【推荐1】Wilma Subra had no intention of becoming a public speaker. After graduating from college with degrees in chemistry and microbiology, she went to work at Gulf South Research Institute in Louisiana.
As part of her job, she conducted field research on toxic (poisonous) substances in the environment, often in minority communities located near large industrial polluters. She found many families were being exposed to high, sometimes deadly levels of chemicals and other toxic substances. But she was not allowed to make her information public.
Frustrated by these restrictions, Subra left her job in 1981, created her own company and has devoted the past two decades to helping people fight back against giant industrial polluters. She works with families and community groups to conduct environmental tests, interpret test results, and organize for change.
Because of her efforts, dozens of toxic sites across the country have been cleaned up. And one chemical industry spokesperson calls her “a_top_gun” for the environmental movement.
How has Subra achieved all this? Partly through her scientific training.Partly through her commitment to environmental justice. But just as important is her ability to communicate with people through public speaking. “Public speaking，” she says, “is the primary vehicle I use for reaching people.”
If you had asked Subra before 1981 “Do you see yourself as a major public speaker？”， she would have laughed at the idea. Yet today she gives more than one hundred presentations a year. Along the way, she’s lectured at Harvard, testified before Congress, and addressed audiences in 40 states, as well as in Mexico, Canada, and Japan.
1. What did Wilma Subra study for her job before 1981?

A．Chemistry and microbiology.

B．Families affected by toxic chemicals.

C．Toxic substances in the environment.

D．Minority communities near industrial polluters.

2. Why did Wilma Subra quit her job in 1981?

A．She wanted to create her own company.

B．She preferred freedom to restrictions.

C．She hoped to work with families and communities.

D．She was forbidden to inform the public of toxic pollution.

3. Wilma Subra is called “a top gun” in the 4th paragraph for ________．

A．her scientific training

B．her efforts to fight against pollution

C．her help in closing down dozens of toxic sites

D．her strong belief in environmental justice

4. What does Wilma Subra think of “public speaking”？

A．She values it.	B．She laughs at it.
C．She is against it.	D．She has no idea of it.

【推荐3】A butterfly-shaped island in the central Aegean hopes to become Greece’s first carbon-free tourist destination. Under a deal with the government, Volkswagen, a carmaker, has donated several new electric vehicles for use by Astypalea’s public services; it will sell others at cost price to its 1,200 year-round residents. In return, the government has offered more financial assistance for islanders to buy electric cars and will build a solar and wind-fuelled power plant to replace polluting generators.

Unlike other nearby islands, Astypalea is not connected to Greece’s electricity providers. With only 3,000 rooms for visitors in small hotels or flats, tourism is still low-key. Many residents make a living the old-fashioned way: raising goats, keeping bees and fishing. The island was selected for Volkswagen’s experiment after Nikos Komineas, the go-ahead mayor, contacted the transport ministry for help in finding an electric bus to try out on its rough roads.

Most islanders sound keen on the project. Mr Komineas expects the number of private cars on Astypalea to fall by a third over the next five years. Its residents, he says, will get around on electric minibuses, which will be free, linked to a mobile-phone app and available round the clock.

Some observers smell green washing in the project. A bid for a solar park that would generate half the island’s electricity within three years will not get under way before the tourist season ends. A single wind-fuelled engine will be set up only in 2026, assuming the licensing process goes smoothly. That is not normally the case in the Aegean, where islanders worry that tourists will go elsewhere if the view is spoiled by an engine 200 meters high. And even then, the solar and wind-fulled power unit is planned to cover only about 80% of summer demand. But it is a start.

1. Why has Volkswagen signed the deal with the government?

A．To control car prices.	B．To help generate electricity.
C．To promote public transport.	D．To build a zero-carbon island.

2. What makes Astypalea different from other nearby islands?

A．It has an aggressive leader.

B．It is out of the national electricity network.

C．It is a crowded tourist destination.

D．It has various goats, bees and fishes.

3. What can be inferred from the text?

A．The experiment will come to nothing.

B．There are barriers in conducting the project.

C．Green tourism will become a trend in Greece.

D．The islanders are unwilling to change their lifestyle.

4. What does the author think of the project?

A．It’s pioneering.	B．It’s practical.
C．It’s destructive.	D．It’s costly.

【推荐1】You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

Jane Addams (1860-1935)

Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

If it weren’t for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world’s lakes and oceans.

Sandra Day O’Connor (1930-present)

When Sandra Day O’Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator (参议员) and, in 1981, the first woman to join the U.S. Supreme Court. O’Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.

Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” said Parks.

1. What is Jane Addams noted for in history?

A．Her social work.	B．Her teaching skills.
C．Her efforts to win a prize.	D．Her community background.

2. Who made a great contribution to the civil-rights movement in the U.S.?

A．Jane Addams.	B．Rachel Carson.
C．Sandra Day O’Connor.	D．Rosa Parks.

3. What can we infer about the women mentioned in the text?

A．They receive higher education.	B．They are truly creative.
C．They make great achievements.	D．They are peace-lovers.

【推荐2】Though cell-phones are usually considered devices that connect people, they may make users less socially minded, which is found by a recent study from the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Marketing professors Anastasiya Pocheptsova and Rosellina Ferraro, with graduate student, Ajay T.Abraham, conducted a series of experiments on test groups of cellphone users. The findings appear in their working paper, The Effect of Mobile Phone Use on Prosocial Behavior. Prosocial behavior, as defined in their report, is action intended to benefit another person or society as a whole.

The researchers found that after a short period of cellphone use the subjects were less likely to volunteer for a community service activity, compared to the control-group（对照组）. The cell phone users were also less persistent in solving word problems even though they knew their answers would contribute to a monetary（货币的）donation to charity.

The study involved separate groups of college student subjects - both men and women and generally in their early 20s. "We would expect similar effects with people from other age groups," said Ferraro. "Considering the popularity of cellphones, it does have the potential to have wide social effects."

The researchers use previous research to explain the cause of their findings: "The cellphone directly arouses feelings of connection with others, thus fulfilling the basic social need to belong." This results in reducing one’s desire to connect with others face-to-face or to engage in empathic (同情的) and prosocial behavior.

The study also distinguished its subjects from users of other social media — Facebook users — in one of the tests. The researchers found that participants felt more connected to others because of their cell-phones than because of their Facebook accounts, suggesting that this difference in connectedness was the underlying cause of the observed phenomenon.

1. A person will conduct prosocial behavior when he ____.

A．is closely connected to his friends.

B．uses the cellphone for a period of time

C．takes part in community service

D．uses the cell phone a lot

2. What makes Facebook users different from cellphone users?

A．Different accounts.

B．Different purposes.

C．Different human needs.

D．The difference in connection.

3. Compared with cell phone users, Facebook users probably _____.

A．have a lot more friends

B．feel more connected to their friends

C．don’t like to engage in prosocial behavior at all

D．are more likely to engage in prosocial behavior

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

A．Cell Phone Use Has Broad Social Effects

B．Cell Phone Use Leads to Prosocial behavior

C．Cell Phone Use Is Linked to Selfish Behavior

D．The Harmful Effect of Cell Phone Use

【推荐3】Even the calm assessment of the UN’s latest annual world “water development report” has a taste of desperation. Already, it notes, 1.9bn people, with 73% of them in Asia, live in areas where water is potentially severely limited. The number facing shortages almost doubles if you count those at risk at least one month a year. And they will not just be in poor countries. Australia, Italy, Spain and even America will also suffer severe water shortage.

Three main things will drive the continued growth in demand: population, climate change and agriculture. In 2050 the number of people in the world is expected to increase to between 9.4bn and 10.2bn, from just under 8bn now. People will be leading more water-consuming lifestyles and move into cities, many of them in places at great risk of water shortage.

The impact of climate change, in the words of Henk Ovink, a Dutch government’s official on water matters, will be “Wet places will become wetter and dry places drier”. The world’s water distribution is already highly unequal. Climate change will worsen this inequity.

Measurements of sea temperatures down to 2,000 metres show a steady rise since the 1950s, to new records. The rising temperatures are accompanied by rising sea levels—at a rate of about 3mm a year—as the warmer water expands, and as ice at both poles melts. And warmer air temperatures mean the atmosphere can hold more water that eventually falls as rain.

The bigger problem from climate change, however, will not be too much water but too little. As a report by the World Bank puts it: “The impacts of water shortage may be even greater, causing long-term harm in ways that are poorly understood and inadequately documented.” Of course, a lot depends on how much the climate changes and how fast.

1. What may be the number of the people who face water shortage for at least one month a year?

A．About 1.9bn

B．About 1.4bn

C．About 3.7bn

D．About 5.5bn

2. What can we infer about the year 2050?

A．The problem of water shortage will no longer exist.

B．The world population will increase to between 9bn and 10bn.

C．Almost all the developed countries will suffer severe water shortage.

D．Many people will have to reduce their water consumption.

3. What is the main idea of Paragraph 4?

A．Climate change brings too much water.

B．Sea temperatures have been rising steadily recently.

C．The problem of water shortage is greater due to climate change.

D．Rising sea levels and more rain mean no more water shortage.

4. The next paragraph in this passage might discuss __________.

A．How to solve the problem of water shortage.

B．How agriculture influences water demand.

C．What damage water shortage has caused.

D．Why it is important to control population growth.

【推荐1】Last year my summer holiday was spoiled by my bringing along a modern convenience that was too convenient for my own good: the iPad．Instead of looking at nature, I checked my e-mail．Instead of paddling a small boat, I followed my Twitter feed（推特简讯）．Instead of reading great novels, I stuck to reading four newspapers each morning．I was behaving as if I were still in the office．My body was on vacation, but my head wasn’t．
So this year I made up my mind to try something different: withdrawal from the Internet．I knew it wouldn’t be easy, since I’m bad at self-control．But I was determined．I started by giving the iPad to my wife．
The cellphone signal at our house was worse than in the past, making my attempts at cheating an experience in frustration （沮丧）．I was trapped, forced to go through with my plan．Largely breaking away from e-mail, Twitter and my favorite newspaper websites, I had few ways to connect to the world except for the radio—and how much radio can one listen to, really? I had to do what I had planned to do all along: read books．
This experience has had a happy ending．With determination and the strong support of my wife, I won in my vacation struggle against the Internet, realizing finally that it was I, not the iPad, that was the problem．I knew I had won when we passed a Starbucks and my wife asked if I wanted to stop to use the Wi-Fi．“I don’t need it,” I said．
However, as we return to post-vacation life, a harder test begins: Can I continue when I’m back at work?
There are times when the need to know what’s being said right now is great．I have no intention of giving up my convenience completely．But I hope to resist the temptation to check my e-mail every five minutes, which leads to checking my Twitter feed and a website or two．
I think a vacation is supposed to help you rest your brain to become more productive．Here I hope this one worked．
1. What do we know about the author’s last summer vacation?

A．He was determined to enjoy the beautiful view．

B．His iPad ruined his plan of finishing a great novel．

C．He hated himself for acting as if he were working on vacation．

D．He felt satisfied that he had stuck to his usual timetable．

2. What did the author do to keep away from the Internet this year?

A．He cut off his cellphone signal．

B．He handed his iPad to his wife．

C．He refused to cheat in his house．

D．He listened to the radio most of the time．

3. When back at work, the author will probably choose to ________．

A．keep control of when and how to use the Internet

B．continue to road more and more books

C．stay away from the Internet for ever

D．stop checking what is being said right now completely

4. What is the author’s opinion of a great vacation in the passage?

A．A vacation is having nothing to do but read all day．

B．A vacation proves that a life of pleasure is overvalued．

C．A vacation means a change of pace to make one more creative．

D．A vacation is a period of time to do whatever one wishes to．

【推荐2】Nothing succeeds like success, as every parent of a straight-A student knows, but trying to stress academic excellence by telling your child, “You’re so smart!” may be counterproductive. Why? According to a 2017 study, children who think their intelligence is fixed are less likely to pay attention to and bounce back（重新振作）from mistakes than children who think intelligence can grow and change.

In the study, researchers looked at 123 children. The team assessed the children to determine whether they had a “growth mindset”(believing that you can work harder to get smarter), or a “fixed mindset” (believing that your intelligence is unable to change). They then asked the children to complete a fast-paced computer accuracy task while their brain activity was recorded. During the recording, researchers noted that brain activity stopped within a half-second after making a mistake, as children became aware of their mistake and paid closer attention to what went wrong. The larger the brain response was, the more the child focused on the mistake. Based on the data, they concluded that children with a “growth mindset” were much more likely to have a larger brain response after making a mistake. While children with a “fixed mindset” were able to “bounce back”, only if they gave their full attention to the mistake.

For parents, the lessons are clear. Don’t pay your children compliments that suggest that intelligence is fixed. If your child hands you an A+ score, don’t say, “You’re so smart!” Instead, say, “Wow, that studying really paid off!” or “You clearly mastered this material-way to go!” Note the effort, not the intelligence.

Besides, many parent shy away from addressing a child’s mistakes, telling them “It’s OK. ”You’ll get it next time. ” without offering them the chances to figure out what goes wrong. Instead, it’s better to reassure your children that mistakes happen, and work to figure out where and how they make the mistake.

1. Which of the following best explains “counterproductive” underlined in paragraph 1?

A．Opposite	B．Competitive
C．Successful	D．Unknown

2. How did the children with a “growth mindset” react in the study?

A．They made fewer mistakes.	B．They tried to avoid mistakes
C．They had smaller brain response	D．They focused more on the mistake.

3. What should parents say when children make a mistake according to the text?

A．You are so careless

B．Paying compliments to children

C．You’ll get it the next time

D．Let’s find out how you made it.

4. What should be avoided according to the study?

A．Overstressing the intelligence.

B．Pay compliment to children.

C．Addressing children’s mistakes.

D．Offering chances to find mistakes.

【推荐3】Until now, the oldest evidence of human ancestors outside of Africa was in Dmanisi, Georgia. Here fossils of short people thought to be early Homo erectus date back to about 1.85 million years—just after the species appears in Africa. The oldest evidence of early human activity in China can date back to 1.5 million to 1.7 million years ago, which has suggested that they didn’t leave Africa until 2 million years ago or so—and made it to eastern Asia even later.

Now evidence from the site of Shangchen in the Loess Plateau approximately 1,200 kilometers southwest of Beijing is shaking up that view. More than 2 million years ago, our ancestors were already world travelers, which shows that the ancestors of modern humans left Africa at least 250,000 years earlier than thought. It also supports a minority view that a key human ancestors, Homo erectus, may have originated in Asia, not in Africa.

The same team, led by geologist Zhao Yuzhu of the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry at the Chinese Academy of Science found that the stone tools range in age from 1.6 million to 2.1 millions years ago. This indicates humans—the family that includes humans and our ancestors—got out of Africa at least a quarter of a million years earlier than thought, and occupied Shangchen on and off for more than 850,000 years, the team reports today in Nature.

“The dates are convincing,” Zhao Yuezhu says, which suggest humans were already remarkably adaptable to the changeable climate by 2.1 millions ago—even though they had not yet developed the even bigger brains, long legs, or more advanced tools seen in later humans. Although the identity of these early travelers all over the world is unknown, the new dates raise the possibility that H. Erects weren’t the first humans to leave Africa.

1. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．The early human activity in China.

B．The earliest time of the human ancestor.

C．The oldest evidence of the human ancestor.

D．The time of human ancestor’s arriving at the Eastern Asia.

2. What does the evidence from the site of Shangchen suggest?

A．Human ancestors were found of travelling.

B．Human ancestors lived in Asia not in Africa.

C．Human ancestors left Africa earlier than thought.

D．Human ancestors occupied Shangchen for many years.

3. Why could human ancestors travel through the world?

A．Their identities had been unfamiliar to others.

B．The structures in their body were different from us.

C．They had the same advanced tools as the later human’s.

D．They had abilities to adapt to the changeable environment.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．The Origin of the Human.	B．The New Dates about Africa.
C．The ways of Studying the Human.	D．The Latest Discovery about Human Ancestors.

【推荐1】Being sociable looks like a good way to add years to your life. Relationships with family, friends, neighbors, even pets, will all help, but the biggest longevity (长寿) seems to come from marriage. The effect was first noticed in 1858 by William Farr, who wrote that widows and widowers (鳏夫) were at a much higher risk of dying than the married people. Studies since then suggest that marriage could add as much as seven years to a man’s life and two to a woman’s. The effect can be seen in all causes of death, whether illness, accident or self-harm.

Even if the chances are all against you, marriage can more than compensate you. Linda Waite of the University of Chicago has found that a married older man with heart disease can expect to live nearly four years longer than an unmarried man with a healthy heart. Similarly, a married man who smokes more than a pack a day is likely to live as long as a divorced man who doesn’t smoke. There’s a flip side, however, as partners are more likely to become ill or die in the couple of years following their husband or wife’s death, and caring for your husband or wife with mental disorder can leave you with some of the same severe problems. Even so, the chances favor marriage. In a 30-year study of more than 10,000 people, Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School describes how all kinds of social networks have similar effects.

So how does it work? The effects are complicated, affected by socio-economic factors, health-service provision, emotional support and other more physiological mechanisms(生理机制). For example, social contact can promote development of the brain and immune system, leading to better health and less chance of depression later in life. People in supportive relationships may handle stress better. Then there are the psychological benefits of a supportive partner.

A life partner, children and good friends are all recommended if you aim to live to 100. The overall social network is still being mapped out, but Christakis says: "People are inter-connected, so their health is inter-connected."

1. It can be inferred from the context that the "flip side" (Para. 2) refers to _________.

A．the disadvantages of being married

B．the emotional problems arising from marriage

C．the responsibility of taking care of one's family

D．the consequence of a broken marriage

2. What does the author say about social networks?

A．They have effects similar to those of a marriage.

B．They help develop people's community spirit.

C．They provide timely support for those in need.

D．They help relieve people of their life's burdens.

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．It's important that we develop a social network when young.

B．To stay healthy, one should have a proper social network.

C．Getting a divorce means risking a reduced life span.

D．We should share our social networks with each other.

【推荐2】We can make mistakes at any age. Some mistakes we make are about money. But most mistakes are about people. “Did Jerry really care when I broke up with Helen?” “When I got that great job, did Jim, as a friend, really feel good about it?” “And was Paul friendly just because I had a car?” When we look back, doubts like these can make us feel bad. But when we look back, it’s too late.

Why do we go wrong about our friends or our enemies? Sometimes what people say hides their real meaning. And if we don’t really listen we miss the feeling behind the words. Suppose someone tells you, “You’re a lucky dog.” That’s being friendly. But “lucky dog”? There’s a bit of envy in those words. Maybe he doesn’t see it himself. But bringing in the “dog” bit puts you down a little. What he may be saying is that he doesn’t think you deserve your luck.

“Just think of all the things you have to be thankful for” is another noise that says one thing and means another. It could mean that the speaker is trying to get you to see your problem as part of your life as a whole. But is he? Wrapped up in this phrase is the thought that your problem isn’t important. It’s telling you to think of all the starving people in the world when you haven’t got a date for Saturday night.

How can you tell the real meaning behind someone’s words? One way is to take a good look at the person talking. Do his words fit the way he looks? Does what he says agree with the tone of voice? His posture(姿态)? The look in his eyes? Stop and think. The minute you spend thinking about the real meaning of what people say to you may save another mistake.

1. This passage is mainly about ________.

A．how to understand what people say

B．how to avoid mistakes when you communicate with people

C．what to do when you listen to others talking

D．Why we go wrong with friends sometimes

2. According to the author, the reason why we go wrong about our friends is that ________.

A．we fail to listen carefully when they talk

B．people tend to be annoyed when we check what they say

C．we are always doubting what our friends say

D．people usually state one thing but means another

3. In the second paragraph, the underlined word “it” refers to ________.

A．a bit of envy	B．lucky dog
C．being friendly	D．your luck

4. When we listen to a person talking, the most important thing for us to do is ________.

A．notice the way the person is talking

B．take a good look at the person talking

C．mind his tone, his posture and the look in his eyes

D．examine the real meaning of what he says based on his manner, his tone and his posture

【推荐3】Picture yourself at a crowded airport departure gate. Your flight is 20 minutes late. The woman on your left is noisily eating something that smells awful.The man to your right is still braying into his cellphone, and the traveler next to him is preparing to kill time with...wait, is that a toenail clipper?

Unless you are saintly or unconscious, a few things in that description-on many things, or all the things-are likely to really bug you. We know an annoyance when we experience it. But what makes something annoying? And does research of from any advice for prevent life's annoyances from making our heads explode? The answers to those questions are: no. Did even one university create a Department of Annoyance Science...or offer a major in this universal emotion? No. Nothing.

Then what makes something annoying? It must be harmful but not physically. A housefly buzzing around your head is unpleasant but it won't kill you. Also, it must be unpredictable and intermittent. The loud ticking of an a arm clock or the odor of a cat litter box may at first be annoying, but with constant exposure overtime, it ceases to be noticeable. Psychologists' term for this gradual tolerance of a stimulus is habituation.Yet when an unpleasant noise or smell comes and goes, it becomes annoying each time it shows up.

Finally, to be truly annoying, something has to persist for an uncertain period of time.A fight that's delayed an hour is a bother, but tolerable, so long as it really is just an hour. A fight that's delayed and delayed and delayed, with no explanation and no end in sight, is extremely annoying. The intermittent nature of annoyances makes them hard(if not impossible) to anticipate and thus to prepare a defense against.If you know you're going to best stuck in traffic, you might be able to accept it or bring along a distraction. But when the slowdown is unexpected, it gets to you before you can stop yourself.

An interesting thing about annoyances is how they appear to change over time. A decade ago, our research led us to conclude that one of the most annoying things in the world was listening to someone else's loud cell phone conversation. We hypothesized that the reason it was so annoying is that our brains naturally tend to paint a complete picture of reality, but when you only hear half of a conversation, that's not possible. Then, cell phone conversations seemed annoying only to the people not on the phone. Today it's the call recipients that seem to be getting annoyed. I'm not talking about receiving a robocall. I'm talking about the 20-something who recently told me that an unexpected call, even from a close friend; is annoying, The thinking seems to be, Why call when a text will do? Or even, You should have, texted to ask if you could call...

I've thought a lot about what makes people, things, and situations annoying, and what any of us might do to immunize ourselves against becoming annoyed. The answer's actually surprisingly simple: All you have to do is

Editor's Note: The contract for this article set a strict word limit. The writer exceeded the limit; the magazine feels, obliged to enforce it. We regret any annoyance this might cause,dear readers.

1. According to the passage, which of the flowing is NOT really annoying?

A．Noisy eating in crowded pubic places.

B．A buzzing housefly around you head.

C．The constant ticking of an alarm clock.

D．A delayed flight without definite arrival time.

2. According to the author, which of the following statements about annoyance is TRUE?

A．Annoyances can be easily avoided if people are conscious of them.

B．Annoyance may be the most widely experienced and least studied emotion.

C．Annoyances change as phone calls are the last choice for young people.

D．Annoyance happens when people poke their nose into others' affairs.

3. What is the purpose of the Editor's Note?

A．To inform the readers of the strict rules of the magazine.

B．To apologize to the readers for missing the last sentence.

C．To vaguely criticize the author for failing to observe the contract.

D．To humorously echo the theme that annoyances are universal.

4. The article was originally published in National Geographic. In which section do you think it was put?

A．Explore/ The future	B．Explore/ Nature
C．Explore/ The big idea.	D．Explore/ Fashion