【推荐3】Are you preparing for a big test? If so, you may want to go to play some basketball in between hitting the books. Doctors are starting to find more and more information that suggests a connection between exercise and brain development. Judy Cameron, a scientist at Oregon Health and Science University, studies brain development. According to her research, it seems that exercise can make blood vessels, including those in the brain, stronger and more fully developed. Dr. Cameron is sure that this allows people who exercise to think better. As she says, “While we already know that exercise is good for the heart, exercise can actually cause physical changes in the brain.”

The effects of exercise on brain development can even be seen in babies. Babies who do activities that require a lot of movement show greater brain development than babies who are less physically active. Even a little movement can show big results. Margaret Barnes, a scientist, also believes in the importance of exercise. She thinks that many learning disabilities that children have in primary school or high school can result from a lack of movement as babies. Babies need movement that encourages and excites their five senses. They need to set up a connection between motion and memory. In this way, as they get older, children will begin to connect physical activity with higher learning,” says Margaret.

Older people can develop their brains as well. Cornell University studied a group of seniors who have a short-term memory increase of up to 40 percent after exercising just three hours a week. The exercise does not have to be very difficult, but it does have to increase the heart rate. Also, just like the motion for babies, exercise for older people should not be too simple. Learning some new skills or actions, such as with yoga or tai-chi helps to open up memory paths in the brain that may not have been used for a long time. For most people, any type of physical activity that increases the heart rate is helpful. The main aim is to increase the brain’s flow of blood. And your brain can benefit from as little as two to three hours of exercise a week.

1. What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Exercise makes people strong.

B．How one can get good scores in a test.

C．Exercise can help the brain develop.

D．Brain can change one’s memory.

2. Why is yoga suggested for the old?

A．Because it does good to the joints of old people.

B．Because it does not increase the heart rate.

C．Because it can help learn new actions.

D．Because it can be done in groups.

3. For most people, the smallest amount of exercise required to gain any benefit is _____.

A．two hours per week	B．40 hours per week
C．three hours per day	D．40 hours per month

【推荐1】There is a huge demand for shark fins (鳍) in Asian countries. As a result, many sharks are caught and killed. In Palau, where more than half of tourists are drawn by diving excursions, each reef shark brings in about $179,000 in tourism revenue annually, or about $1.9 million during its lifetime. Due to overexploitation and lack of proper management, many shark species are under considerable risk of unrecoverable decline with some species having declined to near extinction in recent years. According to reports, sharks are being killed at an alarming rate of up to 273 million worldwide per year.

Some experts predict that if the killing continues at the current rate many shark species will be lost forever. It can be very dangerous. Sharks are very important and they should be protected.

In a study of the east coast of the United States, 11 species of sharks were eliminated from their range. Of the 14 species of ocean life that those sharks used to eat, the populations of 12 exploded and caused great damage to the ecosystem. For example, the cownose ray (鳐) population was no longer kept under control by sharks and so grew out of control. As a result, the rays destroyed the population of bay scallops (扇贝), their favorite food. The scallop fishery, which had been in good condition for over 100 years, was wiped out. Also, the removal of the scallops most likely had an effect on water quality as they were no longer there to perform their function of cleaning the water.

Sharks play a vital role in the oceans in a way that the average fish does not. Most sharks serve as top predators at the pinnacle of the marine food pyramid, and so play a critical role in ocean ecosystems. Directly or indirectly they regulate the natural balance of these ecosystems. Sharks tend to eat very efficiently, going after the old, sick, or slower fish in a population, keeping that population healthy. Sharks help keep many populations of ocean life to the right size so that those prey (猎物) species don’t cause harm to the ecosystem by becoming too populated. The ocean ecosystem is made up of very complex food webs. For the most part, sharks are at the top of these webs and are considered by scientists to be "keystone" species, meaning that removing them may cause the whole structure to fall apart, including key fisheries such as tuna and other important fish species that maintain the health of coral reefs.

Therefore, we should protect sharks because doing so is to protect the whole ecosystem.

1. The underlined word "eliminated" in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by "________".

A．separated

B．removed

C．forbidden

D．protected

2. After the number of cownose rays greatly increased, ________.

A．water quality improved as well

B．bay scallops grew out of control

C．the health of coral reefs worsened

D．the local scallop fishery was harmed

3. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Why sharks are killed worldwide.

B．Why sharks should be protected.

C．How humans keep the ecosystem balanced.

D．How ocean life affects the ecosystem.

【推荐2】The band Coldplay has released (发行) a new album called “Everyday Life”. But the group has announced it won’t go on tour until it can figure out how to tour without making the climate worse.

Normally when bands have a new album, they go on tour to promote (推销) the album. They may fly from country to country and drive across countries in buses, performing in concert after concert.

Touring is an important way singers and musicians earn money. But tours are very hard on the environment. Flying is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases. During their last tour, the band flew to five different continents and played 122 shows. They traveled with 109 supporting workers, 32 trucks, and 9 bus drivers. Think about the pollution from Coldplay’s flights as well as the trucks, buses and huge amounts of electricity required to power the shows!

It’s hard to keep track of the pollution a band creates while touring, but most of the environmental cost comes from the fans. During their last tour, Coldplay entertained 5.4 million fans, all of whom had to travel to the concerts and bought “merchandise” like T-shirts, CDs and posters. Some bought food and drinks at the concerts, creating tons of plastic waste.

Instead of touring to promote the new album, Coldplay recorded two videos of the band playing their new songs live in Jordan and has put the videos of their performances up for free viewing on YouTube.

Coldplay, one of whose dreams is to have a show with no single-use plastic and have it largely sun-powered, says it won’t tour again until its members work out how to make their tours help instead of hurt. The decision will cost the band a lot of money in the short run, but it could pay off big for the planet.

1. Why is Coldplay’s last tour mentioned twice by the author?

A．To stress the necessity of the tour.

B．To describe Coldplay’s great popularity.

C．To introduce Coldplay’s basic information.

D．To show huge environmental costs of the tour.

2. How did Coldplay promote the new album?

A．By making a tour in Jordan.

B．By distributing free CDs to fans.

C．By posting their performances online.

D．By performing their new songs live on TV.

3. Which of the following best describes Coldplay’s decision to quit tours?

A．Thoughtless.	B．Meaningful.
C．Temporary.	D．Doubtful.

【推荐3】How to fight California’s wildfires? It’s an “all of the above” respond.

There might, indeed, be a need to make it easier to thin dying or dead trees out of thickly forested areas, reducing the fuel for wildfires. But the problem is actually more complicated. Even if dead trees are removed, the dry bushes act like kindling(引火物) when wildfires spread.

Even more to the point, thick forests were not a factor in these recent California’s fires. “They’re using these fires to talk about forest management that has nothing to do with the landscape in which the fires are occurring,” says Chur Miller. W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis and History at Pomona College in Claremont, California.

Climate change is making wildfires worse. The resulting unpredictable weather patterns have created shorter, wetter winters in California, producing a sudden, heavy growth of brushes, grasses and trees. After winter, the state’s ongoing drought and record-high summer temperatures draw water out of the plants, making them near-perfect kindling. With the hot and dry Santa Ana winds of fall, fires explode out of control.

Yet these tragedies can’t be blamed only on global warming. Wildfires are actually a vital of the state’s ecosystem. Lodgepole pines (松树), for example, grow well in fire-prone areas where millions of structures have been built in rural areas of California since the 1940s. When they burn, the cost in lives and treasures skyrockets.

Answering these disasters with a one-dimensional solution helps no one, although it might score short-term political points. The proper response includes placing limits on residential expansion into wildlands; better management and removal of dry brushes and continuously addressing the growing concern of climate changes.

In other words, the solution isn’t either/or. It’s all of the above.

1. What do Char Miller’s words indicated?

A．It is wrong to blame thick woods for the recent fires.

B．It is right to remove dead trees from the forested areas.

C．It is high time to strengthen forest management.

D．It is a pity that the fires destroyed the beautiful landscape.

2. How does a hotter and wetter winter in California affect the plants there?

A．By causing the plants to grow wildly.

B．By expanding the plants into wildlands.

C．By making the plants easy to catch fires.

D．By drawing water out of the plants.

3. What does the paragraph 5 mainly tell us?

A．Global warming caused these tragedies.

B．California’s ecosystem can easily cause wildfires.

C．Lodgepole pines shouldn’t be planted in California.

D．The fires brought huge economic losses and many deaths.

4. What is the solution according to the last paragraph?

A．Dealing with the climate change.

B．The removal of dry trees.

C．Encouraging people to live in wildlands.

D．A combination of different measures.

【推荐1】Engineers at the University of Waterloo have discovered a new way to program robots to help people with dementia (痴呆) locate medicine, glasses, phones and other objects they need but have lost.

While the initial focus is assisting a specific group of people, the technology could someday be used by anyone who has searched high and low for something they’ve misplaced.

“The long-term impact of this is really exciting.” said Dr. Ali Ayub, a post-doctoral fellow in electrical and computer engineering. “A user can be involved not just with a companion robot but a personalized companion robot that can give them more independence.”

Ayub and three colleagues were struck by the rapidly rising number of people coping with dementia. Many of these individuals repeatedly forget the location of everyday objects, which reduces their quality of life and places additional burdens on caregivers.

Engineers believed a companion robot with an occasional memory of its own could be a game-changer in such situations. And they succeeded in using artificial intelligence to create a new kind of artificial memory.

The research team began with a mobile user robot, which has a camera for feeling the world around it. Next, using an object-detection system, they programmed the robot to detect, track and keep a memory note of specific objects in its camera view through stored video. With the robot capable of distinguishing one object from another, it can record the time and date objects enter or leave its view. Researchers then developed a picture interface to enable users to choose objects they want to be tracked and, after typing the objects’ names, search for them on a smartphone app or computer. Once that happens, the robot can indicate when and where it last observed the specific object.

Tests have shown the system is highly accurate. And while some individuals with dementia might find the technology worrying, Ayub said caregivers could readily use it. Moving forward, researchers will conduct user studies with people without disabilities, and then people with dementia.

1. What can the robots do?

A．Help make what people need.	B．Help look for what people have lost.
C．Locate the lost people with dementia.	D．Play games with a specific group of people.

2. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 6 refer to?

A．A camera.	B．A research team.
C．A mobile user robot.	D．A system.

3. What can the robot report to the user?

A．Routes.

B．Names.

C．Shape and color.

D．Place and time.

4. In which part of a website can we read the text?

A．Art.

B．Technology.

C．Travel.

D．Education.

【推荐3】During the summer of 2021, Beverly Wax, an administrative assistant for a nonprofit, had an experience that filled her with awe. Wax’s central air conditioning had broken down in the heat wave. She’d mentioned to her son that she was having trouble finding someone to come fix it quickly. He showed up with a new unit as a surprise. As she watched him sweat and struggle while pulling the unit up the stairs and fixing it in her bedroom. Wax felt a wave of appreciation.

Awe is that feeling we get when something is so vast it stops us in out tracks. Often, it challenges or expands our thinking. Research shows that awe experiences decrease stress and anxiety and increase overall satisfaction in life, according to Dacher Keltner, a professor of psychology. Most of us associate awe with something rare and beautiful nature, music or a spiritual experience. But people can trigger awe too, and not just public heroes. Research shows that we can be awed by out nearest and dearest. Psychologists call this interpersonal awe.

Often, this interpersonal awe is a response to life’s big, sweeping changes, such as witnessing a baby’s first steps. For Lynn Heady, a retired educator, it’s watching a friend fight cancer and still relish (享受) life. But interpersonal awe happens in smaller moments, too. John Bargh, a psychologist, said he was truly awestruck by his then-5-year-old daughter while dining with her in a McDonald’s. When she heard another child crying across the restaurant, she grabbed the toy from her Happy Meal, walked over to the boy and handed it to him.

Unfortunately, we can’t make someone else behave in a way that’s awesome. But we can prime ourselves to notice it when they do-and take steps to boost the emotion’s positive effects.

1. Why did Wax feel grateful to her son?

A．He contacted a worker in time.	B．He volunteered for the nonprofit.
C．He repaired her old air conditioner quickly.	D．He fixed a new all conditioner despite the heat.

2. Which of the following can replace the underlined world “trigger” in paragraph 2?

A．Express.

B．Produce.

C．Perceive.

D．Enhance.

3. How is the paragraph 3 mainly developed?

A．By describing a process.	B．By analyzing causes.
C．By using illustrations.	D．D By presenting findings.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Behave in an awesome way	B．Find awe in everyday life
C．Does awe expand our thinking?	D．Do awe experiences boost happiness?

【推荐1】If you know a bottle of water has been recycled from urine (尿液), will you drink it? Chinese astronauts have done so.

China National Space Administration(CNSA)says it uses a high-tech machine to recycle wastewater. The machine will recycle everything from sweat, the water for washing hands, shower water, water used for brushing teeth, and even urine, to make drinking water.

It saves CNSA millions of YMB each year. At present, each CNSA astronaut uses about 4.4 liters of water every day. It costs about ￥150 million a year to transport water up to space.

The urine recycling system is needed for astronaut stations because it won’t have to ship up as much water to the station by space shuttles or rockets. Besides, it’s important as the space station is about to expand from three people living on board to more.

The recycling system was brought up to the space station last August by space shuttles. The three-man crew stood holding their drinks and congratulated engineers in CNSA center that worked on the system.

“This is something that has been the stuff of science work,” astronaut Chen Dong said before taking a small mouthful. “The taste is well worth trying.”

Is the water clean? Scientists say the wastewater will go through a very complicated (复杂的) process. For example, different chemicals will be put in the wastewater; the water will be heated to 130C to get rid of bacteria. The recycled water is thousands of times better than the water from a city tap, scientists say.

1. What can the water recycled from urine be used for?

A．Drinking.

B．Washing hands.

C．Brushing teeth.

D．Taking a bath.

2. Why is a high-tech machine to recycle wastewater needed on space stations?

A．To get astronauts to keep healthy.

B．To help astronauts do experiments.

C．To provide astronauts a basic living condition.

D．To save the cost of transporting water up to space.

3. Scientists get rid of bacteria in the wastewater by ________.

A．recycling

B．freezing

C．heating

D．collecting

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．Water recycled from urine tastes good.

B．How to recycle the wastewater on space.

C．New technology is used in the Chinese space station.

D．CNSA uses a high-tech machine to recycle wastewater for astronaut stations.

【推荐2】Sun Xun: Time Spy

About the Exhibition

Chinese artist Sun Xun uses woodblock (木板) printing, a centuries old method to change the 215 century medium of film. In Time Spy, Sun Xun has created a 3D world that walks freely across time and cultures that draws its inspiration from both Eastern and Western art, history, myth (神话), especially imagination.

To produce Time Spy, the artist and his team cut more than 10,000 woodblocks to make beautiful patterns, and then looked at every part carefully to create the cartoon. The choices of the woodblocks that were used to create the film will be shown publicly in the exhibition.

Exhibition Hours

Opened: Tuesday-Sunday: 10 am-5 pm   Friday: 10 am-9 pm

Closed: Monday

Final admission to the exhibition is one hour before it closes. Due to high demand,especially on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, we strongly suggest you buy or book your ticket in advance.

Tickets

A ticket is required for admission to the exhibition. All tickets are marked for a detailed date and time.

Adults: $20; Seniors and Students: $18; Children (6-12): $8; Children (5 and under): Free Tickets required: limited to six tickets per reservation. Discounted ticket rates are available for groups of 10 or more. Tickets must be bought at least four weeks in advance to get your discount.

1. What inspires Sun Xun the most on Time Spy?

A．His analyses of the Eastern films.	B．His knowledge of the Western paintings.
C．His deep research on modern technology.	D．His study on Western and Eastern cultures.

2. Visitors to the exhibition are advised to________.

A．visit it in groups	B．set off early in the morning
C．buy the tickets ahead of time	D．avoid going there on weekends

3. How much does it cost a couple with their nine year old daughter to see the exhibition?

A．$28.

B．$48.

C．$40.

D．S58.

【推荐3】I remember the thrill of first seeing you at law school orientation. You looked happy in a sea of dour, nervous faces. And you swept me off my feet immediately and I was eager to know everything about you. It quickly became clear that you were kind, down-to-earth, engaging and loyal to family and friends. By graduation, we were inseparable. We took the bar exam and were married. The future looked bright-two freshly minted lawyers with supportive families and a dream of starting a family of our own some day.

I started my career with the exhausting hours and high stress that are traditionally visited on young lawyers. You were unexpectedly ambivalent (矛盾情绪的） about finding a good job-or any job. After gentle pressure from me, and more from the student loan payments, you puttered around in some non-legal positions more suited for someone with half your education and intelligence, which offered low pay.

Pregnancy-something we both wanted-gave you the most important job in the world. After a few years, we were blessed with a second child. You have never returned to work, although both kids have been at school full-time for years, and our firstborn is heading to college soon.

I've climbed the professional ladder reasonably well. We have the trappings of middle-class success-a nice house in a safe, quiet neighborhood; annual holidays; happy, healthy children; money saved for their college years. But it has come at enormous personal cost to me. My stress level has increased dramatically with added responsibilities at work and my health has become worse. People who haven't seen me for years flinch (退缩） when we meet again and I've attended more than one event at which I have overheard someone remarking on how much I've aged.

I don't think I can do this for another 25 years. I often dream of leaving my firm for a less demanding position, with you making up any financial deficit with a job-even a modest one-of your own. I've asked, and sometimes pleaded, for years with you to get a job, any job. Many of my free hours are spent helping with the housework and the kids, and I recognize that traditional gender roles are often oppressive, but that cuts both ways. I would feel less used and alone if you pitched in financially, even a little. That's not going to happen. It has become clear that you are OK with my working myself to death at a high-stress career that I increasingly hate, as long as you don't have to return to the workforce.

You keep busy volunteering, exercising and pursuing a variety of hobbies. You socialize with similarly situated women who also choose to remain outside the paid workforce. You always say you are not satisfied with the family income, but never once consider that you could relieve the stress on both our budgets and your burnt-out husband by earning some money yourself.

Our family is grateful for all that we enjoy and we know that we're far more fortunate than millions who work far harder than I ever have, or will. And I know all too well that work can be unpleasant. But I don't want you to work so I can buy a Jaguar or a holiday home. I want you to work so I can get a different position and we can still maintain a similar standard of living.

I want you to get a job so I don't wake up in the middle of the night worrying that my career is the only one between us and financial ruin. I want you to work so our marriage can feel more like a partnership and I can feel less like your financial beast of burden. I want our daughter to see you in the workforce and I want her to pursue a career so she is never as dependent on a man as you are on me, no matter how much he loves her(and he will).But mostly I want you to get a job because I want to feel loved.

1. What can we know about the author?

A．He has a family of five.

B．He got married before graduation.

C．He dreams of being a successful lawyer.

D．He fell for his wife at first sight.

2. What does the author think is the most important job to his wife?

A．Choosing a like-minded life partner.

B．The mother's having a baby inside her body.

C．The woman's being able to support her family.

D．Applying for a high-paid job once again.

3. What message is delivered in the fourth paragraph?

A．The author is not so good at socializing.

B．The author is a person of wealth and power.

C．Great responsibility comes with great power.

D．The heavy work pressure has aged the author.

4. What does the underlined sentence imply?

A．The author's wife won't take high-pressure jobs.

B．The author's wife is not satisfied with his work.

C．The author's wife will not go to work.

D．The author's wife can't keep the work-life balance.

5. We can infer from Paragraph 6 that the author's wife_

A．complains about financial pressure

B．usually volunteers with nearby women

C．always thinks of her husband's feelings

D．determines to earn some money herself

6. Why does the author want his wife to get a job?

A．To raise their standard of living.

B．To improve her ability to be independent.

C．To assist him in buying a nice holiday home.

D．To set a good example to their daughter.