【推荐2】It is the ideal way for travelers to ensure they wake up with the perfect view—a portable eco-capsule that can be set up anywhere in the world. The innovative, egg-shaped pods ensure travelers can camp in the most extreme corers of the world, with all the luxuries of a hotel room.

Looking like something in a sci-fi movie, the pods are equipped with solar panels, and a retractable(可收缩的) wind turbine(涡轮机), which guarantee solar and wind energy as its power. In this way, the tiny home can let you live comfortably wherever you travel. It even has its own shower and toilet, sleeping area for two, and a small kitchen. It may look like camping, but at least with the eco-capsule you can look forward to a hot shower and running water on your travels.

The 3306 1b pods can be transported on your travels in a sea-container or can be towed on a trailer(拖车), meaning the possibilities are endless.

Bratislava-based Nice Architects are behind the extraordinary sleepers and said they initially designed them for people who stay in the nature for a long time. However, it quickly became apparent that they could be opened up to the wider public and ever used in urban areas to combat high rent, and placed on roofs for studio space, or living quarters. The eco-capsule can serve as a cottage, a pop-up hotel or even as a charging station for electric cars.

The capsules could even be quickly imported for housing for emergency teams who have been quickly deployed to help with natural disasters that have destroyed nearby infrastructure. Described by the website as a “Swiss-army knife”, the self-contained unit can sustain long periods time without external resources.

The 86 sqft pods are able to sleep two people for up for a year and for those worried about a cold night’s sleep, the capsule has a thick layer of efficient heat isolation and energy restoration which significantly reduce heat losses.

The pod is designed to withstand harsh weather conditions due to its innovative design and materials used. No wonder the Nice Architects are so confident about its prospect and the producers are receiving heavy orders.

1. Who may be the eco-capsule initially designed for?

A．Campers.	B．Office ladies.
C．Field biologists.	D．Homeless people.

2. Why is the eco-capsule described as a “Swiss-army knife” in paragraph 5?

A．Because it is in the shape of an army knife.

B．Because it is tiny but of good quality.

C．Because it packs everything you need.

D．Because it is so useful that it is very expensive.

3. What does the designer view the eco-capsule’s future market?

A．Negative.	B．Optimistic.
C．Worried.	D．Doubtful.

【推荐3】Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.

The shoes-named Square Eyes-contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day’s efforts.

The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University to London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And I wanted to tackle that with my design.”

Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.

Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time.

Existing pedometers (计步器) normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.”

1. Which of the following is true of Square Eyes shoes?

A．They regulate a child’s evening TV viewing time.

B．They determine a child s daily pocket money.

C．They have raised the hot issue of overweight.

D．They contain information of the receiver.

2. What is stressed by health experts in their suggestion?

A．The exact number of steps to be taken.

B．The precise number of hours spent on TV.

C．The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time.

D．The way of changing steps into TV watching time.

3. Compared with other similar products, the new design ________.

A．makes it difficult for lazy teenagers to cheat	B．counts the wearer’s steps through shaking
C．records the sudden movement of the wearer	D．sends teenagers health data to the receiver

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

A．Smart Shoes decide on Television Time	B．Smart Shoes Guarantee More Exercise
C．Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise	D．Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight

【推荐1】Electric vehicle sales will likely jump over the next two to three years as prices fall and more choices are made available, according to BlackRock’s global head of department investing.

Customers will have more opportunities to move away from traditional combustion engines(内燃机) to electric vehicles and their choices will not be restricted to only certain auto suppliers, Evy Hambro told CNBC’s “Squawk Box ” on Thursday.

“I think we’re at this tipping point of change,” Hambro said. “Over the next two years, we’re going to see price point of entry(入口) drop . We’re expecting to see a big lift in electric vehicle sales over the next two to three years.”

Different countries are at various stages of adopting electric vehicles, depending on regulatory environments and consumer preferences, according to Hambro. For its part, China is leading the way in many new business models around automation and electric vehicles, including in battery technology, he said.

In a bid to curb(遏制) air pollution, Beijing has aggressively pushed for new energy vehicles — that run partially or fully on electricity — through preferential policies, providing subsidies and by exercising its manufacturing(制造) power. It is also exploring autonomous driving technology.

On Wednesday, American chipmaker Nvidia signed separate deals with Chinese electric vehicle start-ups XPeng Motors, Singulato Motors and SF Motors to develop the self-driving technology, despite the ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

“We’re seeing China increasingly open up to international business,” Hambro said. “We’re now seeing high levels of ownership, majority ownership in some industries. We’re seeing licenses being given out to specific groups ... I think really we’re seeing some change there, maybe some of these trade tensions are starting to soften.” BMW also said Wednesday that it has obtained a license to provide ride-hailing services in the Chinese city of Chengdu, making the German automaker the first foreign company to do so in China. It will face heavy competition from local players including Didi Chuxing and Meituan Dache.

1. How will electric vehicle develop in the next two or three years?

A．Decline in sales.	B．Price fall.
C．Decline in ownership.	D．Reduction in suppliers.

2. Why does Beijing actively promote the use of new energy vehicles?

A．To get high profits.	B．For transport development.
C．To protect the environment.	D．For the development of the city.

3. How does the author introduce the increasing openness of China in the last Paragraph ？

A．By making a comparison.	B．By giving an example.
C．By telling a story.	D．By asking questions.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．New Development Trend of Electric Vehicles in China

B．Electric Vehicle Technology Looks Forward to New Progress.

C．New Trends of International Electric Vehicle Trade.

D．Electric Vehicle Sales to ‘See a Big Lift’ Over the Next 2 to 3 Years.

【推荐2】Everybody hates rats. But in the earthquake capitals of the world—Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey—rats will soon be the new best friends of humans.

What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.

How does it work? First the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal. This is sent to a small radio on its back and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.

Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “Robots’ noses don’t work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that.” Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity!

The “rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “It would be fantastic. A rat could get into spaces we couldn’t get to and a rat would get out if it wasn’t safe.” Perhaps for the first time in history people will be happy to see a rat in a building.

1. In the world earthquake capitals, rats will become man’s best friends because________．

A．they can fully take the place of man’s rescue jobs to save more people

B．they can find the position of people alive who are trapped in buildings

C．they can serve as food for people alive who are trapped in buildings

D．they can get into small spaces that the dogs may fail to get into

2. The underlined word “signal” in the third paragraph has the closest meaning to the one in sentence “________”.

A．they left the room at an agreed signal

B．the policeman raised his hand to signal the driver to stop

C．he seemed to signal important changes in the US government policy

D．a signal failure resulted in the car accident

3. Rats have all the following advantages EXCEPT that ________.

A．they are more fantastic than other animals

B．they are less expensive to train than dogs

C．they don’t need electricity

D．they are small and can get into small spaces

4. After reading the passage, we can know ________.

A．rats have already taken the place of dogs in searching for people

B．the “rat project” has already been completed

C．people are very happy to see a rat in a building

D．people now still use dogs and robots in performing rescues

【推荐3】What will man be like in the future—in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now？We can only make guesses，of course，but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today. For man is slowly changing all the time.

Let us take an obvious example. Man，even five hundred years ago，was shorter than he is today. Now，on average，men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is a relatively short period of time，so we may assume that man will continue to grow taller. Again，in the modern world we use our brains a great deal. Even so，we still make use of only about 20% of the brain's capacity. As time goes on，however，we shall have to use our brains more and more，and eventually we shall need larger ones！This is likely to bring about a physical change to the head，in particular the forehead，will grow larger.

Nowadays our eyes are in constant use. In fact，we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over a very long period of time it is likely that man's eyes will grow stronger.

On the other hand，we tend to make less use of our arms and legs. These，as a result，are likely to grow weaker. At the same time，however，our fingers will grow more sensitive because they are used a great deal in modern life.

But what about hair？This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future，then，both sexes are likely to be bald.

Perhaps all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive creature to look at！This may well be true. All the same，in spite of all these changes，future man will still have a lot in common with use. He will still be a human being，with thoughts and emotions similar to our own.

1. The passage mainly tells us that______.

A．man's life will be different in the future

B．future man will look quite different from us

C．man is growing taller and uglier as time passes

D．man's organs' functions will be on the wane

2. What serves as the evidence that man is changing?

A．Man has got stronger eyes now than he ever had.

B．Man's hair is getting thinner and thinner.

C．Man's arms and legs have become lighter and weaker.

D．Man has been growing taller over the past 500 years.

3. The change in man's size of forehead is probably because______.

A．he makes use only 20% of the brain's capacity

B．his brain has grown larger over the past centuries

C．the other 80% of his brain will grow in due time

D．he will use his brain more and more as time goes on

【推荐1】Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive (欺骗) ? When someone tells you something that is true, but leaves out important information that should be included, he can give you a false picture.

For example , some might say, "I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery (彩票) . It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars! "

This guy's a winner , right?   Maybe , maybe not. We then discover that he bought   $200 worth of tickets, and only one was a winner. He's really a big loser!

He didn't say anything that was false, but he left out important information on purpose. That's called a half-truth. Half-truths are not technically lies, but they are just as dishonest.

Some politicians often use this trick. Let's say that during Governor Smith's last term,her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs. Then she seeks another term. One of her opponents (对手) says, " During Govemor Smith's term, the state lost one million jobs ! " That's true. However, an honest statement would   have been , " During Govemor Smith's term , the state had a <u>net gain </u>of two million jobs. "

Advertisers(广告商) will sometimes use half-truths. It's against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth. An advertisement might say, " Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache. " It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company.

This kind of deception happens too often. lt's a sad fact of life :Lies are lies , and sometimes the truth can lie as well.

1. How much did the lottery winner lose?

A．One hundred dollars.	B．Two hundred dollars.
C．Three hundred dollars.	D．Four hundred dollars.

2. We may infer that the author believes people should___________.

A．buy lottery tickets	B．not take anything at face value
C．make use of half-truths	D．not trust the Yucky Company

3. What do the underlined words “net gain” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Total saving.	B．Big advantage.
C．Large share.	D．Final increase.

4. What can we know from the example of the Yucky Pill advertisement?

A．False statements are easy to see through.

B．Advertisements are based on facts.

C．Half-truths are often used to mislead people.

D．Doctors like to act in advertisement.

【推荐2】Several years ago, Jeremy Clarkson, presenter of the famous BBC television programme Top Gear’, discovered that one of his guests was half German and half Irish. Immediately, he said: “That’s quite a strange combination. It’s like, this must be done absolutely perfectly... tomorrow”.

This is a joke about the stereotype (刻板印象) that Germans are efficient and Irish are lazy. Many people could understandably be offended by these kinds of assertions (断言). We do not know every Irish person, so how can we then conclude that every Irish person is lazy?

I recently read on a website that Irish business people were described as being ‘generally rather casual’ and ‘more outwardly friendly than many European countries’. German business people, on the other hand, are considered to be very direct and according to the website, they do not need a personal relationship in order to do business. Once you hear advice like this, it becomes easier to understand where jokes like the one in the first paragraph come from.

So why do some people disagree with the kind of stereotypes as seen in Clarkson’s joke, but agree when it comes to generalizations (概括)? What is the difference between the two?

By definition, a stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. A cultural characteristic, on the other hand, is a pattern of behaviour that is typical of a certain group.

So what does this really mean? Stereotypes are simply overstated assumptions about groups of people. Imagine if a tourist visited a small town in Switzerland and saw a number of locals playing the alphorn instrument, and then claimed that Swiss people can play the alphorn. This would be a stereotype! This is an overstated image of the Swiss which is based on one tourist’s experience.

If, however, this tourist were to say that the Swiss are very punctual, this could be seen as a cultural characteristic. This is because it is a pattern of behaviour which is very typical in Switzerland: from their transport system to their business meetings.

In this way, some people argue that generalizing another culture is not just useful, but important. Politicians always have to be mindful of the cultural characteristics of different countries. By becoming aware of different cultural characteristics, they can avoid causing offence in those cultures.

However, others argue that generalizing cultures will always lead to offensive stereotypes. They argue that the best thing we can do is to stop generalizing cultures and start treating people as individuals.

All this raises important questions: Can making generalizations about groups of people be a positive thing? Or should we always avoid making broad assumptions about different groups?

1. When he said “It’s like, this must be done absolutely perfectly... tomorrow”, Jeremy Clarkson really meant ________.

A．the stereotypes of the Germans and the Irish are not so good

B．the combination of half German and half Irish is interesting

C．the characteristics of the Germans and the Irish are opposite

D．the Germans will do it perfectly tomorrow while the Irish won’t.

2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．It’s typical of the Swiss to be punctual.

B．The Irish people are considered as lazy, direct and casual.

C．The Germans are thought to be efficient, friendly and direct.

D．The Swiss people can play the alphorn.

3. Politicians think it important to generalize another culture because ________.

A．they don’t want to offend other people

B．generalizing will lead to offensive stereotypes

C．cultural characteristics are better than stereotypes

D．they should treat people as individuals

4. The main purpose of this passage is to ________.

A．show the importance of making generalizations

B．show it is wrong to play jokes on stereotypes of different people

C．tell us the differences between stereotypes and cultural characteristics

D．discuss whether it is good to make generalizations about groups of people

【推荐3】Newspapers, magazines, even online articles offer reading materials for people. But strictly speaking, reading means reading books. Since reading books seems to be going out of date, it has raised people’s concerns (担心).

The yearly national reading survey (调查) shows people’s reading habits have rarely changed over the past several years. The survey says about 59 percent of the adults in China read books, with one adult, on average, reading 4 or 5 books a year. This means a large number of people don’t read at all and that those who do so only read a few books a year. A worrying fact is that even students don’t seem to be reading books as they spend more time and energy watching videos online.

There are many reasons why fewer people read books today. To begin with, given the fast-changing social atmosphere, many people tend to spend time on hobbies other than reading. Also, many parents don’t care much about reading, and so they fail to educate their children and grandchildren to love reading books. Therefore, parents should create a good atmosphere that would encourage their children to read books. Thelackof public libraries might answer for the falling number of readers. China has less than 3,300 public libraries, compared with (和……相比) more than 160,000 in the United States. And unlike countries such as the US and Britain which help read among communities, China lacks a good public service system to offer books to readers.

In order to encourage people to read more books, publishers should publish books that not only have rich contents but also attract more readers to read. Besides, schools could set some special days for theme-based reading in order to encourage students to read more books. Companies or social societies could also organize different kinds of activities to get more people to read more books.

1. What can we learn from the national survey?

A．Most adults read 4 or 5 books every month on average.

B．People’s reading habits have changed over the past few years.

C．Students are likely to spend less time reading books.

D．Adults are more interested in watching videos online.

2. The underlined word “lack” in Paragraph 3 most probably means________.

A．appearance

B．shortage

C．improvement

D．protection

3. What does the writer plan to do in the last paragraph?

A．List ways of helping read books.	B．Introduce reading activities to students.
C．Prove the importance of reading books.	D．Give advice on contents to publishers.

4. What can be the best title of the passage?

A．Why to read	B．Let’s publish more books
C．How to read	D．Let’s read more books

【推荐1】When an earthquake hit a small town, many houses fell down. After the earthquake, all the newspapers reported many stories about some of the families who were in trouble.

One Sunday, when I was reading a newspaper, a special picture touched me. It gave the clothing sizes of each family member. I thought that this would be a good chance to teach my children to help those who were less lucky than themselves. I said to my seven-year-old twins, Brad and Brett, and three-year-old Meghan,"We have so much, but these poor people now have nothing. We'll share what we have with them.

I filled a box with foods and clothes. While I was doing this, I encouraged the children to choose their toys and donate some of their less favorite things. Meghan watched quietly as the boys took out their old toys and games and put them together. Then she walked away. A few minutes later she came back with Lucy, her much-loved doll. She put the doll on top of the other toys."Oh, dear,"I said."you don't have to give Lucy. You love her so much. Meghan said."Lucy makes me happy, Mommy. Maybe she'll make another little girl happy, too."

I looked at Meghan for a long moment. She taught me a lesson. It's easy to give something that we don't want any more, but hard to give what we cherish(珍爱), isn't it?

1. According to the passage, the writer has ________children.

A．one

B．two

C．three

D．four

2. In paragraph 3, the underlined word"donate"probably means________.

A．捐赠

B．丢掉

C．展出

D．放好

3. Lucy is the name of________ .

A．a girl

B．a game

C．a doll

D．an earthquake

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．An earthquake happened in the writer's hometown.

B．The writer let Meghan give her much loved doll.

C．The writer decided to buy some clothes for those people in trouble.

D．The writer thinks it is more difficult to give what we love a lot.

5. What's the BEST title of this passage?

A．A family story	B．The spirit of giving
C．The way of helping others	D．A sad experience

【推荐2】A group of people introduced themselves to me and my German classmate Julia. They were from a production company, currently in the process of filming a movie based in Du’an, a rural area a few hours north of Nanning. They tried to explain the plot of the film, but neither mine nor Julia’s Chinese was good enough to fully understand what they were saying. They then asked if we would be interested in being part of the project.

I came to China to experience new things and new opportunities, and being in a movie sounded so exciting. So in less than a second, I jumped at the chance of being in the film. Julia on the other hand was not so enthusiastic. It took 30 minutes to convince her to be part of the film, and she eventually accepted the chance.

That afternoon we were taken to the production company’s office to meet the director and some of the cast. We all sat together, drinking tea, talking about why Julia and I were in China and about the film. It seemed a little bit like a dream.

Ever since I was a small child, I dreamed of becoming a movie star, but I would never have guessed that my dream would come true, especially now in China.

At the end of the talk, we were given scripts(剧本)and had a few photographs taken. We were given the production schedule and ensured that our scenes would only be shot at weekends so it wouldn’t interfere with our studies. We left the office and were excited about the film, unknowing what filming was actually like.

On our first day of filming, we were picked up in the early morning from the university and we drove deep into the countryside.

We arrived at the location and waited for our scene to be shot. We watched as the other actors and crew went about their work, busy shooting and reshooting the same scene from different angles and perspectives. I never knew how much effort and care went into filming even the shortest and simplest scene. It was then our turn to shoot, and I was very nervous and very excited.

1. From the first paragraph we know that______.

A．the writer was also a German

B．Du’an is the name of a film

C．neither the writer’s Chinese nor her classmate’s was very good

D．the group of people wanted the writer to be the director of the film

2. From the passage we can learn that the writer______.

A．was interested in new things

B．was interested in exciting films

C．jumped high in the film

D．wasn’t as enthusiastic as Julia about the film

3. Which of the following is TRUE about the filming?

A．Before being part of the film, the writer had to make friends with the director.

B．An actor or actress must recite all the scripts.

C．Before being part of the film, one must know what filming is actually like.

D．Sometimes the same scene can be shot or reshot many times.

4. What might happen in the following paragraph?

A．The writer was praised in her university.

B．The writer became very famous as a new actress.

C．How the writer performed in the film.

D．How the writer got on with other actors.

5. Which of the following is a suitable title for the passage?

A．A foreign girl’s adventure

B．A foreign girl’s experience as an “actress”

C．A foreign girl’s college life in China

D．A foreign girl’s trip to the countryside

【推荐3】What does being happy have to do with luck? To answer the question, a team of researchers from the UK and Hong Kong gave surveys to 844 English-speaking university students in Hong Kong. The survey questions measured their thoughts about luck and their happiness levels.

The researchers observed that less happy people believed in external (外在的) luck—the “Good luck with that!” variety that controls our good or bad. The authors point out that blaming “luck” for events and experiences makes people lose personal self-determination, which diminishes their sense of purpose and, in turn, their happiness. Believing we need luck to be successful may make us less determined to reach goals and take risks.

On the other hand, happier people believed themselves to be personally lucky. Viewing yourself as lucky, the researchers suggest, shows an active and positive attitude that develops hope and self-acceptance. Personally lucky people may feel more confident to try new things or act in ways that help others.

How does luck influence those people? Next, the research team asked those people to fill another survey. They found that people who believed in external luck were more likely to be less active, and in turn were less happy. Those who believe they’re especially lucky suffer less of a hit to happiness.

This study has its value. However, the data all come from surveys filled out by those surveyed, which means the responses may be too personal. Moreover, the use of a one-time survey means we cannot say that one thing causes another.

Although there are some limits, this study stresses the value of thinking about luck as something that benefits us. Moreover, this study helps explain why we call people “happy go lucky”—because happy is how we feel when we focus on how personally lucky we are.

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

A．Explains.

B．Reduces.

C．Develops.

D．Balances.

2. What can we know about personally lucky people?

A．They are always helped by others.	B．They have a preference for the past.
C．They have confidence in themselves.	D．They like changing their own goals.

3. What does the author think of the study?

A．Its findings are unreliable.	B．It has space for improvement.
C．It is actually of little value.	D．Its research method is perfect.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．The Connection Between Happiness and Luck

B．Being Happy Has Nothing to Do With Luck

C．How Less Happy People Can Become Luckier

D．The Latest Study on People’s Happiness Levels