【推荐1】Working on holidays has always presented something of a class divide. From the 1870s through the 1920s, middle-and-upper-class Americans often lived with “the help”—mostly women of color whose job was to cook and clean and care for others, day and night. While shows like Dowton Abbey seek to give ________ to servants, they also sanitize (粉饰) what was a cruel, back-breaking existence. It was common for a housemaid’s day to begin well before the family rose and extend until after they ________ for the evening. They did so seven days a week: working more than 80 hours a week - more than the 65 hours most factory workers worked at the time. While we often imagine that these women were young and single, Evelyn Nakano Gleen’s research on such care providers has shown that over 30% of them were married many with children. As they worked very hard for families not ________, they left their children, parents, siblings and husbands behind. Thanksgiving or Christmas was no doubt one of the hardest times of the year, and their own families felt their ________.

The labor movement was ________ to changing this sorry state of affairs. Unions raised wages, lowered hours, instituted worker protections, guaranteed a minimum wage and ________ holidays off for workers. Those who did have to work on national holidays were guaranteed overtime pay. When unions were strong, such benefits even ________ to non-unionized workers.

But as unions have ________, part-time work has increased. And this has meant lower wages and greater ________. Working at $11 an hour for 25 hours a week means making 14,300 a year. For most retail workers, that’s one of the better jobs that are available. And ________, it’s a job without health insurance, or a retirement plan, with constant scheduling changes that make it hard to take additional ________. Most of these workers wish they could work more, but employers would rather hire other part-timers. So when the boss says, “Can you work Thanksgiving?” workers have no real choice but to be ________.

Today, working on holidays carries no guarantee of extra pay, and not working can mean losing one’s job. Some workers are ________; Walmart employees have planned over 1,000 Black Friday strikes because of unchanging wages and health care premiums (保险费) that will soon triple. Americans have a choice of helping these workers regain the ________, or walking past them in order to shop more. And that is the irony to the trend of stores opening on Thanksgiving. On the same day that we give thanks for all we have, why must we also rush out to buy more? Observers might say, “It’s just the logic of the market!” But the logic of the market is not some mystical process. It is the result of the ________ that we make.

【推荐1】Many animals move from one place to another at certain times of the year. This _______ movement is called migration (迁徙). They migrate to _______ food, or in search of warmer weather. One of the most wonderful migrations in nature is that of the North American monarch butterfly.

Every _______, millions of these beautiful insects with fine black and orange wings begin a long and _______ journey. Somehow they manage to _______ around 4,000 kilometres _______ and find their way to California or Mexico. _______, until recently no one knew how they did this. A team of scientists led by Professor Eli Shlizerman at the University of Washington has now found the _______. They have found out that the monarch is able to _______ the time of day. It uses its eyes to measure the ________ of the sun. These two pieces of information allow the ________ to determine the way to go. ________, it manages to reach where it will spend the winter.

The solution to the mystery of the monarch’s amazing ability comes at a time when it is in serious trouble. Its ________ has crashed by as much as 90 per cent in the last few years. ________, human activity is the main reason why the number of monarch butterflies is falling. The research on the monarch’s ________ has however led to a greater awareness of this creature.

【推荐2】The prevalence (普遍) of sweatshop (血汗工厂) labor depends largely on the definition being used. At its most _______ definition, the term refers to work in a confined space (small, surrounded by walls) that is extremely difficult or dangerous. Sweatshops are considered to be fairly common. If the definition being used is closely related to the commonly-held _________ of a factory with overworked, under-paid workers, sweatshop labor becomes less common than expected. _________, they are still prevalent in third-world countries. According to the United States Government Accountability Office, a sweatshop is any workplace that breaks one or more state and federal _________ laws. Experts believe that roughly 50 percent of manufacturers—_________ in the clothing industry — employ sweatshop labor.

It can be _________ to figure out the exact number of sweatshops in a particular area. These workplaces usually, if not always, violate labor laws. Violations can include workers being paid less than minimum wage, child labor, and the severe lack of safety regulations. _________, many of these locations tend to hide their identities as sweatshops through a number of different means. For example, they might bribe government officials.

Another factor that _________ the prevalence of sweatshop labor is the economic situation in the country or region. Many individuals choose to work in sweatshops simply because there are no better alternatives _________ livelihood (生计), even if the income they’re being given still cannot support their basic standards of living. This has led to a sharper increase in sweatshops in third-world economies. In these countries, there is a __________ advantage to working in a sweatshop rather than not working at all. __________, the large number of people willing to work under such conditions causes employers to run more sweatshops.

Certain economists argue against the popular opinion that sweatshop labor should be considered __________. Sweatshop supporters argue that the workplaces are a necessity for poor countries. Sweatshop workers actually earn more than average in those countries. Following this train of thought, sweatshops are looked upon as an economic stimulus (刺激物). Employers following this belief are __________ to increase the number of sweatshops in poorer countries.

However, other experts think that __________ labor standards in third-world countries creates a downward spiral (螺旋线). That is to say, people will be forced to accept working in increasingly worsening circumstances. The demand for work is significantly larger than the number of jobs that are available. It’s quite __________ for wages and employee rights to continue going downwards in response to such desperation. As a result of the economic circumstances in a given region, employers who follow this philosophy are quick to point out that their businesses do not fall under the definition of a sweatshop.

【推荐3】A young lady was sitting in her garden under a tree drinking tea. _________, something white fell and _________ in her drink. It was a cocoon (茧). As the cocoon rumbled (发出隆隆声) in the hot _________, she realized that it was made from a long, strong and soft _________. She started thinking about how to _________ the new material. Does this story sound a bit _________? It does remind me of Isaac Newton, having the _________ of the law of gravity while sitting under an apple tree after he was _________ on the head with a piece of falling fruit.

The story of the young woman and her tea is a popular Chinese legend (传说) about _________. When silk was first invented, silk clothing was __________ by the rich people, and it was a status symbol. But over time its use spread and a wider range of social classes __________ wearing silk clothes.

As the production of silk increased, it began to be put into industrial __________ and became a part of musical instruments, fishing lines, even wrap paper and trade business.

Silk was __________ traded and spread all the way from China to India and through Central Asia to the Middle East. It was the longest trade route across land, and it allowed early __________ between Europe and China. Italy became one of the major producers of silk and it’s __________ some of the world’s finest silk cloth is made even today.