【推荐1】Yellow is usually the color of happy, joyful emotions. But according to a new study, not all people associate the color with good feelings.

To find out what factors might play a role, researchers tested a new hypothesis (假设): What if people’s physical surroundings affect their feelings about certain colors? For example, if someone lived in cold and rainy Finland, would he feel differently about the color yellow from someone who lived near the Sahara Desert?

The researchers looked at color-emotion data from an ongoing international survey of 6, 625 people in 55 countries. The survey asked participants to rate 12 colors on how closely they were associated with feelings including joy, pride, fear, and shame.

The researchers paid particular attention to the data for yellow, and analyzed how different factors—including hours of sunshine, hours of daylight, and the amount of rainfall—were associated with the emotions people reported for the color. The two best predictors of how people felt about yellow were the annual amount of rainfall, and how far they lived from the equator (赤道).

Overall, people were more likely to associate yellow with joy when they lived in rainier countries that lay farther from the equator, researchers reported in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. In Egypt, the likelihood (可能性) of yellow being associated with joy was just 5. 7%, whereas in chilly Finland it was 87. 7%. In the United States, with its mild climate and amber (琥珀色的) waves of grain, people’s yellow-joy association levels were between 60% and 70%.

The researchers also checked whether associations changed with the season—whether, for example, people in a certain country liked yellow more in the winter than they did in the summer. They found that opinions about the color remained fairly constant all year round—even when the weather changed, the data on yellow-joy associations were as good as gold.

1. What did the researchers do before the survey?

A．They went to Finland.	B．They made an assumption.
C．They studied certain colors.	D．They analyzed some data.

2. Which of the following affects people’s feelings about yellow?

A．The changeable weather.	B．The length of daytime.
C．The geographical position.	D．The amount of snowfall.

3. How did the researchers carry out the survey?

A．By interviewing participants.	B．By studying the data collected.
C．By traveling around the world.	D．By looking at color combinations.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Yellow: Associated with Good Feelings	B．Color: An Important Role in Joy
C．Yellow: Connected with Joy Conditionally	D．Color: Associated with Emotions

【推荐3】What does it mean to live a good life? This question has been debated for centuries. In the field of psychology, two main concepts of the good life have been quite popular: A happy life full of pleasure and positive emotions, and a meaningful life full of purpose and sacrifice. But what if these aren’t the only options?

In recent years, a long-neglected version of the good life has been receiving greater attention: the psychologically rich life. It is full of complex mental engagement, a wide range of intense and deep emotions, and diverse, novel, surprising and interesting experiences. Sometimes they are neither pleasant nor meaningful. However, they are rarely boring or monotonous.

After all, both happy and meaningful lives can become monotonous and repetitive. A person with a steady office job, married with children, may be satisfied and find his or her life meaningful and still be bored. Also, the psychologically rich life doesn’t necessarily involve economic richness. For instance, consider Hesse’s character Goldmund, who has no money but pursues the life of a free spirit.

Research has found psychological richness is related to, but partially distinct from, both happy and meaningful lives. Psychological richness is related with openness to experience and experiencing both positive and negative emotions more intensely. But is the psychologically rich life one that people actually want?

In a new study, Oishi and his colleagues asked people in nine countries the degree to which they value a psychologically rich life, a happy life and a meaningful life. They found many people’s self-described ideal lives involve psychological richness. When forced to choose a life, however, the majority chose a happy life and a meaningful life. Even so, a minority of people still favored the psychologically rich life, ranging from 6.7% in Singapore to 16.8% in Germany.

These numbers went up when the desire for a psychologically rich life was measured indirectly. To understand what a person wishes their lives might have been, it is important to explore what people wish they had avoided in their lives. When asked what they regret most and whether undoing this event would have made their lives happier, more meaningful or psychologically richer, about 28% of Americans said undoing the regrettable event would have made their lives psychologically richer.

These findings suggest that while most people strive to be happy and have meaning in their lives, a sizable number of people are content merely living a psychologically rich existence.

As Oishi and his colleagues conclude, “We believe that taking the psychologically rich life seriously will deepen and enrich our understanding of well-being.” At the end of the day, there is no one singularly acceptable path to the good life. You have to find a path that works best for you.

1. According to the passage, the psychologically rich life _______.

A．means living a luxurious life

B．involves various intense emotions

C．combines pleasure with purpose

D．emphasizes openness and repetition

2. What does Oishi’s research indicate?

A．The Germans prefer psychological richness to a happy life.

B．Undoing regrettable events has enriched many people’s lives.

C．A hidden desire for psychological richness exists among some people.

D．People with psychological richness tend to describe their lives as ideal.

3. We can learn from the passage that _______.

A．purpose outweighs pleasure in terms of significance

B．the choice of a good life differs from person to person

C．a positive mindset helps us understand our well-being

D．we should never be content and always strive for the best

4. What is the main purpose of the article?

A．To compare different concepts of a good life.

B．To explain how to live a psychologically rich life.

C．To persuade people to attain psychological richness.

D．To draw attention to a less familiar version of a good life.

【推荐1】Do you know about a series of books that say they are “for dummies”? These American self-help books have been translated into more than thirty-nine languages including Chinese, Arabic, Russian, French, German, Greek and Spanish.
“Dummy” is a word for a stupid person. The dummies books are not really for stupid people. They are designed to show people how to do something they may never have tried before, like painting a house or learning a language. The books all say in a funny way that they are for dummies, such as World History for Dummies, Rabbits for Dummies, Chinese Cooking for Dummies, and Wedding Planning for Dummies. The first such book, DOS for Dummies, was published in 1991. It helped people learn how to use the DOS operating system for computers. Since then, more than one hundred fifty million dummies books have been sold.
The dummies.com website explains the idea behind the books. It says that they show that people can be taught to do anything. First they can make fun of ideas that are difficult to understand. Then they show how the information can be interesting and easy. The publishers say that the books do not provide more information than necessary. They give readers just enough information to do what they want. They say that the dummies books give the best and easiest way to do something. And the books use simple and easy language.
There are more than one thousand different dummies books. A report in New York Times says that the top-selling dummies books are those that explain technology and personal finance.
The publishers say that the best-selling dummies books are those providing information many people need — like information about diseases, education and cooking. People interested in opera, car repair and wine can also find dummies books to help them. And there are even more dummies books to come. The publishers say that they publish about two hundred new dummies books every year.
1. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．Self-Help Books	B．The Easiest, the Best
C．Books for Dummies	D．New Ideas behind the Books

2. The dummies books have been popular because __________.

A．they provide just what is needed and are easy to understand

B．they provide abundant information on the concerning subject

C．people can learn to do anything with just one copy

D．people can save lots of money through self-teaching

3. According to New York Times, we know that books on __________ sell best.

A．cooking and world history

B．opera and car repairing

C．diseases and education

D．technology and personal finance

【推荐3】Some individuals are born with a gift for public speaking.     1     Do you want to be a good public speaker? Here are some principles you must master.

People want to listen to someone who is interesting, relaxed and comfortable. Too often, when you stand up to give a speech, you focus on the "public" at the expense of the "speaking." Do the opposite.     2    . Talk directly to your audience, be yourself and make a connection.

    3     Yet, the only one who cares about any mistake is the one who is speaking. People's attention wanders constantly. In fact, most people only absorb about 20 percent of a speaker's message. So, don't stop speaking when you make a mistake unless it's a truly serious one. You don't need to apologize for a minor slip.

Your goal is not to be a perfect public speaker.     4     And like everything else in life, that takes practice. Remember, even world champion athletes practice their skills on a consistent basis.

When it comes to public speaking, less is usually more. It's rare to hear someone say, "I wish that speaker had spoken longer." On the other hand, you probably can't count the times that you've thought, "I'm glad that talk is over. It seemed to go on forever!"     5     Always make your presentation just a bit shorter than anticipated. It's better to leave your listeners wishing for more than shifting restlessly in their seats waiting for your speech finally to end.

A．Focus on the speaking.

B．So surprise your audience.

C．You want to be an effective public speaker.

D．Do something to make the audience feel relaxed.

E．The objective of most speeches is to benefit the audience.

F．Even the most successful public speaker will make mistakes.

G．However, the majority of people are effective speakers because they train to be.

【推荐1】Regardless of their preferred mode, bats, elephant, honeybee, humans and more all sleep. In fact, scientists have yet to find a truly sleepless creature. But is sleep really necessary for survival?

Most humans will acknowledge that sleep is absolutely necessary. People often struggle to function after even just one sleepless night. Poor sleep over the long term has been linked to many negative health effects, from heart disease and stroke to weight gain and diabetes(糖尿病) . These connections, and the fact that all animals seem to sleep, suggest that sleep must play an essential function for animals. But what is that function? Does sleep allow the brain to repair damage and process information? Scientists and thinkers have offered explanations for why we sleep, and yet, the exact purpose of sleep remains an open question.

In the 1890s, Marie de Manaceine, a female physician in Russia, was troubled by the mystery of sleep. In her quest to figure out what exactly sleep is, she conducted the firstsleep-deprivationexperiment in animals.

Using an approach that now seems quite cruel, the physician kept puppies continuously awake, finding that they died after a few days of the experiment. Over following decades, further such experiments using other animals found similarly fatal results. However, the underlying cause of death in these cases, and how it relates to sleep are still unknown.

While total sleeplessness seems dangerous, some creatures can get by with a remarkably short sleep. They could be the key to understanding sleep's function, scientists have said.

A study published in Science Advances monitored the sleeping habits of fruit flies. "We found that some flies hardly ever slept," study co-author Giorgio Gilestro told Live Science."But these flies didn't die prematurely(过早)，like the Russian puppies did. These virtually sleepless flies instead lived just as long as a control group that was left to sleep normally"."

In a 2016 study, Rattenborg and his colleagues provided great frigatebirds in the Galapagos Islands with a small device to measure electrical activity in the brain. The study found that the frigatebirds, while flying, slept on average just 42 minutes per day, even though they typically got more than 12 hours of shut-eye on land.

Does Rattenborg think we'll ever find an animal that doesn't sleep at all?

"Anything is possible," he said, "however, an emerging pattern among the studies of short-sleeping animals is that none are completely sleepless. This preservation of a little sleep suggests that there is a minimum amount of sleep that is essential, even in these remarkable short sleepers."

1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．Dangers of sleeplessness.	B．Manners of sleep.
C．Functions of sleep.	D．Survivals from sleeplessness.

2. What does the underlined word "sleep-deprivation" in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Sound sleep.	B．Lack of sleep.
C．Secret of sleep.	D．Amount of sleep.

3. What do all the mentioned findings have in common?

A．Animals need equal amount of sleep.

B．Animals sleep in different ways.

C．Sleep determines creatures' survival.

D．Creatures need more or less sleep for survival.

4. What's the best title for the passage?

A．What Is the Function of Sleep?	B．Do Sleeping Habits Matter?
C．What Is the Mystery of Sleep?	D．Can Any Animal Survive without Sleep?

【推荐2】When consumers see a food, what they expect makes the palate (味觉) taste certain flavors. The strong associations between color and flavor are well established in the scientific community. Research on the subject dates back to the 1970s. For example, consumers expect yellow foods to be sour and black foods to be bitter.

Branding, packaging and color quality of the product itself play a big part in creating and maintaining expectations. Food brands have long understood this and worked to establish standards. Federal regulations grade the color of orange juice. Businesses provide color- matching services for companies to select the right color for a particular product. In some cases, color can overpower other senses and convince people they taste flavors that aren't there.

The Penn State researchers set out to confirm long-standing research into the relationship between color and taste. And they found what consumers see when they eat matters as much as- if not more than- what they taste, and the links could be more flexible than many thought in some cases.

“This might have potential impacts in the food industry if a company were to launch a new flavoured product with a color. Some consumers might not learn or accept a new color and flavor pairing (配对) as well as others," Penn State Food Science doctoral candidate Molly J. Higgins said in a written statement.

But while today's consumers have expectations of flavors of items with different colors, they also have expectations that natural materials are used. While these materials are often preferable, they present a challenge. General Mills changed artificial dyes (染料) to natural ones in Trix cereal. Consumer anger followed. Many found the earthier tones (土黄色) depressing, despite no change in flavor. Chemicals and all, they wanted the original back. The company eventually switched back, choosing to treat color as being more important than other things.

1. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as for creating and maintaining expectations for products?

A．Color quality.

B．Branding.

C．Shape.

D．Packaging.

2. What do Molly J. Higgins' words suggest in Para. 4?

A．An expected food color attracts consumers more.

B．Most people choose foods based on their colors.

C．Not all consumers welcome a new color-taste pairing.

D．Companies should release new products regularly.

3. Why is General Mills mentioned in the last paragraph?

A．To stress the importance of color in food selection.

B．To stress the possibilities facing food companies.

C．To stress the difficulty in using artificial materials.

D．To stress the difference between color and taste.

4. What can be the theme of the text?

A．Why do foods have different colors?	B．How deep are color-taste associations?
C．What factors affect the flavors of food?	D．Do different colors mean different responses?

【推荐3】Light pollution is blocking a starry view of the night sky for more than half of people across England, a research has found.

Fifty-seven percent of stargazers(观星者)struggled to see more than 10 stars, while just 2% of participants said they experienced a truly dark sky enabling them to count more than 30, according to the research by the Campaign to Protect Rural England(CPRE). People in the countryside were encouraged to count how many stars they could see with eyes within the constellation(星座)of Orion, which is visible only in the winter months.

Campaigners said the results of the star count, supported by the British Astronomical Association, showed the problem of light pollution and how it affected one of the countryside's most magical sights-a dark, starry night sky. They said the results of the research to map England's night skies suggested more could be done by the government, local councils and the general public to lessen the negative effects of artificial light from streets and buildings.

Emma Marrington, dark skies campaigner at the CPRE, said, “We're hugely grateful to the people who took the time to get out and take part in our star count. But it's deeply disappointing that the vast majority were unable to experience the natural wonder of a truly dark sky blanketed with stars. Without intervention, our night sky will continue to be lost under a covering of artificial light, ruining the health of the natural world.”

She added, “The star count results show just how far-reaching the light from street lights and buildings can be seen. Light doesn't respect boundaries, and careless use can see it spread for miles from cities.”

She suggested better-designed lighting, street light dimming(暗淡)systems and partnight lighting where some street lights are turned off during the small hours should provide an opportunity to limit the damage caused by light pollution, reduce carbon emissions and save money.

1. What effect does the light pollution bring about to England?

A．It leads the stars to disappear.

B．It makes the countryside dim.

C．It makes the environment terrible.

D．It prevents the people seeing stars.

2. What causes the light pollution according to the text?

A．The overuse of artificial light.

B．More and more buildings.

C．Less and less outdoor activities.

D．The spread of light in the countryside.

3. How does Emma feel about the stargazers' efforts?

A．Regretful.	B．Surprised.
C．Appreciative.	D．Disappointed.

4. What is Emma's suggestion for dealing with the light pollution?

A．Changing the streets' design.

B．Turning off lights at night.

C．Spreading light further.

D．Using street lights wisely.

【推荐1】____________________________

It is obvious that it has nothing to do with success. For Sir Henry Steward was certainly successful. It is twenty years ago since he came down to our village from London, and bought a couple of old cottages, which he had knocked into one. He used his house as a weekend refuge. He was a lawyer. And the village followed his brilliant career with something almost amounting to paternal pride.

I remember some ten years ago when he was made a King’s Counsel, Amos and I, seeing him get off the London train, went to congratulate him. We grinned with pleasure; he merely looked as miserable as though he’d received a penal sentence. It was the same when he was knighted; he never smiled a bit.And not one of his achievements brought even a ghost of a smile to his tired eyes.

I asked him one day,soon after he’d retired to work with his garden,what it was like to achieve all one’s ambitions. He looked down at his roses and went on watering them. Then he said, “The only value in achieving one’s ambition is that you then realize that they are not worth achieving.’Quickly he moved the conversation on to a more practical level,and within a moment we were back to a safe discussion on the weather. That was two years ago.

I recall this incident, for yesterday, I was passing his house, and had drawn up my cart just outside his garden wall to let a bus pass me. As I sat there filling my pipe.I suddenly heard a shout of joy come from the other side of the wall.

I peered over.There stood Sir Henry doing nothing less than a tribal war dance of sheer unashamed ecstasy. Even when he observed my bewildered face staring over the wall he did not seem put out or embarrassed,but shouted for me to climb over.

“Come and see,Jack,Look! I have done it at last!I have done it at last!”

There he was,holding a small box of earth in his hand.I observed three tiny shoots out of it.

“And there were only three!’ he said,his eye laughing to heaven.

“Three what?’ I asked.

Peach stones, he replied. ‘I’ve always wanted to make peach stones grow,ever since I was a child,when I used to take them home after a party,or as a man after a banquet. And I used to plant them. But now at last I have done it, and what’s more, I had only three stones, and there you are, one, two, three shoots,’ he counted.

And Sir Henry ran off, calling for his wife to come and see his achievement-his achievement of simplicity.

1. Which of the following statement is correct about Sir Henry Steward?

A．He was regarded as an example of being successful by the villagers.

B．He used to bury himself in his lawyer job,which he was very proud of.

C．He participated in parties or banquets with the intention of finding peach stones.

D．He is more a capable gardener in a small village than a brilliant lawyer in London.

2. According to Sir Henry,the underlined word’ they’ in Paragraph 4 possibly means the following EXCEPT

A．being appointed as a King’s Counsel	B．being knighted
C．being a respectable lawyer	D．being able to plant peach stones

3. Which of the following best serves as an opening paragraph of this passage?

A．However successful we maybe we can never find enough hours to do everything we want.

B．So seldom do people smile that we do not recognize their faces when they do.

C．It would seem that happiness has something to do with simplicity,and that it is the ability to extract pleasure from the simplest things.

D．Look at a man and you will notice that every day is greeted with only resignation,and endured with polite indifference.

4. What can be a suitable title for this passage?

A．Three peach stones	B．Smile like a kid
C．Unashamed excitement	D．Never too old to learn

【推荐2】The preventive measures for forest fires include some preemptive(抢先)methods that can help reduce the risks of fires and control their severity and spread, and thus, maintain ecological balance and protect resources. Close monitoring of forest fires caused by natural factors can help prevent their spread to a large extent. To contain forest fires, fire departments usually use water and chemical fire retardants(抑制剂) that can be dropped from planes and helicopters. To control the spread of a wildfire, firefighters usually create a control line by removing all fuel from an area so that the fire cannot travel across it.

Controlled burns are often employed by government authorities to reduce fuel buildup, and clean up the fallen leaves, and thus, prevent the spread of forest fires to a vast area. Regular controlled burns can also help maintain biodiversity(生物多样性), as the smoke and heat produced in the process can facilitate(促进) the growth of seeds of certain plant species. Apart from these, responsible human behavior can help reduce the number of forest fires to a great extent. In fact, we can reduce the number of wildfires dramatically by not leaving behind any source of fire in the forest.

Forest fires can affect climate and weather to a great extent, besides causing severe damage to valuable trees. Wildfires can increase the level of greenhouse gases(water vapor, carbon dioxide, etc), and therefore increase pollution and global warming. However, they are also an important part of the ecosystem, and many plants depend on the heat and smoke generated by wildfires for their growth and reproduction. But large wildfires can cause extensive damage to the ecosystem, which again highlights the importance of effective control and prevention of forest fires.

1. What may be the best title for this passage?

A．Control and Prevention of Forest Fires	B．How to Keep Ecological Balance
C．Effects of Forest Fires	D．Methods of Fire Spread Control

2. Firefighters get rid of all fuel in all area in order to ____________．

A．keep close monitoring of forest fires	B．prevent the forest fire from occurring
C．protect the animals there	D．stop the wildfire from spreading

3. The government arranges some controlled burns to_______________．

A．burn the rubbish and keep the forest clean

B．help keep ecological balance of nature

C．reduce fuel building up and limit forest fires spread.

D．provide reasonable conditions for some plants’ growth.

4. A controlled forest fire may play a positive role because ________________.

A．a new forest will appear soon.

B．it promotes the development of some seeds

C．nature keeps its balance only by wildfires.

D．it makes the trees grow faster than before.

【推荐3】Ancient Greek used zodiac signs (星座) to judge a person’s character traits. Today people are still fascinated with trying to figure out people’s personality type based on science.

According to The Washington Post, a new study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior on September17, could tell us something more about the four personality types: reserved (内向的), role models, average and self-centered.

In this study, participants were asked to rate a number of written statements related to the five main personality traits: extroversion (外向性), agreeableness, conscientiousness (责任性), emotional stability and openness.

Researchers found self-centered people scored higher on extroversion, but lower than average on the other four traits. “These are people you don’t want to hang out with,” coauthor William Revelle, told the Daily Mail.

Members of the reserved group were lacking in openness and extroversion, but were more agreeable and conscientious. These people are usually unwilling to try new things, but are kind and cooperative, according to the study.

People defined as role models scored well in most traits, but were weak in emotional stability. “These are people who are dependable and open to new ideas,” said Luis Amaral, co-director of the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems in the US.

Besides these three personality types, a totally new type was found: average, which gets average scores in all traits. Females are more likely than males to fall into this type.

The study also shows that there is connection between personality type, gender and age. For example, role models are usually seniors, while the traits of the self-centered type mainly fall in teenage males.

However, “certain facts are changing,” Amaral told USA Today. “As people mature and grow, their personality also matures and grows.”

1. Which type of people are you probably unwilling to pass the time with according to William Revelle?

A．Self-centered.	B．Role models.
C．Reserved.	D．Average.

2. Which words can best describe reserved people?

A．Extroverted and agreeable.	B．Open-minded and considerate.
C．Reliable and pleasant.	D．Cooperative and aggressive.

3. What can be concluded from the last two paragraphs?

A．Most young people are self-centered.

B．Role models are often middle-aged people.

C．Personality type has little to do with gender or age.

D．People’s personality tends to become better as they age.

4. Which of the following is the best title?

A．Personality Types Based on Science

B．Personality Types and Age

C．Zodiac Signs and Personalities

D．Extroverted or Introverted Personality