【推荐2】I love charity(慈善) shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.

The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful that it had been flooded with donations(捐赠物). They decided do set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favorite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.

Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don’t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.

The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than ￡100 million a year, funding(帮助) medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better place to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense. You provide funds to a good cause and tread lightly on the environment.

1. The author loves the charity shop mainly because of        .

A．its convenient location	B．its great variety of goods
C．its spirit of goodwill	D．its nice shopping environment

2. The first charity shop in the UK was set up to        .

A．sell cheap products	B．deal with unwanted things
C．raise money for patients	D．help a foreign country

3. Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?

A．What to Buy at Charity Shops.

B．Charity Shop: Its Origin & Development.

C．Charity Shop: Where You Buy to Donate.

D．The Public’s Concern about Charity Shops.

【推荐3】“Who needs a shopping mall if you have Taobao?” says Wang Lin,28,a writer in Beijing.

Taobao,China’s largest online shopping site,has become an important part of Wang Lin’s life.She spends lots of money on Taobao.

A growing number of Chinese Internet users like Wang have found the joys of online shopping .Most online shoppers are students or young workers .More women shop on line than men.Clothes and home-use products are the most popular on line.

It was reported that more than 250 billion yuan was spent on online shopping last year, 80% through Taobao.

Taobao means “looking for treasure”in Chinese.People can find almost everything they need on Taobao,from clothes to books ,from candies to DVD players .

You may question the security of online shopping ,Wang Lin said, “”It’s very safe and convenient .Unless you receive the products from the sellers and are satisfied with them,the shop owner will not get the money .You can also get your money back if you want to return the products.”

1. What are   the most popular on line?

A．Candles and DVD players	B．Clothes and books.
C．Clothing and home-use products.	D．Toys for children

2. Taobao is ____________.

A．a shopping mall	B．an online shopper
C．an online shopping site	D．a clothes store

3. What does the underlined word “security”mean?

A．质量

B．安全

C．信誉

D．数量

4. Which is the best title of the passage?

A．Wang Lin’s life.	B．Online shopping in China.
C．Shopping on line is not safe.	D．Shopping on line is easy

【推荐2】The health problems about cloned animals , particularly those who appear healthy but have hidden illnesses or problems that appear unexpectedly later in life, have the potential to cause real risks to the safety of the food products from those animals. Ian Wilmut, a lead scientist involved in the creation of Dolly, the first cloned animal, has warned that even small imbalances in a clone’s hormone, protein, or fat levels could bring its milk or meat into danger.

As part of its risk assessment on animal cloning, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that milk and meat from cloned animals and their offspring (后代)are as safe to eat as products from conventional animals. The FDA further announced that it would not require food products from cloned animals or their offspring to be labeled as such.

Consumer watchdog groups pointed out that the FDA’s analysis was based on limited data supplied mainly from the cloning companies themselves. In addition, while food safety is an obvious concern of consumers, it is not the only issue that makes people uncomfortable with animal cloning. For example, surveys indicate that 63 percent of consumers would not buy food from cloned animals even if it were labeled as “safe”. Concerns about the morality of cloning, as well as concerns for animal welfare, lead a big majority of people to oppose cloning animals for food. However, these issues were not considered by the FDA. Without labels to identify cloned foods, consumers who oppose animal cloning would be forced to make purchases against their principles without knowing. Consumers have a right to know how their food is produced so they can make informed decisions about what they buy and what they feed their families.

1. What is Ian Wilmut’s attitude towards food products from cloned animals?

A．Approving.	B．Cautious.
C．Uncertain.	D．Indifferent.

2. What does the underlined word “such” in Paragraph 2 refer to ?

A．Safe.	B．Expensive
C．Unsafe	D．Conventional.

3. We can learn from the last paragraph that _____.

A．consumers didn’t believe what the FDA said

B．the FDA took consumers’ concerns seriously

C．consumers were well-informed about the safety of food

D．the FDA forced consumers to buy things they didn’t want

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Concerns for animal welfare.

B．The problems with animal cloning.

C．Why people are uncomfortable with animal cloning.

D．Concerns about the food products from cloned animals.

【推荐3】Today’s grandparents are joining grandchildren on social media, but the different generation’s online habits couldn’t be more different. The over-55s are joining Facebook in increasing numbers, meaning that they will soon be the site’s second biggest user group, with 3.5 million users aged 55-64 and 2.9 million over-65s.

Sheila, aged 59, says, “I joined to see what my grandchildren are doing, as my daughter posts videos and photos of them. It’s a much better way to see what they’re doing than waiting for letters and photos in the post. I think I’m lucky I get to see so much more of their lives than my grandparents did.”

However, Sheila’s grandchildren are less likely to use Facebook themselves. Children under 17 are leaving the site — only 2.2 million users are under 17 — but they’re not going far from their smartphones. Chloe, age 15, even sleeps with her phone. “It’s my alarm clock so I have to,” she says. “I look at it before I go to sleep and as soon as I wake up.”

Teenagers might have their parents to thank for their smartphone and social media addiction as their parents were the early users of the smartphone. Peter, 38 and father of two teenagers, reports that he used to be on his phone or laptop constantly. He says, “How could I tell my kids to get off their phones if I was always in front of a screen myself?” So, in the evenings and at weekends, he takes his SIM card out of his smartphone and puts it into an old-style mobile phone that can only make calls and send text messages. “I’m not completely separated from the world, but the important thing is that I’m setting a better example to my kids and spending more quality time with them.”

Is it only a matter of time until the generation above and below Peter catches up with the new trend (趋势) for a less digital life?

1. Why does Peter take his SIM card out of his smartphone?

A．To stop his work.	B．To make calls to his boss.
C．To catch up with the new trend.	D．To set a good example to his kids.

2. What does the underlined word “ separated ” mean in Paragraph 4?

A．Different.

B．Protected.

C．Cut off.

D．Figured out.

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Children under 17 don’t use smartphone at all.

B．Chloe is one of the early users of the smartphone.

C．People may enjoy a less digital life in the near future.

D．Today’s grandparents enjoy a life without social media.

【推荐1】Living abroad requires a delicate adjustment and balancing of cultures. Moving from Scotland to Austria, the differences aren’t so great, perhaps, as with a relocation to Asia or Africa. But things are still different enough to be unsettling.

One of the first differences I noticed was the opening hours of shops here. During the week, supermarkets close at 7:30 pm, at the latest. On Sundays, they aren’t open at all. No shops are. I ate out on my first Sunday here, and I learned my lesson. To begin with, I thought it was highly convenient. What if I ran out of milk in the evening, or wanted to buy biscuits before bed? In the UK, I was so used to massive supermarkets, which stayed open until at least 10:00 pm, if not for twenty-four hours. But now, I panic buying food every Saturday, to ensure my cupboards are well-stocked for the next day. “What do people do here on Sundays?” I asked my flat mate after my first Sunday here. She just looked at me. “Nothing.” she replied. She lived in London for a year, she told me, and when her Austrian friends came to visit her, instead of going to bars in the evenings, they wanted to spend time in twenty-four hour Tesco. They’d run round the aisles, amazed at the number of people shopping at midnight, at the size of the supermarket, and at the amount of choice contained within it.

If it’s inconvenient, then there’s also something nice about it. Who needs to be able to buy soup or soap or bread twenty four hours a day? No one really needs to of course, it’s just nice to know that we can. But it’s nice, too, to have Sundays completely free from material worries, Sundays here are all about relaxing for hours in coffee shops, spending time with friends and catching up on last-minute work before the week begins again on Monday. Sunday is a day of rest, whether religious or not, and a day of pure pleasure.

People in the UK often complain. “I thought Sundays were meant to be a day of rest! ”while rushing to work, doing chores or standing in queues in shops. Well, here in Austria, it really is a day of rest. It’s different, but it’s a difference I could certainly get used to.

1. Why does the author hurry to buy food on Saturdays in Austria?

A．Because her flat mate often treats her to bars on Sundays.

B．Because she is accustomed to shopping on Saturdays.

C．Because the supermarkets are out of service on Sundays.

D．Because she is too busy to go shopping on Sundays.

2. What can we infer from the text?

A．The author is unwilling to go abroad in the future.

B．The author seems to be able to appreciate different cultures.

C．The author will run a 24-hour supermarket in Austria.

D．The author may move to another country soon.

3. What is the best title for the text?

A．Sunday Culture Shock.	B．Market Analysis in Austria
C．Disadvantages of Moving Abroad	D．24-Hour Supermarkets Badly Needed

【推荐2】One day when I was 5, my mother scolded (责骂) me for not finishing my breakfast and I got angry. I wanted to play outside and not to be made to finish eating my breakfast. When angrily opening the screen door with my foot, I kicked back about a 12-inch part of the lower left hand corner of the new screen door. But I had no remorse, for I was happy to be playing in the backyard with my toys.

Today, I know if my child had done what I did, I would have scolded my child, and told him about how expensive this new screen door was, and I would have delivered a spanking (打屁股) for it. My parents never said a word. They left the corner of the screen door pushed out, creating an opening, a breach (裂缝) in the defense against unwanted insects.

For years, every time I saw that corner of the screen, it would constantly make me think about my mistake. For years, I knew that everyone in my family would see that hole and remember who did it. For years, every time I saw a fly buzzing (嗡嗡) in the kitchen, I would wonder if it came in through the hole that I had created with my angry foot. I would wonder if my family members were thinking the same thing, silently blaming me every time a flying insect entered our home, making life more terrible for us all. My parents taught me a valuable lesson, one that a spanking or stern (严厉的) words perhaps could not deliver. Their silent punishment for what I had done delivered a hundred stern messages to me. Above all, it has helped me become a more patient person and not burst out so easily.

1. When the author damaged the door, his parents ________.

A．gave him a spanking

B．left the door unrepaired

C．scolded him for what he had done

D．told him how expensive it was

2. The underlined word “remorse” in Paragraph 1 most probably means________.

A．regret

B．joy

C．anger

D．notice

3. The experience may cause the author ________.

A．to hide his anger away from others

B．not to go against his parents’ will

C．to have a better control of himself

D．not to make mistakes in the future

4. What is the main idea of this text?

A．Adults should ignore their children’s bad behavior.

B．Parents are the best teachers of their children.

C．Patience is the key to becoming a better person.

D．One learns most when shown the result of his/her action.

【推荐3】When someone gives you advice, listen without judgment, try to find value in what you’re hearing, and say: “Thank you”. This wise advice is easy to understand yet hard to practice. I’ll give you an example from my life when I totally blew it in term of practicing what I teach.

In my work I travel constantly. I always put off going to the airport until the last second. My wife, Lyda, was sitting next to me in the front seat. I was racing along and not paying much attention. Lyda cried out: “Look out! There is a red light up ahead.”

Being a trained behavioral science professional—who teaches others the value of encouraging advice—I naturally screamed at her: “I know there is a red light up ahead! Don’t you think I can see?” When we arrived at the airport, Lyda didn’t speak to me. I wondered why she seemed mad at me.

During the flight to New York, I did a cost-benefit analysis. I asked myself: “What was the cost of just listening when Lyda called out the warning? Zero.” I then reasoned: “What was the potential benefit? What could have been saved?” Several potential benefits came to mind, including her life, my life, and the lives of other people.

I landed in New York feeling ashamed of myself. I immediately called Lyda and told her my cost-benefit story. I convinced her: “The next time you help me with my driving, I am just going to say, ‘Thank you!’”

A few months passed, and I had long forgotten the incident. Again, I was racing off to the airport, when Lyda cried out: “Look out for the red right!” I was embarrassed, and then shouted: “Thank you!”

I’m a long way from perfect, but I’m getting better. My suggestion is that you get in the habit of asking the important people in your life how you can do things better. And be ready for an answer. Some people may tell you things like “Look out for the red light.” When this happens, remember that there is possibly some potential benefit. Then just say: “Thank you.”

1. What do we know about the author?

A．He is expert at behavioral science.

B．He is gifted in cost-benefit analysis.

C．He seldom takes his wife’s advice.

D．He often runs the red traffic light.

2. The underlined part “blew it ” in Paragraph 1 probably means “_______”.

A．became annoyed with the adviser	B．forgot the practical method
C．failed to say “Thank you”	D．lost personal judgment

3. It can be inferred from the passage that people _________.

A．tend to be defensive when given advice

B．intend to follow others’ suggestions

C．had better study behavioral science

D．should give their opinions patiently

4. The purpose of the passage is to advise people to ________.

A．do a cost-benefit analysis in daily life

B．treasure others’ suggestions

C．learn from the author’s experiences

D．discover potential benefits

【推荐1】Children’s Museum of Indianapolis

It’s the largest children’s museum in the world. Here, kids and their parents can learn about dinosaurs, ancient Greece, outer-space objects, and much more. In 2018, the museum opened the Riley Children’s Health Sports Legends Experience, where kids can play while learning about the history and culture of sports.

Apollo Mission Control Center

In 1985, it was regarded as a National Historic Landmark. Work began in 2017 to restore it to perfect condition. And now you can visit it firsthand, learning about the engineers, flight controllers, and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the moon landing a reality. The team at the center hosts events about space every day of the year, for kids as young as 4.

Deichman Biblo Toyen

It is one of the coolest libraries. This striking library for only children aged 10 to 15 was designed to inspire. With many colorful exhibits and surprises, each section offers visitors a perfect experience. For those who have just come with a good book to read, there’re plenty of comfortable spots to do so.

Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center

Since it opened in 2018, it has helped kids and other visitors understand and appreciate the food on their tables. It partners with nearby Grotegut Dairy Farm (奶牛场), which bridges the gap between the center and real-world dairy operation. Visitors can take a bus tour of the farm to see it in action. And when any of Grotegut’s cows is ready to have a baby, it’s brought to Farm Wisconsin’s birthing center, where visitors are able to watch it all. But there’s no guarantee that a birth will happen during your visit.

1. What can be learnt about Children’s Museum of Indianapolis?

A．It has a large collection of ancient works.

B．It encourages children to play more freely.

C．It concerns children’s sports education.

D．It’s based on Apollo Mission Control Center.

2. What can visitors do in Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center?

A．Milk the cows.

B．Have outdoor experiences.

C．Make cheeses.

D．Feed a baby cow.

3. Which is meant to inspire kids to read ?

A．Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

B．Apollo Mission Control Center.

C．Deichman Biblo Toyen.

D．Farm Wisconsin Discovery Center.

【推荐2】Thanksgiving Day is special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.

Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the Pilgrims from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.

The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast. The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.

In time, other colonies began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbours. But the Canadian thanks-giving Day falls on the second Monday in October.

1. The first to celebrate thanksgiving were____.

A．some people from England	B．the American Indians
C．Sarah Josepha Hale	D．Governor Bradford

2. We can infer from the passage that New England must be ____.

A．in the U. S. A.	B．in Great Britain
C．in Canada	D．on some island off the Atlantic

3. Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Thanksgiving Day used to be a holiday to celebrate a good harvest.

B．Abraham Lincoln was not the first to decide on thanksgiving celebrations.

C．Thanksgiving Day is celebrated to express the American and Indian people’s thanks to God.

D．There’s little difference between the American way and the Canadian way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.

4. The passage mainly tells us ____.

A．how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the U. S. A.

B．how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated

C．that Thanksgiving Day is in fact a harvest holiday

D．how the way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places

【推荐3】The Children’s Library is currently offering pick-up service. Customers may tell us your requests for any books or movies over the telephone by calling(561)655-2776, on Mondays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Customers can click here to browse our available titles. Limits on requests are 15 per family. Pick-up time is 10 a.m, to noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays of the same week when requests are made. Please note some items listed as available may become unavailable before your order is filled.

Once a request is made, library staff will call you to confirm your request, and reserve pick-up time for Tuesday or Thursday between 10 a.m. and noon. When arriving for pick-up, customers are asked to “drive-through” the Rovensky staff parking lot, attached to the building which houses the Children’s Library. On arrival, call our Children’s Library to let them know you are here and a staff member will place your bag. Please remain in your vehicle. Please place all returns in our book drop.

The Children’s Library offers a variety of programs throughout the year, including Preschool Story Time, Family Story Time and special events. Programs for children in kindergarten and higher grades are offered during the season, November through April, on selected weekdays. Children are invited to borrow books, use iPads, play games, build with blocks and enjoy special programs at no charge.

Children of all ages, newborn through 17, must always be accompanied by an adult while in the Children’s Library. Likewise, all adults must be accompanied by a child.

1. When can customers make a call to tell their requests?

A．1: 00 a.m., Monday.

B．10: 30 a.m., Monday.

C．10: 30 a.m., Tuesday.

D．11: 30 a.m., Thursday.

2. What rules shall customers follow when visiting the library?

A．Pay a fee to use an iPad.

B．Offer programs for children.

C．Take fewer than 15 family members.

D．Drive to the staff-only parking lot.

3. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A notice.

B．brochure.

C．A newspaper.

D．A webpage.