【推荐1】I have a neighbour we call “Happy”. I have never seen her angry at anything and never heard her say a harsh word to anyone or about anyone.

Happy and her husband Ben, 70, have a huge garden. They spent many happy hours together working on it. As we were spending more and more dollars on food, we all wished we also had such a large garden. As the rest of us bought food at the market, Happy could be seen picking beans in her backyard.

Last month, Happy and Ben invited most of the neighbourhood over for an “all day food festival”. We were told to bring gloves and arrive very early in the morning. We didn’t know what was about to take place.

By 9:00 a.m., there were nine of us in the garden picking tomatoes, beans, okra, and squash. By 10:00 a.m., there was lots of laughter. We shared a lot of stories. By five o’clock, everyone was a little drunk from the wine and beer. After dinner, we played games. As we were leaving, Happy and Ben handed each of us a shopping bag filled with the bounty (慷慨) of the day, already packaged and frozen. What a delightful gift!

Well, the point wasn’t so much about the food. The true gift was a day of friends enjoying one another’s company. None of it would have happened if it had not been for Happy and Ben’s garden. Now they have a blog about gardening in case we decided to plant a garden. And I am so proud of my tomato plants!

1. According to Paragraph 2, people wished they also had a garden so that ________.

A．they could spend happy times together with their family in it

B．they could grow vegetables and sell at the market

C．they could invite their neighbours and hold parties in it

D．they didn’t have to spend so much money on food

2. Why did Happy and Ben invite the neighbours to their garden?

A．To ask them to attend a birthday party.

B．To help them get to know each other.

C．To let them enjoy what they grew in the garden.

D．To ask them to share some interesting stories.

3. What did the writer most probably think of the time he spent in the garden?

A．It was too short to enjoy it.

B．It was wonderful.

C．It was not as good as he had thought.

D．It was too terrible.

4. Which word can best describe Happy and her husband?

A．Generous

B．Outstanding

C．Hopeful

D．Humorous

【推荐2】Every morning I walk outside and bring in the morning newspaper. There was a time when every house on both sides of the street had a newspaper in the driveway. There was also a time when every house had a landline telephone, but not anymore. Not for a long time.

My husband is less willing to accept the downward trend of print-edition newspapers, as he has worked in newspapers since the age of 16. Even before that, he was what you would call an “independent publisher”.

Recently, we were in a Chicago park with our grandchildren. My husband had a newspaper folded under his arm. He sat down and put the paper on the bench beside him. A young girl walked over, looked at the newspaper, picked it up and asked, “What’s this?”

I thought he was going to fall over. The colour faded from his face. His eyes rolled back in his head and his legs were giving out. I rolled up his paper and waved it under his nose. The smells from the ink woke him up.

Some people simply love paper—the feel, the portability, and the pleasure of piling them higher and higher until their wife cries, “Enough!” My husband was happy when he spent time with our youngest daughter and her husband. When they lived with us, they raced to pull the crossword puzzle from the paper every day. It’s hard to do a crossword online. Pencil doesn’t come off a computer screen as easily as you might think.

Now my husband will be very excited that I have found further proof that there may still be hope for the survival of print. I was chatting with a young mother who subscribes to the daily newspaper. I asked why she did something so conservatively. She looked shocked. “Because it’s print!” she said. “I love print! When the paper didn’t come one day, would you believe I called the main number to let them know and the lady said, ‘Why don’t you just subscribe to the online version?’” She shook her head in disbelief.

My husband will be so thrilled that he might write this young woman into his will. I say we leave her all our piles of old newspapers.

1. What does the author probably mean by saying “his legs were giving out”?

A．He was feeling tired and needed a rest.

B．He was very old and unable to stand long.

C．He almost lost his balance and became unconscious.

D．He was annoyed with the girl and played a trick on her.

2. What does the author intend to tell us with the example of the young mother?

A．Many young people follow an old-fashioned lifestyle.

B．It’s inconvenient for the old to read online newspapers.

C．There’re still young people who love printed newspapers.

D．Printed newspapers will be replaced by online newspapers.

3. What does the author mainly talk about in the passage?

A．The new rise of digital newspapers online.

B．A man’s everlasting love for printed newspapers.

C．The pleasure of looking through daily newspapers.

D．A family’s memory of reading printed newspapers.

4. How did the author’s husband feel when a girl asked a question in the park?

A．Shocked.

B．Thrilled.

C．Disappointed.

D．Confused.

【推荐3】It-s the universal cry of parents. "Get a job! " Soliman's mother told Soliman on the second day of his college breaks.
After years of delivering furniture for his mother'-s store, he knew many people had things they wanted to get rid     of. If he borrowed his mom's truck, he could make a little money by carrying away their garbage.
One night,   Soliman came up with a name for his new business - College Hunks Hauling Junk.   He advertised the next day, and within hours, his phone rang.   He asked his friend Friedman to help.   They made $ 220 in three hours by cleaning out a woman-s garage.   Soliman and Friedman earned $ 10,000 that summer.   But the two weren't readyto become full- time garbage mcn after graduation.   "We were trained to finish college and get a good job," says Soliman, who first worked at a research firm.   Friedman became an economic analyst.
After working for the firm and the company for a while, both of them changed their minds. They quit their jobs and restarted their business, but had trouble finding a bank willing to lend them money.   "Within months," says Friedman, "we were pretty upset. "
At last, one bank risked lending them $ 50,000.   At first, they lost money.   One customer asked them to deal with a dozen garbage cans filled with construction garbage. They measured the job by volume instead of by weight and charged just $ 130.   "The cans were so heavy that it took us two and a half hours," says Soliman, "And it cost us more than $ 250 to carry the load. "
However, the tough experience taught them a lesson. They reduced the cost of unloading by recycling metals and electronics. Just four years later, they ran a nationwide company that earned $ 3 million in 2014. " I figured if Nick and I failed, we'd learn more from failing than from not trying at all," says Soliman.
1. What does Soliman find when helping to deliver furniture?

A．Some parents want their kids to work at college breaks.

B．Many families have things they don't want to keep.

C．His mom's truck works well in carrying heavy furniture.

D．It's hard to make money by carrying away the garbage.

2. What makes Soliman think of starting his new business?

A．His working experience in his mother's store.

B．His strong desire to make use of the garbage.

C．His hatred for people's throwing away things.

D．His much available time at college breaks.

3. How did Soliman and Friedman cut the cost of the company?

A．By filling the cans with more garbage.

B．By measuring the job by volume.

C．By reducing the working hours.

D．By recycling something useful.

4. Which of the following can be learned from the passage?

A．Easier said than done.

B．Nothing succeeds like success.

C．Two heads are better than one.

D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.

【推荐1】Billionaire Bill Gates has offered the many thousands of graduates some career and life advice. Over a series of 14 tweets in his Tweeter posted last Monday, the world’s richest man used the words “impact”, “happiness” and “progress”. He did not mention money. Instead, he told the graduates what jobs he would be looking for if he started out today.

“AI (artificial intelligence), energy and bio-sciences are promising fields where you can make a huge influence”, he wrote. Earlier this year, Gates---who famously dropped out of Harvard to found Microsoft---said that artificial intelligence had “ phenomenal” potential, and “anything connected with that would be an exciting lifetime career.” In the same speech at Columbia University, he said there is a huge growing demand in the energy field to develop reliable, cheap and clean energy.

As well as urging new graduates to surround themselves with people who challenge you, teach you, and push you to be your best self, Gates reminded them to think of others, especially the less fortunate.

He wrote that it had taken him decades to learn about the world’s worst unfairness and described this lack of early understanding as his one big regret. “You know more than I did when I was your age,” he wrote, “ You can start fighting unfairness, whether down the street or around the world sooner.”

He finished by asking graduates to consider the progress human has already made, saying that he believe the world is getting better. “ That matters because if you think the world is getting better, you want to spread the progress to more people and places.”

1. Who has been given life advice by Gates recently?

A．High school students.	B．New employers.
C．Unemployed persons.	D．College graduates.

2. What words mentioned in Gates’ tweets?

A．Impact, happiness, money.

B．Impact, happiness, progress.

C．Happiness, progress, money.

D．Progress, impact, money.

3. What does the underlined word “that” in Para 3 refer to?

A．AI.

B．Energy.

C．Bio-sciences.

D．Microsoft.

4. What was Gates’ great regret about unfairness?

A．Not fighting with it.

B．Few people realized it.

C．Having too little early understanding of it.

D．Spending too little time learning about it.

【推荐2】The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. A few days ago, my car was not running well. I pulled it into a garage and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine. I was amazed. The sad truth is, great talent is not enough.

I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100, 000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in the medical trade was telling me how many doctors and dentists struggle financially. It was this business consultant who gave me the phrase, "They are one skill away from great wealth."

There is an old saying that goes, "Job means" just over broke ". And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions of people. Because school does not think financial intelligence is intelligence, most workers" live within their means". They work and they pay the bills. Instead I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn.

When I ask the classes I teach, "How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald’s?” almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, "So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald’s makes more money than you?" The answer is obvious: McDonald’s is excellent at business systems. The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on bui1ding a better hamburger and know little or nothing about business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.

1. The author mentions the mechanic in the first paragraph to show that      .

A．he has a sharp sense of hearing	B．he is ready to help others
C．he is just one of the talented people	D．he knows little about car repairing

2. The underlined part in the third paragraph can be best replaced by   “      ”.

A．spend more than they can afford	B．do in their own way
C．live in their own circle	D．live within what they earn

3. Why do talented people earn so little according to the author?

A．They lack financial intelligence.	B．They don’t work hard enough.
C．They don’t make full use of their talents.	D．They have no specialized skills.

4. The main purpose of the author is to tell us       .

A．how young people can find a satisfactory job	B．what schools should teach students
C．how McDonald’s makes much money.	D．why so many talented people are poor

【推荐3】It was late, about 10:15 pm, when Janice Esposito jumped into her minivan(小型货车)and began the 20-minute drive home. Having traveled the route so many times, she practically drove on autopilot: a left onto Station Road, then a left on Montauk Highway, and then-wham! A car crashed into Esposito's minivan, forcing her backward some 100 feet onto the railroad tracks. She sat in the minivan, shocked by the impact and by the vehicle's airbags.

As it happened, Pete DiPinto was getting ready for bed. He’d just closed his book and was crawling under the covers when he heard the high-pitched noise of metal on metal coming from not far outside his bedroom window. DiPinto, a volunteer firefighter and once a teacher, 64, never stopped to think. He took a flashlight and ran out the door. “Any firefighter would have done what I did,” he told MyNBC5. “We’re always on duty.”

Once DiPinto concluded the car driver was OK, he looked around and spotted Esposito’s minivan resting on the railroad tracks. And then he heard the sound of the alarm bells signaling an oncoming train. “The gates were starting to come down,” he told Newsday. “I see the headlight of the train.” DiPinto hurried to Esposito’s minivan and banged on the driver’s side window. She just looked at him, her eyes unfocused. But she seemed unhurt.

DiPinto shouted, “I have to get you off right now!” He pulled the handle, but the door was jammed shut. The roaring train, traveling at 65 miles per hour, was heading toward them. DiPinto ran to the passenger side and threw open the door. He pushed aside the deflating airbags, grabbed Esposito’s arms, and pulled her toward him across the passenger seat until he could help her out and speed-walk her to safety behind a signal box a few feet away. Within six seconds, he estimated, the train plowed into the minivan.

1. What do we know about the car accident?

A．The car driver was to blame.

B．Esposito was seriously injured.

C．The minivan was badly damaged.

D．It happened right on the railway tracks.

2. What was DiPinto?

A．A railway worker.

B．A former educator.

C．A traffic policeman.

D．A professional firefighter.

3. How was Esposito successfully rescued?

A．The train was signaled to stop.

B．The car driver helped her out.

C．DiPinto broke open the driver’s side door.

D．She was rescued across the passenger seat.

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

A．A brave firefighter.

B．A timely rescue.

C．A lucky driver.

D．A severe accident.

【推荐2】Throughout all the events in my life, one in particular sticks out more than the others. As I reflect on this significant event, a smile spreads across my face. As I think of Shanda, I feel loved and grateful.

It was my twelfth year of dancing, I thought it would end up like any other year: stuck in emptiness, forgotten and without the belief of any teacher or friend that I really had the potential to achieve greatness.

However, I met Shanda, a young, talented choreographer (编舞者). She influenced me to work to the best of my ability, pushed me to keep going when I wanted to give up, encouraged me and showed me the real importance of dancing. Throughout our hard work, not only did my ability to dance grow, but my friendship with Shanda grew as well.

With the end of the year came our showtime. As I walked to a backstage filled with other dancers, I hoped for a good performance that would prove my improvement. I waited anxiously for my turn. Finally, after what seemed like days, the loudspeaker announced my name. Butterflies filled my stomach as I took trembling steps onto the big lighted stage. But, with the determination to succeed and eagerness to live up to Shanda’s expectations for me, I began to dance. All my troubles and nerves went away as I danced my whole heart out.

As I walked up to the judge to receive my first place shining, gold trophy (奖杯), I realized that dance is not about becoming the best. It was about loving dance for dance itself, a getaway from all my problems in the world. Shanda showed me that you could let everything go and just dance what you feel at that moment. After all the doubts that people had in me, I believed in myself and did not care what others thought. Thanks to Shanda, dance became more than a love of mine, but a passion.

1. What did the author think her dancing would be for the twelfth year?

A．A change for the better.	B．A disappointment as before.
C．A proof of her potential.	D．A challenge to her dancing skills.

2. How did Shanda help the author?

A．By offering her financial help.	B．By entering her in a competition.
C．By coaching her for longer hours.	D．By awakening her passion for dancing.

3. How did the author feel when she stepped on the stage?

A．Hopeless.

B．Embarrassed.

C．Scared.

D．Nervous.

4. What can we learn from the author’s story?

A．Success lies in patience.	B．Fame is a great thirst of the young.
C．A good teacher matters.	D．A you this to be treated with respect.

【推荐3】It was the first snow of winter — an exciting day for every child but not for most teachers. Up until now, I had been old enough to dress myself, but today would need some help. Miss Finlayson, my kindergarten teacher, had been through first snow days many times, but I think she may still remember this one.

I managed to get into my wool snow trousers. But I struggled with my jacket because it didn’t fit well. It was a hand-me-down from my brother, and if made me wonder why I had to wear his ugly clothes. At least my hat and scarf were mine, and they were quite pretty. Finally it was time to have Miss Finlayson help me with my boots (靴子).

In her calm, motherly voice she said, “By the end of winter, you will all be able to put on your own boots.” I didn’t realize at the time that this was more a statement of hope than of confidence (信心).

I handed her my boots and stuck out my foot. Like most children, I expected grown-ups to do all the work. After much pushing, she managed to get first one into place and then, with a sigh, worked the second one on too.

I announced, “They’re on the wrong feet.”

She struggled to get the boots off and went through the joyless task of putting them on again.

“They’re my brother’s boots, you know,” I said. “I hate them”.

Somehow, from long years of practice, she managed to act as though I wasn’t an annoying (烦人的) little girl. She pushed and pushed, less gently this time. With а greater sigh, seeing the end of her struggle with me, she asked, “Now, where are your mittens?”

I looked into her eyes and said, “I didn’t want to lose them, so I hid them in the toes of my boots.

1. The little girl was more satisfied with her_____.

A．trousers

B．jacket

C．boots

D．hat

2. Miss Finlayson had difficulty with the girl’s boots mainly because_____.

A．the girl got them from her brother	B．the girl put something in them
C．they were on the wrong feet	D．they did not fit the girl well

3. Why does the author say Miss Finlayson would remember that first snow day?

A．Because the little girl was in her brother’s clothes.

B．Because it was the most exciting day of the winter.

C．Because the little girl played a trick on her.

D．Because the little girl wore a pretty scarf.

4. We can learn from the text that Miss Finlayson____.

A．was losing confidence in the little girl

B．gradually lost patience with the little girl

C．became disappointed with the little girl

D．was getting bored with the little girl

【推荐1】Members of a native community in the arctic (北极的)areas of Sweden say their reindeer (驯鹿)are facing possible hunger from unusual weather related to climate change. The local Sami community takes care of about 8,000 reindeer throughout the year. The animals are moved between traditional feeding areas in high mountains close to Norway in the summer and forests farther east in the winter.

A community member, Inga, is worried about his reindeer. He said climate change has affected the area's weather activity and created food shortages. "If we don't find better areas for them where they can feed themselves and find food, the reindeer will die from hunger,” Inga said. He verified the problem by reaching down into the snow and pulling up a hard piece of ice close to the soil.

The area received unusual snowfall early in the fall, followed by rain that froze. Inga said this traps the plants that reindeer eat under a thick cover of ice. Some of the hungry reindeer have now moved away from their traditional feeding areas in search of food.

Community members say half the reindeer moved towards the east as planned. But the rest headed back to the mountains, where they face the risk of attacks by other animals or being caught in an avalanche (雪崩). Older members of the Sami community say that in the past, they only remember bad winters about once every ten years. But now, Inga says “extreme and strange weather are appearing more and more often,“ happening several times a year.

Snowfall is common for the area. But as temperatures increase, rain can also fall, creating a “rain-on-snow” effect. When this happens, food remains trapped under the ice where the reindeer cannot reach it. This causes the animals to grow weaker and struggle to make it through the winter. Weather changes have hit the Sami community hard.

“We don't want money because we can’t buy better weather with money. We need the EU to take action and they need to do it now,“ said Inga.

1. What problem do reindeer meet with at present?

A．Cold weather.	B．Risk of hunger.
C．Long march for food.	D．Polluted environment.

2. What does the underlined word “verified" in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Proved.

B．Solved.

C．Ignored.

D．Answered.

3. What problem would the reindeer back in the mountains face?

A．Traps under the snow.	B．Hunt from human beings.
C．Rocks falling down the mountain.	D．Threat from other animals.

4. What is causing the reindeer s present difficult situation?

A．Flood.	B．Drought.
C．Rain-on-snow effect.	D．Snowfall.

【推荐2】Although its history can be somewhat traced back to ancient Korea, it is a true fact that Taekwondo as an organized art is relatively modern. In fact, the only recorded history begins in the mid 1900’s.

The actual beginnings of Taekwondo are not known to everyone, yet many historians believe it came from a Korean martial art from practiced over 1,300 years ago.

In the early 1900’s the art developed with the instruction of Chinese and Japanese techniques. Some Koreans were anxious because these influences did not prove the amazing kicking power of the art nor its traditional values or philosophy.

The actual name of Taekwondo wasn’t official until 1955. At that time Korean General Hong Hi Choi organized a movement to combine Korea’s various martial arts styles. He recommended the name “Taekwondo” to an organization specially founded to select a name for the new art. On April 11, 1955, Taekwondo was recognized as the name for the newly combined, officially recognized Korean martial art.

As an interesting side note, the word Taekwondo itself is made up of three Chinese/Korean words: Tae, meaning to kick or jump; Kwon, meaning fist or hand; and Do, which means “the way”. It can be thought of as “The Way of the Hand and Foot”.

In the 1960’s Taekwondo began to spread internationally and developed throughout the late 1900’s. It became a fighting sport, although self‒defense, fitness, and the philosophy of the practice are still main elements of Taekwondo.

Today, Taekwondo enjoys great popularity around the world. More than 20 million people practice Taekwondo in more than 120 countries. Taekwondo was also made an official sport in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea.

1. After Taekwondo was influenced by Chinese and Japanese techniques, some Koreans thought that .

A．Taekwondo could be improved a lot

B．the kicking power might be ignored

C．Taekwondo could be filled with violence

D．the spirit of Taekwondo would be respected

2. Hong Hi Choi created the name “Taekwondo” in order to .

A．recommend it to be an Olympic event

B．introduce it into other countries worldwide

C．combine other Korean martial arts style

D．persuade more Koreans to practice it

3. What’s the author’s main purpose in writing the passage?

A．To introduce the history of Taekwondo.

B．To show how to practice Taekwondo.

C．To explain the name of Taekwondo.

D．To compare Taekwondo with other arts.

【推荐3】You have probably heard that Japan has among the highest life expectancy(预期寿命) in the world and that the island of Okinawa(冲绳) has the greatest concentration(浓度) of centenarians(百岁老人). But do you know that two-thirds of the centenarians are still functioning independently? That means they are in their own homes, cooking their own meals and living their lives fully - at about 100 years old!

The elders there are less likely than their counterparts in the United States to have heart disease, dementia(痴呆) or certain cancers. Their bones are stronger than those of similarly aged people around the world. Many of these residents are the subjects of one of the largest studies of centenarians ever conducted. Since 1976, nearly a thousand centenarians on the islands have been studied.

More than anything, the Okinawa diet has long captured the headlines. Before knowing what the Okinawans eat, there is a valuable lesson in how they eat.

Remember this term: hara hachi bu. It is translated into English as “Stop eating when you are 80% full.” With hara hachi bu, the philosophy is that you should still be a little hungry when you push the plate away. You are also advised to reduce your portion(食物的分量) sizes, use smaller plates and eat more slowly.

There is a basic biological (生物学的) reason this works. It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to send signals to the brain that it is full. Unfortunately, most people can shovel down another several hundred calories in that short time. Instead, if you push the plate away and just wait, you will have eaten less and still feel satisfied.

Eating less is associated with longevity, but of course, that also depends on what you eat. Okinawans typically eat seven different fruits and vegetables and 18 different foods a day, and more than 200 different foods and spices regularly in their overall diet.

However, the younger generations are eating more meat and fast food instead of fish and soy. The elderly there are still widely revered(崇敬), but there are fewer of them, and they are less often living to 100 than in decades past.

1. What is the key to the high life expectancy in Okinawa?

A．What they eat	B．How they eat
C．Where they live	D．When they exercise

2. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined part “shovel down” in Paragraph 5?

A．fill in	B．put down
C．fill out	D．push away

3. Which of the following statements about Okinawa is true?

A．The elderly are in bad need of mutual respect.

B．There are an increasing number of the elderly.

C．The younger generations have a varied diet.

D．Things are starting to change for the worse.

4. Which could be the best title for the passage?

A．Eat less to live longer.

B．Healthy diets build longevity.

C．The Okinawa: a place of longevity.

D．Improve life expectancy? Slow down.