【推荐1】A sense of humor is something highly valued. A person who has a great sense of humor is often considered to be happy and socially confident. However, humor is a double-edged sword. Sometimes it can damage self-respect and annoy others.

People who use bonding humor tell jokes and generally lighten the mood. They're thought to be good at reducing the tension in uncomfortable situations. They often make fun of their common experiences, and sometimes they may even laugh off their own misfortunes. The basic message they deliver is: We're all alike, we find the same things funny, and we're all in this together.

Put-down humor, on the other hand, is an aggressive type of humor used to criticize others through teasing. When it's aimed against politicians, as it often is, it's extremely funny and mostly harmless. But in the real world, it may have a harmful effect. An example of such humor is telling friends an embarrassing story about another friend. When challenged about their teasing, the put-down jokers might claim that they are "just kidding," thus allowing themselves to avoid responsibility. This type of humor, though considered by some people to be socially acceptable, may hurt the feelings of the one being teased and thus have a bad effect on personal relationships.

Finally, in hate-me humor, the joker is the target of the joke for the amusement of others. This type of humor was used by comedians John Belushi and Chris Farley—both of whom suffered for their success in show business. A small amount of such humor is charming, but routinely offering oneself up to be embarrassed destroys one's self-esteem, and fosters depression and anxiety.

So it seems that being funny isn't necessarily an indicator of good social skills and well-being. In certain cases, it may actually have a negative effect on interpersonal relationships.

1. In bonding humor, people create a relaxing atmosphere by ________.

A．joking about experiences they share

B．showing their personal relationships

C．teasing experiences of their friends

D．laughing at other's misfortunes

2. Which of the following is among the common targets of put-down humor?

A．Comedians.	B．Jokers.
C．Politicians.	D．Actors.

3. In the passage, the author mainly conveys ________.

A．humor can be classified into three kinds

B．humor has its bright side and dark side

C．humor deserves to be studied

D．humor is highly valued

【推荐2】Dear 2020,

Goodbye! You have been a long year. I have felt your effect in many ways. I can say that I’ve learned quite a few things somewhere within the eternity of your 12 months.

One of the things I’ve learned is to cherish the time I spend with others. I often think of our lives before quarantine (隔离), the simple pleasures, such as going to grab a coffee with a friend or settling in for a movie night. I realize now that I took this time for granted. Looking back, these simple pleasures are the times I cherish the most.

I’ve also learned to appreciate the people around me. I now cherish my parents and appreciate their love and support more than ever before. I cherish my friends and their ability to make me laugh no matter the circumstances. And I’ve learned how to cherish myself. Spending months and months stuck in my home, I’ve had ample time to work on the person I am and gain a little more appreciation for my body and my mind.

Within the long months of quarantine, I have also found things to be grateful for. Personally, I’m thankful for the shows, movies and music that I’ve discovered, the creativity I’ve found in the world now that our doors are closed and our minds are open. Overall, most importantly, 2020, you have taught me how to look for the good hidden among the bad.

However, I won’t miss the goodbyes you have forced us to say or the losses that others have gone through. I won’t miss the darkness of you, 2020, and the great pain you have caused.

We have felt the lows and the highs and everything in between. We will feel the impact of you long after you end, but we will learn to live beyond it and grow into something better.

Goodbye, 2020. It is your time to end.

Sincerely,

A writer from the Clog

1. What was the most important thing did 2020 teach the author?

A．Cherish the time spent with others.

B．Realize the simple pleasures.

C．Appreciate the people around her.

D．Look for the good hidden in the evil.

2. What does the underlined word “ample” in Para. 3 probably mean?

A．Annual.

B．Enough.

C．Awesome.

D．Optional.

3. How was the author’s 2020?

A．She enjoyed it all the time.

B．She was sick of the stuck time.

C．She felt ups and downs.

D．She missed all the past in 2020.

4. What does this text mainly talk about?

A．The sufferings of 2020.

B．A farewell to 2020.

C．A regret in 2020.

D．The expectations for 2021.

【推荐1】One day, a train was approaching the small town of Cheekyville. On the train was a young man with a big suitcase. He was called William Warbler, and he looked very common indeed. What made him most unusual, though, was the fact that whenever he needed to communicate he did it by singing opera (歌剧). It didn’t matter to William whether it was simply a matter of answering a brief greeting, like “good day”. He would clear his voice and respond, “Gooood dayyy to youuuuuuuu... toooooo!”
No one could get a normal spoken word out of him and no one knew how he made his living. As he lived quite simply, always wearing his same old second-hand suit, people often looked down on him.
William had been in Cheekyville for some years, when, one day, word spread round town like wildfire: William had played a role in a very important opera in the nation’s capital. Everyone in the capital went to see it, and it was a great success. Everyone in Cheekyville felt it was a surprise. But something more surprising was, when William was being interviewed by reporters, he answered their questions by speaking rather than singing. And he did it with great manners, and with a clear and pleasant voice.
From that day, William gave up singing at all hours. Now he did it only during his stage appearances and world tours. Some people suspected why he had changed, but others continued believing him to be somewhat mad. They wouldn’t have thought so if they had seen what William kept in his big suitcase. It was a large stone, with a hand-carved (手工雕刻的) message on it. The message said: “Practice, my boy. Practice every second, for you never know when your chance will come.”
Little did people realize that he only got the role in the opera because the director had heard William singing while out buying a newspaper.
1. Why did people in Cheekyville consider William strange?

A．He always carried a big suitcase.

B．He always spoke by singing opera.

C．He always greeted people gladly.

D．He always wore an old suit.

2. Hearing the news about William, people in Cheekyville felt it was _____.

A．unbelievable	B．satisfying
C．disappointing	D．interesting

3. According to the text, William _____.

A．had no idea whether he should continue doing something mad

B．was nervous and didn’t know how to sing when he was interviewed

C．was selling newspapers when the opera director heard him singing

D．practiced singing whenever possible before he became famous

4. What can we learn from the story?

A．Live and learn.

B．Better late than never.

C．Practice makes the master.

D．Experience is the best teacher.

【推荐2】April 2018, Manchester
My dearest daughter,

As I looked across at you sitting on the sofa watching The X Factor, I noticed that you are no longer a child, and that having just celebrated your 14th birthday, you are now a young woman starting a journey into becoming an adult woman. As I looked at you, I remembered myself at 14, and the vastly different places we are beginning this journey from.

Your identity as a mixed-race young woman, with an English father and a Pakistani mother, has already influenced how you place yourself in this world. Until now, you are unaware of the personal struggles that I took at the age of 25 to marry. How it felt when my mother refused to come to my wedding. The sharp criticisms of the Asian community that such marriages do not work out and always end in divorce. The confidence I had to grow, as we chose to live in a multicultural community, as I refused to be shamed into living in the leafier white suburbs.

Then, at the age of 30, I became your mum with all the joys and struggles this brought, as I refused the Asian traditions for a new baby's arrival. From your birth, your life could not have been more different from mine. I was brought up on a council estate, within a tight-knit extended Muslim family, through which poverty, racism and neglect were woven. I was never given the freedoms or the opportunity to experience new things. Now, as I hear you play your piano, I am grateful that you have these opportunities.

So many doors were closed to me as a young person, and as I fought for small steps of freedom, I soon learned that it was better to do what I wanted without the knowledge of my parents, and so deceit and deception(欺骗) became woven into my life too. The pressures to obey, to be a "good Muslim" girl and to keep the family honour were choking. Behind closed doors at home, the neglect and abuse took place. It was hidden; I felt the shame, lived with the fear and suffered alongside my sister and two younger brothers. Oh, the power we thought our parents had over us! I was convinced that one day my father would indeed beat us so hard that leaving us for dead, he would, as his threats said, bury us in the large back garden and tell the school he had taken us back to Pakistan for good. My sister and I longed for a different blue sky to live under.

As a daughter of immigrant parents, I carried their hopes of a better education for their children my own veins(血管) pulsing with the hard-work ethic(道德) and need to be grateful for the opportunity of a free education. And it was education that provided me with the strength to find my own blue sky. I fought to leave home to go to university at the age of 18, and never returned to live with my parents again.

Now as you explore your mixed-race heritage, which I hope we have supported you to do with visits to Pakistan and ensuring you go to multi-cultural schools, I want you to take the very best of all that is Asian with you as you become a woman.

The struggles of identity and belonging will come but I hope that we have given you a strong foundation from which to explore these struggles. All the opportunities and freedoms that I only dreamed of as a young woman, I have offered you. I have chosen a different path of loving you as my daughter, with an unconditional love that many consider "western".

I want you to know that although your journey has been vastly different. I am excited as I watch you standing on the threshold of becoming a woman for all the adventures and possibilities the future holds for you.

May you fly your blue sky with grace, confidence and hope as you find your place in this beautiful and crazy world.

Loving you now and always.

Mommy

1. Mommy's mother refused to attend her wedding probably because _____.

A．she married against the wishes of her family

B．she refused traditional Asian wedding ceremony

C．she would leave the family to settle in the white suburbs

D．she would bring shame to the multicultural community

2. By "your life could not have been more different from mine." Mommy means ______.

A．her childhood was no different from her daughter's

B．her parents treated her the way she does her daughter

C．her daughter experienced the same traditions at birth with her

D．her daughter can enjoy the opportunities which she didn’t

3. What can be inferred from Mommy's Muslim family life?

A．She behaved like a good Muslim girl.	B．She fought against her Muslim identity.
C．She suffered much abuse in the family.	D．She was forced to drop out of school.

4. Mommy sends her daughter to multi-cultural schools to _____.

A．provide her daughter with more opportunities and freedoms

B．increase her daughter's exposure to different cultures

C．encourage her daughter to grow up to be a better woman

D．ensure her daughter more opportunities to visit Pakistan

5. Mommy writes the letter mainly to _____.

A．uncover the sufferings she had as a teenage girl

B．criticize the social prejudice in her community

C．emphasize the importance of family support

D．encourage her daughter to try to achieve her dream

【推荐2】Politeness is the practical application of good manners, the goal of which is to make all of the parties relaxed and comfortable. It's a flexible management of words and actions, by which we make other people have a better opinion of us and themselves. It seeks to build a positive relationship.     1    .

However, in the rush of daily life being polite is social behavior that we find rare nowadays.     2    . They don’t even take the time to look around. This has led to the loss of simple social rules some might take for granted and that are particularly powerful.

    3    , people become less and less attentive to others’ feelings, for human interaction (互动) is almost lost. Take for instance the rudeness we tolerate when a person is looking at his phone when talking to us.

Being polite is not just a simple social elegance.     4    . These days “Please” and “Thank You” are forgotten. And not many people are aware that these two simple words can easily open or close any door to us. Unfortunately, they often forget to say these words.

Hope is not lost. There are many ways we can improve our behavior to achieve skills in politeness. There are simple things we can do to be considered as a polite and well-mannered person.    5    , they will respect you back. Just make a change in our behavior to start. Use simple words like “Excuse me”, “Please”, and “Thank you” every day. Be kind to receive kindness. Care and politeness will get you far in all aspects of life.

A．As technology progresses

B．People have become more self-absorbed

C．As long as you show your politeness for people

D．Since for many people being polite remains a challenge

E．Many languages have specific means to show politeness

F．It aims to respect a person’s need to be liked and understood

G．It’s also about being kind, caring and respectful to another person

【推荐3】Teamwork is all about working together to achieve a common goal or purpose. Is teamwork out of date? Why is it so hard to effectively conduct teamwork in those things?
One way we employ teamwork in everyday lives is by becoming a parent. It is a parent's job to teach their children and the basic skills and give them the knowledge they need to be successful in life. For example, the mother teaches her children manners and good health skills, while the father teaches them how to catch a ball or drive a car. However, in today's society, we find that more and more parents are experiencing that the teamwork is a one-sided thing. According to a report, there are 13.7 million single parents raising their children in the US and this could be due to the fact that parents don't take responsibility for their children, so they leave one parent to do it alone. This is a sad fact, but it reflects that effective teamwork is losing ground in the parenting aspect of our everyday lives.
Another place where teamwork affects us greatly is in our jobs. It doesn't matter if you are a small or large company; if you have at least one employee and yourself, then teamwork will be present. I have noticed that with the current economic recession（衰退期）, people are racing to grab jobs but the quality of people's work has gone down greatly. It just appears to me that people do not take pride in their work any more. They want to get to work as fast as they can, just to receive the paycheck, but their quality standards fly right out the window. So I think teamwork is losing its ground in the workforce. There are too many people who want to work independently and forget they are a part of a team.
As you can see, we run into the aspects of teamwork in just about everything we do. Do you believe teamwork is really losing ground in today's society? I think it is.
1. Why does teamwork disappear in the parenting aspect of our daily life?

A．Parents have no time to spare with their children.

B．Parents have no chances to teach their children about it.

C．Many children are often brought up by a single parent.

D．Many children are independent to deal with their matters.

2. Teamwork is losing ground in workforce mainly because          -

A．workers don't like to work together with others

B．workers' sense is affected by economic recession

C．workers want to prove they are more capable

D．fewer workers are employed to save money

3. The author wants us to believe his opinion by_ _．

A．listing some data

B．giving some examples

C．asking some questions

D．analyzing some cases

4. The underlined phrase "fly right out the window" in Paragraph 3 means_______ .

A．disappear	B．improve
C．increase	D．matter

【推荐1】Zoo elephants don’t live as long as those in the wild, according to a study sure to cause debate about keeping the giant animals on display. Researchers compared the life spans of elephants in European zoos with those living in Amboseli National Park in Kenya and others working on a timber enterprise in Buma. Animals in the wild or in natural working conditions had life expectancies twice than or more of their relatives in zoos.
Animal care activists have urged in recent years to discourage keeping elephants in zoos, largely because of the lack of space and small numbers of animals that can be kept in a group.
The researchers found that the median life span for African elephants in European zoos was 16.9 years, compared with 56 years for elephants who died of natural causes in Kenya’s Amboseli Park. Adding in those elephants killed by people in Africa lowered the median life expectancy there to 35.9 years. For the more endangered Asian elephants, the median life span in European zoos was 18.9 years, compared with 41.7 years for those working in the Burma Timber Enterprise. Median means half died younger than that age and half lived longer.
There is some good news, though. The life expectancies of zoo elephants have improved in recent years, suggesting an improvement in their care and raising, but “Protecting elephants in Africa and Asia is far more successful than protecting them in Western zoos.”
There are about 1,200 elephants in zoos, half in Europe, researchers concentrated on female elephants, which make up 80 percent of the zoo population. One amazing thing was that Asian elephants born in zoos had shorter life spans that those brought to the zoos from the wild.
Zoos usually lack large areas that elephants are used to in the wild, and that zoo animals often are alone or with one or two other unrelated animals, while in the wild they tend to live in related groups of 8 to 12 animals. In Asian elephants, baby death rates are two to three times higher in zoos than in the Burmese logging camps, and then, in adulthood, zoo-born animals die young. People are not sure why.
1. What is argued about in this passage?

A．Zoo elephants don’t live as long as those in the wild.

B．Elephants should not be on display.

C．Asian elephants are in danger.

D．Asia is far more successful in protecting elephants in zoos.

2. What does the underlined word “median” mean according to the passage?

A．Average

B．Longest.

C．Shortest.

D．Ordinary.

3. Which of the following is Not the disadvantage of keeping elephants in zoos?

A．Limited number of relatives.	B．Lack of space.
C．Shorter life expectancy.	D．Less attention.

4. Who are expected to pay more attention to the issue addressed?

A．Zoologists.	B．Animal care activists.
C．Zoo visitors.	D．The public.

【推荐2】Green skin is common in science fiction, but what if green skin were not just for aliens? It humans had green skin, what if it granted us the ability to perform photosynthesis (光合作用), which plants use to live off of sunlight?

Let's analyze what science says about it and ask award-winning science-fiction author John Scalzi what he thinks.

Plants can live off of photosynthesis because they grow broad, flat leaves to harvest as much light as possible, They also need less energy because they are far less active than animals.

According to Lindsay Turnbull, a plant ecologist at the University of Oxford, if the skin of a woman were photosynthetic like a leaf, the amount of surface area she had would satisfy only 1% of her daily energy requirements to survive. For a photosynthesizing woman to meet her energy demands, she would need a lot more skin-about a tennis courts worth, Turnbull estimated.

In addition, photosynthesis requires carbon dioxide. Plants have pores(毛孔)that they use to supply the gas to their cells. If photosynthetic humans had chloroplasts(叶绿体), they might need porous skin to let in carbon dioxide, but such pores might let other things leak in or out-for instance, moisture(水分)-in ways that might prove harmful to the human body.

One might wonder if photosynthetic people might prefer moving to sunny climates. Although such people might receive a small increase from photosynthesis if they moved to a desert area, they would likely base other resource issues to deal with, such as a lack of water. Scalzi said. “There's always going to be trade-offs(平衡).” he noted.

And would photosynthetic humans prefer hole or no clothing to absorb all those rays? In some photosynthetic societies, clothing might become a symbol of the elite- a sign they get enough energy from food and do not need photosynthesis. You can imagine them saying. "I'm rich, so I can cover up." Scalzi said.

So would Scalzi want photosynthetic skin for himself? "Probably not.” he said. “I don’t see the benefit from it being so great that I would completely change the way I’d look to benefit from it.”

1. Why can't humans live off of photosynthesis according to Lindsay Turnbull?

A．Because we are less active.	B．Because we wear clothes.
C．Because we don’t have green skin.	D．Because our skin area is not large enough.

2. If photosynthetic humans had pores, what would be the disadvantage?

A．They would absorb too much CO2.

B．They would release some useful substances.

C．They would be too small for human beings.

D．They would keep gases from entering the human body.

3. What might be the reason why Scalzi says no to photosynthetic skin for himself?

A．He was too conservative to accept that.

B．He wouldn't like to move to sunny climates.

C．He believed there were more risks than benefits.

D．He thought clothing was simply a symbol of upper class.

4. How does the author support the theme of the text?

A．By providing research results.	B．By describing a process.
C．By making classifications.	D．By following the time order.

【推荐3】The United States Capitol Dome in Washington, D.C., is recognized around the world as a symbol of the U.S. government. Since last November, the dome has been surrounded by metal poles, or scaffolding(脚手架), and heavy cloth as part of a repair project.

The last major repair work on the U.S. Capitol took place in 1960. Since then, the dome has become weathered and worn. The Architect of the Capitol group reports the dome has more than 1,000 narrow breaks in its surface and other damage.

The dome was completed around 1863. U.S. Senate Historian Don Ritchie says the dome’s cast iron frame(铸铁钢架) is at special risk of weathering. “The capitol dome, being cast iron, has been hit by lightning countless times. And so the present construction(=building) is to repair the leaks, to fill in the cracks, to take off unnecessary layers of paint.”

Workers are removing old paint. They covered a large part of the building in plastic and a special cloth to protect workers from the wind and other elements. Much of the work is done at night, when lawmakers are not in the building.

Some recent visitors to the Capitol were unhappy about its present appearance. They had hoped to get a picture of the usually shining dome. Joyce said, “It was dramatic, and very fantastic, and all white, but when I come here today, it is under construction so my family cannot see it clearly. It is kind of a disappointment.”

Others were more understanding of the repairs. Rick Jones, another visitor, said, “It’s a little inconvenient for us not to see the dome but you have to think about the future and the people will be coming to this place for centuries...and you know, there just needs to be preventive maintenance(保养). I am not upset with that at all.”

The project is expected to take more than two years to complete. The dome should be ready for the inauguration of a new president in January 2017.

1. We can learn from the passage that the United States Capitol Dome is ______.

A．worn by exposure to the weather

B．surrounded by many repair projects

C．well kept and in excellent condition

D．regarded as a symbol of the U.K. government

2. According to Don Ritchie, the present repair work involves ______.
a. stopping the leaks
b. changing the frame
c. removing the old paints
d. replacing the lights e. filling the narrow breaks

A．abc	B．bcd
C．bde	D．ace

3. Which of the following can describe the recent visitors to the Capitol Dome?

A．They could get a clear look at the dome.

B．They were impressed by the white dome’s fantastic beauty.

C．They held different views on the Capitol’s current appearance.

D．They were all disappointed at the sight of the Capitol building.

4. The underlined word “inauguration” in the last paragraph most probably means _____.

A．tour	B．taking office
C．interview	D．taking photos