【推荐1】At 81 years old, Jeanne Daprano is still pushing her body to the limit. She’s still running competitive races, breaking world records and taking on new challenges.“The thing I’m learning about aging is that it’s inevitable,” Daprano said.“I’m not going to escape it. There are two ways to go:You can either press on or give up.”

Daprano grew up in Iowa. Then, she moved to California. As a primary school teacher, she began running in order to keep up with her student.“I was known as a running teacher,” she said.“I had my students do fitness before we studied in the morning and then throughout the day.”Then she began running competitively with 5K and 10K road races before moving to the track. She is now the world record holder in the women’s 75-year-old age group 400 meters and 800 meters. “When I get to the final fi nish line, I want this body to be worn out. I’m not doing this to live to be 100. I’m doing this to be the best I can be today.”

After moving to Atlanta about a decade ago, Daprano met fitness trainer David Buer. Ever since, she’s been coming to his gym, where he tailors workouts for Daprano’s specifc needs.“When she came to me, she was pushing 70 years old,”Buer said.“I’ve worked with other individuals of Jeanne’s age, but she came to me with different goals. She had a unique drive and passion—not just a passion for fitness or athletics but for life in general.”

Last February, Daprano took on a new challenge: her first indoor rowing competition. In classic fashion, she broke the world record in the 80-to-84 age group, rowing 2,000 meters in 9:23:7. For those hoping to either start getting in shape or stay in shape for a long time, she offers this advice: Listen to your body. What are you passionate about? How are you going to keep physically fit and mentally fit? Start where you are. Don’t look ahead or compare yourself to somebody else.

1. What does the underlined word“inevitable” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Invisible.

B．Abnormal.

C．Impossible.

D．Unavoidable.

2. Daprano started her life as a runner when ________.

A．working at a primary school	B．taking fitness training classes
C．volunteering in a 5K road race	D．moving to Atlanta

3. What might be Buer’s first impression of Daprano?

A．She was a qualified teacher.	B．She was an unusual woman.
C．She was too old to run a race.	D．She was hard to get along with.

4. What does Daprano suggest we do?

A．Run right now.	B．Live and learn.
C．Follow your heart.	D．Be a good listener.

【推荐2】Almost every machine with moving parts has wheels, yet no one knows exactly when the first wheel was invented or what it was used for. We do know, however, that they existed over 5,500 years ago in ancient Asia.

The oldest known transport wheel was discovered in 2002 in Slovenia. It is over 5,100 years old. Evidence suggests that wheels for transport didn’t become popular for a while, though. This could be because animals did a perfectly good job of carrying farming tools and humans around.   

But it could also be because of a difficult situation. While wheels need to roll on smooth surfaces, roads with smooth surfaces weren’t going to be constructed until there was plenty of demand of them. Eventually, road surfaces did become smoother, but this difficult situation appeared again a few centuries later. There had been no important changes in wheel and vehicle design before the arrival of modern road design.

In the mid-1700s, a Frenchman came up with a new design of road—a base layer of large stones covered with a thin layer of smaller stones. A Scotsman improved on this design in the 1820s and a strong, lasting road surface became a reality. At round the same time, metal hubs (the central part of a wheel) came into being, followed by the pneumatic tyre (充气轮胎) in 1846. Alloy wheels were invented in 1967, sixty years after the appearance of tarmacked roads (柏油路). As wheel design took off, vehicles got faster and faster.

1. What might explain why transport wheel didn’t become popular for some time?

A．Few knew how to use transport wheels.

B．Humans carried farming tools just as well.

C．Animals were a good means of transport.

D．The existence of transport wheels was not known.

2. What do we know about road design from the passage?

A．It was easier than wheel design.

B．It imported after big changes in vehicle design.

C．It was promoted by fast-moving vehicles.

D．It provided conditions for wheel design to develop.

3. How is the last paragraph mainly developed?

A．By giving examples.	B．By making comparisons.
C．By following time order.	D．By making classifications.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The beginning of road design.	B．The development of transport wheels.
C．The history of public transport.	D．The invention of fast-moving vehicles.

【推荐3】Baseball developed gradually from a number of different ball-and-stick games originating in England. As early as the American Revolution, it was noted that troops played “base ball” in their free time. In 1845 Alexander Cartwright formalized the New York Knickerbocker’ version of the game.

The “New York Game” spread rapidly, replacing earlier localized forms. From its beginnings, baseball was seen as a way of satisfying the recreational needs of an increasingly urban-industrial society. At its beginning it was played by and for wealthy gentlemen. A club might consist of 40 members. The president would appoint two captains who would choose teams from among the members. Games were played on Monday and Thursday afternoons, with the losers often providing an expensive evening’s entertainment for the winners.

During the 1850-1870 period the game was changing, however, with increasing commercialism, under-the-table payments to outstanding players, and gambling(赌博) on the outcome of games. Beginning with the first openly all-salaried team (Cincinnati’s Red Stocking Club) in 1869, the 1870-1890 period saw the complete professionalization of baseball, including formation of the National Association of Professional Baseball Players in 1871. The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs was formed in 1876, run by business-minded investors in joint-stock company(股份公司) clubs. The 1880s has been called Major League Baseball’s “Golden Age”. Profits rocketed, players’ salaries rose somewhat, a season of 84 games became one of 132, a weekly periodical “The sporting News” came into being, wooden stadiums replaced open fields, and the standard refreshment became hot dogs, soda pop and peanuts. In 1900 the Western League based in the growing cities of the Midwest declared itself the American League.

1. What is the text mainly about?

A．The original rules of baseball.

B．The commercialization of baseball.

C．The influence of the “New York Game” on baseball.

D．The development of baseball in the nineteenth century.

2. What can we learn about the “New York Game” at its beginning?

A．The game was played twice a week.

B．A baseball team might consist of 40 members.

C．The winners would get rewarded by the president.

D．The president would choose teams from among the member.

3. What do we know about the baseball game during the 1850-1870 period?

A．The game became completely professional.

B．People bet on the result of games.

C．The game came into a “Golden Age”.

D．Most baseball players got extra incomes.

4. During the 1880s, the baseball games _____.

A．were played in wooden stadiums

B．were reported by a daily sporting newspaper

C．were played less in a league season

D．were controlled by famous investors

【推荐1】On the morning of 19 April 1966, a hooded figure was hiding in the bushes near the start line of the Boston Marathon. When the gun went off to start the race, the mysterious person allowed the faster competitors to pass before joining the main group of runners. It wasn’t long before the others noticed that their new companion was a woman.

The infiltrator(渗入者) was 23-year-old graduate Roberta ’Bobbi’ Gibb, an experienced runner who had had her application to run denied on the grounds that the Boston Marathon was a Men’s Division race only. Her rejection letter categorically stated: Women aren’t allowed and furthermore are not physiologically able. Having run up to 30 miles a day nearly every day for the two years leading up to the race, Gibb knew that this was not true. She decided it was time attitudes towards women changed, and bought a bus ticket to Boston.

Contrary to her father’s fears that she would get hurt in the race, Gibb’s male counterparts showed her nothing but kindness. Once reporters got wind of her participation, the radio began broadcasting news of her progress. Encouraged by adrenalin and the delighted spectators, Gibb was heading for an under three-hour time for the best part of the course, but then she began running out of steam. Starved of food and water, her legs began to falter, and her feet became almost too painful to run on. If she hadn’t known that dropping out would have set women’s running back 20 or 30 years, she may not have completed the course. However, the cheering crowds on the last leg of the course succeeded in lifting her spirits, and she sprinted to the finish in a very respectable time of just under three hours and 22 minutes.

On finishing the race, Gibb was treated as a hero: she was met by the governor of Massachusetts, her parents were interviewed, newspapers ran articles on her and she was invited to a TV game show. More importantly for her, she had broken the stereotype that women didn’t run marathons. She began getting calls from inspired women who had taken up running themselves, and in 1967 a second female runner competed in the Boston Marathon alongside Gibb. The following year there were five female entrants, and by 1972, the rules had been changed to allow women to compete in all US marathons. However, by then, if you had asked anyone who was the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, they would have given you a completely different name: Kathy Switzer.

Twenty-year-old journalist Kathrine Switzer shot to fame after competing against Gibb in the 1967 Boston Marathon. On discovering Switzer had entered the race by pretending to be a man, race director Jock Semple tried to physically remove her, and it was this image of Switzer being attacked while running that stuck in people’s minds. Switzer continued running, finishing second in the 1975 Boston Marathon. Moreover, she became a successful media personality. It took Gibb decade of writing letters to magazines, TV stations and book publishers to set the record straight. But in the end, she succeeded in gaining her due recognition and was retroactively awarded first-place medals for her 1966, 1967 and 1968 races.

1. The woman is hiding in the bushes __________.

A．to cheer on the best participants

B．so as not to be seen at the starting line.

C．in order to watch the race unfold

D．so that she has a better view of the field

2. What ultimately drove Gibb to finish the race?

A．She didn’t want her plan to backfire(发生意外).

B．She wanted her parents to be proud of her.

C．She wasn’t willing to disappoint the crowd.

D．She couldn’t take the shame of failure.

3. What does the writer mean when he describes Gibb’s running time as ’respectable’?

A．He thinks she could have done better.

B．He considers it a standard to aim at.

C．He regards it as a good time.

D．He can’t believe she ran so well.

4. What does the reader discover about Gibb in the fourth paragraph?

A．Her reputation grew as the years went by.

B．She was corrupted by fame.

C．She became a household name.

D．Her glory was short-lived

【推荐2】Every two years, the International Olympic Committee (IOC)selects a city to host the Olympic Games. It’s always very exciting. The application process is very long, slow, and difficult. Cities that apply need to work very hard.

Phase I—Applicant cities

The IOC starts the application process nine years before the Olympic Games. First the IOC invites national Olympic committees to apply to host the Games. The IOC then holds a meeting for people from the national Olympic committees of cities that have decided to apply. About one year later, the IOC selects several cities on the basis of government support, safety, hotels, transportation, etc. after they are selected; the cities are required to pay a fee of around US $500，000 if they want to continue the application process. Cities that decide to continue are then called candidate cities(候选城市).

Phase Ⅱ—Candidate Cities

In the first step of Phase II, the IOC gives candidate cities an application process guide and list of questions. Candidate cities must first answer the questions. Next, the cities must hand in the candidature file. This file explains in detail the city’s plans to host the Olympic Games. The IOC reads the candidature file. Several months later, people from the IOC take a trip to the candidate cities. After viewing the cities, they write reports about them for the IOC. Finally, two years after the process began, the IOC holds a special meeting. It is there that they announce their selection for the host city, seven years before the Olympic Games will begin.

1. How many years will the application process begin before the start of the Olympic Games?

A．Four years.	B．Seven years.
C．Nine years.	D．Five years.

2. What aspects should a city consider when it applies for hosting the Olympic Games?

A．Transportation, safety and beauty.	B．Safety, history and transportation.
C．Hotels, safety and transportation.	D．History, hotels and beauty.

3. What does the candidature file explain in detail?

A．Events of the Olympic Games.

B．Plans for hosting the Olympic Games.

C．The Olympic host city application process.

D．The culture of the candidate cities.

【推荐3】The bristlecone pine is the longest-living thing on the earth. These trees, with their strangely-shaped, wind-beaten limbs(枝干), can live up to 5000 years. But experts worry that a warming climate in some areas may threaten its future.

Researchers say warmer weather is permitting a similar kind of tree, the limber pine, to take over good growing places from the ancient bristlecone. They say the tree is being crowded out of mountainous areas where it grows.

“The bristlecone pine is the oldest individually growing organism,” researchers say. They grow in high mountain forests in eastern California, Nevada and Utah. In those mountains, the trees face high winds and extreme temperatures, which leave them with twisted limbs and shapes. “Even in such tough conditions,” Brian Smithers, a researcher at the University of California, said, “the limber pine is taking all the good spots.”

The limber pine is the bristlecone’s distant relative and competitor. It can also live a long time-up to 2000 years. And it is usually found at lower altitudes, where temperatures are warmer. However, according to a three-year study which centered on trees that have started growing in the last 50 years in California’s White Mountains, most of the trees growing at higher altitudes were limber pines.

Scientists compared the competing species to two old men in a very slow race up a mountainside. This race between such slow-growing trees takes thousands of years. They say climate change is causing the competition.

Smithers said the bristlecone pines are not in danger of disappearing. But he assumes they could be crowded out of some places where they have grown for thousands of years.

The researchers say the findings show how climate change can affect the two kinds of trees. The information, they say, can help scientists understand more complex forests.

1. What’s the function of Paragraph 1?

A．To introduce a topic.	B．To summarize the whole passage.
C．To describe the appearance of a tree.	D．To praise the hard work of the experts.

2. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．There will be older trees sent out of those mountains.

B．There will be more places covered with bristlecone pines.

C．There will be better limber pines replacing the ancient ones.

D．There will be fewer bristlecone pines growing in those areas.

3. According to the passage,the reason why limber pines can grow at higher altitudes is_________.

A．the high winds

B．the changing climate

C．the difficult conditions

D．the extreme temperatures

4. What is the researchers’ attitude towards the future of the bristlecone pine?

A．Positive.

B．Negative.

C．Concerned.

D．Enthusiastic.

【推荐1】Salad plants have already been grown in old shelters and tunnels. Urban farming is a regular topic of interest at places like the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, where leaders consider whether the world's food system, blamed for causing both obesity and malnutrition, can be fixed. There are already plenty of urban farming projects around the world, particularly in the US, Japan and the Netherlands, from urban fish and plant farms to vertical farming.

“It's becoming an expanding industry,” said Richard Ballard, one of the founders of the farm Growing Underground. “There're several other businesses starting up in London in containers, and there are other vertical farms around the country now.”

Growing Underground is not a standard farm. The rows of crops could be in almost any tunnel, but these plants are 100 feet below Clapham High Street and show that urban agriculture is, in some cases at least, not a fad. The underground farm has occupied a part of the Second World War air-raid shelters for nearly five years, and Ballard is planning to expand into the rest of the space later this year.

Growing Underground supplies herb and salad mixes to grocery shops, supermarkets and restaurants. Being in London creates an advantage, Ballard says, as they can harvest and deliver in an hour.

He adds other advantages. Being underground means temperatures never go below 15℃ surface greenhouses need to be heated. They can do more harvests: 60 crops a year, compared with about seven in a traditional farm. Electricity to power the lights is a major cost, but the company believes renewable energy will become cheaper.

Similar British companies include the Jones Food Company in Lincolnshire, while in the US AeroFarms has several projects in New Jersey, and Edenworks in Brooklyn.

1. What do we know about urban farming?

A．It leads to a healthier lifestyle.	B．It is rarely discussed at the WEF.
C．Different farming methods are used.	D．Local governments pay efforts to develop it.

2. Which of the following best explains "a fad" underlined in Paragraph 3?

A．A dream that's easy to realize.	B．A field controlled for a long time.
C．An approach to a serious problem.	D．A fashion that’s popular for a short time.

3. What can we learn about the underground farm?

A．It is more productive than a traditional farm.	B．It provides food directly to the customers.
C．Its major products are herbs and salads.	D．It uses less energy than a greenhouse.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Current food system causes health problems

B．Growing Underground attracts more people

C．Traditional farming will be replaced soon

D．Urban farming is still thought costly and time-consuming

【推荐2】Three divers enter a hole leading to a water-filled cave on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. They swim for an hour. Finally, they reach a large room 60 feet underground and about the size of two basketball courts. Here, they discover an upside-down human skull. Other bones lie nearby.

The team came across the skull in 2007. The divers then told the Mexican government about the finding. Soon the government formed a team of scientists to look into it. The group, which included archaeologist Dominique Rissolo, believed that the skull belonged to someone who lived in the last ice age. At the ice age some twenty thousand years ago, sea levels dropped and new land appeared. Over time, rain and wind ate holes into some of the land.

"The person may have died after entering the cave," Rissolo says. Then, when the ice age ended some ten thousand years ago, sea levels rose. Water flooded the cave, covering the remains.

Worrying that moving the skull might destroy it, scientists decided to examine it at its watery resting place. They collected information about the skull and other pieces of bones. They found that the bones belonged to a 15- to 17-year-old girl who lived at least twelve thousand years ago. The team named her after a type of water nymph (仙女) in Greek myths: the Naiads (Naia).

Naia is the oldest nearly complete human skeleton (骨架) ever found in the Americas. DNA tests showed that she's a direct ancestor of present-day Native Americans. Naia's DNA also matches with people native to Siberia, a part of Russia. Scientists have long thought that ancient people from this area arrived in Alaska during the last ice age. They were the first humans to live in the Americas. And Naia proves how far south they went.

In 2014 the scientists decided to bring up Naia's skull from the cave to protect it from curious divers. So it was taken to a lab, where it remains today.

1. What can we learn about the skull?

A．It was left alone in the cave.

B．It lay under a basketball court.

C．It drew the government's attention.

D．It was discovered by three scientists.

2. Why was the skull studied in the cave?

A．Scientists tried to protect it.

B．The temperature was fine in there.

C．It was against the law to take it out.

D．It would help scientists study the cave.

3. Who were Naia's distant ancestors?

A．Early humans in Greece.

B．Early humans in Siberia.

C．Early humans in Alaska.

D．Early humans in Mexico.

【推荐3】Decision-making under Stress
A new review based on a research shows that acute stress affects the way the brain considers the advantages and disadvantages, causing it to focus on pleasure and ignore the possible negative (负面的) consequences of a decision.
The research suggests that stress may change the way people make choices in predictable ways.
“Stress affects how people learn,” says Professor Mara Mather. “People learn better about positive than negative outcomes under stress.”
For example, two recent studies looked at how people learned to connect images(影像) with either rewards or punishments. In one experiment, some of the participants were first stressed by having to give a speech and do difficult math problems in front of an audience; in the other, some were stressed by having to keep their hands in ice water. In both cases, the stressed participants remembered the rewarded material more accurately and the punished material less accurately than those who hadn’t gone through the stress.
This phenomenon is likely not surprising to anyone who has tried to resist eating cookies or smoking a cigarette while under stress –at those moments, only the pleasure associated with such activities comes to mind. But the findings further suggest that stress may bring about a double effect. Not only are rewarding experiences remembered better, but negative consequences are also easily recalled.
The research also found that stress appears to affect decision-making differently in men and women. While both men and women tend to focus on rewards and less on consequences under stress, their responses to risk turn out to be different.
Men who had been stressed by the cold-water task tended to take more risks in the experiment while women responded in the opposite way. In stressful situations in which risk-taking can pay off big, men may tend to do better, when caution weighs more, however, women will win.
This tendency to slow down and become more cautious when decisions are risky might also help explain why women are less likely to become addicted than men: they may more often avoid making the risky choices that eventually harden into addiction.
1. We can learn from the passage that people under pressure tend to ______.

A．keep rewards better in their memory

B．recall consequences more effortlessly

C．make risky decisions more frequently

D．learn a subject more effectively

2. According to the research, stress affects people most probably in their ______.

A．ways of making choices	B．preference for pleasure
C．tolerance of punishments	D．responses to suggestions

3. The research has proved that in a stressful situation, ______.

A．women find it easier to fall into certain habits

B．men have a greater tendency to slow down

C．women focus more on outcomes

D．men are more likely to take risks