【推荐1】I’m a pig, and my son is a rabbit. I have snakes for daughters, and my wife, believe it or not, is a dragon! Do I live in a zoo? No, of course not! I am talking about Chinese zodiac signs. Depending on the year of your birth, each person has an animal for a sign. That’s why I am a pig and my wife is a dragon. If you, like me, were born in the year of the pig, then you are brave, thoughtful and loyal. The year of the pig is filled with good fortune.

Now let’s take a closer look at this interesting animal.

Pigs were first raised by man about 9,000 years ago, and are still a very common farm animal in many parts of the world. We don’t just use pigs for their meat — almost every part of the animal is used. The hair is used for artists’ brushes. The fat is used to make floor wax, rubber and plastics.

Pigs have also been important in the world of entertainment. In 1995 the film ‘Babe’ starred a loveable talking pig as its main character. The film won an Oscar and was nominated for 6 more. In England you can even go to watch pig racing. A farmer, Rob Shepherd, has been raising money for charity by holding pig races on his farm. The events have been very successful. People don’t just want to eat pigs, it seems!

Pigs also play an important role in the English language. For example, if someone says that he will travel to the sun one day, you can say “pigs might fly!” to him. Hungry? Well then, you can “pig out” and eat lots of food. And what if someone rescues you? Well, you can say that they “saved your bacon”.

1. The writer wrote the first paragraph in a ______ tone.

A．sad	B．confused
C．serious	D．humorous

2. We may know from the passage that ______.

A．people in England like pigs more than other animals

B．pigs are more useful than ordinary people imagine

C．pigs are the first animals raised by man

D．more people don’t want to eat pigs now

3. The underlined sentence “pigs might fly!” in the fifth paragraph means “______”.

A．What you have just said is impossible

B．Pigs are great animals

C．I don’t understand your words

D．I can’t agree with you more

4. Whichagram shows the structure of the passage?

A．

B．

C．

D．

【推荐3】阅读下面短文，并根据短文内容回答问题。
Happy Sunday

I have four goldfishes in my room. They are very beautiful. I love them very much. On weekdays, I’m always busy. I must study and do homework and so on, so I have no time to care(照顾) them.

But today is Sunday, I am very free. Then, I start to enjoy my goldfishes. They are colorful, but each has a big mouth, two small eyes and a long tail. I take the food and intend(打算)to feed them. They are very intelligent(聪明). It seems that they know I will feed them, so they are coming up from everywhere. Everyone is opening up its big mouth and waiting for the delicious food. I am smiling! They look very lovely! Then, I put the food into the tank(水缸). They are eating it very quickly. I enjoy this process very much!

Today, I am really happy! What a happy Sunday!

1. How many goldfishes are there in the home?
2. Why can not the writer care the goldfishes on weekdays?
3. What do the goldfishes look like?.
4. When can the writer feed the goldfishes?
5. Does the writer have a good time on Sunday?

【推荐1】Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri-beri. He was going there to try and find a cure.

At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ (细菌) caused beri-beri. He raised some chickens. He didn’t eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate — refined white rice (精炼米). When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery — that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins (维生素). The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person’s food.

Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don’t, they can also take vitamin pills.

1. The underlined word “cure” in Paragraph 1 probably means ______.

A．a medical treatment	B．a kind of vitamin
C．a kind of germ	D．a kind of rice

2. If a person doesn’t get enough vitamins in his diet, he’d better ______.

A．eat more rice	B．eat more meat
C．eat some chicken	D．eat vitamin pills

3. We can learn from the passage that ______.

A．beri-beri was caused by chickens

B．the Javanese didn’t like vitamins

C．Christian Eijkman’s experiment was successful

D．the Javanese’s disease was caused by a kind of germ

4. Why did Christian Eijkman raise some chicken ?______

A．To eat them.

B．To give the Javanese a surprise.

C．To carry out his experiments.

D．To make money by selling them.

【推荐1】If you like traveling, these less known places in New York City (NYC) are sure to create good memories that last a lifetime.

The High Line Park

The High Line Park has been only recently developed, so it is one of NYC’s most beautiful places and one of the most unique (独特的) places you could ever hope to find. It is nothing like your city park. Instead of being a park of trees, grass, and benches, it is built entirely on the top of an old above ground railway line.

The Cloisters

The Cloister is a branch (分支) of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is located in northern Manhattan’s Fort Tryon Park. It is filled with gardens and medieval (中世纪的) art and buildings. If you’re looking for a memorable experience, it is sure to be a good choice.

The Dream House

If you don’t like art museums or concert halls, you can choose the Dream House on Tribeca’s Church Street. It was created in 1993 by a married couple La Monte Young, a musician, and his wife Marian Zazeela. In the Dream House, every move that visitors make in the Dream House creates a different series of sounds. Meanwhile, fantastic pink lighting guides them through their journey.

Greenacre Park

If you have ever wished you could sit next to a surprising waterfall, you can go Greenacre Park. Located in the heart of midtown Manhattan on 5lst Street, this “pocket park” has a 25-foot waterfall, quiet greenery and benches.

1. What do we know about the High Line Park?

A．It is full of tall trees.	B．It hasn’t been finished.
C．It has so many works of art.	D．It is built on the top of a railway line.

2. What can you most possibly find in the Cloisters?

A．An old train.	B．Light of different colors.
C．The Middle Ages’ art.	D．A surprising waterfall.

3. Which place should you visit if you want to experience sound and light?

A．The High Line Park.	B．The Dream House.
C．The Cloisters.	D．Greenacre Park.

【推荐2】The recent widespread interest in all branches of psychology has accustomed us to accepting an idea which,when first offered,seemed laughable:We all,at some level,spend most of the time on reverie(幻想）。We dream either consciously or unconsciously,awake or asleep,of a situation in which we feel we should be happier than we are in real life.Occasionally some childish ideas of happiness or success break out in to confuse or prevent us from living an adult life.Sometimes the dream is refusing to leave the safe shelter of the nursery,where all wants were met as soon as felt,where warmth and food and love were given freely and unearned.As Emerson wrote,"We do not believe there is any force in today to match or recreate that beautiful yesterday.We linger in(徘徊）the ruins of the old tent where once we had bread and shelter."To some extent this is true of all of us,but less true of the happy and successful adult than of others.

At other times,funnily enough,the life-wasting reverie is about success:The mild man is Napoleon or the ugly woman is a charming singer.If reality never broke in upon such reverie,the dreamer might be happier than if he were to find himself in a position to realize some part of it.Such reverie is in itself compensation for a life of dull routine.But,the world being what it is,the dreamer must live,for part of his time at least,in the cold atmosphere of fact.This is no Land of Cockaigne:Roast 1t pigs do not run about crying,"Eat me!"Fruit does not fall from the trees into our mouths..

The deeply rooted dreamer will struggle only just as much as he needs,and no more.He will do anything half-heartedly to get his bread and butter.Then,when his daily task is over,he will be hack to his dreams again,whether he realizes it or not. He succeeds at only one thing:in clearing away a little space,gaining each day a few hours of free time,for just one purpose-to go on wasting his life.But his

dream is happy.It is,for him,a true compensation for his failure in every other relation,and so he continues in it.Yet,since after all happiness is the true goal,he believes that the smallest success in reverie brings with it more happiness.

However,it is important to remember that failure is real,for otherwise we will not prepare ourselves to fight it.

1. People's spending most of the time on reverie is something that

A．was laughed at by people in the past

B．most people are greatly fed up with

C．psychologists are very interested in

D．psychologists have widely accepted

2. People who are living in reverie

A．are filled with fear of the future life

B．usually have a happy childhood

C．always enjoy recalling their past life

D．are happier than any successful adult

3. People living in the Land of Cockaigne______

A．think that they are the greatest of the world

B．could enjoy all they need for life without work

C．will realize life means struggle

D．usually live a life of dull routine

4. Which of the following about deeply rooted dreamers is TRUE?

A．They'll never work for life even when they're starving.

B．They admire heroes so much as to become Napoleon.b

C．They don't feel happy due to the little things they have.

D．They'll never do any more than keeping themselves alive.

5. The writer suggests in the passage that_____

A．we should stop spending most of our time on reverie

B．people can realize something vital through dreaming

C．we should prepare ourselves to fight failure

D．people can gain more happiness from reality

【推荐3】The only known white giraffe in the world has been fitted with a GPS tracking device in an effort to protect him from poachers (偷猎者) in Kenya. The unique male giraffe now stands alone after a female and her calf were killed by poachers in March, 2020.

The GPS tracking device, secured to one of the animal’s horns, will give hourly updates of his location, said the Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy. Rangers will be able to monitor the giraffe’s movements in the conservancy located in Garissa County, eastern Kenya.

“The giraffe’s living range has been blessed with good rains in the recent past and the abundant vegetation is a good sign for the future of the white male,” said Ahmed Noor, manager of the Ishaqbini Hirola Community Conservancy.

Noor thanked the Kenya Wildlife Service, Save Giraffes Now and the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) for their help in safeguarding wildlife species.

“Our mission is to work with communities, secure their livelihoods as well as protect the unique wildlife like the only known white giraffe,” said Antony Wandera, the senior wildlife monitoring officer at the NRT.

The male giraffe has a rare genetic trait called leucism (变白), which results in the partial loss of pigmentation (肤色) in an animal and makes it easy to spot for poachers. Unlike albinism (白化), animals with leucism continue to produce a dark pigment in their soft tissue, meaning the giraffe’s eyes are dark.

In March, 2020, the remains of two of the stunning white giraffes that lived at the Kenyan wildlife reserve were found dead, killed by poachers.

The world’s tallest land animal has lost 40％ of its population in just 30 years, the African Wildlife Foundation estimates.

1. Why do people fit the white giraffe with a GPS tracking device?

A．To entertain the white giraffe.

B．To find a better way to feed him.

C．To prevent him from being killed.

D．To learn more about the white giraffe.

2. How often will the GPS tracking device update its information?

A．Every day.	B．Every hour.
C．Every week.	D．Every two hours.

3. Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “mission” in Paragraph 5?

A．Job.

B．Dream.

C．Interest.

D．Suggestion.

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．The population of white giraffes is increasing.

B．The white giraffe has become extinct in the world.

C．Few organizations show interest in protecting wild animals.

D．The population of giraffes in the world has been decreasing.

【推荐1】The Beauties of the Stone Age

I have just come home after viewing some amazing works of art that were recently discovered in Church Hole Gave in Nottinghamshire. They are not drawings but etchings—shapes cut into the rock—and they describe different kinds of wild animals.

First of all, the number is great: there are 90 in all. Moreover, 58 of them are on the ceiling (天花板). This is quite unusual in cave art, according to Dr. Wilbur Samson of Central Midlands University. “Wall pictures are the usual way,” he says. “The Church Hole etchings are an artistic achievement. It was thought that ice-age hunters in this country were separated from those in central areas of Europe, but the Church Hole etchings proved that they were actually part of a way of living, thinking and seeing the world that had spread right across Europe.”

News of such exciting discoveries spreads quickly, and thanks to the Internet and mobile phones, a great many people have known about this discovery. However, an examination of the etchings last year failed to show the presence of them. The reason lay in the expectations of the researchers. They looked for the usual type of cave drawings, which show up best under direct light. So they used powerful torches (火炬), shining them straight onto the rock face. However, the Church Hole etchings are not drawings on the rocks, like the other cave ones. They are modifications of the rock itself and can’t be easily made out. They show up best when seen from a certain direction in the natural light of early morning.

Dr. Samson feels that the lighting factor provides important information about the function of these works of art. I think the artists knew very well that the etchings would hardly be seen except early in the morning. We can decide that the cave was used for important events like animal worship (祭拜), and that they were conducted just after dawn, as the beginning of the day’s hunting.

To which I can only add that I feel very lucky to have been able to view Church Hole. It is a site of great importance culturally and is part of the traditional values, not only of this country, but the world as a whole.

1. What is the significance of the etchings in Church Hole Cave?

A．They show the existence of an ice-age culture.

B．They describe a more advanced life of Europeans.

C．They prove that ancient people hunted in large areas.

D．They indicate that fewer people settled in central Europe.

2. According to the passage, ________.

A．the methods taken to protect the etchings are useless

B．the etchings are various from the usual cave paintings

C．the discovery of the etchings should not be made public

D．many people visited the cave within hours of its discovery

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

A．Small changes.

B．Free gifts.

C．Good examples.

D．Different areas.

4. What does Dr. Samson state from the lighting factor?

A．The search took place at the wrong place of the cave.

B．The artists never planned to let the etchings seen by others.

C．The torches people used in the examination were too bright.

D．The etchings were intended to be seen at a certain time of day.

【推荐2】Tired of seeing so much garbage along the bank of River Schie in Rotterdam, Dutch artist Tommy Kleyn decided to step up and do something about it. He alone organized a cleanup of the entire bank without leaving any garbage, proving that anyone can indeed make a difference if they want to.

Kleyn would cycle past a part of the Rotterdam riverway and see so much garbage along the bank. The situation troubled him, so he decided to spend 30 minutes every day cleaning the place up, filling one garbage bag a time. And when he posted pictures of his work on Facebook, a few of his friends volunteered to join as well. In five weeks, they had a 100-meter riverbank clean and completely rubbish-free.

Kleyn's action has received great support online, and he has managed to turn it into a small movement. He has set up a Facebook page through which he challenges people to spend 30 minutes a year to fill a garbage bag with rubbish. "It feels great and you'll make a big difference," he wrote. "People are free to share their 'before' and 'after' pictures on the page. The challenge has attracted people in countries. The people came from as far as China to respond with their own photos and stories!"

"I want to show how easy it is to remove rubbish," he added. "Hopefully there will come a time when makers are thoughtful and their goods are no longer wrapped in layers of plastic."

Local officials praised Kleyn's work on the riverbank and helped him raise money for future projects as well. "People can sign up to help me one day a year. For this, they received a coupon, like going to a local restaurant at the lowest price. You can imagine what I've managed to do in 22 days, and what 22 men could do in a day." he said.

1. What happened after Kleyn posted pictures of his work on Facebook?

A．Some of his friends were forced to join him.

B．The whole riverbank was completely rubbish-free.

C．His pictures received little attention from foreigners.

D．His work on the bank of River Schie started to pay off.

2. What do we know about Kleyn's action?

A．It has influenced many people.	B．It is opposed by local officials.
C．It is difficult for Chinese to accept.	D．It has made people stop using layers of plastic.

3. Kleyn decided to make a difference by       ·

A．collecting rubbish bags	B．taking pictures of River Schie
C．cleaning up the banks of River Schie	D．sharing pictures on the Internet

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．River pollution in Dutch has been solved by Tommy Kleyn.

B．A Dutch eco-hero proves that one man can make a difference.

C．Environmental protection needs support from the government.

D．Facebook plays an important role in environmental protection.

【推荐3】Do you know what a castle is? A castle is a building special to Europe. Castles were built in the Middle Ages by king and other powerful people who live in. Castles were used by people to protect themselves from their enemies. They are big buildings made form stone and wood.

Today there are still castles all over Europe. Some are in ruins. But some built later are still in good repair and used even today. One example is Windsor Castle, which is a home to the British queen. It is in the country or Berkshire, not far from London.

Castles have walls around them. In the old days, soldiers would stand on the walls to guard the people in the castle. If enemies came they would shoot arrows and throw stones at them. Castles also had moats. A moat is a river around the wall that makes it difficult for enemies to get in. It could be either dry or filled with water.

Other people from younger countries love European castles. In the US there are rich people who have brought broken parts of castles to their country and rebuilt them. And some people build “replica” castles — modern copies of Castle.

You probably know the Disneyland Castle in California, US. But did you know it is based on a famous castle in Germany built by King Ludwig Ⅱof Bavaria?

1. Which of the following is TRUE about the castle?

A．It is a special American building.

B．It is made from stone and paper.

C．Only king used to live in it.

D．People used it to protect themselves.

2. We can tell from the story that a moat is _______.

A．a wall	B．a soldier
C．a river	D．a stone

3. According to the passage we can know that_______.

A．there are castles only in some European countries now

B．in the US, there used to be castles in the Middle Ages

C．in the US, the people rebuilt the old castles or build the modern ones

D．the Disneyland castle is built in Germany

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The history of Windsor castles.	B．Facts about castles.
C．The king and the castles.	D．How to build castles.