【推荐1】Earthworms (蚯蚓) often lay on sidewalks or streets after a heavy spring rain, but why do they do this? Researchers give several reasons why heavy rain storms bring earthworms out of their soil homes.

For years scientists seemed to think the only reason earthworms came to the soil surface after a good rain was to prevent drowning in their water-filled homes. “This is not true as earthworms breathe through their skins and actually require wet in the soil to do so,” said Dr. Chris Lowe, lecturer in the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, United Kingdom. Earthworms are unable to drown, and they can even survive several days fully in water.

Soil experts now think earthworms surface during rain storms for the purpose of moving to another place. “It gives them a chance to move greater distances across the soil surface than through soil,” said Dr. Lowe. “They cannot do this when it is dry because of their requirements of wet in the air. "Certain earthworms surface to mate (交配), but only a few of the 4, 400 existing types, making it unlikely that mating is a primary reason for widespread surfacing.

Another explanation is that rain drop vibrations (振动) on the soil surface are similar to mole (鼹鼠) vibrations. Earthworms often come to the surface to escape them. “Rain can set up vibrations on top of the soil like mole vibrations,” said Professor Josef Gorres of the University of Vermont’s Department of Plant and Soil Science. “Similar to how earthworms move upwards when mole vibrations are felt.” Similarly, humans create vibrations when catching earthworms. To cheat earthworms out of their homes, fishermen run a piece of steel or a saw across the top of a stick, which causes a sound as the stick vibrates. Earthworms then move to the surface, much to the fishermen’s delight.

1. What do we know about earthworms from Paragraph 2?

A．They will drown in water.	B．They can’t breathe in the rain.
C．They breathe through skins.	D．They can always live in water.

2. Why do earthworms surface when it rains according to Dr. Lowe?

A．Because they want to travel longer.

B．Because there is more water inside.

C．Because there are more suitable mates.

D．Because there are fewer dangers on the ground.

3. Why does the author mention the fishermen in the last paragraph?

A．To show that they treat earthworms badly.

B．To provide evidence of earthworms escaping.

C．To explain why we seldom see earthworms now.

D．To show how people's behavior affects earthworms.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Why earthworms surface after rain.	B．All knowledge about earthworms.
C．How earthworms help people.	D．Why people love earthworms.

【推荐1】B
When her five daughters were young, Helene An always told them that there was strength in unity (团结). To show this, she held up one chopstick, representing oneperson. Then she easily broke it into two pieces. Next, she tied several chopsticks together, representing a family. She showed the girls it was hard to break the tied chopsticks. This lesson about family unity stayed with the daughters as they grew up.
Helene An and her family own a large restaurant business in California. However, when Helene and her husband Danny left their home in Vietnam in 1975, they didn't have much money. They moved their family to San Francisco. There they joined Danny's mother, Diana, who owned a small Italian sandwich shop. Soon afterwards, Helene and Diana changed the sandwich shop into a small Vietnamese restaurant. The five daughters helped in the restaurant when they were young. However, Helene did not want her daughters to always work in the family business because she thought it was too hard.
Eventually the girls all graduated from college and went away to work for themselves, but one by one, the daughters returned to work in the family business. They opened new restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Even though family members sometimes disagreed with each other, they worked together to make the business successful. Daughter Elisabeth explains, "Our mother taught us that to succeed we must have unity, and to have unity we must have peace. Without the strength of the family, there is no business."
Their expanding business became a large corporation in 1996, with three generations of Ans working together. Now the Ans' corporation makes more than $20 million each year. Although they began with a small restaurant, they had big dreams, and they worked together. Now they are a big success.
1. Helene tied several chopsticks together to show ______.

A．the strength of family unity

B．the difficulty of growing up

C．the advantage of chopsticks

D．the best way of giving a lesson

2. We can learn from Paragraph 2 that the Helene An family ______.

A．started a business in 1975

B．left Vietnam without much money

C．bought a restaurant in San Francisco

D．opened a sandwich shop in Los Angeles

3. What can we infer about the five daughters?

A．They did not finish their college education.

B．They could not bear to work in the family business.

C．They were influenced by what Helene taught them.

D．They were troubled by disagreement among family members.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A．How to Run a Corporation

B．Strength Comes from Peace

C．How to Achieve a Big Dream

D．Family Unity Builds Success

【推荐2】A team of scientists have studied thousands of species of birds to understand why there is so much diversity in the length of time they take to grow from a fertilized (受精的) egg into an independent adult. The study, published in Nature Communications, is the first one to consider the importance of lifestyle and environmental factors alongside evolutionary history and body size to explain the variation.

All organisms face a trade-off (交换) between reproducing and surviving and they solve this problem in different ways. The team found that migratory birds develop much quicker, which may ensure they are ready to return to their winter habitats at the end of each summer. Findings showed that birds that breed and live in safer environments with fewer predators typically took longer to develop, possibly because they can afford to spend longer since there is no danger or need to leave. They also found that bird species with a “live fast die young” strategy develop quicker, allowing them to maximize the number of offspring (后代) they can produce in the short time available. As expected, the research showed that bigger birds took longer to develop — but even among birds of a similar size there was variation in development times.

Dr. Chris Cooney, from the University of Sheffield’s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences and lead author of the research, said, “The amount of time it takes for a fertilized egg to develop into a fully grown adult varies hugely across the animal kingdom. For instance, it takes an elephant almost 10 years to reach independence, whereas a fruit fly is fully grown after only a matter of days. This extraordinary diversity is also prevalent within birds, where albatrosses (信天翁) can take almost a year to develop from an embryo (胚胎) to an independent adult, but a typical UK garden songbird (鸣禽) takes little more than a month. We found that certain aspects of a species’ lifestyle and environment are important in explaining how long they take to develop.”

The study on birds gives scientists some clues about the type of factors that may be important in other species. However, it may be that different factors are important for determining development length in other animal groups. Therefore, the next step is to address these questions using data that covers the whole scale of the animal kingdom — from fish to mammals to insects — to gain an even broader insight into the factors shaping these fundamental differences across species.

1. What does the study mainly focus on?

A．The number of bird species.	B．The changes of bird habitats.
C．The development length of birds.	D．The life span of birds.

2. What does the underlined word “prevalent” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Rare.

B．Common.

C．Special.

D．Strange.

3. What can we know from Dr. Chris Cooney’s words?

A．The development times vary with the species.

B．Size determines the speed of birds’ development.

C．Animals living in the same place develop at the same rate.

D．Bigger animals always grow more slowly than smaller ones.

4. Why will scientists use data covering the whole scale of the animal kingdom?

A．To study the cause of the species diversity.

B．To show the basic differences among species.

C．To explore the evolutionary history of animals.

D．To figure out other factors in development length.

【推荐3】Choosing to forget something might take more mental effort than trying to remember it, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin discovered through neuroimaging (神经成像).

These findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggest that in order to forget an unwanted experience, more attention should be focused on it. This surprising result continues previous research on intentional forgetting, which focused on reducing attention to the unwanted information through redirecting attention away from unwanted experiences or holding back the memory’s retrievals (恢复).

“We may want to get rid of memories that cause nonadaptive responses, such as upsetting memories, so that we can respond to new experiences in more adaptive ways,” said Jarrod Lewis-Peacock, the study’s senior author and an assistant professor of psychology at UT Austin. “Decades of research has shown that we have the ability to voluntarily forget something, but how our brains do that is still being questioned. Once we can figure out how memories are weakened and design ways to control this, we can design treatment to help people rid themselves of unwanted memories.”

Using neuroimaging to track patterns of brain activity, the researchers showed a group of healthy adults images of scenes and faces, instructing them to either remember or forget each image. Their findings not only confirmed that humans have the ability to control what they forget, but that successful intentional forgetting required “moderate (适中的) levels” of brain activity in these sensory and perceptual areas (感官区域)—more activity than what was required to remember.

“A moderate level of brain activity is critical to this forgetting mechanism. Too strong, and it will strengthen the memory; too weak, and you won’t change it,” said Tracy Wang, lead author of the study and a psychology postdoctoral fellow at UT Austin. “Importantly, it’s the intention to forget that increases the activation of the memory, and when this activation hits the ‘moderate level’ sweet spot, that’s when it leads to later forgetting of that experience.” The researchers also found that participants were more likely to forget scenes than faces, which can carry much more emotional information, the researchers said.

“We’re learning how these mechanisms in our brain respond to different types of information, and it will take a lot of further research and replication (重复) of this work before we understand how to control our ability to forget,” said Lewis-Peacock, who has begun a new study using neurofeedback to track how much attention is given to certain types of memories.

"This will make way for future studies on how we process, and hopefully get rid of, those really strong, sticky emotional memories, which can have a powerful effect on our health and well-being," Lewis-Peacock said.

1. Previous studies on intentional forgetting researched ______.

A．the pattern of brain activity

B．the process of recovering a memory

C．the way to reduce attention to unwanted information

D．the amount of attention required by intentional forgetting

2. According to Tracy Wang, forgetting is possible when ______.

A．people respond to new experiences in an adaptive way

B．the activation of the memory reaches a certain level

C．people have the strongest intention to forget

D．the information involves more emotion

3. Lewis continues his study to find out ______.

A．how to control people’s ability to forget

B．where to apply the findings of his team’s latest study

C．what effects upsetting memories have on people’s health

D．if different types of information requires different levels of attention

4. What is the best title of the article?

A．Where does forgetting take place?

B．How does attention affect memory?

C．Forgetting uses more brain power than remembering

D．Forgetting is far more difficult than we once imagined

【推荐1】The combination of day and night extreme heat will only get more frequent -and hotter-in the future.

There’s nothing like the cool relief of nightfall after a sweltering summer day. As the world warms, this natural balance may be shifting. New research suggests that a new trend is on the rise-extreme heat during the day followed by extreme heat overnight.

A study published this week in Nature Communications finds that these day/night extremes have become both hotter and more frequent since 1960. Across the Northern Hemisphere, they ’ve intensified(增强) by about 2 ½ degrees Fahrenheit, and they’re occurring about five days more frequently per year.

Continued warming will make it even worse, the research suggests. In a scenario involving around 3 degrees Celsius throughout the rest of the century (or about 5.5 F), these compound extremes will happen about four times more frequently than they do today(about eight days each summer).

That’s approximately the amount of warming the world is on track for today, experts say, if greenhouse gas emissions don’t start falling at a faster pace.

In the future, “a hot day accompanied by a hot night without relief for humans might be a ‘new norm,’ ” said study co-author Yang Chen of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in an email to E&E News. “These rapid increases are largely overlooked in previous studies. ”

Day and night extremes are more than just a matter of comfort, the authors say. They ’re also a potential threat to human health and natural landscapes.

The study didn’t directly examine human health impacts. But other research has suggested that prolonged exposure to extreme temperatures can worsen the odds of heat stroke or other heat-related illnesses, and can affect plant growth. Without the reprieve of a cool evening, living things may have less opportunity to recover from the effects of the daytime heat, the authors suggest.

“Current knowledge about combined daytime-nighttime hot extremes remains too sparse to inform development of type-specific adaptation and relief strategies,” the study says. “Overlooking this compounding effect may lead to serious underestimate of heat-induced consequences.”

1. Which statement of day and night extremes is true according to the study?

A．They’ve intensified by about 2 ½ ℉ and occur 5 days more frequently per year globally.

B．Their rapid increases have been paid much attention to by many researchers in their studies.

C．They won’t occur only if greenhouse gas emissions start falling during the daytime

D．Possibly they will happen about 32 days per summer through the rest of the century.

2. What does the underlined word “reprieve” mean?

A．shift	B．relief
C．threat	D．adaptation

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Adequate researches have been done into day and night extremes.

B．Humans can adapt to and relieve day and night hot extremes easily.

C．Ignoring the issue on the hot extremes may contribute to severe consequences.

D．Underestimating the compounding effect of hot extremes will cause threats to man.

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The dangers of hot days and nights are on the rise.

B．Continued warming will make the earth even worse.

C．With the world warming, the natural balance may be shifting.

D．Greenhouse gas emissions are increasing at a faster pace.

【推荐2】Beauty has always been regarded as something that deserves praise. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier，have better marriages and nave more respectable jobs. Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive（主管）circle, beauty can become a liability.

While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder，it is harmful to a woman. ①

Handsome male executives were considered as having more honesty than plainer men；effort and ability were thought to account for their success.

② Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones；their success was attributed not to ability but to factors such as luck. All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable（能力强的）than the attractive female executives. Interestingly，though，the rise of the unattractive overnight success was attributed more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the attractive overnight success.

③ An attractive woman is considered to be more feminine（女性化的）and an attractive man more manly than the less attractive ones. Thus，an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the “manly” qualities required.

This is true even in politics（政治）, “When the only clue is how he or she looks，people treat men and women differently,” says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates（候选人）. She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness. Then the students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again，in the order they would vote for them.

④ The results showed that attractive males defeated unattractive men. but the women who had been ranked most attractive received the fewest votes.

1. The underline word “liability” in paragraph 1 most probably means

A．trouble	B．advantage
C．misfortune	D．opportunity

2. In traditionally female jobs，attractiveness ________

A．is beneficial	B．is decisive
C．ensures success	D．reflects honesty

3. The sentence “why are attractive women not thought to be able?” should be put in _______.

A．①

B．②

C．③

D．④

4. The author writes this passage to _______.

A．demand equal rights in politics for females

B．give advice on how to achieve success for men

C．stress the importance of appearance for job-seekers

D．discuss the disadvantages of attractiveness for women

【推荐3】People have been told to stay separated — at least six feet apart— and to practice what state and local officials call “social distancing”. Some have been asked to work at home. But as people try to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus（ 新型冠状病毒）, the resulting chaos and fear are bringing both large and small communities closer.

Simple acts of kindness are sprouting up online and in public, as neighbors, students, teachers, and others begin to connect those who can pass this long and isolating time smoothly, and the people who may not have the means to get through.

For Jesse Farren-James, helping out has taken the form of organizing trips to the

supermarkets for supplies, and use of her membership card if anyone needs to buy large quantities. She posted the offer in a Facebook group for the community residents, and some people came and turned to her. “I just feel so lucky that I have so many people in my life to rely on and so sad that not everyone has that,” she wrote in the group. In another interview, Farren-James said the “community is coming together" and “there are so many good and amazing people” offering to help where they can.

Also, parents in Dorchester have gathered together online. In a Facebook group called DotParents, parents have been raising money to buy food and supplies for students and families in the community. Lisa Graustein has been organizing this activity. On Thursday, she used the more than $2,000 raised by neighbors to purchase food in a restaurant supply company. A group of volunteers packed the food and planned to distribute to schools for those who may need it.

“Food shortage is real in our city and this crisis is going to be severe.” Graustein said. “But here's something we can do that deal better with the hard time”. This idea is spreading. She said friends in four other states had being running similar campaigns. Next, she wants to find a way to get landlords to temporarily abandon rent for residents in financial difficulties because of the outbreak.

1. The underlined phrase in paragraph 2 “sprouting up” can be best replaced by   .

A．Disappearing	B．Growing
C．Connecting	D．Helping

2. What do we know about Jesse Farren-James?

A．She is a shopping assistant working for a supermarket.

B．She is wealthy and always ready to help others.

C．She lent her membership card to the people in need.

D．She felt sad that not everyone has enough food.

3. What did parents in Dorchester do to offer help?

A．They bought food from the supermarket for community children.

B．They set up a restaurant supply company to provide food.

C．They raised money to deal with food shortage.

D．They distributed money to community residents.

4. Which is the best title for this passage?

A．Acts of kindness in coronavirus outbreak

B．Effects of social media in coronavirus outbreak

C．Social distancing in the online community

D．Helping each other in financial difficulties