【推荐1】Forget smartphones and smart glasses. One day, we might have smart tattoos(纹身).The company NewDealDesign came up with an idea for a product called UnderSkin. The device would look like a pair of tattoos on your palm and the side of your thumb. It would draw power from your body's energy, and you could use it to unlock doors, monitor your health, exchange and store information,or even express your personality. UnderSkin is just an idea-you can't go out and get one-but the technology exists to make it work. “We assume it is about five years from being real,"says designer Gadi Amit.

Writer and technology entrepreneur Amal Graffstra already has chip(芯片)called a radio-frequency-identification (RFID) tag embedded(植入)in his hand. “I used it to share contact

detail with people,"he says. The chip is about he size of a grain of rice and responds to radio signal with a unique identification number.

If a computerized tattoo or embedded tag isn't crazy enough for you, what a about a brain chip? The company Intel is working on technology that would let you control your device with your mind.Dean Pomerleaut,one of the researchers,explains,"Were trying to prove you can do interesting things with brain waves. Imagine being able to surf the Web with the Power of your thoughts."

Do you think embedded chips sound creepy or cool ? Some doctors are concerned about people hurting themselves while getting devices implanted. They argue that medical procedures are meant to cure sick people, and not to give healthy people special powers.Others worry about hacking and privacy. Could someone hack in and steal your identity,or even Control your mind? On a more philosophical level, if you have a computer inside your body,are you still human? Or are you a cyborg(生化电子人)?

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

A．To promote a technology product.

B．To introduce a new technology.

C．To explain the principle behind a technology.

D．To argue against a new technology.

2. What is Under Skin actually?

A．A very thin computer.

B．A tattooed part of your skin.

C．A small medical chip.

D．A chip controlling your mind.

3. Which of the following best explains“creepy"underlined in the last paragraph?

A．difficult

B．scary

C．impossible

D．worthless

4. What is the author's attitude towards embedded chips?

A．Supportive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Objective.

D．Concerned.

【推荐3】Not only does the use of plastic water bottles hurt your wallet, but it also causes pollution, wastes energy, and surprisingly wastes water. Only 23% of the plastic in America ends up in recycling bins, meaning over $1 billion worth of plastic is treated as rubbish a year. Recently, Skipping Rocks Lab has invented a kind of water bottle called Ooho.

It’s a kind of convenient, clear water bottle that can either be drunk or eaten. To drink it, you can either get rid of the membrane (膜) or tear a hole in the membrane with your teeth to pour the water into your mouth. To eat it, you simply put the whole bottle in your mouth. It’s completely insipid so you needn’t worry about any taste.

It aims for large outdoor events where tons of plastic bottles are used and frequently left behind as litter. Too much plastic is sure to do harm to the environment, which could account for the purpose of such a new invention.

The team has been working for the past two years to develop the technology and materials that are needed to produce Ooho. The price for an only bubble (泡状物) or a unit of bubbles hasn’t been decided yet, but it costs about two cents to create a unit, which is cheaper than plastic bottles. The team has also been selling Ooho water bottles in London for the past six months.

Ooho is catching many people’s attention and has raised over $1 million in only three days. It’s mostly being sold at events at the moment to interest the buyers while the production machine is getting up and running. It’s quickly making a rise, so keep an eye out for these bottles of the future.

1. How is most plastic in America dealt with?

A．It is wasted by people.

B．It is reused as new energy.

C．It is buried under the ground.

D．It is applied to new technology.

2. What does the underlined word “insipid” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Sweet.

B．Delicious.

C．Tasteless.

D．Interesting.

3. What can we infer about the Ooho?

A．It plans to be sold at a very low price.

B．It has some advantages over plastic bottles.

C．It has taken the place of plastic bottles in London.

D．Proper materials of making Ooho are hard to find.

4. What’s the author’s attitude towards Ooho’s future?

A．Doubtful.

B．Uninterested.

C．Worried.

D．Positive.

5. Who might be the target readers?

A．Scientists.

B．Experts.

C．Environmentalists.

D．The public.

【推荐1】Almost all cultures celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another in some way. Different cultures celebrate the beginning of a new year in different ways, and at different times on the calendar.

In Western countries, people usually celebrate New Year at midnight on December 31st—January 1st. People may go to parties, sometimes dressed in formal (正式的) clothes, and they may drink champagne (香槟) at midnight. During the first minutes of the new year, people cheer and wish each other happiness for the year ahead. But some cultures prefer to celebrate the new year by waking up early to watch the sunrise. They welcome the new year with the first light of the sunrise.

Many cultures also do special things to get rid of (消除) bad luck at the beginning of a new year. For example, in Ecuador, families make a big doll from old clothes. The doll is filled with old newspapers and firecrackers. At midnight, these dolls are burned to show the bad things from the past year are gone and the new year can start afresh (重新). Other common traditions to keep away bad luck in a new year include throwing things into rivers or the ocean, or saying special things on the first day of the new year.

Other New Year traditions are followed to bring good luck in the new year. One widespread Spanish tradition for good luck is to eat grapes on New Year’s Day. The more grapes a person eats, the more good luck the person will have in the year. In France, people eat pancakes for good luck at New Year. In the United States, some people eat black-eyed peas for good luck, but to get good luck for a whole year you have to eat 365 of them!

1. The reading is mainly about______.

A．the meaning of “Happy New Year!”

B．several different New Year traditions

C．what to eat on New Year’s Day

D．why people dress up nicely on New Year's Day

2. It’s clear that______.

A．some cultures celebrate New Year in the morning

B．the Western people celebrate New Year only on New Year’s Day

C．people in Ecuador go to parties on December 31st—January 1st

D．no cultures do special things to celebrate New Year

3. In some cultures, people throw things into rivers or the ocean to ______.

A．bring good luck

B．keep away bad luck

C．forget everything

D．plan for the next year

4. To have a happy new year, ______.

A．friends talk to each other in special ways

B．families make big dolls filled with old clothes

C．some people get up early to watch the sunrise

D．Europeans eat 365 grapes on New Year's Day

5. When eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day, people think ______.

A．one pea brings one day of luck

B．black-eyed peas are the best medicine

C．the peas are too black and taste bad

D．the peas are helpful to count numbers

【推荐2】As a young adult, Noah Webster was a teacher. At that time, the colonies were fighting for independence from Britain. Yet the books that American children used in school all came from Britain. The books were all about British people and British places. Webster wanted books that would mean more to American children. So he wrote three books that used American examples—a grammar book, a spelling book, and a reader. These books were very popular, and millions of them were sold.

Webster was interested in changing the spellings of words. He wanted words to be spelled the way they were pronounced. For example, he thought the word “head” should be spelled “hed”， and the word “laugh” should be spelled “laf”. People liked Webster's suggestions.

However, few words were actually changed. One group of words that were changed were words in which an unpronounced “u” followed an “o”. That is why Americans write “color” and “labor”, and the British write “colour” and “labour”.

With the money he made from his books, Webster was able to write. It was the first American English dictionary, published in 1828.Webster's dictionary had over 70，000 words and gave the meaning and origin of each. To this day, Webster's work is the example that most dictionaries of American English follow.

1. What was Noah Webster when he was young?

A．A writer.

B．A teacher.

C．A painter.

D．A reporter.

2. Why did Webster decide to write books?

A．Because he wanted to earn more money.

B．Because he wasn't satisfied with the books he used.

C．Because there were not enough books in the market.

D．Because he had to borrow books from Britain when he was a student.

3. What can we learn from paragraph 3?

A．Webster spoke English in a different way.

B．American people didn't like speaking English.

C．Webster was good at correcting mistakes in textbooks.

D．American people didn't write English as exactly as English people did.

4. What is Noah Webster famous for in American history?

A．His teaching methods.	B．His dictionary.
C．His fighting for freedom.	D．Learning foreign languages.

5. What does the last sentence of this article mean?

A．Most dictionaries in the world are the copies of Webster's.

B．Most American people followed Webster's advice on writing.

C．Webster's dictionary is the only one used in the United States.

D．Most dictionaries in American English have the characteristic(特点) of Webster's.

【推荐1】Every year, little black-and-white birds called pied flycatchers(斑姬鹟) travel from sub-Saharan Africa to northern Europe to feast on caterpillars (毛毛虫), claim a nest, and have babies. And they fly back a few months later. But recently, some flycatchers have arrived only to find their nesting sites occupied by great tits (大山雀). And those birds don’t just chase flycatchers away—they attack them, kill them, and eat their brains.

Great tits live in European forests all year round. Flycatchers are regular vacationers. Since the 1980s,   flycatchers’ reproductive season has been inching up earlier in the month of April. Warm spring temperatures have caused caterpillar populations to boom. To adapt to that, flycatchers arrive a bit earlier, too. That won’t be too big a problem. But now, tits delay their breeding period a bit in April, so they overlap with the flycatchers, and violence begins.

Moreover, there’s limited nesting space in many of these birds’ favorite forests—the trees can be quite young and have very few tree holes where birds can nest. Volunteers and academics have placed nestboxes to help. But with climate change, birds’ breeding schedules getting closer, there aren’t enough nestboxes to go around. Unfriendly hosts—the tits, eat their brains.

“Great tits are superior competitors when it comes down to a fight, ” said Jelmer Samplonius, lead author of a study. “People see it as a cute garden bird, but some of them have a real anger management problem. ” Luckily, the murdered birds were often surplus males that arrive late. The deaths haven’t had a big impact on the population because those late males probably won’t have had babies anyway. But there’s always the chance that it could get worse.

“Whatever the flycatcher population’s future may hold, ” Samplonius said, “this is a good example of why it’s essential to study how climate change can shift animals’ schedules, often with deadly consequences. Understanding different responses to changing environments will be an important part of species assessments in coming years.”

1. What has happened to pied flycatchers recently?

A．They couldn’t get enough food.

B．Their nesting sites were destroyed.

C．Their babies have become less likely to survive.

D．Their lives have been threatened by another kind of birds.

2. Which is one of the causes of the violence between pied flycatchers and great tits?

A．The change in migration of flycatchers.	B．The delay of flycatchers’ reproductive season,
C．The reduction of both birds’ favorite forests.	D．The two birds’ sharing the same food.

3. Which can best describe great tits?

A．Ugly.

B．Smart.

C．Aggressive.

D．Lazy.

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

A．A terrible bird murder	B．Birds’ struggle to hunt
C．Birds’ influence on climate change	D．The future of mixed species communities

【推荐2】From linguists’ point of view, grammar is a set of patterns for how words are put together to form phrases or clauses, whether in spoken or written. Different languages have different patterns. Some scholars have tried to identify patterns common to all languages. But apart from some basic features, few of these so-called linguistic universals have been found.

The study of these patterns open up “an ongoing debate” between two positions, known as prescriptivism and descriptivism. Prescriptivism thinks a given language should follow consistent rules, while descriptivism sees variation and adaptation as a natural and necessary part of language.

Language purists(纯化论者) worked to establish and promote this standard by detailing a set of rules that reflected the established grammar of their times. And rules for written grammar were applied to spoken language as well. Speech patterns that deviated from the written rules were considered signs of low social status. And many people who are grown-ups speaking in these ways were forced to adopt the standardized form.

More recently, however, linguists have understood that speech is a separate phenomenon from writing with its own regularities and patterns.We form our spoken skills through unconscious habits, not memorized rules. And because speech also uses mood and intonation for meaning, its structure is often more flexible, adapting to the needs of speakers and listeners. This could mean avoiding complex clauses that are hard to understand in real time, making changes to avoid awkward pronunciation or removing sounds to make speech faster.

But while the debate between prescriptivism and descriptivism continues, the two are not mutually exclusive. Like language itself, it’s a wonderful and complex fabric woven through the contributions of speakers and listeners, writers and readers, prescriptivists and descriptivists from both near and far.

1. What does the underlined word“deviated”in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．copied

B．updated

C．differed

D．originated

2. According to the passage, prescriptivism____________.

A．focuses on established language patterns	B．accepts the differences between languages
C．follows the innovations in language patterns	D．attaches more importance to written language

3. What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．A new understanding of language.	B．The beliefs held by prescriptivists.
C．The impact of grammar on language.	D．The ongoing debate between linguists.

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．The Importance of Grammar.	B．The History of Grammar.
C．Grammar: Rules or Habits.	D．Grammar: Writing Rules.

【推荐3】Maybe no one forgets their first bicycle and there is no exception to a woman like me. Mine was a Schwinn coaster bike, second-hand, painted a distinctive red and yellow by its previous owner. I remember riding too fast down the big hill on Springfield Avenue. I knew at once that the world was mine to explore.

A couple of years later, when I was 11, my grandmother visited from England, bringing me a bike. It was a shiny dark green, with three gears (齿轮) and hand brakes. As the owner of the first English bicycle my neighbors had ever seen, I was, for a time, almost a star.

Unlike my coaster bike, it was light and responsive — riding it felt like flying. I rode it past big stone houses with their huge yards and trees. I rode past brick row houses. I rode alone and with groups of friends.

That beloved bike went with me to college, carrying me to the library and to classes. Beyond transport, it was often a prop (道具): pushing it along as I walked the college paths made me feel less self-conscious. Somehow, conversation flowed more easily on either side of a bike.

After college, I lived abroad for a time. Returning from London, I discovered to my horror that my parents had sold my bike. They didn’t even know who had bought it.

For years after that, I didn’t have a bicycle that was specifically mine. Teaching in a New England prep school, I simply rode whatever bikes its graduates had left behind. I rode around the little town on bikes which slipped in and out of gear, with brakes that often failed.

I did not take any of those bikes with me when I moved south to the coastal town where I now live. But after a while I missed riding. Finally, on a fall day, I bought a bicycle. Called a comfort bike, it has wider tires than my old bike and seven gears. But it is green — a brighter green bike.

Still, I was a bit apprehensive. I was out of practice and a lot older. I brought the bike home and put on my helmet — I’d never worn a helmet before. Then I got on the bike. After a tentative, slightly shaky start, I fell exactly as I was on that long-ago day on Springfield Avenue: free. Soon I was riding along. It seemed that everyone I passed smiled and waved or call out, great day for a bike ride! And I knew they all remembered their first bike and how it had set them free. I wanted to call back to them, “I still can!”

1. According to the article, the author’s beloved bike ________.

A．was a red and yellow coaster bike

B．made her the envy of all her friends

C．was her birthday gift from her grandmother

D．made her shy and awkward at times at college

2. While pushing the English bike along, the author________.

A．felt bored	B．felt special
C．became talkative	D．became lost in thought

3. When she was teaching at a prep school, the author ________.

A．didn’t like her once-beloved bike

B．got out of the habit of riding bikes

C．loved exploring the little town by riding around

D．rode bikes that had been recommended to her by graduates

4. What does the underlined word “apprehensive” in Paragraph 6 mean?

A．Dissatisfied.

B．Excited.

C．Shocked.

D．Fearful.

5. What was the author’s main purpose in writing this article?

A．To describe the different bikes she has been riding alone.

B．To recall the joy and freedom she has enjoyed thanks to riding.

C．To inform us of the fun and benefits of riding bikes with others.

D．To tell us about how she grew up through her riding experiences.

【推荐1】Each May since 1956 people from across Europe and around the world have gathered around their televisions with friends and family for an evening of international entertainment (娱乐): The Eurovision Song Contest. It may be a fun event but perhaps it’s not the shared celebration of European language that it could be. In the first ten years of Eurovision, the UK and Ireland were the only two countries to sing in English. Now English is what we expect. Is it that English has become the official language of music?

From high streets in Hungary to supermarkets in Sweden, from bus stops in Bulgaria to parks in Poland, people listen to English-language music everywhere. And people don’t just listen, they sing it too! From sporting events in Spain to nightclubs in Norway, from concerts in Croatia to fitness classes in France, people sing along to popular songs in their everyday lives, in English. But why?

For one evening each year Eurovision is the dinner party of Europe. A dinner party to which each guest brings something unique. Their clothing, tradition and food represent their culture and their language shows the character of a nation. Although there are 50 nations with 83 languages, for Eurovision, English is the only language. Does Eurovision really represent Europe?

English is an international language spoken by over 1 billion people worldwide. It is no surprise that so many musicians make music in English. Of course, music makes money and more listeners make more money. According to Ragnar Thorhallsson, a singer and guitarist, English is simpler and is easier to make rhymes (韵律). Could this be true?

Let’s remember that although English-language music is everywhere, music is not everything. As long as we continue to learn, to speak, to love, diversity (多样性) shall be valued. After all, what fun is a dinner party if the guests can’t communicate or express themselves in the way they choose?

1. What do we know about Eurovision?

A．Singers sing English songs.

B．It helps protect European cultures.

C．It is the most popular contest in the world.

D．Singers mainly come from the UK and Ireland.

2. What’s the main idea of Paragraph 2?

A．Music in daily life.	B．The popularity of English music.
C．The official language of music.	D．Music in different countries.

3. What can we infer about Ragnar Thorhallsson’s opinion of English?

A．It is easy and beautiful.

B．It should be used in all music.

C．It is the best language in the world.

D．It helps musicians make money easily.

4. What is mainly discussed in the text?

A．Why we should protect language diversity.

B．How language and music affect each other.

C．Whether English is the official language of music.

D．Why Eurovision is becoming more and more popular.

【推荐2】One of the most critical roles forests play is relieving climate change. Trees suck enormous amounts of carbon dioxide out of the air and fix the carbon in their wood and the soil. A recent study found that planting new trees over an area the size of the US could suck away two thirds of all the carbon dioxide discharge that humans have pumped into the atmosphere.

“Without animals, it is harder for forests to absorb carbon, as tree species (种类) important for protecting the climate could be lost without animals", Susanne Winter, a program director said at the WWF.

In Africa, many of the tree species that absorb the most carbon rely on large birds and primates (灵长类动物) to eat their fruits and spread their large seeds, according to the report. Without them, those trees would have difficulty reproducing and forests would lose their best carbon-storing trees.

“Forests are our greatest natural ally in the fight against global warming, ”Winter said.“If we want to hold back the worldwide decline in biodiversity and prevent the climate crisis,s we need to protect the forests and the species living there.

Forests also filter (过滤) water-- as water makes its way to lakes or groundwater reserves, the roots and soil separate it from deposits and pollution that it collects along the way. What' s more, forests regulate the global water cycle, since trees' leaves, branches, and roots store or send out water vapor.

Climate models show that forest-cutting down in Central Africa could lead to a 15% drop in rainfall in the US Midwest, and Amazon deforestation (森林滥伐) could cut Texas rainfall by 25%.

Humans also get food, wood, and medicine from the abundance of plants and animals in forests. Worldwide, 1.6 billion people rely on forests for their livings, according to the United Nations. About 300 million people live in forests, according to WWF.

1. What's the purpose of Paragraph 3?

A．To tell where the large seeds go.

B．To show the tree species in Africa.

C．To draw reader' s attention to Africa.

D．To support Susanne Winter’s opinion.

2. What does the underlined word“ally" in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Winner.

B．Competitor.

C．Partner.

D．Victim.

3. How do forests change climate according to the passage?

A．By affecting air and water.

B．By feeding birds and animals.

C．By providing life necessities.

D．By increasing the variety of trees.

4. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Water should be filtered.

B．The more forests, the more rain.

C．Forests should be globally protected.

D．Half the carbon dioxide is sucked away by trees.

【推荐3】The outbreak of locusts, an insect that mainly lives in Africa and Asia, is the worst experienced by Kenya in 70 years. The crowds are some three times the size of New York City, eating their way through thousands of acres of crops and animal grassland and destroying livelihoods in the process.

“These hungry things are alarming,” says Keith Cressman, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's senior locust forecasting officer. "A crowd the size of Manhattan can, in a single day, eat the same amount of food as everyone in New York and California combined."

Desert locusts are infamous for their ability to breed(繁育)rapidly in large numbers every three months. And with some help from the wind, they can travel as much as 80 miles a day. Most years, the insects stay in African deserts. However, under the right environmental conditions, they can multiply quickly, spread as much as 400 times every six months and cause extensive destruction if left unchecked.

“The insect has the ability to take advantage of good conditions.” Cressman says.

The "good conditions" the scientist is referring to began in mid-2018 when a rainstorm from the Indian Ocean struck a remote area of the Arabian Peninsula known as the "Empty Quarter". Normally, it would dry out within a short period, killing most of the locust population, which depends on green plants for food. However, in late 2018, a second rainstorm struck the same region. The huge sandy area got wet, which is exactly what desert locusts need to lay their eggs and breed. The extra food supply caused the population to explode for the second time in six months.

Luckily, the locusts, experts say, are easy to control with chemicals. Kenya badly needs equipment and a steady supply of chemicals to effectively wipe out the massive insects. Hopefully, leaders worldwide will recognize the tough situation and contribute generously to control the locust outbreak.

1. What can we infer from what Cressman says in paragraph 2?

A．Little can dull locusts' appetite.

B．Urgent action must be taken against locusts.

C．Overpopulation in big cities leads to food shortages.

D．New York and California should meet challenges together.

2. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Locusts' living conditions.	B．Locusts' destructive effect.
C．Locusts' daily travel distance.	D．Locusts' super reproductive power.

3. For what purpose does the author mention "good conditions"?

A．To explain immediate causes of the locust outbreak.

B．To remind locals to preserve the environment.

C．To analyze how to prevent locust outbreak.

D．To highlight the strength of two rainstorms.