【推荐2】Tips of travelling cheaply

Thinking about an overseas trip but concerning you might make a less worthy choice because you can’t afford to visit all the places on your wish list before you make your final decision?     1       With a dash of wit, you can travel the world cheaply.

    2     Walk on the streets of a city, stop and chat with a local, or even climb to the top of a hill and   watch the sun set over the ocean. The simple joy of being in a new place is just a matter of going someplace new. No tour package required.

Keep your needs to a minimum .People need fresh air, exercise, creative stimulation, companionship and self-esteem, etc.     3     For fresh air, go outside. For exercise, take a walk. For creative stimulation, go somewhere new. For companionship, make a friend. For self-esteem, turn off your TV, breathe deep and open your spirit to the basic goodness of the world.

Go slow. If you live in New York and want to take a two-week vacation to Africa, it will be very difficult to travel for free. Time is not money. Time is free. Instead of buying a place ticket, take a train or bus, or just hop on your bike and ride away from town.     4    

Try to get your accommodation for free or next-to-nothing. Find kind souls around the world who agree to offer an extra bedroom, couch，or corner of the floor to travelers in exchange for the same kindness when they visit your town.     5     It works best if your home is in a locale someone wants to visit and if your dates coincide.

A．Embrace the simple joy of travel.

B．The slower you travel, the less money you will spend.

C．Things like air and water are much cheaper once you get outside.

D．All of these things are simple to obtain and most of them are free.

E．Just because you 've little money doesn't mean you have to stay at home .

F．This scheme involves trading homes for an agreed–upon amount of time.

G．If you can do what needs to be done around the house, then you stay for free.

【推荐3】Top-Rated Tourist Attractions in New Zealand

Nature has shaped New Zealand with the beauty of a movie set. Few destinations (目的地) boast so many natural wonders packed into such a small area. Here are the best attractions travelers can explore.

Kaikoura, South Island

Birders, wildlife and seafood lovers will love the charming coasted village of Kaikoura. Between the Seaward Kaikoura Range and the Pacific Ocean, Kaikoura offers excellent coastal hikes and popular whale watching tours. In addition to whales, passengers may spot fur seals, dolphins and a wide variety of birds.

Queenstown, South Island

Queenstown is New Zealand’s adventure capital. Bungee jumping, jet boating, rock climbing, mountain biking and downhill skiing are just some of the thrilling things to do here. In addition to the adventure sports, Queenstown offers all the comforts, with first-class hotels, spas, restaurants, galleries and shops.

Bay of Islands, North Island

A three-hour drive north of Auckland, the beautiful Bay of Islands is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the country. There are more than 144 islands on the bay, making it a perfect place for sailing. Penguins, dolphins, and whales live in these waters, and the area is a popular sport-fishing spot. The towns in the area such as Rusell ,Opua and Paihia are great bases for exploring this scenic bay.

Rotorua, North Island

This is a land where the Earth speaks. Boiling mud pools, volcanic craters and steaming hot springs show the forces of New Zealand’s dramatic landscapes. Visitors can take a walking tour of these geothermal(地热的) wonders and bathe in the springs while visiting the interesting attractions to learn about the area’s rich Maori history and culture.

1. Which is the best choice if a traveller is fond of adventure?

A．Kaikoura.	B．Queenstown.
C．Bay of Islands.	D．Rotorua.

2. What do Kaikoura and Bay of Islands have in common?

A．They both are isolate islands.	B．Sailing is the most popular there.
C．Whales can be seen there.	D．Fishing is forbidden there.

3. What can not be experienced in Rotorua?

A．Watching various birds.	B．Bathing in the springs.
C．Learning about the Maori’s history.	D．Witnessing boiling mud pools.

【推荐1】How to Invent a Product

Are you convinced to create a popular life-changing product? Then don’t wait! Take these simple steps to make your very own invention and get it out on the markets.

Brainstorm ideas. The first step in becoming an inventor and coming up with a truly unique and useful product is to brainstorm ideas. Try making a list of all the things that interest you.    1    ,so keep a journal with you at all times, to constantly add new items to your possible-invention list. Keeping your ideas all organized in one place, a journal, will also allow you to review your ideas at a later date. In order to invent something from start to finish, you will need to stay within your professional knowledge.    2    .

    3    .Once you’ve spent some time considering all possible options, choose your best idea for an invention.    4    .Draw a few sketches（草图）of what you imagine your invention will look like, and then consider some important questions. What could you add to improve this product? What about your invention is so special that people will bring it into their lives? Consider all aspects of your invention including all the required parts, and important details about how it works. Keep these answers and ideas in your journal so you can refer back to them.

Research your invention.    5    .You may search online for products that match the description of your invention. You may also visit stores that offer products similar to what yours will do, and even go as far as to ask store workers for items they might sell with a similar purpose. It might be a good idea to visit a Patent and Trademark Depository Library, where you can search all patents and categories for other inventions like yours.

A．Otherwise, you may have a great idea but no understanding of how to accomplish it

B．Now you’ll have to spend time considering the details of the project.

C．Decide on an idea.

D．Thus make a list of possible problems that you may be having

E．It is better to have too many ideas than too few.

F．When you feel confident in your idea, research it to make sure it is truly unique.

G．Bring your product into use

【推荐2】Tiny microbes (微生物) are at the heart of a new agricultural technique to manage harmful greenhouse gas. Scientists have discovered how microbes can be used to turn carbon dioxide into soil-enriching limestone (石灰石), with the help of a type of tree that grows in tropical areas, such as West Africa.

Researchers have found that when the Iroko tree is grown in dry, acidic soil and treated with a combination of natural fungi (霉菌) and other bacteria, not only does the tree grow well, it also produces the mineral limestone in the soil around its root.

The Iroko tree makes a mineral by combining Ca from the earth with CO₂ from the atmosphere. The bacteria then create the conditions under which this mineral turns into limestone. The discovery offers a new way to lock carbon into the soil, keeping it out of the atmosphere. In addition to storing carbon in the trees' leaves and in the form of limestone, the mineral in the soil makes it more suitable for agriculture.

The discovery could lead to reforestation projects in tropical countries, and help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the developing world. It has already been used in West Africa and is being tested in Bolivia, Haiti and India.

The findings were made in a three-year project involving researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh, Granada, Lausanne and Delft University of Technology. The project examined several microbiological methods of locking CO₂ as limestone, and the Iroko-bacteria way showed best results. Work was funded by the European Commission under the Future&Emerging Technologies(FET)scheme.

Dr Bryne Ngwenya of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who led the research, said："By taking advantage of this natural limestone-producing process, we have a low-tech, safe, readily employed and easily operating way to lock carbon out of the atmosphere, while improving farming conditions in tropical countries."

1. The passage is mainly introducing ______ .

A．some useful natural fungi and bacteria

B．the soil-enriching limestone created by scientists

C．a newly-found tree in West Africa

D．a new way to deal with greenhouse gas

2. Which of the following is True about tiny microbes?

A．Tiny microbes get along well with the Iroko tree in special soil.

B．CO2 can be broken down by natural fungi and bacteria.

C．The more greenhouse gas is, the more active tiny microbes become.

D．Most tiny microbes like living in dry, acidic soil.

3. What does the underlined word "it" in paragraph 3 probably refer to?

A．Carbon dioxide.	B．Soil.
C．Carbon.	D．Limestone.

4. According to the passage, what can we infer?

A．The action of the tiny microbes can increase the oxygen in the earth.

B．Researchers tend to use natural power to solve their problem.

C．Researchers have done the experiment on trees in Africa for three years.

D．West Africa is one of the most polluted areas all over the world.

【推荐3】A butterfly’s wings can have many jobs besides keeping the insect high up in the air. They may be used to attract mates, or to warn potential attackers to stay away. All of these roles, though, depend on their unchanging colouration. This plays into the idea that butterfly wings are dead tissue, like a bird’s feathers. In fact, that’s not true. For example, in some species males’ wings have special cells releasing some chemicals which attract females.

Nanfang Yu, a physicist at Columbia University, in New York, has been looking into the matter. Together with Naomi Pierce, a butterfly specialist at Harvard University, he has now shown, in a paper published in Nature Communications in February, 2020, that butterfly wings are, indeed, very much alive.

In their experiments, the two researchers used a laser(激光) to heat up spots on the wings of dozens of butterfly species. When the temperature of the area under the laser reached 40°C or so, the insects responded within seconds by doing things that stopped their wings heating up further. These actions included a butterfly turning around to minimize its profile to the laser, moving its wings up and down or simply walking away.

Butterflies engaged in all of these heat-minimising activities even when the researchers blindfolded them. That suggested the relevant sensors were on the wings themselves. Dr Yu and Dr Pierce therefore searched those wings for likely looking sensory cells. They found some, in the form of neurons(神经元) that were similar to heat detectors known from other insects. They also uncovered disc-shaped cells that appeared to be similar to pressure-sensitive neurons. They guess that these are there to detect deformation of the wing—information an insect could use to control its flight pattern.

The third discovery they made to contradict the “dead wing” idea was that some butterfly wings have a heartbeat. A butterfly’s wings have veins(静脉). These carry a bloodlike liquid which, researchers have now found in males, shows a pulse(脉搏) of several dozen beats per minute. The source of this pulse appears to be the scent(气味) pad, a dark spot on the wings that produces the female-attracting chemicals. Apparently, this “wing heart” acts as a pump that helps bloodlike liquid through the scent pad.

In all their experiments simulating different environmental conditions, Dr Yu and Dr Pierce consistently found that, different parts of the wing are covered by different sorts of scales(鳞屑). In particular, tubes pass through scales over the scent pads. This improves their ability to spread heat away and helps keep the living parts of a butterfly’s wings alive.

1. A bird’s feathers are mentioned in Paragraph 1 to _____.

A．introduce the latest research findings on a bird

B．highlight the special feature of a bird’s feathers

C．show common knowledge about butterfly wings

D．stress the difference between a butterfly and a bird

2. What can we learn from Dr Yu and Dr Pierce’s experiments?

A．Butterfly wings are complicated living organs.

B．Butterfly wings have little reaction to external heat.

C．The scent pads on some male butterfly wings are their hearts.

D．Heat-minimising activities help detect deformation of the wings.

3. What is the function of scales over the scent pads?

A．Attracting mates.	B．Increasing blood flow.
C．Covering powerful tubes.	D．Producing the cooling effect.

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Seeing Is Believing	B．More Than Meets The Eye
C．Nothing Seek, Nothing Find	D．Fine Feathers Make Fine Birds

【推荐1】Celebrating Czech traditions

Have you ever witnessed the 300-year anniversary of a village? To me, it is so amazing that this village, named Bysicky, which is located in Bohemia in the Czech Republic, has sustained blizzards and wars for all this time, but has still kept its special charm.

Unlike transportation you’d find in Prague such as the metro or tram, the most common way to get around in the countryside is by bike, as it’s a lot more convenient. So on Saturday morning. I departed from home on a bike ride with my host family. After an 8-kilometer journey, we finally arrived at the village.

There was a road that led straight into the center of the village. Many stalls selling pizza, beer and ice cream were by the roadside. You could hear guitar music coming from the other side of the road, where an outdoor stage stood on large area of meadow.

When the performance from the guitarists finished, group of children wearing traditional costumes came on stage. As the crowd applauded loudly, the children were divided into three groups. A group of older kids playing different musical instruments stood on the left side, a group performing typical Czech dances was on the right, and a choir sang beautifully in the center.

Many of those present were relatives of the children, and we were there because my sister was a member of the dancing group. On the edge of the grassland, there were girls riding horses.

The end of the road led to a circled space, where the city hall stood in the middle, surrounded by a circle of colorful cottages. In front of the houses there were also many markets and a radio station reporting on the event.

So this is what a typical village celebration looks like, with markets food and performances from traditional Czech culture, which was quite different from festivals in big cities. Czech people value their history, so there will always be parties to celebrate a place’s existence or an important person from history. There are no high buildings in these villages, but people still like to go there to spend their weekends because of the peaceful environment. I guess that is what life really means.

1. What can we learn from the text about Bysicky?

A．The most convenient transport here is the metro.

B．The outdoor stage was set up in front of the city hall.

C．The author’s host family lives in the village.

D．It has a long history and is usually peaceful.

2. After they arrived in Bysicky, the author ______.

A．came across a famous choir giving a performance	B．heard music played by a group of guitarists
C．danced with local kids in traditional costumes	D．rode horses on the grass nearby

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．The author dislikes festivals in big cities.

B．Czech people take pride in their culture and history.

C．Czech people don’t like to live in high buildings.

D．Czech people always enjoy their lives to the fullest.

4. What is the author’s main purpose in writing the article?

A．To describe a typical village celebration in the Czech Republic.

B．To give tips on how to tour around Bysicky.

C．To inform us of different traditional Czech festivals.

D．To explain the long history of Bysicky and its people

【推荐2】An afternoon nap(午睡)is one of the joys of life, although too much napping could signal all is not well. In some cultures, people will have a daily nap — this is fine. The warning comes when people start sleeping during the daytime, when they did not before. There is certainly a good reason to believe that daytime sleepiness — as in the Alzheimer's study — can be a marker of an underlying condition.

For most people, napping during the day is mainly a sign that you are not getting enough sleep at night, says Dr. Neil Stanley, a sleep expert. "If you feel sleepy during the day, you should think about taking a nap. That is what the body needs — it doesn't need to be kept awake with caffeine, it needs sleep. "The feeling to notice is "sleepiness", he says, not "tiredness", which could be more psychological and linked to stress.

So how do you nap well? The key thing, says Stanley, is how long your nap lasts. Choose either a 20-or 90-minute nap. "When you fall asleep, you'll quickly go through the lighter stages of sleep into your first period of deep sleep. You don't want to wake up in deep sleep because that's when you wake and feel worse than you did before. "Napping for 20 minutes means you will wake up before you go into deep sleep; napping for 90 minutes means you'll complete a sleep cycle.

Once you factor in the time it takes to fall asleep — some people are better at napping than others but, says Stanley, "a healthy adult will fall asleep in between 5 and 12 minutes" — you can set an alarm, allowing a 30- to 40-minute period for a short nap, and up to two hours for a longer one.

A good time to nap is during the body's natural dip in the afternoon, between 2 pm and 4 pm. "You don't really want to be napping much past that because then you are going to be eating into your night-time sleep," Stanley says. The point, he stresses, is to get good night-time sleep, which would ensure you probably don't need to nap at all.

1. What does an afternoon nap indicate for most people?

A．Caffeine addiction.	B．Psychological stress.
C．Insufficient night sleep.	D．Potential physical illness.

2. What is the key to a good nap?

A．Duration.

B．Surroundings.

C．Health.

D．Stages.

3. What does the underlined word "that" in the last paragraph refer to?

A．A 30- to 40- minute period.	B．Between 2 pm and 4 pm.
C．Between 5 and 12 minutes.	D．A 20- to 90-minute period.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Why to phase a nap	B．When to take a good nap
C．What to learn from a nap	D．How to have a successful nap

【推荐3】American farmers entered this century with some of the same problems that they came across during the last century. The most important of the problems continued to be overproduction. It is true that continuing improvements in farm machinery, better seeds, better fertilizers, and other good conditions have made it possible for farmers to produce more food on the same amount of land.

In fact, American agriculture has become an “agribusiness”, which includes a variety of farm businesses and organizations, from small, one-family companies to huge multinational companies (跨国公司) that own a great deal of land and that produce goods and materials used by farmers. The appearance of agribusiness in the late 20th century meant fewer but much larger farms. Sometimes owned by stockholders(股东) who didn’t manage the farms, these large farms used more machinery and far fewer farm hands. In 1940, there were 6 million farms averaging 67 hectares(公顷) each. In the late 1990s, there were only about 2.2 million farms averaging 190 hectares in size. During the same period, the number of farmers became smaller—from 12.5 million in 1930 to 1.2 million in the 1990s. In 1900, half of the labor force were farmers, but at the end of the last century only 2% worked on the farm. And nearly 60% of the remaining farmers at the beginning of this century worked only part-time on farms; they held other, non-farm jobs to add to their farm income. The high cost spent on land and equipment makes keeping the full-time farming going on very difficult for most people.

As these numbers show, the American “family farm”—rooted in the nation’s history and in the story of the hard-working peasants—faces powerful economic challenges. Americans continue to imagine the neat barns(谷仓), fat farm animals, and beautiful fields of the traditional rural landscape, but it remains uncertain whether they will be willing to pay the price, either in higher food prices or in government aids to farmers who own the family farm.

1. What is the most important problem the American farmers meet with now?

A．The farm machinery needs to be improved.

B．The farm products are more than what people need.

C．The farm conditions need to be developed further.

D．The farm products can meet the need of the people.

2. With the agribusiness appearing, American farms become ______.

A．more and larger	B．more but smaller
C．fewer and smaller	D．fewer but larger

3. How many farmers worked full-time on the farm at the beginning of this century?

A．Less than 1% of the labor force.	B．About 40% of the labor force.
C．About 60% of the labor force.	D．Over 2% of the labor force.

4. Why do some farmers do other part-time jobs?

A．They all want to make a large fortune.

B．Farming can’t meet their need of money.

C．Farm work doesn’t need too much time.

D．They want to learn how to do other jobs.