish, the more I became effective at finding and catching them.

When I grew up and entered the business world, I remember hearing my first boss say, “We all need to think like sales people.” But it didn’t completely make sense. My dad never once said, “If you want to catch a fish you need to think like a fisherman.” What he said was, “You need to think like a fish.” Years later, with great efforts to promote long-term services to people much older and richer than me, I gradually learned what we all need is to think more like customers. It is not an easy job. I will show you how in the following chapters.

1. Why was the author upset in fishing trips when he was nine?

A．His father was not patient with him.

B．He could not catch a fish.

C．His father did not teach him fishing.

D．He could not influence a fish as his father did.

2. What did the author’s father really mean?

A．To read about fish.	B．To learn fishing by oneself.
C．To study fishing in many ways.	D．To understand what fish think.

3. After entering the business world, the author found ________.

A．it easy to think like a customer

B．his first boss’s sales ideas reasonable

C．his father’s fishing advice inspiring

D．it difficult to sell services to poor people

4. This passage most likely comes from ________.

A．a popular sales book	B．a fishing guide
C．a novel on childhood	D．a millionaire’s biography

【推荐2】When Erin Shieds sang “Being A lie”, a popular song from the Broadway show “Company”, the song had extra levels of meaning. Shieds and her husband Dad Shenon are touring musicians. They couldn’t perform around the word during the coronavirus pandemic. So they broad east virtual (虚拟的) concerts from home to raise money for the Mosaic West Queens Church in New York City. The concerts brought thousands of dollars to the church to help feed hungry people living in the neighborhood.

The act began when they saw the long lines of people waiting for food outside the church near their home. Several of their friends lost their jobs after Broadway theaters closed. And they felt the need to help. In September, they volunteered at the church to give away boxes of food to families twice a week. As time passed, they felt the need to do more for others during the pandemic.

Shields is an opera singer from the American state of Illinois. Her husband Shenton is a British composer, pianist and violinist. And their artistic friends were willing to join for a good cause. During a recent virtual concert, smiling families, watching on their computers at home, clapped and sang along. Among the performers were Broadway musicians known for their work in shows such as “Hamilton” and “The Little Mermaid”. Shields sang crowd favorites including “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”. She remembered she’d played the part of Dorothy and sung the same song in high school. Shenton played on a grand piano that he named “Wolfgang Kathryn”. It’s named for his late mother and her favorite composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

For years, the two have performed at churches in New York. They’ve sung to older adults and Alzheimer’s patients in Illinois. They’ve taught music to children in Arizona. And they’ve followed their interest in animal rights by caring for elephants and other wildlife in Zimbabwe. Shields said volunteering became especially important in the time of pandemic. “It’s just something my mom always said: ‘If you’re feeling low, volunteer and give back to other people, because it will make you feel better,’” Shields said. “And it’s so true.”

1. Why did the couple broadcast virtual concerts?

A．Out of interest.	B．Out of charity.
C．To expand their influence.	D．To continue their artistic lives.

2. What drove the couple to carry out the act?

A．Their personal sighting.	B．Their former adventure.
C．Requests from a local church.	D．Invitations from their friends.

3. What can be learned from paragraph 3?

A．The couple are both famous Broadway singers.

B．Of all the composers, Shenton likes Mozart best.

C．Shenton’s mother really means a great deal to him.

D．The couple have known each other since high school.

4. What do Shields’ words in the last paragraph mainly suggest?

A．Whatever Mom says is always right.	B．We should try to think in Mom’s shoes.
C．Volunteering is the best way to find happiness.	D．Volunteering also benefits volunteers themselves.

【推荐3】One moment it was quiet and calm in the forest, the next, the air was charged with tension. The elephant had heard the distant alarm calls of animals and her mood suddenly changed. I urged the elephant deeper into the forest. We sounded like a forest fire-crackling, snapping, trailblazing. But through all the noise came a sharp warning cry. The elephant stopped and we heard it again — the tell-tale call of a spotted deer.

I looked quickly around the shadows of the forest. Rays of sunlight shone through tree branches, beneath which the patchwork (交错) of green plants and shadows-within-shadows would make tiger stripes (条纹) look more attractive. Apart from an occasional noise from the elephant’s stomach, the forest was silent.

Gradually, the tension slipped from our bodies. The elephant seized a nearby branch and put it into her mouth. I reached forward and gently moved my hand over the elephant’s neck; there was a soft part, free of wrinkles and hairs, behind her ear.

This was my fourth time to sense the aura of the forest in Corbett, although I saw no tigers in the end. Located at the foot of the Himalayan mountains, Corbett is home to about 135 Bengal tigers, but the forest seemed to be guarding their whereabouts(出没处), a silent reminder of their secrecy and rarity. Still, I was happy enough touching the elephant behind the ear. If I had so desperately wanted to see a tiger, I could have gone to a zoo. After all, spotting tigers merely confirms their beauty; tracking them can make you aware of something more.

1. Which of the following was a clear signal of alarm?

A．The elephant stopped.

B．A spotted deer called.

C．The elephant seized a branch.

D．The forest was silent for a while.

2. The author begins his account of the tour in the forest mainly by ____________.

A．describing various sounds

B．comparing different animals

C．listing different activities

D．introducing various plants

3. What does the underlined part ＂to sense the aura＂ most probably mean?

A．To see the diversity.

B．To enjoy the scenery.

C．To feel the atmosphere.

D．To experience the freedom.

4. How does the author feel after several visits to Corbett?

A．Seeing a Bengal tiger is quite thrilling.

B．It is very time-consuming to travel in Corbett.

C．It is really worthwhile to study the animals in Corbett.

D．The process of finding Bengal tigers is most appealing.

【推荐1】In the classic marriage vow (誓约), couples promise to stay together in sickness and in health. But a new study finds that the risk of divorce among older couples rises when the wife－not the husband－becomes seriously ill.

“Married women diagnosed with a serious health condition may find themselves struggling with the impact of their disease while also experiencing the stress of divorce.” said researched Amelia Karraker.

Karraker and co-author Kenzie Latham analyzed 20 years of data on 2,717 marriages from a study conducted by Indiana University since 1992. At the time of the first interview, at least one of the partners was over the age of 50.

The researchers examined how the onset (发生) of four serious physical illnesses affected marriages. They found that, overall, 31% of marriages ended in divorce over the period studied. The incidence of new chronic (慢性的) illness onset increased over time as well, with more husbands than wives developing serious health problems.

“We found that women are doubly weak when their marriage breaks up in the face of illness,” Karraker said. “They’re more likely to be widowed, and if they’re the ones who become ill, they’re more likely to get divorced.”

While the study didn’t assess why divorce is more likely when wives but not husbands become seriously ill, Karraker offers a few possible reasons. “Gender roles and social expectations about caregiving may make it more difficult for men to provide care to sick spouses.” Karraker said. “And because of the imbalance in marriage markets, especially in older ages, divorced men have more choices among potential partners than divorced women.”

Given the increasing concern about health care costs for the aging population, Karraker believes policymakers should be aware of the relationship between disease and risk of divorce.

“Offering support services to spouses caring for their other halves may reduce martial stress and prevent divorce at older ages.” she said. “But it’s also important to recognize that the pressure to divorce may be health-related and that sick ex-wives may need additional care and services to prevent worsening health and increased health costs.”

1. What can we learn about marriage vows from the passage?

A．They can help couples get through hard times.

B．They are not taken seriously any more.

C．They are as binding as they used to be.

D．They may not guarantee a lasting marriage.

2. What did Karraker and co-author Kenzie Latham find about elderly husbands?

A．They can develop different kinds of illness just like their wives.

B．They are more likely to get serious illness than their wives.

C．They are generally not good at taking care of themselves.

D．They are more likely to be divorced in the face of illness.

3. Why is it more difficult for men to take care of their sick spouses according to Karraker?

A．They think it more urgent to take on their social role.

B．They find it much easier to find another partner.

C．They are more accustomed to receiving care.

D．They expect society to do more of the job.

【推荐2】LaShenda Williams was a woman who had been sleeping in a parking lot for a year. It was a pity that she had been battling alcohol addiction and had been spending the nights in her car at a Nashville Kroger after driving around different locations during the day. Williams was really poor, and she would lean her seat in the car all the way back so that no one would see her because she wasn’t supposed to be there.

At the end of last year, Jackie Vandal, a hiring manager at a Kroger grocery store, noticed Williams and encouraged her to attend an upcoming job fair. With some help from Vandal, Williams spent a few hours filling out the application. Once Vandal saw the message indicating she had successfully applied, Vandal hired her on the spot.

It became a great day! Williams was brimming with happiness and smiled from ear to ear. From then on,she loved her work and got excited every day to come in. She couldn’t wait to see the workers who she worked with. She couldn’t wait to see the customers. Her positive attitude had been a blessing to the staff, too.

Even Jackie Vandal thought that they were so lucky to have Williams as part of their team members. Her uplifting spirit was inspiring. She had made such a positive impact on her fellow team members, and so many customers as well.

Williams said it was easy to be enthusiastic after everything that had happened. She was sleeping in a parking lot and looking for something to eat last year.   However, now，all Williams’s colleagues there love her. No one laughs at her, and no one calls her dumb and stupid. For the first time in her life, she gets peace and happiness.

1. How was LaShenda Williams’s life last year?

A．Enthusiastic and happy.	B．Poor and hard.
C．Peaceful but boring.	D．Exciting but tough.

2. What happened to Williams at the end of last year?

A．She got a job with the help of Vandal.

B．She gained financial assistance from Vandal.

C．She helped Vandal work for Kroger grocery store.

D．She attended a job fair organized by a Kroger grocery store.

3. Which can take the place of the underlined word“brimming" in paragraph 3?

A．uncovered

B．filled

C．increasing

D．relieving

4. What can we know about Williams?

A．She made her family members enthusiastic.

B．She won back the customers with her inspiring story.

C．She loved her work and felt satisfied with her new life.

D．She was so lucky that she made a good impression on customers.

【推荐3】Job sharing refers to the situation in which two people divide the responsibility of one full-time job．The two people willingly act as part-time workers, enough hours between them to fulfill the duties of a full-time worker．If they each work half the job, for example, they each receive 50 per cent of the job's wages, its holidays and its other benefits．
Job sharing differs from conventional （常规的） part-time work in that it occurs mainly in the more highly skilled and professional areas, which require higher levels of responsibility and employee commitment．
Job sharing should not be confused with the term work sharing, which refers to increasing the number of jobs by reducing the number of hours of each existing job, thus offering more positions to the growing number of unemployed people．Job sharing, by contrast, is not designed to address unemployment problems; its focus, rather, is to provide well-paid work for skilled workers and professionals who want more free time for other activities．
As would be expected, most job sharers are women．A survey carried out in 1988 by Britain's Equal Opportunities Commission showed that 78 per cent of sharers were female, the majority of whom were between 20 and 40 years of age．Subsequent studies have come up with similar results．Many of these women were re-entering the job market after having had children, but they chose not to seek part-time work because it would have meant lower status．Job sharing also offered an acceptable shift back into full-time work after a long absence．
The necessity of close cooperation when sharing a job with another person makes the actual work quite different from conventional one-position jobs．However, to ensure a greater chance that the partnership will succeed, each person needs to know the strengths, weaknesses and preferences of his or her partner before applying for a position．Moreover, there must be a fair division of both routine tasks and interesting ones．In sum, for a position to be job-shared well, the two individuals must be well matched and must treat each other as equals．
1. In what way is work sharing different from job sharing?

A．Work sharing requires more working hours．

B．Work sharing is aimed at creating more jobs．

C．Work sharing provides a more satisfactory salary．

D．Work sharing depends on the employer's decision．

2. According to Paragraph 4, young mothers preferred job sharing to conventional part-time work mainly because ________．

A．they sought higher social status

B．they were over ideal working ages

C．they had difficulty finding full-time jobs

D．they had to take care of both work and family

3. In job sharing the partners should ________．

A．enjoy equal social status

B．have similar work experience

C．keep in touch with each other

D．know each other very well

4. The main purpose of the passage is to ________．

A．describe job sharing in general

B．discuss how to provide more jobs

C．recommend job sharing to women

D．compare job sharing with work sharing

【推荐1】If you are taking vitamin supplements to reduce your risk of heart disease or cancer, a group of health experts want you to know that those vitamins may actually increase your risk of cancer.

The US Preventive Services Task Force came to this conclusion after reviewing dozens of studies.

Nearly half of adults in the US take at least one vitamin or mineral supplement on a regular basis. These pills are advertised as a way to promote general health. In some cases, manufacturers promote them as cancer fighters and heart protectors.

Studies in animals and in laboratory dishes suggest that oxidative (氧化性的) stress contributes to diseases like cancer and heart disease. If so, there is a reason to believe that antioxidants — including beta-carotene, vitamins A, C, and E — could be useful as preventive medicines.

But when the Task Force examined the medical evidence on vitamins, it found “inadequate (不充分的) evidence” to support the claims that vitamin and mineral supplements benefit healthy adults.

“Cardiovascular (心血管的) disease and cancer have a significant health impact in America, and we all want to find ways to prevent these diseases,” Dr. Virginia Moyer, who heads the Task Force, said in a statement. But so far, she added, the medical evidence does not show that taking vitamins is helpful in this regard.

However, the Task Force did find “adequate evidence” that people with a raised risk for lung cancer actually increase their risk further by taking beta-carotene, a precursor of vitamin A.

The Task Force recommendations of taking vitamins regularly apply to healthy adults aged 50 and older who don’t have “special nutritional needs”. The advice does not apply to children, women who are pregnant or may become pregnant, people with chronic illnesses, or people who have to take supplements because they can’t get all their essential nutrients from their diet.

1. Studies in animals and in laboratory dishes find out________.

A．ample evidence that taking vitamins are helpful for treating lung cancer

B．cardiovascular disease spreads very fast in America

C．oxidative stress can lead to heart disease and cancer

D．people must take vitamins on a regular basis

2. What can we conclude from Task Force’s findings?

A．Scientists want to control cardiovascular disease.

B．In some regard, taking vitamins is not useful.

C．Manufacturers cannot produce medical-use vitamins.

D．Vitamins must be useful to prevent cancer and heart disease.

3. Who can take vitamins regularly according to the advice of the Task Force?

A．A 60-year-old healthy worker.

B．A 15-year-old boy with short-sightedness.

C．A 34-year-old pregnant lady.

D．A 40-year-old man who never eats vegetables or fruits.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．An Inside Look at Vitamins

B．Task Force: Ending to Vitamins

C．Vitamins: To Live or to Kill

D．Taking Vitamins to Prevent Cancer May Fail

【推荐2】It was late, about 10:15 p.m, when Janice Esposito arrived at the New York train station and began the 20-minute drive home. She had traveled the route so many times that she almost drove on autopilot (自动驾驶):a left onto Station Road, then a left on Montauk Highway, and then-bang! Out of nowhere, a car T-boned Janice’s car, pushing her backward onto the railroad tracks.

As it happened, Pole DiPinto was gelling ready for bed. He'd just closed his book when he heard the loud crash not far outside his bedroom window. A volunteer firefighter and retired teacher, 64, never stopped to think, He grabbed a flashlight and still in his pajamas (睡衣), ran out the door. “Any firefighter would have? done what I did,” he said, “We're always on duly.”

The first car he came upon was the one that had hit Janice. Once DiPinto concluded the driver was OK, he looked around and spotted Janice's car lay across the railroad tracks. And then he heard a terrible sound: the bells signaling an on-coming train.

DiPinto rushed to Janice's cur and banged on the driver's side window. She just looked at him, her eyes unfocused. “I don't know where I am,” she said. She seemed unhurt. “Honey, you're on the railroad tracks,” DiPinto shouted, “We have to get you off right now!” He pulled hard on the door handle, but it didn't work. The heavy train, traveling at 65 miles per hour, was heading toward them. DiPinto ran to the passenger side and threw open the door. “Please, God, don't let her be trapped”, he thought. He pushed aside the airbags, grabbed Janice's arms, and pulled her toward him across the passenger seat until he could help her out and walk her to safety. Within six seconds, he estimated, the train crashed into the car.

“It was like a Hollywood movie,” DiPinto told reporters the next day. But this one had a difference. That night, the hero arrived in pajamas, not in a fire truck.

1. Which of the following words can best replace the underlined word "T-boned" in Paragraph 1?

A．Crashed into.	B．Came across.
C．Pushed forward.	D．Scratched the side of.

2. What do we know about Pete DiPinto?

A．He was the volunteer firefighter who was on duty that night.

B．He wasn't aware of the coming train when he was rescuing Janice.

C．He was in sound sleep in his bedroom when the accident happened.

D．He first confirmed the other driver before he came to Janice's rescue.

3. What can we infer from Paragraph 4?

A．Janice didn't know where she was.

B．The airbags protected her in some way.

C．DiPinto rescued Janice without difficulty.

D．All the doors of Janice's car were in good condition.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．A Hero in Pajamas.	B．A Hollywood Movie.
C．A Dangerous Heavy Train.	D．A Horrible Car Accident.

【推荐3】Scientists say they have found high levels of small plastic particles （颗粒）in Arctic snow. Their findings provide more evidence that plastic is entering Earth's atmosphere and traveling great distances around the planet.

A German-Swiss research team collected snow samples from the Arctic and other areas. They included northern Germany, the Bavarian and Swiss Alps, and the North Sea island of Heligoland. When the researchers examined the samples in a lab, they were surprised to find very high levels of microplastics.

Microplastics are very small pieces of plastic. These plastic particles are generally smaller than 5 millimeters in length. Other studies have found microplastics in the environment. They come from the disposal and breakdown of man-made plastic products and industrial waste.

The study found the highest levels of microplastics came from the Bavarian Alps. One snow sample （标 本）from the area had 154,000 microplastic particles per liter. Samples collected from the Arctic had much lower levels. However, even samples from the Arctic contained up to 14,000 particles per liter.

Earlier studies found signs of plastic in Arctic areas. Those microplastics were found in coastal areas, sea ice, the seafloor and the seawater's surface. The new study attempted to explore how some of the material could have been carried in the atmosphere. A limited number of earlier studies did find microplastics in the air of some cities, including Paris, Tehran and Dongguan, China.

The research team discovered many kinds of microplastics. Some were from paints commonly used to coat the surface of automobiles and ships. A rubber-like substance was also found that could have come from vehicle or boat parts or packaging materials.

While there is growing concern about the effect of microplastics on the environment, scientists are still studying their possible harmful effects on humans and animals.

1. How did scientists feel when knowing the levels of microplastics in Arctic?

A．Doubtful.	B．Concerned.
C．Excited.	D．Astonished.

2. Which is right concerning microplastics?

A．Scientists are examining the exact level of microplastics.

B．Scientists are reducing the concerns of microplastics.

C．Microplastics have been discovered in Arctic for the first time.

D．Scientists have researched about the spread of microplastics.

3. What are scientists eager to uncover?

A．The degree of influence on Dongguan.

B．The influence of microplastic on humans.

C．The content of microplastic in the seafloor.

D．The measures to rid microplastic effectively.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Microplastics around the World

B．Microplastics, a New Pollution

C．High Levels of Microplastics in Arctic

D．Great Concern about Microplastics in Arctic