【推荐1】Ants know when an earthquake is about to strike, researchers have discovered. Their behavior changes greatly before the quake and they resume normal functioning only a day after it. Gabriele Berberich of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany presented these findings according to Live Science.

Berberich and her team discovered that red wood ants preferred to build their homes right along active faults (断层)in Germany. They counted 15,000 mounds (土堆)lining the faults. These faults are the places where the earth breaks in earthquakes.

Using a special camera that tracked changes in activity, Berberich and her team tracked the ants round the clock for three years. They found that the ants’ behavior changed only when the quake was over magnitude 2.0. There were 10 earthquakes between magnitude 2.0 and 3.2 during this period, and many smaller ones. Humans can also sense quakes over magnitude 2.0 only.

According to Berberich, normal ant activity is made up of going about collecting food during the day and resting in the night. But before an earthquake, the ants didn’t go back to their mound in the night and moved around outside it. This strange behavior continued till a day after the earthquake, Berberich told a news conference, according to Live Science.

How do ants know an earthquake is coming? Berberich suggested that they could either be picking up changing gas or noting small changes in the earth’s magnetic fields (磁场). “ Red wood ants have special cells which can sense changes in carbon dioxide levels. They also have special cells for discovering electromagnetic fields,” she said. Berberich and her team are planning to continue the research in areas where there are more and bigger earthquakes.

1. The underlined word “resume” in Paragraph 1 probably means “________”

A．present

B．recover

C．quit

D．improve

2. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To bring in the main topic.

B．To make the text interesting.

C．To introduce a famous researcher.

D．To tell how to predict an earthquake.

3. What happens to the ants before an earthquake?

A．They are too excited to rest.

B．They don’t collect their food.

C．They get lost on their way home.

D．They refuse to go inside their mound.

4. What can be learned about the ants from the passage?

A．They can only sense smaller earthquakes.

B．They have two ways to predict earthquakes.

C．They can be depended on to warn people of earthquakes.

D．They like to build their homes where earthquakes happen.

【推荐2】A monsoon(季风)refers to a seasonal shift in the atmospheric circulation because of irregular heating of the sea and the land. For the most part, the term is used to describe the rainy period of a season. However, there is also a dry period associated with the term. Half of the world’s population live in areas affected by Asian monsoons, but monsoons are difficult to predict. American researchers have put together a 700-year record of the rainy seasons, which is expected to provide guidance for experts making weather predictions.

Every summer, moist(潮湿的)air masses, known as monsoon, produce large quantities of rainfall in India, East Asia, Indonesia, Northern Australia and East Africa, which are pulled in by a high pressure area over the Indian Ocean and a low pressure area to the south.

According to Edward Cook, a weather expert at Columbia University in New York, the complex nature of the climate systems across Asia makes monsoons hard to predict. In addition, climate records for the area date back to 1950, too recent and not detailed enough to be of much use. Therefore, he and a team of researchers spent more than fifteen years travelling across Asia searching for trees old enough to provide long-term records. They measured the rings(年轮)or circles, inside the trunks of thousands of ancient trees at more than 300 sites.

Rainfall has a direct link to the growth and width of rings on some kinds of trees. The researchers developed a document — a Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas(地图集). It shows the effect of monsoons over seven centuries, beginning in the 1300s.

Professor Cook says the tree-ring records show periods of wet and dry conditions. “If the monsoon basically fails or is very weak one year, the trees affected by the monsoon at that location might put on a very narrow ring. But if the monsoon is very strong, the trees affected by that monsoon might put on a wide ring for that year. So, the wide and narrow ring widths of the tree chronology(年表)that we developed in Asia provide us with a measure of monsoon variability. ” Armed with such a sweeping set of data, researchers say they now can begin to refine(提炼)climate computer models for predicting the behavior of monsoons.

“There has been widespread starvation and human dying in the past in large droughts. And on the other hand, if the monsoon is particularly heavy, it can cause extensive flooding,” said Eugene Wahl, a scientist who is with America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s paleoclimate(古气候)branch studying weather patterns over the history of the Earth. “So, to get a knowledge of what the regional moisture patterns have been, dryness and wetness over such a long period of time in great detail, I would call it a kind of victory for climate science.”

1. What’s the passage mainly about?

A．The achievements of Edward Cook.	B．The necessity of weather forecast.
C．A breakthrough in monsoon prediction.	D．The effects of Asian monsoons.

2. It is difficult for experts to predict Asian monsoons because ________.

A．it is hard to keep long-term climate records

B．they are formed under complex climate systems

C．they influence many nations

D．there is heavy rainfall in Asia

3. According to Professor Cook, the rings of the trees ________.

A．offer people information about the regional climate

B．have a great influence on the regional climate

C．determine the regional climate

D．reflect all kinds of regional climate information

4. What do we know about the research according to Eugene Wahl?

A．It will help people prevent droughts and floods.

B．It should include information about human life in the past.

C．It has analyzed moisture models worldwide.

D．It is a great achievement in climate science.

【推荐2】British men are encouraged to cry.
There are certain things British men like to believe about themselves. The first is that one day they will again win the World Cup. They also believe they do not cry. Over the centuries, Britons are believed to have a "stiff upper lip". But is this true?
Yes, it is. A recent study arranged by Kleenex on how the British express their emotions reveals that 95 percent of them still ____their emotions.
Moreover, while 72 percent think this is unhealthy, 19 percent can't remember the last time they "let it out". As a result, Kleenex is launching the "Let It Out" campaign that encourages Britons to grab a tissue and have a good cry.
These days, however, the male Briton's attitude toward crying is changing. Though the majority still struggles to open up emotionally, a 2004 study by Oxford's Social Issues Research Center found that 77 percent of British men considered crying in public increasingly acceptable. Half of London males admitted crying in front of their mothers. Scotsmen are the least emotional, although they are the most likely to cry at weddings.
Peter Marsh, director of the center, said, “Crying can now indicate sensitivity rather than weakness. Like with David Beckham, crying because you're dropping off your boy at nursery isn't seen as weak.”
Winston Churchill was said to be a frequent crier, shedding tears at seeing a survivor in an air raid shelter（防空洞）, and when he saw his wife after a long absence.
Psychologists say that while society has accepted that men can cry, there are limits. Ronald Bracey, a consulting psychologist, said, “If a man began to cry when he was having stitches（缝针）in hospital, he would be considered as a wimp（软弱的人）. Men still need to be seen as strong when it comes to physical pain. ”
1. What does the passage mainly deal with?

A．Different attitudes British men have towards crying.

B．British men's dream of the World Cup.

C．Advice on how to control emotions.

D．Impression of British men.

2. Which of the following concerning(关于) the British men is NOT true according to the passage?

A．They are supposed to easily control emotions over the centuries.

B．They are confident that they will again get successful in the World Cup.

C．Nowadays, the male Briton's attitude toward crying is changing.

D．About 50% of Britons admitted crying before their mothers.

3. The underlined word “contain” in paragraph 3 means ______.

A．store	B．include
C．hold back	D．possess

【推荐3】Many people believe that teaching children music makes them smarter, better able to learn new things. Researchers, however, have found that there’s one thing musical training does not do. They say it does not make children more intelligent.

Samuel Mehr is a graduate student at Harvard’s School of Education. He said it is wrong to think that learning to play a musical instrument improves a child’s intellectual development. He says the evidence comes from studies that measured the mental ability of two groups of 4-year-olds and their parents. One group attended music class, the other went to a class that places importance on the visual arts — arts that can be seen. “The evidence there is ‘no.’ We found no evidence for any advantage on any of these tests for the kids taking part in these music classes,” said Mehr.

Samuel Mehr says researchers have carried out many studies in an effort to learn whether musical training can make children smarter. He says the results have been mixed. He says only one study seems to show a small percentage increase in IQ, intellectual scores among students after one year of music lessons. He does not believe that IQ is a good measure of a child’s intelligence. He says researchers in his study compared how well children in the musical training group did on mental processing tasks or projects, then the results were compared to those of children who did not take lessons. There was no evidence that the musical training group did much better on the mental tasks than the other group. The researchers confirmed the results with a larger group of children and their parents.

Mr Mehr says music lessons may not offer children a fast easy way to gain entry to the best schools later of their life. But he says the training is still important for cultural reasons. In his words, “We teach music because music is important for us.”

He notes that the works of writer William Shakespeare are not taught, so the children will do better in physics. He says Shakespeare is taught because it is important. “And I don’t think music needs to be any different than that.”

1. Different from the common belief, Samuel Mehr believes that ______.

A．playing musical instrument makes children more intelligent

B．musical training has no evident link to children’s intelligence

C．learning to play musical instrument is not worthwhile at all.

D．music lessons can increase children’s IQ and make them smarter

2. How did Samuel Mehr try to prove his own belief?

A．By attending music lessons himself.	B．By consulting experts.
C．By comparing different groups.	D．By talking to parents.

3. What does the underlined words “the results” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Music lessons probably help to gain better performance.

B．Musical training has no positive effect on children at all.

C．Music lessons have different influences on different people.

D．Musical training cannot possibly make children smarter.

4. Why does the author mention “William Shakespeare” in the last paragraph?

A．To tell us music is taught because of its great importance.

B．To show us the importance of studying Shakespeare’s works.

C．To argue that music lessons cannot make children smarter

D．To make us realize Shakespeare is as important as music.

【推荐1】It was a red-letter day in the history of medicine — “Target Zero Day”, May 8th, 1980, marking the complete removal of smallpox, a terrifying disease. It was untreatable but, luckily, it turned out that vaccination (接种疫苗) provided good protection — and that mass immunization (免疫) could wipe out the smallpox virus by blocking its spread.

According to legend, vaccination was invented by Dr. Edward Jenner. Jenner showed that healthy children vaccinated with cowpox, a mild infection of cattle, could not catch smallpox. He was supposedly inspired by Comment from a local milkmaid, but there is evidence that the idea came from a medical friend, John Fewster, who had experimented with cowpox. Nevertheless, Jenner deserves credit for introducing vaccination into the medical mainstream with his paper published in 1798.

In 1966,160 years after the prediction that vaccination would clean off the disease, the World Health Organization launched its Smallpox Eradication Programme. This heroic 11-year drive was directed by two American public health doctors, DA Henderson and Bill Foege. Their hardships were enormous. One WHO official even promised to eat a tyre if smallpox was removed; Henderson promised to send him the tyre and wished him good appetite. But Henderson and Foege’s hard work paid off—three years after the last smallpox case was informed (to make sure no outbreaks had been missed) Target Zero Day was declared.

40 years on, why should we remember Target Zero Day? First, to celebrate victory of preventative medicine and freedom from a cruel disease. Then, we must remember the victims of smallpox. It had previously killed one in 12 worldwide. In 1914, a Canadian professor warned against forgetting smallpox, which was fast disappearing from North America. It went on to kill at least another 250 million people — three times more than both world wars combined. Target Zero Day also reminds us of undefeated infections, including polio, measles, malaria, and of course the coronavirus Covid-19. Let’s recognize Target Zero Day for what it is: a milestone in world history and a monument to the art of the possible.

1. What inspired Jenner to invent the vaccination?

A．A medical friend.

B．A local milkmaid.

C．Cattle.

D．Children.

2. What is the writer’s purpose of mentioning the WHO official’s promise?

A．To introduce the support from the WHO.	B．To stress the importance of good appetite.
C．To suggest the difficulty in removing smallpox.	D．To show his determination to carry on the drive.

3. What message does the text convey?

A．A promise made is a debt unpaid.	B．A trouble shared is a trouble halved.
C．Something is better than nothing.	D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.

【推荐2】When I tell people I wrote a book with my dad, they usually say, “It must be nice to think of the legacy (留下来的东西) you created with someone who means so much to you.”

This was a beautiful idea, but it was not the way I, or my dad, ever thought about the cooperation. Though we created something we’re proud of, “nice” is not the word either of us uses to describe the process.

“It was more confrontation (对抗) than cooperation,” my dad likes to say. I agree.

When we landed a book deal, we began a writing journey that was more difficult than either of us had anticipated, but also far more rewarding.

For almost three years, we met once or twice a week at my parents’ house and talked daily to plan and outline each chapter. After these meetings, one of us would write a rough draft that the other would build on. I wanted the book to focus on positive vices (不良习惯): such as moderate (适度的) chocolate. However, my dad felt the book should include chapters dealing with things like walking and spending time with family. Ultimately , I saw it his way. He said the book was about more than just good vices. It was about encouraging people to enjoy life in healthy ways.

Writing this book was a reminder that our family members share not only our faults but also our strengths. My dad is smart, funny, critical and caring. He has a strong passion for the truth. I hope I share these great qualities. For this book, he researched each topic with an enthusiasm I’d never seen from him, and he insisted that we constantly question and critically analyze every piece of information – even our own conclusions. He was determined to cooperate with me on a book, not because he couldn’t write one on his own, but because he believed that we could create something better together than we could alone.

I’m not sure if our cooperation led to better writing, but I’m sure it led to a better writing experience. Writing this book was difficult, sometimes more difficult than past projects, but it was never lonely.

1. How would the author describe the writing process according to the first 3 paragraphs?

A．Nice.	B．Struggling.
C．Relaxing.	D．Disappointing.

2. What is Paragraph 5 mainly about?

A．A healthy lifestyle.

B．The theme of the book.

C．How the author and his father worked together.

D．Why the author wanted to write the book.

3. What can we learn about the author’s father?

A．He is not good at writing.

B．He lacks confidence in himself.

C．He likes to criticize others’ works.

D．He likes to get to the bottom of things.

4. What did the author learn from the cooperation with his father?

A．It’s important to make a plan before work.

B．Their cooperation resulted in a better book than the author expected.

C．It’s worthwhile to work with someone close to you.

D．Communicate more when there is an argument.

【推荐3】There are a number of sports writers who are now widely regarded as some of the best sports journalists of our time. Here are five of the most well-known sports writers.

Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated

Rick Reilly became famous as the back page columnist (专栏作家) for Sports Illustrated magazine. Then he moved to ESPN in 2008 and began working as a columnist for their website — ESPN.com. Now he has his own show with ESPN, and he also contributes articles to ABC sports.

Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe

Bob Ryan rose through the ranks thanks to his skill and knowledge about basketball. He very soon became known as a guru of the sport, writing an impressively large number of articles about The Boston Celtics — a National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Boston, Massachusetts.

John Feinstein of The Washington Post

John Feinstein is primarily a columnist with The Washington Post but during his long career he has published two best-selling sports books A Good Walk Spoiled and A Season on the Brink. He is a regular with the Golf Channel and has a very popular blog called Feinstein on the Brink.

Joaquin Henson of The Philippine Star

Joaquin Henson started out his sports journalism career in 1973 and became popular through his column Sporting Chance, which has been published in The Philippine Star since the 80’s. He has given a number of catchy nicknames to some of the most famous sporting stars of our time.

William Rhoden of The New York Times

Apart from being a columnist with The New York Times since the 80’s, William Rhoden is a respected sports journalist known for his two books Forty Million Dollar Slaves and Third and a Mile. Both books deal with the problems that face black athletes in the field of sport.

1. Before working for ESPN, Rick Reilly _____.

A．was a regular with the Golf Channel	B．started his column Sporting Chance
C．wrote articles for Sports Illustrated	D．worked as a sports talk show host

2. Both John Feinstein and William Rhoden _____.

A．have worked as writers for ten years	B．work as columnists and write books
C．like to give nicknames to sporting stars	D．are known as columnists for ABC sports

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

A．Useful tips for a sports journalist	B．How to be a newspaper columnist
C．Newspapers that influence us a lot	D．Famous and popular sports writers

【推荐1】I come from a broken family. After we grew up， my sister and I could go years without speaking. And that is where this story begins.

My sister Jeanne and I were born only 14 months apart， but by the time we were teenagers we had lost touch. By age 19， I had moved away from our home in Wisconsin to live on my father’ s horse farm in Virginia. Jeanne got married at 18， moved to Chicago， and I didn’ t know what. We lived separate lives in separate states， and our connection somehow ended.

Fast － forward about five years. I was 24 and on a trip with my fiancé （未婚夫） to New York City，a place I had never been. During a day of sightseeing， we were crossing a very busy street loaded with people. Everyone was in a hurry. I had laughed at something my fiancé said， and I suddenly heard my name yelled from somewhere behind me： “ Cheryl！ ” I froze in my steps in the middle of the road. Tears welled up in my eyes. I knew without a doubt that it was my sister Jeanne. I yelled back before even turning to look. “ Jeanne？ ”

It was her. I began pushing people out of my way to get to her. The crowd started to part—even by New York standards， we must have seemed crazy. And there we were， standing in the middle of a Manhattan street， facing each other and smiling. I couldn’ t believe it.

I later asked how she’ d known it was me—she never saw me！ She said it was my laugh. I wouldn’ tsay my laugh is all that unusual， but I guess to a family member it’ s infectious（有感染力的） . It hits your heart and goes deep in your mind.

Since that time， my sister and I have never been separated. We both moved back to Wisconsin. Wetalk daily. Many years have passed， and we are now in our 50s. I truly believe God played a huge part in bringing us together. But our meeting by chance wasn’ t just a sign. I see it as more of a lesson， a reminder not to lose touch with loved ones. It is too easy to remain lost. After our sister － to － sister miracle（奇迹） ， I don’ t plan to let that happen again.

1. What can we learn about Cheryl in the first two paragraphs？

A．She got on well with her sister.	B．She came from a normal family.
C．She was brought up in Wisconsin.	D．She moved to Chicago with Jeanne.

2. How did Jeanne recognize her sister on the street？

A．By her yell.	B．By her name.
C．By her looks.	D．By her laugh.

3. What does the underlined word “ that” in the last paragraph refer to？

A．Meeting.	B．The trip.
C．Separation.	D．The miracle.

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

A．Long－Lost Sisters	B．New－Found Families
C．Life－Long Journey	D．Long－Standing Friendship

【推荐2】Have you ever heard that paintings are moved from galleries into a new home — hospitals?

The medical world is gradually realizing that the quality of the environment in hospitals may play a significant role in the process of recovery from illness.

As part of a nationwide effort in Britain to bring art out of the galleries and into public places, some of the country's most talented artists have been called in to transform older hospitals and to soften the hard edges of modern buildings. Of the 2,500 National Health Service hospitals in Britain, almost 100 now have significant collections of contemporary art in corridors, waiting areas and treatment rooms.

These recent initiatives owe a great deal to one artist, Peter Senior, who set up his studio at a Manchester hospital in northeastern England during the early 1970s. He felt the artist had lost his place in modern society, and dial art should be enjoyed by a wider audience.

A typical hospital waiting room might have as many as 500 visitors each week. What better place to hold regular exhibitions of art? Senior held the first exhibition of his own paintings in the out-patients waiting area of the Manchester Royal Hospital in 1975. Believed to be Britain's first hospital artist, Senior was so much in demand that he was soon joined by a team of six young art school graduates.

The effect is striking. Now in die corridors and waiting rooms the visitor experiences a full view of fresh colors, playfi.il images and restful courtyards.

The quality of the environment may reduce the need for expensive drugs when a patient is recovering from an illness. A study has shown that patients who had a view onto a garden needed half the number of strong pain killers compared with patients who had no view at all or only a brick wall to look at.

1. According to the passage, "to soften the hard edges of modern buildings" means________.

A．to pull down hospital buildings

B．to decorate hospitals with art collections

C．to improve the quality of treatment in hospitals

D．to make the corners of hospital buildings round

2. What can we say of Peter Senior?

A．He is a pioneer in introducing art into hospitals.

B．He is a doctor interested in painting.

C．He is an artist who has a large collection of paintings.

D．He is a faithful follower of hospital art.

3. According to Peter Senior, ________.

A．art is losing its audience in modern society

B．art galleries should be changed into hospitals

C．patients should be encouraged to learn painting

D．art should be encouraged in British hospitals

4. After the improvement of the hospital environment, _________.

A．patients no longer need drugs in their recovery

B．patients may no longer wholly depend on expensive drugs

C．patients need good-quality drugs in their recovery

D．patients use fewer pain killers in their recovery

5. The fact that six young art school graduates joined Peter shows that, ________.

A．Peter's enterprise is developing greatly

B．Peter Senior enjoys great popularity

C．they are talented hospital artists

D．the role of hospital environment is being recognized

【推荐3】A fight last month between Campinas and Sao Jose do Rio Preto in southern Brazil became the scene of a spontaneous( 自发的) act of kindness that spread on social media networks.

According to the website Aeroin. net, a passenger named Sirlandia Dias Pereira was traveling with her son Caleb, who suffered from heart failure and bad a heart murmur(杂音). During the flight, she told the passenger next to her, Alex Pontes, that she was traveling so her son could be hospitalized. She also explained that she was relying on the charity of others for living quarters.

The passenger talked to the crew of the airline and asked to use the airplane's loudspeaker, inviting the other travelers to contribute to a spontaneous collection to help the mother and her son.“All of us would like to find an angel to help us. Those of us who feel moved to do so, let's help this mother to take a little something with her. a little something we have and can share," he said.

In a matter of minutes, passengers offered a total worth near $ 400 which goes a lot further in Brazil than in the USA), plus applause for the mother, who was thrilled with the help and repeatedly expressed her gratitude to the passengers.

The site that first shared the story later updated the article, adding that Caleb went through surgery and Was recovering well. The website Razoes Para Acreditar reported that the story caught the attention of Brazilin TV personality Luciano Huck, who started a crowdfunding campaign to help the family.

This story just goes to show that a kind act can go a long way towards making an important difference in someone's life. There are people in need all around us, Let's not let these chances to help others pass us by!

1. Why was the mother traveling?

A．To get her sick son treated,	B．To look for living quarters
C．To experience taking a plane,	D．To pick up her son from hospital.

2. What did Alex Pontes do for the mother on the plane?

A．He gave her $ 400 by himself,	B．He called for donation for her,
C．He exchanged his seat with her,	D．He helped her attend to her son,

3. Why did Lauciano Huck decide to help the mother and her son?

A．He was one of the witnesses on the plane.	B．He wanted to make himself well-known.
C．He was inspired by the spontaneous act.	D．He Was asked to offer assistance by them.

4. What is the author' s main purpose in writing the text?

A．To speak highly of a kind passenger.	B．To ask us to communicate with others.
C．To show the importance of first aid.	D．To encourage us to help those in need.