【推荐1】While most lifestyle and fashion magazines are full of photos of slim (苗条的) male and female models that create an unrealistic image of the human body, a fresh Japanese men’s magazine called Mr. Babe is taking an unusual approach. It is targeted at chubby men, a body type that is rarely represented in the mainstream (主流) fashion industry.

Mr. Babe describes itself as Japan’s first fashion and lifestyle magazine of chubby men, by chubby men and for chubby men. Its major goal is to increase the confidence of its readers and convince them that they can lead a happy and successful life regardless of the few extra pounds. It offers fashion tips, health advice and articles on marriage. The chief editor said, “Mr. Babe is in no way persuading men to become fat. Our message is that chubby men can be attractive by making use of what they have now.”

Norihito Kurashina was in charge of Men’s Knuckle for over 10 years before shifting completely and launching Mr. Babe. Up to now, Men’s Knuckle is still a famous magazine for young Japanese. 52-year-old Kurashina describes himself as a chubby man for 25 years.

According to the National Health and Nutrition Survey, the percentage of overweight men in Japan has been increasing gradually over the last decade, while the number of overweight women has decreased. Kurashina says the growing number of chubby men is largely due to the long working hours. In addition, they go drinking after work to relax. Naturally, they have no time, energy or money to go to the gym and keep in shape.

The chubby men in Mr. Babe magazine are not much more different than the handsome and sexy men that show up in most mainstream magazines. They are charming and well-dressed. 50, 000 copies have been printed of the first issue (发行), which has film star Jack Black on the cover. Norihito Kurashina says he is already feeling a good response from the audience and is confident of the magazine’s success.

1. What does the underlined word “chubby” in Para. 1 mean?

A．Fat.

B．Thin.

C．Ugly.

D．Tall.

2. What does Mr. Babe mainly aim to do?

A．Encourage more men to put on weight.

B．Make its readers confident in themselves.

C．Offer suggestions about how to lose weight.

D．Become the most popular magazine in Japan.

3. What can we infer from the text?

A．No film stars are on the cover of Mr. Babe.	B．Norihito Kurashina is not fat at all.
C．The future of Mr. Babe’s is bright.	D．The men in Mr. Babe dressed carelessly.

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．A magazine is bringing out a different charm.

B．People don’t read magazines anymore.

C．Slim male and female models are becoming more popular.

D．More film stars are on the cover of magazines.

【推荐1】In America, when the eighth graders leave the middle school, they are often worried about moving to the high school. It is a hard time for them, but it can be an exciting one as well. To make it easier, students need to get familiar with their school.

Even though they’ve done this already in the middle school, it’s still important to find where their classrooms are. Most schools take students to the high school for a visit at the end of their eighth grade year. And, most schools also have a freshman (新生) speech for parents and students before the first year begins. Sometimes the main office will give away a map of the school. This can help students and parents to find different places in the school.

One way to know your high school more and make new friends is to join a club or play a sport. Schools often offer chances to join different clubs and sports. Fall activities begin in August before the first day of school. If you are not interested in sports, there are clubs for any interest, such as drama, dance, chess, photography, community service, etc. These clubs allow students from different grades. By joining an activity, students can find new friendships, not to mention improving their chances in future college applications (申请). The school office will have a list of activities offered at the school and information on how to join them.

What’s more, to have a great start to a high school year, students can write down some of their worries, and ask for help from teachers and school workers.

1. According to the text, most students feel ________ when entering the high school.

A．excited

B．nervous

C．lonely

D．disappointed

2. Which of the following is TRUE about the school clubs?

A．There are fewer students from higher grades in the school clubs.

B．The school clubs in high school only welcome sports fans.

C．Summer activities begin before school starts.

D．The school office can help new students join school clubs.

3. When do many schools take students to visit their new high school?

A．Before the eighth grade year starts.

B．Right after the high school year starts.

C．At the end of their eighth grade year.

D．At the beginning of the new term in the high school.

4. What is the purpose of this text?

A．To tell the new students how to learn in high school.

B．To introduce new schools.

C．To give the teachers some advice.

D．To give advice to new high school students.

【推荐2】You have the ability to decide whether you are happy or not. Happiness is a choice.

You can’t depend on someone else to make you happy. That is a lesson I learned early in my marriage. I realized that I couldn’t rely on my husband as my source of happiness. I learned that my happiness depended on myself and not my husband’s actions. I learned that you have to choose to be happy.

You can choose your emotions. True happiness comes from within, and it can’t be forced by outside force. So how do you choose happiness? The same way, you choose to smile or choose to wear a certain outfit (一套衣服). You choose it because that’s what you want to experience in your life.

You want to buy a new pair of shoes so you choose a pair that you like and feels good. You wouldn’t buy a pair of shoes that you don’t like or that doesn’t fit well, right? So why do we keep choosing emotions and feelings that don’t make us feel good?

Choosing to be happy after you realize your anger has shown up (or even choosing to be calm) can be beneficial. We choose our feelings; no one else can do that for us. If we let others get to us, influence our emotions — we are giving them power over us. When others cause us anger or pain, we are giving them our power.

We need to keep our feelings in check(制约)and not to react(反应)immediately to what is thrown at us. We need to think our actions out instead of just reacting to what someone says or does.

Remember that we can always choose happiness. At first it will be difficult to just switch(使转变)your thoughts and feelings from anger, self-doubt, or fear to joy and happiness. But it is only a thought away. Don’t dwell on (细想)what happens to you unnecessarily but realize what is causing you to feel that way.

Realize that thoughts, feelings and emotions can change. Then move on and choose to be happy.

1. What’s the best title of this passage?

A．Choose to Be Happy	B．Choose Your Friends
C．Pretend to Be Happy	D．Find Emotions

2. The lesson the writer learned in her marriage is _________.

A．one can’t depend on someone else to make himself or herself happy

B．balancing the relationship between husband and wife is an art

C．she can depend on her husband to find happiness

D．happiness can be influenced by outside force

3. Why did the writer mention buying shoes?

A．To offer advice on how to choose comfortable shoes.

B．To use it as an example to illustrate(阐述)her point of view.

C．To compare choosing shoes and choosing an outfit.

D．To help move to the next paragraph easily.

4. The writer suggests that we need _________.

A．let others control our feelings

B．react immediately to others’ words

C．keep our feelings in check

D．pay more attention to words than actions

【推荐1】My wife and I, recently driving through Arizona, stopped at a “collector’s shop” in Tucson, where many kinds of stones and minerals were on display. During the visit, we were taken into a small room where ordinary looking rocks were laid out on shelves. Had I seen them on some hillside, I would not have given them a second thought. Then the man closed the door so that the room was in total darkness and turned on an ultraviolet lamp (紫外线灯). Instantly, the rocks showed a kind of glory. Brilliant colors of an indescribable beauty were there before our eyes: certain power had been switched on, and a hidden world came to life.

As I look at my universe and walk among my fellow humans, I have the deep belief that hidden realities are all around us: there in the physical world, and there also in the human world.

I believe, then, that my chief job in life is to switch on extra power so that I can see what my naked eyes（裸眼）, or my naked mind, cannot see now. I believe that I have to do this particularly with my human fellows. My ordinary eyes tend to stop short at those envelopes we call human bodies. But we have learned that by turning on certain power we can see through to the inside of these envelopes.

We call this extra power “imagination”. At its highest, we call it “empathy”, the power to see through and to feel through to the inner life of other human beings. When we turn on this lamp of imaginative sensitivity, we make the ordinary human beings around us come excitingly alive.

When we are aware that there are glories of life still hidden from us, we walk humbly (谦逊地) before the Great Unknown. But we do more than this: we try to increase our power of seeing and feeling so that we can turn what is still unknown into what is warmly and understandably known. This, I believe, is our great human adventure.

1. Why does the writer mention their visit to the collector’s shop?

A．To share his experience.	B．To explain his point
C．To introduce the topic.	D．To provide evidence

2. Which of the following does the writer agree with?

A．He saw the very rocks on some hillside before.

B．Hidden realities remain in the physical world.

C．Ordinary minds can never reach other’s inside.

D．We should stay humble when we are still unknown.

3. It can be referred to as a great human adventure that ___________.

A．we try hard to discover the hidden glories of life

B．our eyes stop short at ordinary human beings

C．we are aware of the truth of hidden realities

D．we walk humbly before the Great Unknown

【推荐2】Your next car might drive itself.After years of trials on city streets,driverless vehicles are now on the way.Last month,a driverless bus began carrying passengers through Lyon,France.Most in the automobile industry think self-driving vehicles will be on the road by 2020 or earlier.

Driverless cars will first be huddled with human-driven cars.But the first places where they will become dominant（统治的）are highly populated urban areas.Many advanced cities are already reducing the role of human-driven cars.Driverless cars will quicken that process and will bring us enormous benefits.

Driverless cars will reduce accidents by around 90 percent.That's big—the annual deaths on the world's roads are about 1.2 million a year.Pollution and carbon emissions will drop,because urban driverless cars will be electric.

On the other hand,driverless cars will cause problems.Over the next 20 years,the mostly low-skilled men who now drive trucks,taxis and buses will see their jobs reduced.Traditional carmakers are especially scared.The cars of the future might be made by tech companies such as Apple,Baidu and Google.Imagine Germany,where automobile making is the largest industry.

Dramatic changes are coming,and driverless cars could arrive by 2020.But governments have barely begun thinking about it.Only 6 percent of the biggest US cities have taken them into their long-term planning.A decade ago anyone hardly saw the Smartphone coming.Now what about the driverless cars?

1. The underlined phrase "be huddled with" in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning with "       ".

A．turn up	B．make up for
C．exist together	D．take over

2. Driverless cars can reduce pollution and carbon emissions because       .

A．they will reduce the number of cars

B．they will be powered by electricity

C．they will be energy-saving by driving themselves

D．they will avoid many accidents from human errors

3. What's the author's attitude toward driverless cars?

A．Doubtful.	B．Disappointed.
C．Negative.	D．Objective.

4. What can we conclude from the passage?

A．Driverless cars will not hit the road until 2020.

B．Old auto industry will benefit from driverless cars.

C．Governments are unprepared for the arrival of driverless cars.

D．Driverless cars will make road accidents a past thing.

【推荐3】The word “Kuitou” in Peking Opera is the technical term for various kinds of hats and headpieces worn by various characters in traditional Chinese opera. More than just meeting the requirements of acting, it also reveals an aspect of traditional Chinese culture.

In traditional Han Chinese culture, people believed that since, one’s whole body was a gift from one’s parents, it was important to avoid anything that might injure it, a principle that showed filial piety (孝道). Based on this ideology, males were required to let their hair grow long, and wearing hats became a rule of social etiquette in ancient times.

Since ancient Chinese society was divided into various social classes, people in each class wore different styles of clothes, but only the nobility were permitted to wear formal hats for adornment (装饰). People of lower classes could only wrap their head with a piece of cloth. Anyone under the age of 20 was also not allowed to wear formal hats and could only wear one after the performance of an official capping ceremony to mark their reaching of adulthood. As a result, various types of formal hats in ancient times, in addition to having value as a piece of personal adornment and social etiquette, also revealed the social classes of people and strict social divisions that existed between the nobility and common people.

In ancient times, people attached much importance to the kind of hat they wore. An old saying says, “A man of noble character would rather die than take off his hat.” The saying was based on the story of one of Confucius’s favorite students, Zi Lu, a man who was a brave warrior. Once while fighting in close hand-to-hand combat, his enemy opponent knocked off his hat. When he realized that his hat had been knocked off, Zi Lu placed down his weapon and said to the enemy soldier,” A nobleman can die, but my attire (服装) must be kept orderly.” But the moment he bent down to pick up his hat, the enemy soldier seized the opportunity and killed him. According to Zi Lu, his proper appearance, which included his hat, represented his dignity, and he would rather die than abandon his dignity. The formal hat culture of the Han Chinese continued up until the Ming Dynasty. Later after the Manchurians entered the Central Plains (满人入关), common people in society began to wear hats.

1. For Chinese males in the Han Dynasty, wearing headpieces or hats was           .

A．a requirement of acting	B．a rule of social etiquette
C．a way to show filial piety	D．a representation of culture

2. We can infer from the third paragraph that in ancient times,             

A．the formal hat was a symbol of adulthood

B．headwear was nothing but a decoration

C．only noble people could afford to wear formal hats

D．there existed little distinction between social classes

3. The author mentions the story of Zi Lu to show           .

A．how brave a person he was	B．how people valued their hats
C．how fierce an ancient war was	D．how people dealt with etiquette

【推荐1】About 12 million tons of plastic wastes are entering the oceans every year. This garbage pollutes the water, kills wildlife and breaks down into small pieces that fish and other creatures eat.

Now a group of Spanish fishermen will receive economic support to catch plastics. It is part of a new project. Carlos Martin is one of the fishermen taking part in the project. He and his partners collect the plastic in the ocean and bring it back to land every week. Martin thinks rivers carry a lot of plastics to the sea. He says his most concern is no more than that the plastics often get caught in the nets, which makes nets not work properly. They take on mud（泥）, causing the nets to break because they weigh so much.

Under the new programs, one million pounds will support ocean cleanup efforts for fishermen like Martin. The money is coming from the European Union and the Catalan government. Sergi Tudela, the General Director of Catalonia Fisheries, is responsible for the cleanup project. He said, "We are hopeful that if we are successful in this project, we can apply it to other areas in the Mediterranean（地中海）."

Government reports show that the amount of plastic wastes washing up along the Spanish coastline has grown by 65 percent in just six years. Fishing equipment makes up a large part of the about 8 to 12 million tons of plastics left in the world's oceans every year.

Martin says the fishing community now understands how big the problem is. He says, "In the past we didn't see it that way. We took the plastic garbage and threw it back into the water. I think that after a few year here we have realized the problem. Nothing is thrown into the water; we collect everything and bring it to shore.

1. What worries Martin most about plastic wastes at the beginning?

A．They pollute the sea environment.

B．They affect the quality and taste of fish.

C．They prevent the fishing nets from working well.

D．They kill wildlife and reduce his fishing amount.

2. What does Sergi Tudela probably consider doing?

A．Getting more money to support the project.

B．Getting help from other European countries.

C．Spreading the cleanup project to more places.

D．Praising the European Union for their helping to the oceans.

3. What do Martin's words in the last paragraph imply（暗示）about the fishing community?

A．Its members do a lot of work for free.

B．It has stopped using plastic fishing equipment.

C．It has made positive changes to fight plastic wastes.

D．Its members find people sill throw the garbage carelessly.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．New programs are changing fishermen's life

B．Money is given to Spanish fishermen to clean up oceans

C．Traditional fishing equipment causes a lot of plastic wastes

D．Spanish fishermen are encouraging people to clean up oceans

【推荐2】Pet lovers were very angry. Last May, a news article online said three states had passed laws limiting the number of pets that each household could have to only two. The news spread quickly, as many people shared the article on Facebook and other social media sites. But pet owners had nothing to worry about----the article was made-up.

Many fake (虚假的) news are harmless, but others might have played a role in real-world events. When it comes to online news, even adults can have a hard time telling fact from fiction. Education experts say kids should start learning how to tell the difference.

Of course, there are plenty of reputable websites you can visit to read the news. Well-known news organizations, such as The New York Times and the Associated Press, have their own sites.

But many other online "news" sources aren't always reliable. And many students have trouble finding out when articles aren't entirely true or are trying to persuade them to think in a certain way.

Why would someone purposely publish an article that isn't true? The most common reason is to make money. Websites are paid by the companies that post ads on them. Companies want to place their ads on sites that get a lot of visitors. So people create fake news with attention-catching headlines to try to get users to click on them.

Some of the biggest websites are trying to stop the flow of fake news. Last November, Facebook and Google banned fake news sites from advertising on their pages. Facebook is also working with fact-checking organizations to identify and flag fake articles. But experts say the best way to slow the spread of fake news is for people to be more skeptical(’怀疑的) of what they read online.

1. What's the author's purpose of writing the first paragraph?

A．To make readers focus on fake news.

B．To introduce the topic about fake news.

C．To state the reasons for fake news' spread.

D．To inform readers of some media websites.

2. What does the underlined word "reputable" in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Popular.	B．Colorful.
C．Official.	D．Honest

3. What's the main idea of this text?

A．People create fake news to make money.

B．The growing trend of fake news raises concerns.

C．It's unnecessary for kids to be able to spot fake news.

D．Most school children can easily recognize fake news.

4. What's the best way to reduce the influence of fake news?

A．To Limit the use of headlines.

B．To pass laws to limit the number to post news.

C．To encourage reader to be doubtful about what they read online.

D．To develop the system of fact-checking and flagging fake news.

【推荐3】Why can some people sleep through noises like a honking car or flushing toilet, while others are awakened by the lightest sound?

To find the answer, sleep researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital conducted an unusual study of 12 self-described deep sleepers. After tests confirmed that the healthy volunteers were solid sleepers, they took part in a three-night study in the university’s sleep laboratory. The participants spent the night in a big and comfortable room. But the room also included four speakers positioned near the top of the bed.

During the night, the deep sleepers were subjected to 14 different recorded sounds, like street traffic, toilets flushing, and an airplane flying overhead. Next door, the researchers monitored their sleep patterns and brain waves.

As expected, all of the participants slept relatively well, but there were differences in how they responded to the noisy interruptions. Some of the sleepers didn’t wake up even when a sound was blasted at 70 decibels; others were awakened by sounds at 40 or 50 decibels.

The researchers discovered that the difference in a sleeper’s reaction to noise could be predicted by the level of brain activity called “sleep spindles”. A sleep spindle is a burst of high-frequency brain activity coming from deep inside the brain during sleep. The source of the spindles is the thalamus, a part of the brain that sends sensory information to the rest of the cortex.

Before the study, the Massachusetts researchers theorized that the spindles are the brain’s way of preventing sensory information from passing through the thalamus and waking the rest of the brain during sleep. They found that sleepers who experienced the most sleep spindles during the night were also the soundest sleepers and were least likely to be awakened by noise.

Scientists already know that most people become lighter sleepers with age, most likely because older people experience less “slow wave sleep”, which is the deepest stage of sleep. People also produce fewer sleep spindles as they age. But even when controlling for the stage of sleep a person was in, the number of sleep spindles still predicted their risk for awakening because of noise.

More research is needed, but the findings suggest that a better understanding of sleep spindles could lead to new behavioral or drug therapies for people with sleep disorders. For example, future studies may try to determine whether diet, exercise or other behaviors may influence the number of sleep spindles a person produces during the night.

1. Some participants can sleep well through loud noises mainly because _________.

A．their brains don’t respond to outside noises.	B．their brains react differently to noises.
C．they adapt to the environment quickly.	D．they don’t pay attention to the monitors.

2. Scientists believe that the key to affecting deep sleep is _________.

A．sleep spindles	B．stages of sleep
C．sleep disorders	D．sensory information

3. It can be learned from the passage that _________.

A．The older a deep sleeper becomes, the lighter his sleep must be.

B．The more “slow wave sleep” one experiences, the deeper sleep one has.

C．The more frequently a sleeper’s brain works, the less information it sends.

D．The deeper sleep people have, the more likely they will be awakened by noise.

4. From the passage we can predict _________.

A．more factors in influencing sleep spindles may be discovered.

B．more solid sleepers will take part in relative experiments.

C．sleep spindles will be applied to change one’s behaviors.

D．deep sleepers will probably enjoy a more healthy life.

5. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．The differences between the deep sleepers and the light sleepers.

B．The experiments conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital.

C．The discovery and the importance of “sleep spindles”.

D．The new behaviors or drug therapies for people with sleep disorders.