【推荐2】Architects have long turned to the past for inspiration. In this age of concrete and steel, however, they’re more likely to look for aesthetic (美学的) influence than technical know-how. But an ancient Chinese construction technique called dougong is a remarkable exception.

Consisting of a series of wooden brackets (支架) with no nails or fasteners, it is 500 years old and commonly found in Chinese architecture, such as the Forbidden City in Beijing. Many structures built during the Tang and Song dynasties featured “curtain walls” which were non-load-bearing. As a result, the unsupported wood shouldering the weight might break. Designers needed a technique which would more regularly spread the burden across their structures. Their solution was dougong.

Engineering has come a long way since the ancient Chinese building technique was fashion. But there’s a timeless quality to it. Modern designers in many areas are adopting it to produce amazing and stable work of architecture. Among them is Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, who used dougong-inspired methods for his recent buildings: Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum and Cafe Kureon, a2, 120-square-foot restaurant.

For architect Terrence Curry, the attraction of using ancient methods is about finding something that can “speak to Chinese identity”. His structure Dougong Cube(立方), now part of the School of Architecture, Tsinghua University in Beijing, was constructed using classical-style brackets and over2, 000boards. “It has fundamental structure of dougong, but we just aren’t using it in the way it was intended to be used. We’re really pulling it out-emphasizing its beauty and complexity, and the way it works,” said Curry, “The shape and function of dougong is directly related to properties of wood, and the ability of people who make these buildings. In this way, there’s little need for decoration because the structure and design give it its distinctive look.”

1. Why is dougong referred to as an exception?

A．It uses less concrete and steel.

B．It can meet decorative needs.

C．It enjoys a long history.

D．It has a brilliant structure.

2. What does the underlined word “non-load-bearing” in paragraph2 probably mean?

A．Unstable.

B．Unbearable.

C．Unbreakable.

D．Unconventional.

3. What can be inferred about Dougong Cube in paragraph 4?

A．It changes the basic style of dougong.

B．It is more practical than previous Chinese buildings.

C．Its charm can be brought out by its materials and designers.

D．Its unique design remains unknown to the public.

4. What’s the main idea of the text?

A．Dougong reflects Chinese wisdom in architecture.

B．Chinese identity can be revealed through its architecture.

C．Chinese architecture has a lasting influence on the world.

D．Dougong Cube presents a combination of innovation and tradition.

【推荐3】When scientists go to a forest to study monkeys and their habits and behaviors, how do they know who’s who?

In the past, scientists had to make marks on each of the animals to distinguish them. But in the future, they may have a much easier way to tell them apart thanks to facial recognition technology.

A research team from China’s Northwest University is using facial recognition technology to identify thousands of snub-nosed monkeys that live on Qinling Mountain in Shaanxi province.

Similar to human facial recognition, the technology that is used to identify monkeys uses their facial features to create a database that includes every monkey, Xinhua reported. “When the system is fully developed, we can connect it with cameras set up in the mountains. The system will automatically recognize the monkeys, name them and analyze their behavior,” said Zhang He, a member of the research team. “For each snub-nosed monkey, we have 700 to 800 image samples, and the recognition success rate is 94 percent,” Zhang added.

“We used mobile phones and portable cameras with the monkeys in tests at distances ranging from about 3 to 10 meters,” said He Gang, a member of the research team and an associate professor in the College of Life Sciences at Northwest University. “There is no need to interfere with the monkeys. Such a method of sampling is clearly non-invasive.”

Compared to humans, facial recognition technology for monkeys is more complicated because of their hairier faces. The color of their hair causes them to blend into their environment. These factors make it harder for computers to identify them.

“Monkeys do not cooperate with researchers in the same way humans do. It is difficult to take high-quality pictures and videos of them, which are needed to improve the system,” said Li Baoguo, leader of the research team.

Currently, there are about 4,000 snub-nosed monkeys living on Qinling Mountain. The team’s goal is to successfully identify every monkey that lives there.

1. What problem do scientists face while studying monkeys according to the text?

A．How to mark them.	B．How to tell them apart.
C．How to understand their behavior.	D．How to observe them clearly

2. What does the article tell us about facial recognition technology for monkeys?

A．It is now widely adopted in China.

B．It works better than human facial recognition.

C．It will use monkeys’ behavior to create a database.

D．It can help scientists study monkeys without disturbing them.

3. What does “these factors” in paragraph 6 refer to?
a. Image samples.          b. Hairy faces.          c. Hair color.          d. The environment.

A．ab

B．ac

C．bc

D．bd

4. What is the author’s main purpose in writing the article?

A．To introduce a new way to identify monkeys.

B．To show the importance of studying monkeys.

C．To compare different ways to identify monkeys.

D．To explain difficulties in developing a new system.

【推荐1】In one year, Mitch Gardner, 22, and Rob Richardson, 21, became owners of a successful IOS app---Pocket Points from average college students.

Pocket Points rewards students for staying out of their phones in class. In one year, it went from a few thousand downloads on campus of California State University, Chico to more than 200,000 downloads from students at more than 100 universities nationwide.

Richardson says the idea for the app came to him in the spring of 2014 as he was sitting in a 150-person lecture room. He noticed many of his classmates' heads were down---they were playing with their phones. “I knew something had to be done to get students to put their phones away,” says Richardson

Once students open the Pocket Points app and lock their phones, they start to accumulate points. The longer their phones stay locked, the more points they can get. Points are also awarded based on how many people are on the app at a time. The app is free and only works on campus. Students can exchange their points for free or discounted items at local shops.

Jack Micek, 20, a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says he first heard about Pocket Points from his classmates. “They were actually very competitive about who had the most points,” Micek says. “Naturally, my interest was sparked(激发;引起), and I was like, ‘OK, I bet I can get more points than you guys can.’”

But Kelli Britten, a lecturer in advertising and public relations at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says the app presents some problems. “It seems almost useless because I think if you’re just sitting in the building, you can just turn the app on and be collecting points as well,” says Britten. And Hannah Christian, another student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, says she does exactly that. Since she lives on campus, she says Pocket Points works in her dorm.

Gardner says he and Richardson don't want people to abuse the app, so they're trying to control accessibility so students can't earn points from dorms. While Pocket Points doesn't solve everything, he says at least it mitigates some problems in the classroom.

1. What can be the best title for the passage?

A．Pocket Points is popular among university students.

B．Pocket Points rewards students for staying out of their phones in class.

C．Two university students become famous for Pocket Points.

D．Pocket Points helps you save money.

2. You can gain points when__________.

A．you are talking on the phone in class

B．you lock your phone in a local shop

C．you are surfing the Internet in your dorm

D．you lock your phone in a lecture room

3. What conclusion can we draw from the passage?

A．Richardson used to play with his phone in lectures.

B．Kelli Britten thinks the app is of great use.

C．Gardner and Richardson will try their best to make the app more practical.

D．Jack Micek heard about Pocket Points from his classmates in a competition.

4. We can learn from the passage that Hannah Christian _________.

A．opens the app in her classroom

B．likes to surf the Internet in her dorm

C．does exactly as the inventors hope

D．doesn't make good use of the app

5. The underlined word can be best replaced by “__________”.

A．eases

B．helps

C．Increases

D．develops

【推荐2】Running and walking are both excellent forms of exercise. Those who regularly do either usually have healthier hearts, stronger bones and lower body weights than those who do little exercise. But does it matter whether you spend time walking or running? Arguments can be made for both, and which is right for you depends on your goals and your present fitness level.

“The key difference between running and walking is how many calories you are burning—not per mile, but per minute of exercise says Paul D. Thompson, a doctor at Hartford Hospital.” “Running is a more-efficient (高效的) movement and it’s more demanding on the body, so it bums more calories per minute,” Thompson says. “But if you’ve got the time to walk long enough to bum the same amount of calories, then walking is fine.” That said, if your final goal is to lose weight, chances are that neither running nor walking alone is going to do the trick. Research has shown that it needs to be done along with calorie control.

In a recent study that analyzed data from nearly 50,000 people, researchers found that runners’ risk of heart disease was 4.5 percent lower than that of those who were inactive. But walkers who burned the same amount of calories daily had a risk level that was 9 percent lower than those who were inactive.

“Running gets the reputation (名声) for causing injuries because many people who are just starting to run try to do too much too quickly,” says Carol Ewing Garber, a professor at Columbia University. “And they often get injured as a result. If you want to progress from walking to running, do it slowly, gradually increasing your speed, distance and the frequency of your rums.

Running may be more highly-intense (高强度的) and calorie-burning than walking, but walking is a great way to ease into exercise and make sure you are staying physically active every day. The bottom line is that getting exercise of any kind is beneficial—if you keep doing it.

“The best exercise is the one you are going to do,” Thompson says. “There are extra benefits to be gained from running, but what’s most important from a public health point of view is that everyone gets out and does some kind of exercise?”

1. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

A．Exercise on its own is not enough to lose weight.

B．Walking is better than running for busy people.

C．Running can reduce people’s fat quickly and safely.

D．Walking is more demanding on the body.

2. What can we learn from the recent study?

A．Running bums fewer calories than walking.

B．Walkers are more likely to get heart disease than runners.

C．Walking can reduce the risk of having heart disease.

D．Inactive people are free from heart problems.

3. Which of the following would Thompson most probably agree with?

A．We’d better walk slowly.	B．Just walk before you run.
C．We’d better choose to run.	D．Any exercise is better than none.

【推荐3】Many of the serious health concerns in modern America can be linked to poor diet．People who regularly consume foods high in salt, sugar, and fats not only increase their chances of being overweight, but also increase their risks of developing diseases. Although some people who regularly consume unhealthy foods do so knowingly, there are also some people that remains undereducated about proper nutrition( 营 养 ). What is more, people who live in food deserts—areas in low-income(低收入) neighborhoods that lack easy access(路径) to healthy, affordable food—may not even have the opportunity to get nutritious food.

Food deserts are located in low-income areas and most often develop when major supermarket chains either move out       of these areas or simply avoid building stores there in the first place. These supermarket chains tend to limit their store locations to richer urban or suburban neighborhoods．This means that those who live in low-income areas often live miles away from the fresh meats and dairy products available at supermarkets. People of these areas are thus forced to travel long distances to do their grocery shopping, or else they are limited to the food available at local convenience stores. These stores often only sell packaged, processed foods that offer little nutrition.

Furthermore, there are too many fast food restaurants in low-income areas; recent research suggests that those living in the poorest areas of a city experience 2.5 times more exposure to fast food restaurants than people in the richest areas of the city. Because people who live in   food deserts often get their meals from fast food restaurants or convenience stores, they suffer from a variety of health problems．Research has found that people who live in low-income neighborhoods are much more likely to develop healthy problems than those who live in richer neighborhoods.

Of course, it seems obvious that more supermarkets should be built in low-income neighborhoods. But in fact, it is difficult to attract supermarket chains into poor areas because poorer people have less money to spend on food. One way that the government can help to solve this problem is by offering tax breaks or other inspiring policies for supermarkets in low-income areas. In 2010, the Obama administration started the Healthy Food Financing program, which is designed to help bring grocery stores into food deserts.

While the government can improve low-income people’s access to healthy food to some extent, local actions often have a stronger and more immediate influence．Community gardens, independent food stores, and farmers’ markets are all examples of local actions that can take the place of the opening of a major chain supermarket. These efforts can be extremely beneficial, not only in providing people with access to healthier foods, but also in producing a sense of community in the neighborhoods.

1. What is mainly talked about in this passage?

A．Relationship between diet and disease.

B．Lack of health awareness among people.

C．Problems of food deserts and their solutions.

D．Importance of grocery planting in poor areas.

2. What can be learned from Paragraph 3 and Paragraph 4?

A．People in rich areas are easier to develop diseases.

B．Fast food restaurants care much about people’s health.

C．People in low-income areas like shopping in supermarkets.

D．Supermarket chains are unwilling to open stores in poor areas.

3. What does the writer want to tell us from the last two paragraphs?

A．Local actions should be encouraged and supported.

B．Supermarkets should take social responsibility.

C．Education for healthy diet must be improved.

D．Governments fail to improve people’s health.

【推荐1】If you're one of the millions of Americans now trapped in home because of the COVID-19，it might feel like you're cooking more than you've ever cooked in your entire life. And maybe you' re planning to reduce your home food wastes. A good way of dealing with them is to learn to make compost (堆肥).

Select your food wastes. Start with fruits and vegetables — the skin of a sweet potato，the top of your strawberry. Also tea bags, coffee grounds, old flowers and even eggshells are good raw materials. Store these food wastes in a container so you can add them bit by bit. The container doesn't have to be bought online. It can just be an old milk carton (纸箱) or an old wooden chest —just work with what you have available. Also, you can store the food wastes in a bag in your freezer or fridge. That's an easy way to avoid odors and insects in your kitchen.

The crucial step is to make the compost mix. In the world of composting you're inevitably going to hear about ''the greens and browns''—the two main elements for your mix. ''Greens'' are typically wet food wastes, like fruit and vegetable peelings. They are a crucial part for the growth of organisms (微生物),''Browns" are typically dry and they are more carbon rich like newspapers, dried leaves，and pine needles. A good thing to remember is when you're layering， put the dry browns on the bottom with the wet greens on the top because they allow water and air to flow. That will make sure organisms can do their job.

How long do you have to wait for the compost breakdown? If it's hot, you could get there in two months pretty easy. If it's cold, you could be there in six months, And for every component to break down, it might be a year.

In the end ''your nose knows'' when the compost is ready. It just smells so woody, earthy, sweet or sometimes sour. The smell can tell how well you work at your compost.

1. What is a good solution to your home food wastes?

A．Make a plan and reduce the wastes.

B．Collect the picked wastes to make compost.

C．Select the wastes and bury them into the earth.

D．Pick the wastes and put them in a bag in your fridge.

2. What plays a crucial role in making the compost mix?

A．Wet ''greens''

B．Dry "browns''

C．Carbon rich materials.

D．Wet ''greens'' and dry ''browns''.

3. Why should the ''browns'' be put on the bottom with the ''greens'' on the top?

A．To help the organism work on the compost efficiently.

B．To save more space for the water and air to flow.

C．To allow the water and air to flow into the container.

D．To make sure the organism can live longer and better.

4. What does the author feel about making compost?

A．Pretty easy and fun.

B．Complex and time killing.

C．Demanding patience but worthwhile.

D．Calling for hard work but enjoyable.

【推荐2】The bus screamed to a stop in Nazareth, Israel. Five Australian backpackers boarded and struck up a conversation with me. They asked typical travelers’questions - where was I going and why was I traveling alone? My plan was to travel with a friend of a friend, I explained, but when I called her that morning, she didn’t pick up and I had no other way to reach her. My stomach was in knots, but I decided to head out anyway, thinking I might run into her if I traveled to Tiberius, where we had planned to go together.

“Why don’t you travel with us?”one of the backpackers offered. They were experienced adventurers who would work for a few months, save, then travel for as long as they could. Their current plan was to explore the Middle East and Europe in three months.

It seemed risky to travel with perfect strangers, but my instinct said yes. For the next two weeks, I explored Israel with the backpackers and learned to trust my instincts in all types of new and interesting situations. When they hooked a ride, I took the bus, but when they wanted to steal into the King David Hotel’s swimming pool, I led the way. The world opened up to me because I chose to travel alone. I joined complete strangers, who became close friends. Years later, one couple from the backpacking group even flew from Sydney to Phoenix to be in my wedding. The trip was such a special experience that it gave me confidence in all areas of my life. Since then, I’ve backpacked alone across South Africa, sky-dived from 12, 000 feet in New Zealand and even moved across the U.S. with no job lined up.

On my third day wandering in Israel with my new friends, I ran into the woman I was supposed to meet. Though I was happy she was all right, I was grateful she hadn’t picked up the phone.

1. According to the first paragraph, the author was _______ .

A．nervous of meeting strangers	B．anxious about the speedy bus
C．upset about the sudden change	D．worried about her stomachache

2. Which of the following best describes the backpackers the author met?

A．Homeless but lighthearted.	B．Warmhearted and trustworthy.
C．Jobless and poorly educated.	D．Courageous but disrespectful.

3. The author’s sixth sense told her that _______.

A．she would get along with the backpackers

B．it was risky to travel with perfect strangers

C．she ought to stay away from the backpackers

D．it could add exciting experience to her travel

4. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Some backpackers attended the author’s wedding years later.

B．The author gathered the courage to be a fulltime backpack traveler.

C．The woman missed the phone call with the purpose of traveling alone.

D．The author considered it the best decision of her life to travel on her own.

【推荐3】Whatever your level is, choosing to take French lessons in France is the best way to learn French. Place yourself in the local culture and practice your newly found skills in your free time.

You will be taught by native French speakers who have a love for teaching and use excellent teaching techniques. Lessons are interesting and you will speak French on the first day both inside and outside the classroom.

Learners

1.Suitable for all levels from beginners to advanced (高级的)

2.Over 18 years old

Class Schedule (课表)

1.Classes start on Mondays and run throughout the summer.

2.Please arrive at the school by 8:15 am on your first day for a short level test. It will help to place you in the right class.

3.Classes run from Monday to Friday each week.

4.Classes start at 8:45 am each day depending on your level.

5.You will have 3 classes per day lasting 55 minutes each.

6.You will have a short break between classes.

Free Time and Tours

1.The school offers a lot of cultural activities throughout the week. These activities can include cooking lessons, wine and cheese tasting, visits to Paris, cycling, movies and much more.

2.You will have plenty of free time to explore (探索) the local area and practice your newly found language skills or just relax on this learning holiday with a difference.

Other Information

1.You should bring a small dictionary, pens and paper with you.

2.Get more from your holiday, have fun, meet new people and take home a new language skill that will stay with you forever.

1. What is special about the French courses?

A．They are taught in small groups.	B．The teachers are young French speakers.
C．They will offer a wine tasting license.	D．People learn French in and out of class.

2. On the first day, the students should ______.

A．pay for their study	B．take a language test
C．do a survey	D．introduce themselves to the class

3. How many lessons are there in a week?

A．21.

B．30.

C．12.

D．15.

4. We can learn from the text that the course ______.

A．is not suitable for teenagers	B．provides dictionaries for students
C．has a short game between classes	D．offers cooking classes as well

5. You can most probably read the passage in ______.

A．a newspaper

B．a travel guide

C．a text book

D．a story book