【推荐1】Panama City, Panama

For beach vacations that get you out of town and invite you and your family to dive into culture, consider a trip to Panama City. Here, you will enjoy beaches and city exploring. Book your stay at the Westin Playa Bonita, where you can book a room starting at $222 a night. There are various programs, including beach Olympics, star observation and Spanish lessons.

Jupiter, Florida

This place offers you quality time you can spend with your loved ones. Book your stay at Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa, with rates for a family of four starting at $207 a night. Here, you can shoot baskets at the basketball courts, take a dip in the pool or teach your children beach yoga.

San Diego, California

The West Coast is a great spot for cheap beach vacations, so tell your family to pack their bags for a visit to San Diego. A cheap $10 Uber ride from the airport will have you pull up at the Kona Kai Resort & Spa. Here, a family of four can stay in a Deluxe Guest Room starting at $159 per night. Your kids can practice cannonballs at the pool after a visit to the world-famous San Diego Zoo.

Kihei, Hawaii

For west coasters who are growing bored with their background, fly to the islands of Hawaii. Stay at the Aston at the Maui Banyan, with a charge of $179 a night for a family of four. Here, you’ll see some of the best sunsets of your life while your kids play in the Pacific. And if you set about cooking a fancy meal, you’ll enjoy suites that come with a full kitchen.

1. Which of the following charges you least a night?

A．The Westin Playa Bonita.

B．The Kona Kai Resort & Spa.

C．Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa.

D．The Aston at the Maui Banyan.

2. What can you do at the Aston at the Maui Banyan?

A．Observe fantastic stars.

B．Visit a world-famous zoo.

C．Admire beautiful sunsets.

D．Play some beach sports.

3. What is the common feature of the four tourist attractions?

A．They are all intended for family trips.

B．They all offer rooms with a full kitchen.

C．They all pick up visitors from the airport.

D．They all provide basketball courts on the beach.

【推荐3】Things to See & Do in Dublin

Dublin City Hall

Inside City Hall is an interesting exhibition about Dublin’s history, with historical items from the old city and multimedia presentations. The building, which dates from 1779, once badly damaged, was recently renovated.Guided tours are available.Open Monday to Saturday 10:00a.m.~5:15p.m., Sunday and holidays 2:00 p.m.~5:00 p.m. Admission is €6.50. Phone 672- 2204.

Dublin Castle

This is a joy for anyone interested in archaeology or history. Dublin Castle was built in the 13th century on top of the foundations of a Viking structure. The castle served as a military fortress, prison, court of law and the core (核心) of British administration in Ireland until 1922. It’s now used for state functions and government conferences. Guided tours are available. Open Monday to Friday 10:00a.m.~4:50p.m.; Saturday, Sunday and holidays 2:00p.m.~4:50p.m. Closed during state functions. Admission is €4.50. Phone 677- 7129 or 677- 7270.

Trinity College

The sole college of the University of Dublin, Trinity was founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592. The reason most visitors venture to Trinity is to take a look at the Book of Kells, which is on display at the Old Library. The ticket price includes admission to the Long Room, a striking space that contains 200,000 of the college’s oldest books. Open Monday to Saturday 9.30am~5pm, Sunday noon~4:30 p.m. (from 9:30 a.m. June to September). College Green. Phone 608 -1177.

Irish Museum of Modern Art

Housed in the beautifully restored (修复) Royal Hospital Kilmainham (which was modelled (复制) on Les Invalides in Paris), the museum exhibits contemporary art and has an impressive permanent collection that includes pieces representing the cutting edge of Irish and international art. Open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00 a.m.~5:30p.m., Sunday and holidays noon~5:30 p.m. The museum has no admission charge. Military Road, Kilmainham Phone 612- 9900.

James Joyce Centre

James Joyce is one of Dublin’s most famous 20th century writers. Author of such works as Dubliners, Ulysses and his autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce’s name is forever linked to the city of Dublin. The James Joyce Centre is dedicated to promoting the life and works of James Joyce to novices and scholars alike. Open Tues.~Sat.10:00a.m.~5:00p.m., Sun.1: p.m.~5:00p.m., admission costs €5.00 for adults. North Great George’s Street. Phone 878- 8547.

1. What can we know from the passage?

A．Dublin Castle was used for government conferences.

B．The novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is about James Joyce’s life.

C．Dublin Castle served as a court of law in the 1930s.

D．The sole college of the University of Dublin was established by Queen Elizabeth II.

2. Which word can replace the underlined word “renovated” in the first paragraph?

A．repaired	B．reviewed
C．recreated	D．destroyed

3. Which place do you pay the most money to visit?

A．Dublin City Hall.	B．Dublin Castle.
C．Irish Museum of Modern Art.	D．James Joyce Centre.

【推荐2】Fire Station No．6 in Livermore，California，houses a celebrity—a 107-year-old light bulb(灯泡)that has been on for over a million hours，earning the title of the“World’s longest continuously burning bulb”by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!The bulb also holds the Guinness World Record．
Nobody knows why this bulb has stayed alive for so many years．Most people believe that it is due to two reasons—it has almost never been turned off and it is really well made．Its perfect seal lets no air in．keeping its carbon filament(灯丝)from burning out．
The bulb was first installed at the fire department hose cart house on L Street in 1901．In 1903 it was moved to the new Station 1 on First and McLeod，and survived the renovation(翻修)of the Firehouse in 1937．when it was off for about a week．The last time the bulb was switched off was in July l976，when it was moved to Fire Station No．6．Thousands of people watched as the electrician tried to re-attach the bulb at its new location．At first nothing happened and people thought the bulb had finally died．However，a slight touch of its switch and then，the bulb came on and has been on since．Nobody at the station dares to touch it，even to clean it．
A local reporter first discovered the bulb’s significance in 1972．He recommended his readers to go visit it if they ever went to Livermore．All of a sudden thousands of people came to Fire Station No．6 and the bulb became famous．
Needless to say，the bulb is now a big source of pride and joy for the city of Livermore．So when some folks offered to buy it，the answer from the city was“NO!”
1. Which of the following may not be a reason for the bulb to stay alive for so long?

A．It was seldom switched off.

B．It was made of high quality．

C．Its carbon filament was special．

D．Its seal was perfect．

2. What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．The brief history of the bulb．

B．The problems with the bulb．

C．The main function of the bulb．

D．The location where the bulb is．

3. We can learn from the text that the bulb _______________．

A．will eventually be owned by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not

B．is now becoming a proud symbol of the locals in livermore

C．has never been touched or cleaned in Fire Station No．6

D．wouldn’t have been discovered without the local reporter

【推荐1】SHORTLIST OF LONDON'S BEST

If you have limited visiting time we recommend you follow this list.

1) Houses of Parliament. The guided tours of the Houses of Parliament are excellent, in any language you want, and get you to places that even normal Brits can't. However, when Parliament is sitting, they are not running, but you can still get in.

2) Hampton Court. We rate this as one of the best attractions in Europe. A whole succession of kings and queens have added to Henry VIII’s original palace. There lie a fantastic park (by Capability Brown) and gardens (including the famous maze), and Tudor kitchens and one of the last remaining Real Tennis courts. Lots of free (once you've paid the admission) guided tours, some in costume, by people who know and love the place. It's also surrounded by a series of parks and makes a great destination for a bike trip - train out (30 minutes from Waterloo), bike back (12 miles) along the river. We prefer it to the Tower of London - you'll probably want to visit both, it knocks the spots off Buckingham Palace.

3) The River. Walk along the South Bank from Tower Bridge to Lambeth. The best of London is spread out for you: The Tower of London & Tower Bridge, The Houses of Parliament, Lambeth Palace (residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury), Shakespeare's Globe theatre, Both Tate Galleries, St Paul's Cathedral, The South Bank Centre, The Temple, The London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Somerset House. (A 2 hour walk if you don't stop for long). Or you can take a boat out to Greenwich, the Thames Barrier or the Dome.

4) Westminster Abbey. Where they crown Kings. An unreasonable admission charge (should really be free or voluntary donation), but a masterpiece anyway. If you get bored of waiting in the queue, or packed down by the crowds, hurry yourself off to the City where there's more square space of historic church, and empty.

5) The Theatre. It'd be a crime to visit London and not take in a show. Londoners have been passionate about theatre for centuries. Not only is the quality high, but the price is low — one third the price of Broadway.

1. Which tour will a foreign student studying the history of British Royal Family most probably prefer？

A．the tour to Westminster Abbey	B．the tour to Tower Bridge
C．the tour to Somerset House	D．the tour to Hampton Court

2. What time does the underlined statement “when Parliament is sitting” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．when the Parliament is not officially in session.

B．when the members of Parliament are debating over a hot issue.

C．when the Parliament is staying idle for repairs.

D．when the members of Parliament are taking a break after some exercise

3. Why are Londoners fond of theatre?

A．They enjoy the criminal drama plots.

B．They enjoy the inexpensive admission.

C．They enjoy the Classical Music and Opera.

D．They enjoy the scene of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre.

【推荐2】An artificial intelligence that navigates(导航) its environment much like mammals could help solve a mystery about our own internal GPS.

Equipped with virtual versions of specialized brain nerve cells called grid cells, the AI could easily solve and plan new routes through virtual mazes. That performance, described online May 9 in Nature, suggests the grid cells in animal brains play a critical role in path planning.

“This is a big step forward in understanding our own navigational neural circuitry(电路),” says Ingmar Kanitscheider, a computational neuroscientist at. The University of Texas at Austin not involved in the work. The discovery that rats track their location with the help of grid cells earned a Norwegian research team the 2014 Nobel Prize in physiology to medicine. Neuroscientists suspected these cells, which have also been found in humans, might help not only give mammals an internal. coordinate(协同) system, but also plan direct paths between points.

To test that idea, neuroscientist Caswell Barry at University College London, along with colleagues at Google DeepMind, created an AI that contained virtual nerve cells, or neurons, whose activity resembled that of real grid cells. The researchers trained this AI to navigate virtual mazes by giving the system reward signals when it reached its destination.

The AI bested a human expert player at solving the virtual mazes, and proved savvier than other artificial neural networks in planning ways through mazes larger than those traversed during its training. When a door opened to provide a shortcut through the maze, the new AI took the more direct route. By contrast, AI systems without artificial grid cells ignored the open door and took long the way around.

These findings support the idea that grid cells do more than help mammals orient themselves in time and space; they also help animals plan the most straightforward direction to destinations. AI also appears to be “a very powerful tool" for testing other neuroscience theories, Barry says. He and his colleagues suggest that virtual experiments on artificial neural networks that imitate different regions of the brain may eventually replace some animal testing.

But there are limitations to using AI to study the brain. Because the system is meant to learn on its own, researchers can't tell why the system made a specific decision, says neuroscientist Francesco Savelli at Johns Hopkings University, whose commentary also appears online May 9 in Nature.

1. What's the function of the virtual grid cells?

A．Helping animals adapt to the environment.	B．Controlling the growth of nerve cells.
C．Assisting the AI in finding a way-out.	D．Promoting the cooperation between AI robots.

2. The underlined word “savvier” in Paragraph 5 most probably means“_________”.

A．slower

B．nearer

C．earlier

D．wiser

3. We can infer from Paragraph 6 that________.

A．Animals are as intelligent as humans

B．Animal testing on the brain will be reduced in future

C．Humans will' be equipped with' the virtual grid cells

D．Grid cells are more important than other nerve cells

4. What is Francesco Savelli unclear about?

A．How the AI system works.

B．Ways of AI learning on its own.

C．How effective reward signals will work on a robot.

D．The relationship between different regions of the brain.

【推荐3】L. Bean Quad backpack

If you need a backpack that can carry large and small objects and is comfortable to wear, this is the backpack for you. The reasonable price and customers’ 100% satisfaction makes this a great buy any way you look at it. While it’s not the most beautiful backpack on the planet, it does look nice at first sight.

Kanken 15” backpack

This Kanken bag is a great choice for school kids of grade one to six or adults with narrow shoulders. Weighing under 450g, it’s easy and comfortable to carry this bag around. The simple design with a lot of eve-catching colors may have you fall in love with it at once.

Timbuk2 Command backpack

If you want to safely carry your laptop and look stylish, the Timbuk2 Command backpack is the one for you. The soft back is made for a comfortable wearing experience. The clean coloring and lines of the bag may make you more “grown-up”.

Amazon Basics backpack

With a lowest price among all these backpacks, the Amazon Basics backpack is a great choice for college students on a tight budget. There are tons of storage choices in this backpack, so it’s easy to forget exactly where you placed a certain object. It is a basic black backpack with a few designs and is never going to appear on a fashion T stage.

1. What makes L. Bean Quad backpack attractive?

A．The color and the design.	B．The style and the quality.
C．The cost and the public praise.	D．The lightweight and the simplicity.

2. Which backpack might be the most suitable one for a Grade-3 student?

A．L. Bean Quad backpack.	B．Amazon Basics backpack
C．Timbuk2 Command backpack.	D．Kanken 15” backpack

3. In which magazine can you probably find the passage?

A．NEWSWEEK	B．SMARTSHOPPER.
C．NATURE.	D．GOOD HOUSEKEEPING.

【推荐1】According to a survey, in Washington, DC, only 69 percent of public school students graduate from high school on time. Many factors influence that low rate. One of the most important ones is whether the people around the students expect them to succeed.

So, for the past 40 years, a DC organization has stepped in to give around 10, 000 students the support and positive environment they need to thrive. This organization, called Higher Achievement, provides students with a welcoming space, help with class work, and caring teachers. More than 95 percent of students who complete Higher Achievement graduate from high school on time.

Katherine Roboff is the group's executive director in the DC area. She gives several reasons for the group's success. One is timing. Higher Achievement does not work with students who are already in high school. It works with students in middle school. They start High Achievement at fifth or sixth grade-in the US, that is usually age 11 or 12.

Roboff says research shows that if students are doing well academically in eighth grade — around age 13-they will have a greater chance of graduating from high school and going to college. In other words, what happens in middle school has a huge effect. The years between ages 10 and 13 may affect a student's future more than anything that happens academically in high school.

Roboff explains that students participate in Higher Achievement after school and during the summer, when public schools take a break of about two months. High Achievement students do homework, have community meetings, and work one-on-one with a mentor.

The purpose of the program is to help them use those after school and summer hours to become better prepared academically and to develop their leadership skills and confidence so that by the time they get into eighth grade they are ready to get into some of the top high schools.

1. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?

A．Higher Achievement works with college students.

B．Many students have doubts about the organization.

C．Higher Achievement has spread throughout the US.

D．Higher Achievement has helped many high school students.

2. If students are doing well academically in eighth grade,     .

A．they are certain to go to college	B．they are to succeed when they grow up
C．they are more likely to finish high school on time	D．they don't need any help in their studies

3. Who are the working targets of Higher Achievement?

A．Those students in higher school.	B．Those students in middle school.
C．Those students who don't work well.	D．Those students whose family can't afford.

4. The last two paragraphs tell us .

A．how Higher Achievement helps those students

B．public schools never offer positive environment

C．Higher Achievement only helps those who have good skills

D．Higher Achievement only helps the students in the eighth grade

【推荐2】At 8: 43 p.m. Beijing time on November 3, accompanied by the thunderous roar of engines, a 57-meter-tall rocket pushed itself into the sky over Hainan Province.

An increasing number of Chinese rockets have been launched in the past few years, but this one was particularly significant. It was the first launch of the new Long March 5 rocket, which is much larger than previous versions of China’s carrier rockets. Its successful launch has pushed China to the forefront of the world in terms of rocket carrying capacity (容量、能力). The heavy-lift carrier rocket will enable China to build a permanent manned space station by 2022.

“China is developing very rapidly into one of the major space players,” says Brian Harvey, a space analyst and author of China in Space: The Great Leap Forward. “You will see the Chinese quite visibly begin to match the capacity of the other space powers.” “We are not satisfied with the achievements we have made in the fields of space technology. With the development of China’s space program, we are trying to make contributions to human knowledge about the universe.” says Wang Chi of the National Space Science Center.

For the next decade, the Tiangong Space Station will be China’s principal destination. Although not as large as the International Space Station, it will have a broadly similar capacity to perform scientific experiments. China also plans to land a small rover (探测车) on the far side of the moon in 2018, which will be a world first. Also in the advanced planning stages is a over to go to Mars. Additionally, designs for a Long March 9 rocket are being studied. With the first launch of the rocket due in 2025, China could very well be in a position to land astronauts on the moon by 2030.

China’s space program is making progress year upon year. It is quite clear that a dramatic shift in space power is taking place.

1. Why was the launch on Nov. 3 particularly significant?

A．It was first done from the sea in Hainan province.

B．It was the first time to launch Chinese carrier rocket.

C．It launched the biggest carrier rocket in the world.

D．It marked a new era of space exploration in China.

2. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Development of China’s space program.

B．China’s contributions to space stations.

C．Comments on China’s space exploration.

D．China’s achievements in space technology.

3. According to the text, what might China achieve for the next decade?

A．To build a manned space station.	B．To launch its Long March 5 rocket.
C．To land astronauts on the moon.	D．To perfect the International Space Station.

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

A．The Great Event in Hainan	B．China’s New Launch
C．China’s New Space Power	D．Space Plans for Next Decade

【推荐3】Body language is a broad term for several forms of communication using body movements or gestures, instead of, or as a complement to, sounds, verbal language, or other forms of communication. In turn, it is one category of paralanguage, which describes all forms of human communication that are not language.

Paralanguage including body language has been extensively studied in social psychology. In everyday speech and popular psychology, the term is most often applied to body language that is thought to be involuntary, but in fact the distinction between voluntary and involuntary body language is often blurred: a smile or a wave may be given either voluntarily or involuntarily, for example.

Voluntary Body Language is less commonly discussed because it seems unproblematic. It refers to movement, gestures and poses intentionally made by the person: smiling, hands, imitating actions, and generally making movements with full or partial intention of making them and a realization of what they communicate.

The relation of body language to animal communication has often been discussed. Human paralanguage may represent a continuation of forms of communication that our non-linguistic ancestors already used, or it may be that it has been changed by co-existing language. Some species of animals are especially skilled at detecting human body language, both voluntary and involuntary: this was the reason for trying to teach the chimpanzee Washoe American Sign Language rather than speech and perhaps the reason why the Washoe project was more successful than some previous efforts to teach apes how to dance.

Body language is a product of both genetic and environmental influences. Blind children will smile and   laugh even though they have never seen a smile. The ethnologist (文化人类学者) Iraneus Eibl-Eibesfeldt claimed that a number of basic elements of body language were universal across cultures and must therefore be fixed action patterns under instinctive (本能的) control. Some forms of human body language show continuities with communicative gestures of other apes, though often with changes in meaning. More refined gestures, which vary between cultures (for example the gestures to indicate “yes” and “no”), must obviously be learned or modified through learning, usually by unconscious observation of the environment.

1. Which of the following diagrams shows the right relationship __________?
① = language       ② = paralanguage       ③ = body language       ④ = verbal language

A．	B．
C．	D．

2. According to the passage, the reason why the Washoe project was a success may be that _____.

A．the chimpanzee Washoe can be taught speech

B．apes can be taught how to dance

C．Washoe can understand body language well

D．numbers of basic elements of body language are same in different cultures

3. Why does the author take the gestures to indicate “yes” and “no” for an example?

A．to give us the meaning of the two gestures

B．to tell us continuities of some fixed action patterns

C．to show environmental influences of the sign language

D．to indicate genetic effects of the body language

4. The last two paragraphs mainly talk about __________.

A．origins of the body language

B．cultural influences

C．what the body language is

D．relationships between body languages and animal communications