【推荐3】Scientists have found what they believe are pieces of a meteor(流星)that fell to the earth last year. The objects were discovered off the coast of the United States in the Pacific Ocean.

The crew of the Nautilus, a private research ship, recovered the rock particles(颗粒).The Nautilus is operated by the Ocean Exploration Trust. The group says its aim at present is to examine areas of the ocean that have never been explored before.

The search was launched after US government weather stations observed a large meteorite exploding some months ago. The explosion lit up the sky and sent the rock particles to the earth. The meteorite fall was the largest recorded over the United States in at least 20years. The team includes scientists from NASA, the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuaryand the University of Washington. The scientists examined what they believe were two small meteorite fragments. Further testing is needed before they can confirm that the material came from the explosion.

The Nautilus is equipped with two remotely operated vehicles(ROVs)， called Hercules and Argus. These robotic submarines help researchers find and collect materials from the seafloor. The fact that the particles landed in the ocean, instead of on land, means larger pieces may have survived and can be studied. For this reason, scientists decided to launch the first intentional search for meteorites from the ocean, Until the latest research, scientists had only accidentally discovered a small number of meteorites from drilling operations.

The objects recovered from the bottom of the sea likely came from the recent explosion for two main reasons. First，meteorite particles are basically made of glassy materials that do not tend to last long in seawater. Secondly, they came from what looked like a small hole on the seafloor. Some evidence shows that they came from something that fell.

1. What is the current goal of the crew of the Ocean Exploration Trust?

A．To recover the rock particles.

B．To observe movements of the universe.

C．To study unexplored places of the ocean.

D．To examine creatures of the explored ocean.

2. What mainly caused the start of the search in the sea?

A．A huge meteor shower.	B．Business value of meteors.
C．Plenty of natural resources.	D．The brainstorm of researchers.

3. Why do the scientists prefer to search for meteors in the ocean?

A．They can find meteors more easily.

B．They may find bigger rock particles.

C．They like to explore strange sea areas.

D．They have better submarine equipment.

4. What does the author intend to do in the last paragraph?

A．Offer clues for the search.

B．Give reasons to support a guess.

C．Stress the importance of the event.

D．Describe the process of the search.

【推荐1】This summer, the interview teams at the North Pole were witnessed wearing short sleeve shirts due to the warm weather. A study published on Aug 29 revealed more concerning issues in the supposedly coldest area of the world. Zombie ice from a massive Greenland ice sheet was confirmed to be melting, which would eventually raise global sea levels by at least 10 inches (27 centimeters) on its own, reported Associated Press (AP).

Zombie ice is the kind of ice that is still attached to thicker areas of ice, but is no longer getting fed by larger glaciers. Since glaciers are getting less snow to complement (补充) the amount of ice melted, once the zombie ice is melted, it cannot be re-formed.

Scientists decided to look at the balance of the ice. In perfect balance, snow in the mountains of Greenland flows down and thickens the sides of glaciers, offsetting what’s melting on the edges, according to AP. But in the last few decades, there has been less refill and more melting, creating an imbalance.

Study co-author William Colgan at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland told AP that 3.3 percent of Greenland’s total ice volume would melt eventually. “Starving would be a good phrase” for what’s happening to the ice, Colgan added.

With a great number of natural resources buried under the earth, areas of melted ice revealed treasures that attracted the world’s richest men. According to CNN, in early August, there was a “treasure hunt” in Greenland. Billionaires, including Bill Gates and others, financially backed KoBold Metals, a US-based mineral exploration company, to explore the rare metals under the glaciers in Greenland. The company told CNN that since there were enough minerals to power hundreds of millions of electric vehicles, the critical resource was capable of powering the green energy transition.

1. What happened in North Pole this summer?

A．North Pole experienced unusual weather.

B．The massive Greenland sheet has melted.

C．The melted ice has raised sea level significantly.

D．The interview teams revealed concerning issues.

2. What can we know from the passage?

A．Zombie ice can be easily formed again.

B．Starvation is an issue worth attention.

C．The recent snow refill cannot balance out the melting.

D．3.3 percent of Zombie ice volumn will melt ultimately.

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Denveloping electric vehicles is resource-consuming.

B．The treasure hunt can only benefit the richest people.

C．The resources will be profitable if exploited.

D．The minerals will soon become a green energy alternative.

4. The suitable saying that can be applied to this passage is ________.

A．Every coin has two sides

B．Man can conquer nature

C．The early bird catches the worm

D．One false move may lose the game

【推荐2】In the US and Britain, the slogan around colleges was “Save water. Shower with a friend.” Now, Wuhan University has come up with another system for the campus bathhouse. It charges students for the amount of time in a shower. Before entering the bathhouse, students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower with cash or their student ID card. The clock starts ticking the minute the tape is turned on. It pauses when a button is pressed for soap. An integrated circuit(IC)card reader(读卡器)at each tap shows the time. No money, no water. The benefits of the new system can be seen with the old system, which charged 1 yuan for each person regardless of time in the shower. The university used about 320 tons of water daily under the old system, but only 160 tons now.

Many students use the new system but opinions on it are divided. Some students say it is bad because bathing had become a sort of race. Many people using it for the first time are not sure how long they need to shower. Some might be embarrassed if their time is up and they’re still covered in soap. They have to ask the bathhouse worker to help them buy extra time.

“It’s a flaw in the system that you cannot buy extra time on the ID card,” said Ren, a freshman in Wuhan University. The university is also considering some students’ suggestions that they be allowed to pay after they’ve finished the shower. Not surprisingly, some are complaining about losing the hour shower. But many students say the move helps them develop a water-saving sense. Without the time limits, most students tended to shower for 30 to an hour in the bathhouse. Some even used the hot water to wash their clothes. “In my experience, 10-20 minutes is enough,” said Dai Zhihua, a third-year student who usually takes 8 minutes.

A similar system has been installed in other universities. Shanghai Normal University introduced it at its Fengxiang Campus in September. The bathing fee there is 0.2 yuan per minute. One male student responded by setting a record with a two-minute shower.

1. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A．Students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower.

B．The clock times all through except when the bather pauses for soap.

C．If money runs out, there will be no water.

D．Having finished bathing, the student has to pay for it.

2. The underlined word “flaw” (Paragraph 3)most probably means ________.

A．perfection

B．convenience

C．fortune

D．fault

3. We can know from the passage that ________.

A．the new operation can solve the water crisis

B．the new operation can help raise students’ environmental awareness

C．a similar operation has been set in other universities

D．the university hasn’t saved a lot of water by using the new system

【推荐3】The largest genetic study of mosquitoes has found their ability to resist insecticides(杀虫剂) is evolving rapidly and spreading across Africa, putting millions of people at higher risk of contracting malaria（疟疾）.

British scientists who led the work said mosquitoes’ growing resistance to control tools such as insecticide-treated bed nets and insecticide spraying, which have helped cut malaria cases since 2000, now threatens “to disturb malaria control” in Africa.

“Our study highlights the severe challenges facing public efforts to control mosquitoes and tomanage and limit insecticide resistance,” said Martin Donnelly of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, who worked on the study with a team from Britain’s Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

Latest World Health Organization (WHO) data show that 216 million people were infected last year with the malaria parasite（寄生虫）, which is transmitted by blood-sucking Anopheles mosquitoes. The disease killed 445,000 people in 2016, and the majority of them were children in sub-Saharan Africa.

To understand how mosquitoes are evolving, the researchers sequenced the DNA of 765 wild Anopheles mosquitoes taken from 15 locations across eight African countries. Their work, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, created the largest data resource on natural genetic variation for any species of insect.

Analyzing the data, the scientists found that the Anopheles gamblae mosquitoes（冈比亚疟蚊）were extremely genetically diverse compared with most other animal species. This high genetic diversity enables rapid evolution, they said, and helps to explain how mosquitoes develop insecticide resistance so quickly.

The data also showed the rapid evolution of insecticide resistance appeared to be due to many previously unknown genetic variants（变体）within certain genes. The scientists said these genetic variants for insecticide resistance were not only emerging independently in different parts of Africa, but were also being spread across the continent by mosquito migration.

Michael Chew, an expert at Britain’s Wellcome Trust global health charity which helped fund the research, said the finds underlined the importance of pushing scientific research ahead to control malaria.

Global efforts to control malaria through effective vaccine, insecticides and the best drug combinations require urgent, united action by scientists, drug companies, governments and the WHO.

1. Which of the following is scientists’ headache?

A．The number of mosquitoes in Africa is growing rapidly.

B．Some genetic variants of mosquitoes are still unknown.

C．The existing insecticides aren’t as effective as they used to be.

D．Millions of African people have resistance to medicines for malaria.

2. Malaria cases can be cut by ______.

A．threatening drug companies	B．spraying insecticides
C．limiting blood donation	D．transmitting data

3. What CANNOT be concluded from the passage?

A．Children are more likely to be bit by mosquitoes.

B．Many previously unknown variants are found in the study.

C．The mosquito migration contributes to the spread of variants.

D．Anopheles mosquitoes have great genetic diversity.

4. Which is FALSE about the genetic study of mosquitoes?

A．It created the largest data on natural genetic variation for any insect species.

B．It found the possible causes for the rapid evolution of insecticide resistance.

C．It discovered where the genetic variants emerged and how they were spread.

D．It highlighted the public efforts and appealed to limit the use of insecticides.

【推荐1】Have you ever noticed what happens to an idea once you express it? Just talking about it or writing it down causes you to make it clear in your own mind. How can you use this to increase your brain power? Start writing.

By putting thoughts into words, you are telling yourself the logic (逻辑) behind what you think, feel, or only partly understand. Often, explaining a thought is the process of understanding. In other words, you increase your brain power by exercising your “explain power.”

Try this experiment. Explain how you’ll increase your brain power, even if you have no idea right now. Just start with anything, and create an explanation. For example, start with “I’ll learn chess,” or “I’ll read an article on the mind every week.” Explain how that will help. You’ll be surprised how often this becomes a workable plan, and if you actually do this, you’ll have a better understanding of your brain from now.

Another benefit of writing is that it helps you remember. Many, if not most, highly productive people are always taking notes. You can try keeping it all in your head, but if you keep a journal of your ideas the next time you’re working on a big project, you’ll probably have more success.

Want to understand a topic? Write a book about it. That’s an extreme example, but if you are learning something new, write a letter to a friend about it, and you will understand it better. Want to invent something? Write an explanation of the problem, why you want to solve it, and why it is worth solving, and you’re half-way there.

Writers don’t always write because they clearly understand something beforehand. Often, they write about something because they want to understand it. You can do the same. Writing will help bring you to an understanding. Give it a try.

1. What would be the best title for the text?

A．A Way on How to Write.

B．Increase Your Brain Power through Writing.

C．How to Start Your Writing.

D．Brain Power Helps Improve Your Writing.

2. According to the text, writing can help you a lot in the following ways EXCEPT _____.

A．the increase of your brain power

B．the ability to remember

C．the development of your interest in study

D．the better understanding of a topic

3. The underlined sentence “you’re half-way there” in the fifth paragraph implies that ______.

A．you are already successful

B．you still need to work hard

C．writing can help you walk half way

D．You have been on the way to success

4. What’s the main purpose of the writer writing the text?

A．To advise readers to start their writing.

B．To explain the importance of writing.

C．To persuade readers to become writers.

D．To increase readers’ brain power.

【推荐2】This must be the coolest school ever…just look at their new classroom! Pupils at Milton Hall School in Essex will soon be treated to lessons inside an actual private jet (喷气式飞机).

The Cessna Citation jet was noticed by the school’s media manager Jon Baker, who was having a flying lesson at Southend Airport. He thought it would make a good classroom. The school bought the disused private jet and said it was “a lot cheaper than building a classroom”. Once it’s washed and renovated (修复), it will be able 1o house classes of up to 5 children. “The children just want to get inside it, but we need to make it safe first,” Mr. Baker said. “I'll comfortably fit half a class when we're finished. The children have been writing stories about how they think it got there.” “It will receive a full makeover to turn it into a completely new exiting learning space ," Claire Reynolds, the school's business manager, said.

The city's health and safety team has examined the jet and will be monitoring the renovation. The school says it will take up to four months to change the space with seating, lighting and solar panels. “We have a lot of experts on site, including Mr. Baker, who’s a real plane enthusiast. It's his hobby,” Ms. Reynolds said. “Our school has limited space for expansion and we wanted to find an exciting and unusual way to further attract our children and expand on their learning.”

The jet will eventually become a center for ICT (Information and Communications Technology) and media studies. Teachers also hope the experience of learning inside such a special space will inspire the children’s creative writing.

1. When did Mr. Baker find the private jet?

A．When he was having a flight.	B．When he was on an exhibition.
C．When he was taking a flying lesson.	D．When he was watching a movie.

2. The school bought the plane for_________.

A．its comfortability	B．its affordability
C．its beauty	D．its size

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The plane can be used as a classroom directly.

B．The jet classroom will do good to students' learning.

C．Mr. Baker wanted to have a jet classroom for he is a plane enthusiast.

D．The jet is large enough to hold many students.

4. In which section of a newspaper will you possibly red this passage?

A．Entertainment.	B．Health.
C．Celebrity.	D．Society.

【推荐3】Barbara and I were having dinner with four friends of ours. As the evening progressed, one friend talked about his struggle with a sister, who, at the age of 30, often quarreled with him. That prompted another friend to share how his brother was overdependent on his 70-year-old mother. He explained that he didn't know how his brother would survive after his mother died. Another friend shared a situation with his 40-year-old sister who didn't have a job and was regularly financially rescued by them. A fourth friend complained about a sibling (兄弟姐妹) who at 35 couldn't make a basic decision and spent most of his time going to watch motor racing. By the time we finished dessert, I commented, "I wonder if this is just what occurs in most families?'

And then, as Barbara and I drove home, the thought struck me: the problem with families is that all of us come from one!

Adult sibling relationships in families are like the weather-stormy at times, unpredictable and disruptive (破坏的). You may have a distant relationship with a sister. Perhaps you and your brother are no longer in contact with each other. Whatever your situation, I'd like to offer a couple of thoughts that might help you weather the storm.

Everyone comes from a less than perfect family. So you are not alone in dealing with your family relationships. The question is this: how will we respond to a sibling who is not making wise choices?

First, stop trying to change your sibling. At some point, you may have to let him or her be who he or she is. Second, give up your "911" job in your sibling's life. If you have a tendency to take responsibility for his or her life by rescuing him or her, resign from that role. Third, ask for help from some friends. Gather a couple of wise friends and ask them to give you some guidance. Finally, if your sibling continues making unwise choices, a formal intervention by family members may be necessary.

1. The author mentions his friends' experiences in the first paragraph to.

A．encourage people to make different friends

B．introduce the topic of sibling relationships

C．show that his friends all have a miserable life

D．advise people to be close to friends and family

2. What can we learn about the author's friends from the first paragraph?

A．They liked complaining to the author very much.

B．They all had close relationships with their siblings.

C．They were always dissatisfied with their personal life,

D．They were all facing difficult situations with their siblings.

3. What do the underlined words "weather the storm" in the third paragraph probably mean?

A．Predict storms and bad weather.

B．Find a safe place to hide from a storm.

C．Gather a group of friends to get some guidance.

D．Improve your relationships with your adult siblings.

4. What should you do if your brother continues making unwise decisions?

A．Take action to stop him.

B．Leave him alone.

C．Try to change him.

D．Call "911” for help.

【推荐1】Can a fish be depressed? This question has been on my head ever since I spent a night in a hotel across from a sad-looking fish. His name was Bruce Lee.

The pleasant woman at the front desk assured me that he was well taken care of. Was I incorrectly assuming his laziness was a sign of being upset?

When I sought answers from scientists, I assumed that they would find the question ridiculous. But they did not. New research has been totally shifting the way that scientists think about fish cognition (认知)，building a case that pet and owner are not nearly as different as many assume. The neurochemistry (神经化学）is so similar that it’s scary, said Julian Pittman，a professor. We tend to think of them as simple living things, but there is a lot we don't give fish credit for.

Dr. Pittman likes working with fish, in part, because they are so obvious about their depression. A zebrafish gets dropped in a new tank. If after five minutes it is hanging out in the lower half, it’s depressed. If it’s swimming up top, then it’s not.

Is depression the right word? There's the obvious issue that we cannot ask animals how they feel, says Dr. Diego A. Pizzagali . Neither fish nor rats can catch the entire range of depression as we know it.

There is a heated debate about whether anxious or depressed is a more appropriate term. But what has convinced Dr. Pittman, and others, over the past ten years is watching the way the zebrafish lose interest in just about everything: food, toys, exploration, just like clinically depressed people who are withdrawn. The same is true of fish.

One of the things we're finding is that fish are naturally curious and seek novel things out, said Dr. Braithwaite. In other words, your goldfish is probably bored. To help get rid of depression, she urges introducing new objects to the tank or switching up the location of items.

1. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Fish are considered simple living things.

B．Pet and owner are always assumed the same.

C．Scientists have learnt a lot about fish cognition.

D．Fish and human beings have something in common.

2. What does the underlined word “withdrawn” in Paragraph 6 probably mean?

A．Quiet and shy.

B．Happy and excited.

C．Interested and careful.

D．Disappointed and surprised.

3. Why can fish become bored according to the text?

A．They need oxygen from the air.

B．They are not born to be curious.

C．They lack new things to explore.

D．They can’t locate the positions of items.

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

A．Fish Depression Is not a Joke.

B．Fish Can Be a Boring Pet.

C．Fish Need Better Care More.

D．Fish Cognition Does not Exist.

【推荐2】When “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” was first shown to the public last month, a group of excited animal activists gathered on Hollywood Boulevard. But they weren’t there to throw red paint on fur-coat-wearing film stars. Instead, one activist, dressed in a full-body monkey suit, had arrived with a sign praising the filmmakers: “Thanks for not using real apes (猿)!”

The creative team behind “Apes” used motion-capture (动作捕捉) technology to create digitalized animals, spending tens of millions of dollars on technology that records an actor’s performance and later processes it with computer graphics to create a final image (图像). In this case, one of a realistic-looking ape.

Yet “Apes” is more exception than the rule. In fact, Hollywood has been hot on live animals lately. One nonprofit organization, which monitors the treatment of animals in filmed entertainment, is keeping tabs on more than 2,000 productions this year. Already, a number of films, including “Water for Elephants,” “The Hangover Part Ⅱ” and “Zookeeper,” have drawn the anger of activists who say the creatures acting in them haven’t been treated properly.

In some cases, it’s not so much the treatment of the animals on set in the studio that has activists worried; it’s the off-set training and living conditions that are raising concerns. And there are questions about the films made outside the States, which sometimes are not monitored as closely as productions filmed in the States.

1. Why did the animal activists gather on Hollywood Boulevard?

A．To see famous film stars.

B．To oppose wearing fur coats.

C．To raise money for animal protection.

D．To express thanks to some filmmakers.

2. What does paragraph 2 mainly talk about?

A．The cost of making “Apes.”

B．The creation of digitalized apes.

C．The publicity about “Apes.”

D．The performance of real apes.

3. What does the underlined phrase “keeping tabs on” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Listing completely.

B．Directing professionally.

C．Promoting successfully.

D．Watching carefully.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph about animal actors?

A．They may be badly treated.

B．They should take further training.

C．They could be traded illegally

D．They would lose popularity.

【推荐3】Scientists have long been doing research on dolphins and have made various interesting discoveries. Recently Ana Costa at the University of Glasgow in the UK and her team have found something new about one type of dolphins—Bottlenose dolphins.

Bottlenose dolphins can be found in mild and tropical waters throughout the world. They prefer coastal waters that are warm and shallow. However, Costa found bottlenose dolphins in South America may be separated into two different species, thanks to varying habitats between two groups of the animal. Along the coastlines of southern Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina in the South Atlantic Ocean, common bottlenose dolphins that live near the shore don’t look like those that are further out to sea. They are longer, lighter and have a triangular back fin, unlike the offshore dolphins’ shorter bodies, darker skin and hooked back fins. Apart from the differences mentioned above, the two kinds of common bottlenose dolphin also live differently from one another. Those near the coast form small groups in bays and mouth of rivers and don’t go too far from home, while those offshore live in pods of hundreds and move from time to time and seldom stay at the same place.

When Ana Costa and her team looked at the dolphins’ bone framework, they found still more differences: the offshore dolphins had shorter and more plentiful vertebrae (脊椎) than the coastal variety. Costa and her colleagues collected more than 250 tissue samples from common bottlenose dolphins of both groups off Brazil’s coast and analyzed the DNA. The results suggest the dolphins may be going down different evolutionary paths, separating into two species. The genetic analysis found differences in a small portion of the dolphins’ genomes (基因组) that experience fast rates of change over evolutionary time. “All the findings so far are demonstrating that we are observing two dolphin groups in the process of speciation,” says Costa.

Despite those researches, so far scientists still can’t figure out the exact data of the existing bottlenose dolphins. Costa and her team are optimistic that one day they will be able to solve the puzzle and help save these endangered animals.

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

A．The differences between two bottlenose species.

B．The appearance of bottlenose dolphins.

C．The living habitats of bottlenose dolphins.

D．The causes leading to the differences.

2. What may cause bottlenose dolphins to separate into two species?

A．Their length.	B．Their weight.
C．Their vertebrae.	D．Their evolutionary paths.

3. What can we conclude from the passage?

A．All bottlenose dolphins live near the coast and have similar habits.

B．The discovery of Costa may make a difference to bottlenose dolphins.

C．Bottlenose dolphins often prefer to live in cold waters that are deep.

D．These two dolphin species are not social and live individually.

4. What does the passage talk about?

A．An endangered animal—dolphins.

B．Costa’s new discovery about bottlenose dolphins.

C．The living environment of bottlenose dolphins.

D．The importance of Costa’s new discovery.