【推荐1】Are people happier in nature with blue skies overhead and fresh green grass underfoot? Could noisy streets, crowded with cars and people, make us unhappy?

The possible mental health problems of city living affect a lot of people. The World Health Organization estimates (估计) that 56 percent of the world's population lived in urban (城市的) areas in 2019. The WHO adds that that amount will increase to 66 percent by 2050. People often move to cities for better jobs and more cultural activities. But are they putting themselves at risk? Maybe. Experts at the American Psychiatry Association say that “natural environments or green spaces” do much good to our mental health.

Many studies have shown that nature can calm us and make us feel happy. Nature, experts say, can also help us learn better. And experiencing nature helps people recover from the mental tiredness that comes from day-to-day work. On the other hand, mental health experts say some research suggests that city living might hurt our mental health. But they cannot say exactly why.

What are the specific aspects of the urban environment which causes some people to develop mental illness? Andrea Mechelli, a doctor at Kings College, London, states, “There have been studies where people were   taken out of an urban environment into a rural (乡村的) environment and their conditions would improve. And we also see that the greater the city is, the greater the risk is.” Mechelli say that someone who lives in a city is three times more likely to develop psychological problem than someone living in the country.

Kings College researchers, along with city planners, land and building designers and others wanted to learn more about city living and mental illness. So, they created a smartphone app called Urban Mind. They say they wanted to understand how different parts of the urban environment affect mental health.

The researchers found that being outdoors, seeing trees, hearing birdsong, seeing the sky, and feeling in contact with nature were associated with higher levels of mental well-being. They also found that these seeming effects of nature were especially strong in those individuals at greater risk of mental health problems. The Urban Mind Project team says it hopes “the results will inform future urban planning and social policy aimed at improving design and health.”

1. Why is the question raised in the first paragraph?

A．To introduce the topic of the text.

B．To show the background of the text.

C．To ask the readers to learn the study.

D．To raise the readers' interest in happiness.

2. What does Mechelli find during his study?

A．People are attracted by the blue skies and green grass.

B．People are more satisfied with their city life.

C．More and more people are interested in taking risks in cities

D．City people are more likely to develop mental problems than country people.

3. What is expected of the Urban Mind research result?

A．More people will choose to live in the countryside.

B．It will bring more concern about people s mental health.

C．It will contribute to future urban planning and social policies.

D．People will be helped to improve their mental illness.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Urban Mind measures the level of mental health

B．City living may be harmful to people’s mental health.

C．Living in the countryside is better than in the city.

D．Different scientists hold different opinions on the effects of city living.

【推荐2】At the start of nearly every doctor’s visit, chances are that you will be asked to get your weight measured. But many conversations around weight have become an obstacle, not a help, in the campaign to make people healthier. Doctors’ recommendations to drop pounds are still extremely common, even though using body size as a one-size-fits-all way can lead to ignorance of the complexity of an individual’ s particular physiology.

Many studies have shown heavier people are at higher risk for high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases. But the big picture is not the whole picture. Researchers have identified some fat people considered to be “metabolically healthy”. However, one interesting report published in 2016 found that unhealthy thin people were twice as likely to get diabetes as healthy fat people. Clearly, although the association between being overweight and disease is very real, individual experience can vary greatly and depends on personal physiology and behavior.

Despite such findings, among the more terrible effects of weight-central health care are the increased shame experienced by the overweight. The well-reported experience of numerous fat people is that doctors often set weight loss without examining them. Research over the past two decades has shown that health professionals have negative attitudes toward fat people. Not only that but doctors’ appointments with fat patients are shorter on average, and some refuse to see these patients at all, as the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported in 2011. Such prejudiced practices keep people from regular annual exams and prevent the detection of serious hidden conditions.

To practice evidence-based medicine, doctors should stop relying on weight alone as an indicator of health and quickly setting out weight loss to treat health diseases. Instead, doctors should focus on behavioral changes to improve health outcomes. People of all sizes are entitled to evidence-based treatments and keep them healthy.

1. What is the underlined phrase “a one-size-fits-all way” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A．An alternative way.	B．A temporary way.
C．A unique solution.	D．A perfect solution.

2. What can be learned from Paragraph 2?

A．Each heavy individual is at higher risk for diseases.

B．Fat people are considered to be metabolically healthy.

C．Not all fat people suffer high blood pressure or diabetes.

D．Thin people were twice as likely to get diabetes as fat ones.

3. How does the author convince us of the effects of weight-central health care?

A．By listing figures.	B．By quoting opinions.
C．By giving examples.	D．By making comparisons.

4. Which can be the best title of this passage?

A．Weight Shame.	B．Weight Loss, Health gains.
C．Weight Effects.	D．Only Weight Is Not Enough.

【推荐3】People have many different ways to relax during break time at work or school. Smartphones are probably the number one choice for a quick mental vacation. Although it might seem like a good time, the result is opposite, according to a recent study from Rutgers University.

For the study, more than 400 students were asked to finish a set of 20 word puzzles. Halfway through the task, the students were divided into three groups. One group was allowed to take a break and use cellphones to buy things online. The second group was asked to have a rest and buy things using a computer. The last group didn’t take any break at all.

Surprisingly, the group that used their cellphones during the break went back to work feeling the most tired and least motivated to continue. They also had the hardest time solving the remaining word puzzles.

Terri Kurtzberg, co-author of the study, explained that they assumed looking at cellphones during a break would be no different from any other break — but instead, the phone may cause increasing levels of distraction(使人分心的事) that make it difficult to focus attention on work tasks again.

"Cellphones may have this effect because even just seeing your phone activates thoughts of checking messages, connecting with people, and more, in ways that are different than how we use other screens like computers and laptops," Kurtzberg said.

This is echoed by a recent study from the University of Chicago. It found that even if cellphones are turned off or turned face down, their mere presence reduces a person’s cognitive capacity.

1. What can we learn from the study from Rutgers University?

A．Computers and laptops cause more distraction.

B．Cellphones may make people less focused on work.

C．The participants were divided into groups at the beginning.

D．The last group had the hardest time solving the word puzzles.

2. What does the underlined word "echoed" in the last paragraph mean?

A．Agreed.

B．Remembered.

C．Overcome.

D．Complained.

3. What suggestion will the author give in the following paragraph?

A．Turning off your cellphone during work time.

B．Using computers to shop online rather than cellphones.

C．Trying putting your smartphone away during your next break.

D．Stopping checking messages and connecting with people by cellphone.

4. What’s the text mainly about?

A．Ways to relax for students.

B．The result of a word puzzle.

C．Effects brought by the smartphone.

D．A study on using smartphones to relax.

【推荐1】When you think of a map, is north on the top or the bottom? Usually, maps are designed with north on top, though when we think about it, there is no logical reason for this bias (偏见). After all, there is no up or down in space. So what is wrong with south, east or west being on the top of the map? The answer is: nothing at all. In fact, north-up maps only became the norm in the last few hundred years.

Ancient Egyptian maps had south at the top because the Nile River flows downhill from mountains in the south to the Mediterranean Sea in the north. Mecca was to the south of most early Muslim civilizations, and south-up maps were designed so that viewers would look up to see Mecca. Medieval Christian maps had east at the top, as they believed the Garden of Eden was in the east. The only early maps that had north at the top were those of early China because the emperor lived in the north.

North seems to have settled at the top of maps during the 16th century, largely thanks to a Flemish mapmaker, Mercator. Mercator was a great admirer of an early Greek mapmaker, who, for reasons now unknown, put north at the top of maps, so Mercator did, too. When Mercator’s world map became the standard map to navigate the oceans, north up became standard as well.

What is the implication of this north-view of the world? Psychologically, people tend to think of up as good and down as bad. Just think of words and phrases like “upmarket”, “upbeat” and “moving up in the world”, and how they contrast with their opposites. Because north is so consistently put at the top of maps, people now think of north as good, too.

Several attempts have been made in recent years by introducing south-up maps to the market. These maps not only give us a chance to see the world differently, but also give everyone the chance to see themselves on top.

1. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?

A．North-up maps were rare in ancient times.

B．Deciding up or down in space is ridiculous.

C．Mecca maps were based on a legend.

D．The south-up map first appeared in ancient Egypt.

2. Why is north associated with good?

A．An illogical reason.	B．The spread of Mercator’s maps.
C．People’s preference for up.	D．An age-old tradition in Greece.

3. What is the author’s attitude to south-up maps?

A．Cautious.

B．Supportive.

C．Uncaring.

D．Disapproving.

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

A．To criticize a phenomenon.	B．To compare various facts.
C．To correct a cultural bias.	D．To argue for a viewpoint.

【推荐2】Why can friendships be hard? Because often people aren't as honest and open as they should be. Sometimes, people end up getting hurt.

Most problems with friendships come up because people are just too selfish to care about the things that their friends need. They care about their own needs much more, which makes it hard for friendships to work. However, being selfish is part of human nature. A person is put together in order to take care of himself and his own needs, not necessarily those needs of other people. Even though being selfish is something that all humans are born with, it is something that everyone should guard against.

The best thing to remember when you are a friend to anyone is that you need to treat your friend the same way as you'd like to be treated. This is wonderful advice for a friendship, because it is really the only way to make sure that you are giving your friend everything you would want to be given in a friendship. Whenever you have a question about how you should treat a friend, it is easy to find an answer simply by asking yourself what you would like your friend to do for you, if he or she is in your shoes.

Even if you're always thinking about how you'd like to be treated, and your friends are too, there are issues that come up from time to time in each friendship, and it is important to understand how to deal with these issues so that you can build stronger and healthier friendships. Issues like friends getting boyfriends or girlfriends and not spending enough time with their friends, or even friends finding new friends and leaving old friends behind are issues that will probably come up with one or more of your friendships. It is important to know how to deal with these issues so that you can keep your friends and make new ones. No one wants to have a broken friendship.

1. Why may problems with friendships appear?

A．One is selfish.	B．One is alone.
C．One is too anxious.	D．One is too busy.

2. What's the first and most important thing to be other people's friend?

A．Not to hurt your friends' feelings.

B．To give your friends whatever you have.

C．To treat your friends as fairly as possible.

D．Not to think of your own needs any more.

3. What is the text mainly about?

A．The Meaning of Friendships

B．The Importance of Friendships

C．The Advantages of Friendships

D．The Problems with Friendships

4. What may follow the last paragraph of the text?

A．How to make many friends.

B．How to keep friends happy.

C．How to treat friends correctly.

D．How to solve friendship issues.

【推荐3】From the health point of view we are living in a marvelous age. We are immunized from birth against many of the most dangerous diseases. A large number of once fatal illnesses can now be cured by modern drugs and surgery. It is almost certain that one day remedies will be found for the most stubborn remaining diseases. The expectation of life has increased enormously. But though the possibility of living a long and happy life is greater than ever before, every day we witness the incredible slaughter of men, women and children on the roads. Man versus the motor-car ! It is a never-ending battle which man is losing. Thousands of people the world over are killed or horribly killed each year and we are quietly sitting back and letting it happen.

It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel, his car becomes the extension of his personality. There is no doubt that the motor-car often brings out a man’s very worst qualities. People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognizable when they are behind a steering-wheel. They swear, they are ill-mannered and aggressive, willful as two-years-olds and utterly selfish. All their hidden frustrations, disappointments and jealousies seem to be brought to the surface by the act of driving.

The surprising thing is that society smiles so benignly on the motorist and seems to condone his behaviour. Everything is done for his convenience. Cities are allowed to become almost uninhabitable because of heavy tragic; towns are made ugly by huge car parks; the countryside is desecrated by road networks; and the mass annual slaughter becomes nothing more than a statistic, to be conveniently forgotten.

It is high time a world code were created to reduce this senseless waste of human life. With regard to driving, the laws of some countries are notoriously lax and even the strictest are not strict enough. A code which was universally accepted could only have a dramatically beneficial effect on the accident rate. Here are a few examples of some the things that might be done. The driving test should be standardized and made far more difficult than it is; all the drivers should be made to take a test every three years or so; the age at which young people are allowed to drive any vehicle should be raised to at least 21; all vehicles should be put through stringent annual tests for safety. Even the smallest amount of alcohol in the blood can impair a person’s driving ability. Present drinking and driving laws (where they exist) should be mad much stricter. Maximum and minimum speed limits should be imposed on all roads. Governments should lay down safety specifications for manufacturers, as has been done in the USA. All advertising stressing power and performance should be banned. These measures may sound inordinately harsh. But surely nothing should be considered as to severe if it results in reducing the annual toll of human life. After all, the world is for human beings, not motor-cars.

1. The main idea of this passage is__________.

A．traffic accidents are mainly caused by motorists

B．thousands of people the world over are killed each year

C．the laws of some countries about driving are too lax

D．only stricter traffic laws can prevent accidents

2. What does the author think of society toward motorists?

A．Society smiles on the motorists.

B．Huge car parks are built in the cities and towns.

C．Victims of accidents are nothing.

D．Society condones their rude driving.

3. Why does the author say: “his car becomes the extension of his personality?”

A．Driving can show his real self.

B．Driving can show the other part of his personality.

C．Driving can bring out his character.

D．His car embodies his temper.

4. Which of the followings is NOT mentioned as a way against traffic accidents?

A．Build more highways.

B．Stricter driving tests.

C．Test drivers every three years.

D．raise age limit and lay down safety specifications.

5. The attitude of the author is_____.

A．ironical

B．critical

C．appealing

D．militant