【推荐2】Volunteering Is Fun

One afternoon I was sitting at home feeling so bored. Instead of feeling sorry for myself. I wanted to meet people and have new experiences so I decided to start volunteering. I searched on my computer and found a website where I could volunteer on a farm in France.

My time working on a farm was a new experience for me. It was basically a free holiday as food and accommodation were provided. However，it was not your typical holiday as I had to look after fifteen horses and sleep at the top of a tower in a castle！I was an awful farmer but it did not matter because I made some great friends.

However，you do not need to go abroad to volunteer. I have had plenty of adventures at home as volunteering can become a hobby. For example，I love singing so I had a good laugh waving my arms in an attempt to conduct my local choir（唱诗班）. I did slowly improve and it felt great to conduct the choir in a concert. At university，I organized a concert for charity with my friends. It was really fun finding bands and raising money for a cause we believe in.

It is true that you feel good volunteering but there are also other advantages. I once volunteered as a server at a charity sports event where the organizers gave me cupcakes to thank me for my services. I also volunteered in a charity shop so I found loads of nice cheap clothes to update my wardrobe(衣柜)．

While this is all fun，my favorite aspect of volunteering is creating and sharing stories. My terrible attempts at farming have given me hilarious stories to tell！Talking to volunteers from different countries and backgrounds has also helped me learn more about the world. I feel thankful to have had so much fun with many nice people thanks to volunteering.

1. Why did the author want to volunteer?

A．He wanted to go abroad.

B．He felt ashamed of himself.

C．He wanted to taste new life and make friends.

D．He wanted to be a farmer.

2. The underlined word “hilarious” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to“________”．

A．sad	B．funny
C．awful	D．critical

3. The author did much volunteering work except________．

A．taking care of horses and sheep

B．conducting a choir in a concert

C．helping in a charity sports event

D．helping in a charity shop

4. How does the author feel according to the last paragraph?

A．Curious.	B．Anxious.
C．Cautious.	D．Grateful.

【推荐1】If the food in the supermarket is not fresh anymore or is near the “sell-by-date”, it goes into trash bins. Every day, a large amount of food is wasted.

To cut down on food waste, France passed a new law last month. It forbids supermarkets to throw away unsold food. Instead, they must donate it to charities. For food that isn’t safe for humans to eat, it can be used as animal feed. If not, the supermarkets will face fines of up to 75,000 euros (around 542,200 yuan) or two years in prison. The law also encourages educational programs for schools and businesses about food waste.

France is the first country to make a law that forbids wasting food, but it is actually a worldwide problem. According to the United Nations , each year 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted all over the world, and just 25 percent of that food could feed all the hungry people in the world.

The good thing is that people around the world are trying different things to deal with the food waste problem. Galdakao, Spain, put a public fridge in the center of town. Anyone can drop off food and anyone can come and take them. A supermarket in Canada, Loblaws, encourages people to buy “ugly food” by selling them at lower prices, so they won’t end up being wasted. In China, we also have the “clear your plate” campaign. This means you should eat everything on your plate or take away the food you haven’t eaten up.

1. The underlined words “sell-by date” in Paragraph 1 mean ______in Chinese.

A．销售期	B．购物节
C．保质期·	D．制造商

2. According to the new law, how do supermarkets deal with their unsold food?

A．They should throw it away as soon as possible.

B．They can donate it to poor people.

C．They can take the food home and cook it for dinner.

D．They must give it away to charities.

3. In Spain, a public fridge is put in the center of town in order to _______.

A．help people not to waste food

B．encourage people to buy “ugly food”

C．have people clear their plate

D．keep food to feed animals.

4. From the last paragraph, we can learn that________________

A．the food waste problem is becoming more serious.

B．People’s attitude towards wasting food is changing

C．every country should make a law to forbid wasting food.

D．a large amount of food is wasted every day.

【推荐2】Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain-computer interface (BCI) technology could help people with disabilities send orders to machines.

Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, showed a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person’s thoughts.

In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand. He could even talk as he watched the wheelchair and guided it with his thoughts.

“Our brain has billions of nerve cells (神经细胞). These send signals through the spinal cord (脊髓) to the muscles (肌肉) to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles.” Tavella says. “Our system allows disabled people to communicate with outside world and also to control the machine.”

The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp (头皮) and sends them to a computer. The computer understands the signals and directs the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that recognize objects in its path. They help the computer react to orders from the brain.

Prof. Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer, software that understands brain signals and turns them into simple orders. “The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be divided into two kinds: communication, and controlling the machine. One example is this wheelchair.”

He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to ensure that they can use the technology over long periods of time.

1. BCI is a technology that can ________.

A．help to update computer systems

B．link the human brain with computers

C．help the disabled to become well

D．control a person’s thoughts

2. How did Tavella operate the wheelchair in the laboratory? ________

A．By controlling his muscles.

B．By talking to the machine.

C．By moving his hand.

D．By using his mind.

3. Which of the following shows the path of the signals described in Paragraph 5?

A．scalp→computer→cap→wheelchair

B．compute→cap→scalp→wheelchair

C．scalp→cap→computer→wheelchair

D．cap→computer→scalp→wheelchair

4. The team will test with real patients to ________.

A．make profits from them	B．prove the technology useful to them
C．make them live longer	D．learn about their physical condition

5. Which of the following would be the best title for the text? ________

A．Switzerland, the BCI Research Center

B．New Findings About How the Human Brain Works

C．BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled

D．Computer Technology Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries

【推荐1】It’s been less than a month since Arnold, a Texas high school student, was forbidden from going to the prom and graduation unless he cut his locs. As his story spread on social media, celebrities and activists came to Arnold’s defence and encouraged him to stand up to his school’s hair discrimination. Now, in a significant turn of events, he’s proudly wearing his own hair-style at the 2020 Oscars.

Arnold and his mother were invited to attend as the guests of director Matthew A. Cherry, who won the award for Best Animated Short Film for Hair Love tonight. Fittingly, the short film tells the story of a Black father learning to style his daughter’s natural hair.

Arnold told us he couldn’t wait to walk the red carpet with the Hair Love team. “I’m so grateful. I never expected any of this,” Arnold says. “The message of that movie and my message go together so well. I think it’s really amazing how they reached out to me and how we can fight this together.”

Together, Cherry and Arnold are advocating for the nationwide passage of The CROWN Act, which is the law authored by California Senator Holly J. Mitchell that makes it illegal to discriminate against Black people for wearing their natural hair in the workplace or at school. Currently the Act has only been passed in New Jersey, California, and New York.

Arnold has also received the support of celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres, who invited him to appear on her daytime show and surprised him with a $20,000 scholarship from Alicia Keys. Arnold says the scholarship will help him pursue his dream of becoming a veterinarian. Arnold tells us. “The most exciting thing is seeing all the people that are on my side. I thought it would be a lot more hate than support.” Tonight, Arnold is looking forward to sharing his story on a massive platform. “As teenagers, we have a voice and we’re the future,” he says. “I want more cultural acceptance. If there’s any other situation that I feel like I need to stand up for, I would do that in a heartbeat.”

1. What happened to Arnold not long ago?

A．He played a role in a short film.

B．He managed to apply for a scholarship.

C．He dropped out of school owing to his hair.

D．He was not allowed to attend some school activities.

2. What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Violence.

B．Discrimination.

C．Panic.

D．Starvation.

3. What do we know from the passage?

A．Hair Love was based on Arnold’s experiences.

B．Alicia Keys shaped Arnold’s cultural acceptance.

C．Mitchell had been punished for wearing natural hair.

D．The CROWN Act has not been adopted nationwide.

4. What’s the writer’s main purpose in writing this passage?

A．To share a teenager’s story.	B．To advocate the passage of an act.
C．To introduce an Oscar-winning film.	D．To express his dissatisfaction with society.

【推荐2】When we’re in need, we always turn to our parents for help. But would you like them to hear the conversations you have with your friends on the school playground or lunch queue? Social networking sites have become extensions (延伸) of the school hallways, so would you add your parents as “friends” and allow them to view your online activities and conversations with friends?

In the past the generation gap included a technology gap, where children were up to date with latest technology and parents were left behind, content to continue their day to day lives as they always had because they had no need to know more about technology. However, more and more parents are beginning to realize just how important social networks are in their lives. This realization has given many parents the motivation to educate themselves about social networking sites.

These days many people are attracted to social networking sites because they can choose who they have around them; there’s also a certain amount of control over privacy that we don’t get in real life. Sometimes we feel that privacy is violated (侵犯）when we must accept a “friend” request from a parent or family member.

It’s a difficult choice whether or not to allow a parent to become a part of our online lives. On the one hand we don’t want to “reject” their request because that might hurt their feelings or make them feel you have something to hide. On the other hand if you do accept, then you could have a sense of being watched and no longer feel free to comment or communicate the way you did before.

A recent survey suggested that parents shouldn’t take it personally if their child ignores their request: “When a teen ignores a parent’s friend request, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are hiding something, but it could mean that this is one part of their life where they want to be independent.”

Perhaps talking with parents and giving explanations would help soften the blow if you do choose not to add them to your friends list.

1. The passage is mainly about ______.

A．privacy online	B．parents’ friend requests
C．the generation gap	D．social networks

2. From Paragraph 2, we learn that ______.

A．parents have realized the importance of social networks

B．parents feel secure about their privacy online

C．social networks successfully fill the generation gap

D．social networks offer a platform for parents to communicate

3. Teenagers may refuse a parent’s friend request because ______.

A．their parents make negative comments on them

B．they hide something from their parents

C．they are unwilling to be watched by parents

D．their parents tend to fall behind in technology

4. The passage is written mainly for ______.

A．parents	B．teachers
C．researchers	D．teenagers

【推荐3】On Christmas Day, 2003, a woman named Nancy Sue Brown took her daughter and grandchildren to see a movie at an AMC theater. When the movie was over, the crowd made for the exits. A theater employee had just finished mopping the hallway and dutifully placed the “wet floor” sign in the slippery area. No one slipped due to the wet conditions, but someone did manage to knock over the sign. And by the time Ms. Brown got to the area, the sign was lying on the floor. And shortly thereafter, so was she. Her foot got caught in the sign, in a bad way, and she fell. Unfortunately Ms. Brown had undergone a back operation, and the fall caused more damage than it otherwise would have. So she and her husband accused AMC.

AMC argued that the entire point of the “wet floor” sign above was to warn of danger, and therefore, courts should encourage the use by not allowing Brown’s case to proceed(继续进行). AMC referred to a case about a December,1998 incident where a “wet floor” sign, not in use, fell to the floor causing another trip-and-fall. In that case, Georgia’s Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the store, but didn’t go so far as to say that “wet floor” signs couldn’t give rise to legal responsibility in trip-and-fall accidents. In the Brown case, the Supreme Court therefore rejected AMC’s argument that the former case applied.

But the Browns argued something surprising that the “wet floor” sign was, itself. dangerous, because “using this type of sign in areas passed by lots of customers creates an unreasonable risk of foreseeable harm to the public in the form of tripping risks.” That’s right- the safety sign, used in the way it was designed, was itself dangerous. The court thankfully didn’t accept that argument, at least not entirely. But it did conclude that Browns case could continue to a jury(陪审团)-“a merchant’s selection and use of equipment designed to warn customers of one danger that has the potential to expose them to a different one”.

1. According to the text, Ms. Brown___________.

A．slipped on the wet floor	B．tripped over a warning sign
C．knocked over warning sign	D．was knocked down by the crowd

2. AMC mentioned the 1998 case in order to__________.

A．accept its legal responsibility for Ms. Brown’s loss

B．prove Ms. Brown had some physical problems

C．stress that it had no legal responsibility for the accident

D．prove other customers were responsible for the accident

3. What can we learn about the Brown’s case from the last paragraph?

A．It would be judged by jury.

B．It would not be allowed to proceed.

C．The court would rule in favor of AMC.

D．The court accepted all the arguments of the Browns.

4. The underlined word “one” in the last paragraph refers to “_______”.

A．danger	B．customer
C．business owner	D．equipment in public places

【推荐1】My mother loves flowers. As soon as warm weather comes around, you will find her planting, watering and weeding over everything. For many years we lived next door to each other, and she spent as much time in my garden as she did her own. After the flowers became plentiful each summer, she would cut colorful bouquets (花束) to enjoy inside the house — both hers and mine. I would often come home from work and find a beautiful arrangement (布置) of fresh flowers on my coffee table.

Shortly before Christmas one year, a local flower shop offered a bouquetamonth special. It seemed to be a great way to thank her for all of the flowers she had given me through the years.

After the holidays, in early January, I drove her to the flower shop to pick up her first month’s bouquet. The small fresh colorful bouquet would hardly fill a small vase (花瓶).

I was so embarrassed. However, after we returned home, she began to arrange the flowers she had received. “Mom, I’m sorry,” I told her. “I can’t believe how skimpy that bouquet is.” She looked at me and smiled. “It’s okay,” she said. “It allows me to better enjoy the beauty of each one.”

Mom’s words helped me to realize something bigger and more important — when we have too many good things, we often fail to enjoy the beauty of each one.

Thanks, Mom, for helping me understand that less is sometimes more.

1. According to Paragraph 1, which of the following is TRUE?

A．The author’s mother usually bought flowers for her daughter.

B．The author used to buy some fresh flowers on her way home.

C．The author’s mother put fresh flowers on the author’s coffee table.

D．The author and her mother shared a becautiful garden.

2. The author bought her mother flowers to________.

A．bring more flowers to her mother’s garden

B．express thanks for all her mother’s done

C．celebrate the coming Christmas

D．arrange her mother’s new house

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．The mother was not happy when receiving the bouquet.

B．The author couldn’t afford a big bouquet.

C．The mother would send back the bouquet to the flower shop.

D．The author would pick up another bouquet the next month.

4. The underlined word “skimpy” in Para.4 means ________.

A．beautiful

B．colorful

C．cheap

D．small

5. What did the author learn from her mother?

A．How to grow flowers.	B．How to arrange flowers.
C．Enjoying life if possible.	D．Considering things in other ways.

【推荐2】When I was six, Dad brought home a dog one day, who was called “Brownie”. My brothers and I all loved Brownie and did different things with her. One of us would walk her, another would feed her, then there were baths, playing catch and many other games, Brownie, in return, loved each and every one of us. One thing that most touched my heart was that she would go to whoever was sick and just be with them we always felt better when she was around.
One day, as I was getting her food, she chewed up(咬破)one of Dad’s shoes, which had to be thrown away in the end. I knew Dad would be mad and I had to let her know what she did was wrong. When I looked at her and said, ”Bad girl,” she looked down at the ground and then went and hid. I saw a tear in her eyes.
Brownie turned out to be more than just our family pet, she went everywhere with us .People would stop and ask if they could pet her. Of course she’d let anyone pet her. She was just the most lovable dog. There were many times when we’d be out walking and a small child would come over and pull her hair. she never barked(吠) or tried to get away. Funny thing is she would smile. This frightened people because they thought she was showing her teeth. Far from the truth, she loved everyone.
Now many years have passed since Brownie died of old age. I still miss days when she was with us.
1. What would Brownie do when someone was ill in the family?

A．Look at them sadly.	B．Keep them company.
C．Play games with them.	D．Touch them gently.

2. We can infer from Paragraph 2 that Brownie__________.

A．world eat anything when hungry

B．felt sorry for her mistake

C．loved playing hide-and-seek

D．disliked the author’s dad

3. Why does the author say that Brownie was more than just a family pet?

A．She was treated as a member of the family.

B．She played games with anyone she liked.

C．She was loved by everybody she met.

D．She went everywhere with the family.

4. Which of the following best describes Brownie?

A．Shy

B．Polite

C．Brave

D．Caring

【推荐3】If you follow these insider tips，your photos will look like you had the place to yourself at the popular tourist attractions.

Vatican Museums:Vatican City

The Vatican draws more than five million people each year，and queues can reach four hours during peak season.Christie Hudson，senior communications manager at Expedia，recommends，choosing a skip-the-1ine tour.“This not only lets you avoid the ticket counter，but also includes the use of a private partner entrance.”Extra time to visit the Sistine Chapel? Yes!

Bamboo Forest:Kyoto，Japan

Bamboo Forest is the most worthy sight in Kyoto.If you’re longing to enjoy the pathways and take pictures in total quietness，Kyoto Arashiyama Travel Guide recommends hitting the famous Bamboo Grove Path as early in the morning as possible—think 7 a.m.if you’re up for it.Don’t miss these hidden treasures you can only witness in Japan.

Chichen Itza:Yucatán，Mexico

Home to E1 Castillo and the Temple of the Warriors，Chichen Itza is a must-see.Want to beat the rush? Schedule an early tour that takes place before a site opens to the public.Led by an archaeologist guide，it’s full of fascinating insights and facts—without tons of pack-wearing tourists.

Louvre Museum:Paris，France

The Louvre is one of the most popular museums on the planet.If waiting around in line to get in isn’t the way you prefer to spend your time in Paris，consider purchasing a reserved ticket.This will give you entry to the pyramid within a half-hour window.The Louvre is also open until 9:45 p.m.on Wednesdays and Fridays，if you’re up for some late-night art visits.

1. What is recommended at Vatican Museums by Christie Hudson?

A．Queuing four hours.	B．Jumping the waiting line.
C．Taking a skip-the-line tour.	D．Visiting the Sistine Chapel.

2. Which of the following are available for early tourists to avoid the rush?

A．Vatican Museums and Bamboo Forest.	B．Chichen Itza and Bamboo Forest.
C．Bamboo Forest and Louvre Museum.	D．Chichen Itza and Louvre Museum.

3. Who might this passage be intended for?

A．Visitors interested in museums.	B．Guides at the tourist attractions.
C．People at the ticket counter.	D．Tourists to beat the rush.