【推荐1】Obviously!
Until Descartes came along in the seventeenth century, everyone assumed that we exited. Obviously. The fact seemed so mind-blowing obvious that it wasn’t really discussed. We could see ourselves in the mirror, we could feel pain and pleasure, we could think thoughts for ourselves and, more importantly, perhaps, all the world’s main religions assumed that we do exist. So we exist.
No you don’t it!
You don’t exist. That’s because it’s impossible to show once and for all that you do. There’s no proof. You might think you exist-that you are sitting at a table reading this book, for instance-but how could you show with 100 percent certainty that this is true? There’s no experiment that could prove it. Although Descartes said just you could prove your own existence by the fact that you are able to think, this isn’t actually, according to the British philosopher A. J. Ayer. Just because we know that we are thinking, this doesn’t mean that there is a “you” doing the thinking. It just shows that the thoughts are happening, not that anyone is having them. Thoughts exists, “You” don’t.
_____________!
What a waste of time this question is. Although you can argue until the end of time whether you exist or not, it doesn’t get you anywhere. Unless you forget about this unanswerable question, you’ll be stuck thinking about it forever, and that isn’t of any use to anyone. Move on. Think about something more important! This very roughly, is the view of almost all philosophers, who prefer to answer other, apparently more useful, questions.
Yes, but…
You exist, but not in the way you might think. According to the great French philosopher Ren Descartes, you can’t show that anything exists—apart from your own self. The existence of the entire world can be doubted in one way or another, but the facts you’re having thoughts shows that there might be something (that’s you) having them. This let Descartes to write the famous philosophical phrase, “ I think before I am”.
1. Which of the following can be the missing heading?

A．Forget about it	B．What a ridiculous point
C．Think about it	D．What a pointless question

2. This passage is anything but a(n)___________.

A．comment	B．discussion
C．argument	D．debate

3. The famous answer to the question “Do I exist?” is ___________.

A．No, you don’t exist.

B．I think, therefore, I am.

C．Yes, you do exist.

D．It won’t get you anywhere

【推荐2】Friday was "Chatty Bus day", an experiment aimed at getting people to talk to each other on public transport. This is not an idea that would appeal to those who commute in the rush hour, because there is a smaller distance within which it's just as uncomfortable to talk. Elbow(肘) room is a precondition for sociability. It is no coincidence that the first truly personal music player, the Sony Walkman, was invented in Japan where the commuter trains are literally crowded with people.

We will also not talk to strangers who are physically too far away, of course. No one wants to shout their small talk. Only on country buses or similar unhurried and uncrowded forms of public transport can people reach out to their neighbors, confident that they are doing so from a position of strength and autonomy.

For all these drawbacks, the idea of talking to strangers is still a good one, and the promotion of sociability is good for society. Although it does seem to be a general rule that people are friendlier the fewer there are of them and more hostile and indifferent as cities get more crowded, there are still considerable cultural variations. And there is evidence that friendlier places are also healthier, and their inhabitants happier.

It is true that the apparent loneliness of many people on public transport is a false impression.

Many will be caught up with conversations with distant friends on their phones; some will be talking to the people in books. Some may be in willed solitude with their headphones. But there are always people who would be interested in an unexpected conversation with a stranger. This need not go on for too long.

It is not large and possibly life-changing conversations that are what most people in loneliness miss most. What they really need is not deep thought but superficiality. The kind of conversation that you could have with anyone reminds you that you yourself might be anyone. It is a release from the prison of the self, which is where lonely people serve their sentences, uncertain whether they ever can be paroled(假释). Friendship may be too rare a gift to hope for, but sometimes the kindest thing to say is also the simplest: "Don't be a stranger"-and sometimes that's also enough.

1. According to Paragraph 1, why the first Walkman appeared in Japan partly?

A．its corporate culture

B．its overcrowded public transport

C．its people's creativity

D．its people's desire for personal space

2. Which of the following belongs to "these drawbacks" underlined in paragraph 3?

A．"Chatty Bus day" has not been introduced to other areas.

B．Walkman prevents passengers from talking to each other.

C．Passengers are unwilling to make small talk with strangers.

D．Improper physical distance discourages casual communication.

3. What is the author most likely to agree with?

A．Small talk to strangers will help ease loneliness on the road.

B．Lonely people are in desperate need of deep conversation.

C．People in less populated cities tend to be cold and distant.

D．It's inadvisable to talk to strangers who are physically too close.

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

A．To cast new light on human loneliness.

B．To introduce an experiment and its effects.

C．To advocate striking up conversations with strangers.

D．To explore the relationship between physical distance and willingness to reach out.

【推荐3】[1]All people have dreams and they obey the rule that if you can dream it, you can achieve it! Here are four goals for people to reach a perfect life in their future.
[2]The first goal common to all of us in health and energy. We all want to be healthy and fit, to have high levels of energy and to live free of pain and illness. Today, with the incredible advances in medical science, the quality of our health and fitness, and our lifespan, is largely determined by design, not by chance. People with excellent health habits are far healthier, have more energy, and live longer and better than people who have poor health habits. Remember that health is not everything, but without health everything is nothing!
[3]The second goal that we all have in common is to enjoy excellent relationships – intimate, personal or social – with the people we like and respect, and who　　1　　is turn. Fully 85% of your happiness will be determined by the quality of your relationships at each stage, and in each area, of your life. How well you get along with people, and how much they　　2　　have more impact on the quality of your life than perhaps any other factor.
The third common goal is to do work that we enjoy, to do it well, and to be well paid for it. You want to be able to get and keep the job you want, to get paid more and promoted faster. You want to earn the very most that is possible for you at each stage of your career, whatever you do.
The fourth goal we all have in common is to achieve financial independence. You want to reach the point in life where you have enough money so that you never have any financial worries. You want to be completely free of　　3　　. You want to be able to order dinner in a restaurant without referring to the price listing to determine what you want to eat.
1. What does this passage chiefly talk about? (no more than 12 words)
2. Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with proper words. (no more than 6 words), and who                   is turn
3. Complete the following sentence with proper words according to Paragraph 4? (no more than 6 words)
Everybody wants to make              no matter what job he is engaged in.
4. Why does the author put health ahead of other goals? (no more than 20 words)
5. What does the underlined word “them” in the last paragraph probably refer to? (no more than 3 words)
                                                      

【推荐1】Throughout history, music spread among people of different cultures. In today’s technological advanced society, however, people spread music online, sometimes without an artist’s permission. This can lead to many problems, and music companies are now cracking down on this practice. Sharing music online without permission is theft.

Sharing music online prevents recording companies from making money from their efforts. They say that sharing music online has resulted in a huge drop in profits and sales over the past 10 years. People who find music for free online are not paying for CDs or every MP3 downloaded. To truly understand the influence of music piracy (盗版行为) on creators, one must understand how many people are involved in the recording process. For the sale of each album, profits must be shared between musicians, sound engineers, music producers, managers, advertisers, and the company selling the product. Many people believe sharing music only affects the recording artist, but the reality is that sharing hurts business for all companies involved.

There are many people who don’t see the harm in sharing music online and even think they have the right to do it. One online blogger states that he originally paid for an entire CD and that he should be able to do with the material whatever he wants. While he may have legally paid for the music, he does not have the right to provide permission, which means people like the blogger are thieves.

Although we don’t spread today’s music the same way we did before, there’s no doubt that people around the world love to share music. However, internet piracy would prevent musicians from continuing producing albums for fear of theft. Therefore, if people want to continue listening to their favorite artists, they need to buy their music so that artists will make enough profit to continue their music careers.

1. The underlined phrase “cracking down on” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ___________.

A．bringing up carefully	B．speaking highly of
C．dealing seriously with	D．destroying completely

2. What can we infer from the text?

A．Artists are taking action to protect their right.

B．Sharing music files online affects a lot of people.

C．Online music sharing increases sales of music CD.

D．A person who bought a CD has the right to share it online.

3. How is the text organized?

A．Topic—Argument—Explanation.

B．Opinion—Discussion—Description.

C．Main idea—Comparison—Supporting statements.

D．Introduction—Supporting statements—Conclusion.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Music piracy is kind of theft.	B．Sharing music is Acceptable.
C．Downloading music should be punished.	D．Music piracy is good for music lovers.

【推荐2】We have a strange and strong belief in the idea of perfection. Driven by our culture, we struggle for an unattainable ideal: If I have the perfect parents, perfect grades, perfect…, then I would be happy. We seek what we can’t have without remembering that we don’t actually need to be perfect. Imperfection allows us to be human.
Parents, teachers and other high-achieving peers will have us believe that we must be perfect if we wish to remain competitive. However, what job or school requires you to develop a cure for some form of cancer by the age of 18? Although these grades would be admirable achievements, are they worth losing sleep over? We feel like we need the perfect grades to get into the perfect college that will provide us with the perfect education necessary to obtain the perfect job. Making use of our thirst for perfection, the whole college and career industries have emerged claiming to help us reach our goals.
Truth is, you only need to be good enough to get into the conversation. It is what you do afterwards that sets you apart. Focus more on your passions. Don’t worry about anything secondary to your passions. You don’t become an expert at anything if you spent your time trying to succeed in everything you do. You only become an expert when you devote your time to that one project that truly brings you joy.
As members of this society, we have a responsibility to be excellent in what we do, not perfect. Although perfection can be a goal, it should not be the only goal. We only have 24 hours in a day and seven days in a week. Thus, we need to plan what we want to do and cut out the activities we cannot do.
With everything, though, make sure you’re doing enough. Pursuing your passions is not enough of a reason to completely give up on everything else. Try as hard as you can and let your future worry about itself. Worry about your task at hand and you will be successful in achieving your dreams. Most of all, remember that you’re going to be okay.
1. It is implied in Paragraph 1 that there is a culture where ________.

A．Students are driven to learn concepts

B．great importance is attached to perfection

C．imperfect people aren’t happy at all

D．perfect grades result from remembering facts

2. We can infer from the second paragraph that ________.

A．a perfect grade is worth losing sleep over

B．the whole college and career industries are perfect

C．some schools ask students to invent some medicine

D．someone is profiting from our search for perfection

3. According to the author, we should ________.

A．see becoming perfect as our responsibility

B．deal with what we hope to do first

C．set a goal of perfection in our life

D．worry about our future dreams

4. What might be the most suitable title for the passage?

A．How to be perfect

B．Being enough is enough

C．Finding your own passions

D．Giving up your secondary goals

【推荐1】I did some research and examined how British English and American English changed between the 1930s and the 2000s. Take spelling, for example towards the 1960s it looked like the UK was going in the direction of not using the “u” in “colour” and writing “centre” as “center”. But since then, the British have become more confident in some of their own spellings. In the 2000s, the UK used an American spelling choice about 11% of the time while Americans use a British one about 10% of the time. There is also no need to worry too much about American words, such as “vacation”, “liquor” and “lawmaker” entering British English. There are a few examples of this kind of vocabulary change but they are mostly uncommon words and are not likely to change British English too much. The British are still using “mum” rather than “mom” and “petrol” rather than “gas”.

But when we start thinking of language more in terms of style than vocabulary or spelling, a different picture appears. Some of the bigger trends (趋势) in American English are moving towards a freer use of language. American sentences are usually one word shorter in 2006 than they were in 1931.

Americans also use a lot more apostrophes (撇号) in their writing than they used to, which has the effect of turning the two words “do not” into the single “don’t”. “The hand of the king” becomes the shorter “The king’s hand”.

However, in all these ways Brits are changing too—and in the same way as Americans. They’re just about 30 years behind the trend that Americans seem to be leading.

So this raises a question, is British English actively following American English or is this something that is simply a natural trend in language use? Perhaps the British would have gone in that direction even if America had been discovered? I'd like to agree with the second idea but because of the fact that British people learn plenty of American language through different ways, I think the first is more correct.

1. What did the British do in the 1960s?

A．They use some American spellings.

B．They built up confidence in their language.

C．They did research on language difference.

D．They went in the direction of harder spellings.

2. What does the author try to show by using examples like “petrol”?

A．British English has changed a lot.

B．Some uncommon words are used less often.

C．American words are entering British English.

D．American spelling won’t change British English too much.

3. Which of the following is a trend of American English?

A．It is using shorter words.

B．It is turning to proper grammar.

C．It is trying to make sentences simpler.

D．It is avoiding using apostrophes.

4. Which of the following is the author’s opinion about the languages?

A．American English is going the wrong way.

B．British English is following American English’s example.

C．American English is borrowing a lot from British English.

D．Languages wouldn’t change much if America was not discovered.

【推荐1】What is an accent (口音)? An accent is a flavoring to you that influences the sounds of words and sentences. In Birmingham you might hear ''lake'' sounding close to ''like'', and in Ireland you might hear ''this'' sounding close to ''diss''.

Accents are related to social group. Everyone has an accent, and for every accent there are groups of people who react badly to it. These reactions are the result of prejudice (偏见)-an unreasoned jumping to conclusions.

Everybody has prejudices about accents. I certainly do. I have held prejudices about other people's accents. But over the years, my experience of working with people from all kinds of backgrounds has led me to give up these prejudices. However, I still have prejudices that I find difficult to control.

Studies tell us that no accent is better than any other. But the reality is that many people judge others according to accents.

Jacob, Member of Parliament (议会), remembers when he first stood unsuccessfully for election in Fife, Scotland, ''I gradually realized that whatever I happened to be speaking about, the number of voters in my favor dropped as soon as I opened my mouth. ''

And some people change their accents to sound more refined (文雅的) when talking to people outside their circle of family and friends.

Sky News ran a report recently in which an 18-year-old woman was trying to sound less posh (上等人的), that is speaking non-standard English, because she didn't like the strangers telling her that she must be rich and from a famous family.

Lastly, it's worth being reminded that people can have an accent and still be recognized.

1. What does the author think of accent prejudice?

A．It is reasonable.	B．It should be banned(禁止).
C．It is hard to avoid.	D．It causes serious social issues.

2. Why did Jacob fail in the election?

A．What he said was unwise.

B．He spoke with an accent.

C．He broke the election rules.

D．He was unable to make himself understood.

3. What did the 18-year-old woman try to do according to Sky News?

A．To keep her ways of speaking.

B．To change her accent.

C．To pretend to be a well-educated person.

D．To learn the upper-class British accent.

4. What does the last sentence of the passage mean?

A．The accent tells what kind of people you are.

B．It is easy to recognize people with accent.

C．People with accent can also be successful.

D．It is important to recognize one’s accent.

【推荐2】Amazing Scientists

Who Happen to Be Teenagers

We’ve got a list of teen scientists from a variety of fields.

Jack Andraka

Jack Andraka created a biosensor for cancer that he says is 168 times faster, 26,667 times less expensive and 400 times more sensitive than technology nowadays.

He’s the youngest person to have spoken in front of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Taylor Wilson

Taylor Wilson was the youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion(核聚变). He was inspired by The Radioactive Boy Scout, a novel in which a kid tries and fails to build a nuclear reactor.

Taylor thought he could do better.Long story short, he wanted to build a small nuclear reactor. And he did it at the age of fourteen. He received a Thiel Fellowship, which gave him $100,000 to work on his own research.

Sara Volz

Sara Volz performed experiments in which she grew algae(藻类)based on their oil output for the purpose of growing them as biofuel. This research is especially important as the world continues to search for a way to lessen our dependence on non-renewable energy. She won the top prize of $100,000 in the lntel Science Talent Search.

Daniel Burd

Plastic usually takes thousands of years to decompose(降解)，but this high school student Daniel Burd managed to do it in three months.

In an experiment，he mixed plastic bags and a special kind of dirt together, and found that they did decompose faster.He then performed tests to find the bacteria(细菌)responsible for decomposing the plastics.

His solution only produces water and small amounts of carbon dioxide.He says it could easily be used elsewhere.

1. Who designed a medical instrument?

A．Sara Volz.

B．Daniel Burd.

C．Jack Andraka.

D．Taylor Wilson.

2. What excited Taylor Wilson’s interest in his invention?

A．A novel by a kid.	B．Plastic pollution.
C．Energy shortage.	D．A story book.

3. What do we know about Daniel Burd’s invention?

A．It won him a $100,000 prize.	B．It does little harm to the environment.
C．It was completed in three months.	D．It is widely used in everyday waste.

【推荐3】A student is learning to speak British English. He wonders：Can I communicate with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask：What are the differences between British and American English? How important are these differences?

Certainly, there are some differences between British and American English. There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital”and “Have you a pen？”,Americans say "in the hospital" and "Do you have a pen?. Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound the "r" in words like "bird" and "hurt". Speakers of British English do not sound the "r" in these words. There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, "colour" and "honour" are British."color" and " honor" are American.

These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary are not important. however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language.

1. According to this passage, a student who is learning to speak American English might be afraid that          .

A．the grammar is too hard for him

B．American people cannot understand him

C．British people cannot understand him

D．the spelling is too hard for him

2. What is NOT mentioned（提及）in the passage?

A．How important the differences are.

B．Whether British English and American English are one language or two.

C．Whether there are differences between British English and American English.

D．How the differences between British English and American English came about.

3. Most         say "Do you have a watch?"

A．Americans	B．British people
C．children	D．teachers