【推荐3】Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden change in pronunciation started, with vowels (元音) being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact (接触) with many people from around the world. This meant that lots of new vocabulary entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary came out.

Early Modern English and Late Modern English are mostly different in the number of words. Late Modern English has many more words, mainly because of the following two reasons: First, the Industrial Revolution (工业革命) led to the need for new words. Second, the British Empire covered one quarter of the earth’s surface, and the English language took in foreign words from many countries.

From around 1600, the English colonization (殖民地化) of North America led to American English. Some English pronunciations and words “froze” when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English. Some expressions that are called “American English” are in fact from British expressions. They were kept in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain. Spanish also had an influence (影响) on American English. For example, words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante are from Spanish. They entered English by the people of Spain who settled in the American West. French words and West African words also influenced American English.

Today, American English has a greater influence, because of the USA’s movies, television, popular music, trade and technology.

1. The main difference between Early and Late Modern English lies in _____.

A．vocabulary	B．pronunciation
C．spelling	D．grammar

2. What helped to increase the vocabulary of Late Modern English?
a. the invention of printing
b. the Industrial Revolution
c. the colonization
d. the contact with other countries

A．a, b, c	B．a, c, d
C．a, b, d	D．b, c, d

3. From the passage, we can learn the word “canyon” is from _____.

A．American dialect	B．African dialect
C．Spanish	D．French

【推荐1】阅读下面的短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
How Women Were Freed From Their Homes
As late as 1800, a woman’s only place was in her home. Women in business were unheard of.   No respectable woman would dream of entering what was strictly a “man’s world”. Even if she would, what could she do? Men were sure that no woman could do a job well outside her home.   This was a widely-accepted idea. When the famous Bronte sisters began writing books in 1846, they had to resort to using men’s names as aliases.
Teaching was the first profession opened to women, soon after 1800. But even that was not easy for women to take because most high schools and colleges were open only to men. Oberlin College in Ohio was the first college in America to take in women.
Nursing was regarded as a respectable profession for women only after Florence Nightingale won high credit for her nursing career and became famous. Miss Nightingale opened the first training school for nursing in 1860 in England.
The invention of typewriters in 1867 helped to bring women out of their homes to join the business world. Because women are careful and have nimble fingers, businessmen found that they were well suited to this kind of work.
By 1890, tens of thousands of women were working in schools, hospitals, shops, offices, and factories both in England and the States. Some even managed to become doctors or lawyers. The idea of women working in business and other circles was accepted.
1. Oberlin College was the first college in America ________.

A．where teaching was a profession only open to women

B．where girls could get advanced education

C．to train women to be teachers and nurses

D．to accept women only as professors and students

2. It can be inferred from the text that besides nursing, Florence Nightingale was also ________.

A．a doctor

B．a lawyer

C．a teacher

D．a businessman

3. Quite a lot of women entered the business world ________.

A．soon after 1800

B．when Nightingale became famous

C．at the beginning of this century

D．after the typewriter came into being

【推荐2】On June 6th Columbia University announced that it will no longer cooperate with US News World Report’s undergraduate rankings. It is the first top institution to do so. Might its departure be the start of a mass departure?

Columbia’s decision follows a ranking scandal (丑闻) last year. In February 2022, one of Columbia’s own maths professors accused the college of having used “outdated and/or incorrect data” in several areas.

In the 1980s, potential students started to expand their college search beyond their local area, and it was hard to learn about universities and compare them. Hence, US News began ranking America’s top universities in 1983, and has released its findings annually since 1988.

Universities have put in significant effort to move up in the ratings. Richard Freeland, Northeastern University’s former president, capped class sizes to enhance student engagement and guarantee class quality. Consequently, it moved from 127th in 2003 to 44th this year.

The ranking system used to seem unstoppable. Universities have tried to get rid of it before, only to find that doing so can backfire badly. US News still ranks non-participating universities, using publicly available information, and the data often do not go in their favour. Columbia did not submit data for this year’s analysis, and its ranking fell from second in 2021-22 to 18th in 2022-23.

Recently the mood has begun to change, however, especially among graduate schools. In 2022, of the 15 highest-ranked law schools, only the University of Chicago submitted data.

In May US News announced changes to its ranking methodology. It is moving away from metrics (度量标准) that rely on reputation and towards student outcomes. One way or another, the rankings-and universities more broadly-are in a state of constant change.

1. What is true about the US News undergraduate rankings?

A．It faked the information for the ratings.

B．It filled an information gap in the past.

C．It promoted the quality of higher education.

D．It’s been released every year for 40 years.

2. What does the underlined word “capped” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Limited.

B．Maintained.

C．Increased.

D．Doubled.

3. What will happen to a university if it does not cooperate with US News?

A．Its information will be removed.

B．It will be excluded from the list forever.

C．Its ranking will probably suffer consequently.

D．It will certainly be charged with using incorrect data.

4. US News undergraduate rankings may focus more on ______________________in the future.

A．the changing mood of universities

B．the instant fame of universities

C．achievements of university graduates

D．scores given by former students

【推荐3】You are on your way to a concert.At a crossroad,you see a group of people, all staring at the sky.Without even thinking about it, you stare upward, too. Why? In the middle of the concert,someone begins to clap and suddenly the whole room joins in.You do,too.Why?

Social proof determines that people feel they are behaving correctly when they act the same as other people. In other words, the more people who follow a certain idea, the better or truer we consider the idea to be. An experiment carried out by the psychologist(心理学家）Solomon Asch shows how peer pressure can influence common sense.A subject is showed a line,and next to it three lines - one shorter, one longer and one of the same length as the original one. He must show which of the three lines similar to the original one. If the person is alone, he gives a correct answer. Now, five unknown actors enter the room.One after another, they give wrong answers. And in one third of cases, the subject will answer incorrectly to match the other people's responses.

Why do we act like this? Well, in the past, following others was a survival method. Suppose that one day 5,000 years ago, you were travelling with your hunter friends. Suddenly,they all ran away.What would you have done? Would you have stood still, weighing up whether what you were looking at was a lion or something that just looked like a lion? No,you would have run, too.We are generations of those who copied others' behaviors. This is so deeply rooted in us that we still use it, though it offers few survival advantages today.

Social proof is the evil behind many things. The advertising industry, for example, often makes use of it.Therefore, be doubtful whenever a company says its product is "the most popular". Remember British novelist W.Somerset Maugham's words, "If 50 million people say something foolish,it is still foolish."So should we always follow the crowd?

1. What's the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To share the story.

B．To describe a scene.

C．To introduce the topic.

D．To settle an argument.

2. What does social proof refer to?

A．Wrong answers driven by unknown cases.

B．True ideas followed by surrounding actors.

C．Social influence that decides people's psychology.

D．Peer pressure that corrects people's common sense.

3. Social proof comes from_______.

A．rooted behaviors to survive

B．natural responses to dangers

C．lasting advantages of copying ancestors

D．traditional ways of travelling with friends

4. What's the author's attitude towards social proof?

A．Supportive.

B．Disapproving.

C．Doubtful.

D．Objective.

【推荐1】A decade ago, colored lights danced around the living room on New Year's Eve and happy music was played. Upstairs, the children were asleep. But I wasn't feeling happy. In mid-December, my husband and I had been informed that he had cancer and that he was going to die. He had less than a year left, the doctors said.

In the years since that painful season, I have come to look back upon New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve brings a halt to the endless commitments that fill our daily lives and a chance to reflect New Year's Eve is full of possibility and anticipation. What will be the surprising experiences and delightful successes in the coming year? But also, what disappointments are waiting for us in the next twelve months?

In many ways, New Year's Eve and the days that surround it are a line between past and future. That line is made up of a series of moments of transition （过渡）that take us out of the old and into the new. Transition can be challenging for many of us. It's about letting go of the familiar and diving into the unfamiliar.

Just as, back then, I had to face letting go of the life I had led with my beloved husband and stepping into a new world as a widowed mom, I find that each year I have to step out of the version of me that suited the year that is ending and ease into the version of me who will rise to the goals I am holding for myself for the year ahead.

Last year at this time, I sat in a chair in southern France and drank in the beauty of the countryside around me. The three children 1 had brought into this world talked and laughed around the table beside me as we enjoyed a lunch of bread and cheese.

I was filled with a sense of joy and I had a glowing （热情洋溢的）heart that was full of hope. It was another ending and another beginning. May we all transition into the best of what lies ahead. May we all find happiness in this holiday season.

1. What causes author's unhappiness on New Year's Eve a decade ago?

A．The pressure she faced in her work.

B．The health problem her husband suffered.

C．The information received from her family.

D．The relationship between her and her husband.

2. According to the author, what should people do on the New Year's Eve?

A．Set challenging goals for the next year.

B．Manage daily routines and form a new habit.

C．Spend more time with family members.

D．Think about the past and get ready for the future.

3. What's the main purpose of writing the passage?

A．To honor her beloved late husband.

B．To show how she got through a hard time.

C．To share her new view of New Year's Eve.

D．To remind us that misfortune is part of life.

【推荐1】In April 2015, UK journalist Rebecca Atkinson, along with other parents of children with disabilities started the campaign(活动) Toy Likeme to solve the lack of various toys for children with disabilities. They created a Facebook page where everyone was able to post ideas and pictures about what toys for children with disabilities should look like.

Even though the campaign attracted a lot of attention, these parents couldn't rest until their ideas actually became real. Luckily, only 2 weeks after the campaign started, the people who started the campaign got in touch with a company in the UK that designs toys through 3D printing, and the company agreed to create a new series of dolls. That's when the first toys with disabilities were produced.

There are around 150 million children with disabilities, and even though the toy industry is worth over S2.9 billion, it has completely failed to create toys that are fitter for them. Until recently, that is. Thanks to this campaign that has taken the Internet by storm, many toy companies have answered this calling and have made toys specifically for children with disabilities.

Soon enough, the Toylikeme campaign on Facebook and Twitter finally reached the big companies like Lego, and now there is an entire series of toys with disabilities that have been sold worldwide.

Even after all the success this campaign has had, Toy Likeme gets on with its task. The organization has followers in over 45 countries and has received to continuously influence the global toy industry and hopefully make kids with disabilities all around the world feel accepted and appreciated.

1. What can we learn about Toylikeme?

A．It makes disabled kids have more confidence

B．It gives away toys to children with disabilities

C．It makes disabled kids have various toys to play with

D．It gives families with disabled kids encouragement

2. What does Paragraph 3 mainly show?

A．There’s a growing need for helping disabled kids

B．Many toy companies are responding to the calling

C．There's a growing need for more toy companies

D．Children are fond of playing with various toys

3. What can be inferred about Toy Likeme in the last paragraph?

A．It will continue its journey.

B．It has gained support of parents.

C．It has been popular with disabled kids.

D．It will care for other needs of disabled kids.

【推荐2】I visited Elba last June, joining Mary and John on a cycling vacation. They made the arrangements for the car, hotel and bicycles. I studied the history of the island, which of course particularly features Napoleon.

Napoleon picked Elba as a place for peace when he was forced to give up the throne as Emperor of France in 1814. Far from being a prison island, Elba is beautiful with towering mountains, thick forests and sweeping bays and beaches.

It is also an island filled with treasures. Very early on this island, the locals discovered rich deposits of iron. Soon outsiders, too, discovered the iron and 150 other valuable minerals on this little piece of land. Long before Etruscans and other Greeks set foot on it, Dorians had moved in by the tenth century B.C. and were mining the island. The Romans ruled next, obtaining the minerals and building grand houses overlooking the sea. From the twelfth century until the nineteenth, the island was traded back and forth and was passed to France in 1802. Then came Napoleon, the new ruler of Elba.

I was eager to visit his house in Portoferraio. The Emperor lived with his court and his mother, but his wife, Marie Louise had ensconced herself in the splendid Viennese palace of her father, Emperor of Austria. She lived safely there and showed little interest in visiting her husband in his mini-kingdom. Apparently, Napoleon wasn't troubled much by this. He was too busy riding everywhere on horseback, building roads, modernizing agriculture and, above all, sharpening his tiny army and navy into readiness for his escape.

In the formal gardens behind the house, it seemed to me that I could imagine the exiled (流亡的) conqueror's anxious thoughts. He might gaze over where I stood now, toward the lighthouse of the Stella fort, the sandy bay, and across it, the green mountains of the Tuscan coast. Napoleon spent only ten months here before making his victorious return to France and the throne.

1. Who might be the earliest outsiders to Elba according to the text?

A．Napoleon and his army.	B．Etruscans and other Greeks.
C．Dorians.	D．Romans.

2. What does the underlined word “ensconced” probably mean?

A．Settled.

B．Locked.

C．Cured.

D．Controlled.

3. What came to the author's mind during his visit to Napoleon's gardens?

A．Beautiful views on Elba.

B．Terrible living conditions on Elba.

C．Napoleon’s ambition to regain power.

D．Hardship of Napoleon's return to France.

【推荐3】Chinese high school students have the most positive attitude towards online learning compared with those in the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK), according to a report released by China Youth Daily.

The study, conducted by researchers at China Youth and Children Research Center, including their counterparts in the other three countries, covered 3,903 Chinese high school students, 1,521 US high school students, 2,204 Japanese high school students and 1,618 high school students of the ROK.

The report showed that most of the surveyed students in the four countries embrace online learning.

Online learning is important" is perceived by 87.1 percent of Chinese students, and "on-learning is interesting" is supported by 91.2 percent of Chinese students, both a little higher than that in any of the other three countries.

More than 94 percent of Chinese high school students believe that online learning can expend scope of knowledge, while 86.8 percent believe that they can learn from first-class teachers via the Internet, according to the report.

Through online learning can push the boundaries of time and space, the report said the students were easily distracted, adding that students in the four countries expressed similar concern such as poor vision, reliance on the Internet and less effort in problem-solving on their own.

1. What do most Chinese students think of online learning?

A．It is of great importance.

B．It is helpful but kind of boring.

C．It helps them stay focused at home.

D．It is less interesting than classroom learning.

2. Which can best explain "embrace" underlined in paragraph 3?

A．Schedule.

B．Accept.

C．Abandon.

D．Update.

3. Which of the following is one of the advantages of online learning?

A．It makes students feel at school.

B．Students can attend classes given by excellent teachers.

C．Students will work harder when they are learning online.

D．It enables students to know more about their classmates.

4. What can we infer from the text?

A．China Daily did the study.

B．American students dislike online learning.

C．Students in the world enjoy online learning.

D．Online learning may lead to students' bad eyesight.