【推荐1】Whenever Prince George steps out for an engagement, like on the royal tour of Canada, or poses(摆姿势) for official photographs, there’s one thing about the little royal that has long confused royal watchers: the fact that he only ever wears shorts.

According to William Hanson, an etiquette(礼仪) expert, there is a very good reason for this—and it has nothing to do with fashion, but rather royal tradition.

“It’s a very English thing to dress a young boy in shorts,” William Hanson said. “Trousers are for older boys and men, whereas shorts on young boys is one of those silent British class markers that we have in England. Although times are slowly changing, a pair of trousers on a young boy is considered quite middle class—quite suburban. No self-respecting royal would want to be considered suburban. Even the Duchess of Cambridge.”

The tradition can be traced back through the royal family, with both Princes William and Harry regularly seen wearing shorts until they were considered old enough to progress to full-length trousers.

“The usual custom is that a boy graduates to trousers around eight years old,” William added. “This is, historically, perhaps due to the practice of ‘breeching’, which dates back to the sixteenth century. A newborn boy would be dressed in a gown for their first year or two and then he was ‘breeched’ and wore articles of clothing that more resembled shorts or trousers than dresses.”

Ultimately, he concluded, in the case of William and Kate, the decision to dress George in shorts is more likely down to tradition than a class issue.

“The modern habit of upper class families choosing to dress their boys in shorts will deliberately hark back to(使人想起) a bygone age,” he said. “The British upper set are always keen to hold on to tradition, and this one also silently marks them out from ‘the rest’.”

1. Why does Prince George only wear shorts?

A．Prince George loves shorts.

B．Prince George loves sports.

C．Shorts are a sign of fashion.

D．Wearing shorts is a royal practice.

2. Which of the following words best describe Prince George’s wearing shorts?

A．Reasonable.	B．Practical.
C．Traditional.	D．Fashionable.

3. Why do William and Kate dress Prince George in shorts?

A．They want to hold on to tradition.

B．They want to keep to royal fashion.

C．They want to train him to keep out the cold.

D．They want to ignore their social position.

【推荐3】I never knew anyone who’d grown up in Jackson without being afraid of Mrs. Calloway, our librarian. She ran Jackson’s Carnegie Library absolutely by herself. SILENCE in big black letters was on signs hung everywhere. If she thought you were dressed improperly, she sent you straight back home to change your clothes. I was willing; I would do anything to read.

My mother was not afraid of Mrs. Calloway. She wished me to have my own library card to check out books for myself. She took me in to introduce me. “Eudora is nine years old and has my permission to read any book she wants from the shelves, children or adults,” Mother said.

Mrs. Calloway made her own rules about books. You could not take back a book to the library on the same day you’d taken it out; it made no difference to her that you’d read every word in it and needed another to start. You could take out two books at a time and two only. So two by two, I read library books as fast as I could go, rushing them home in the basket of my bicycle. From the minute I reached our house, I started to read. I knew this was extreme happiness, knew it at the time.

My mother shared this feeling of mine. Now, I think of her as reading so much of the time while doing something else. I remember her reading a magazine while taking the part of the Wolf in a game of “Little Red Riding Hood” with my brother’s two daughters. She’d just look up at the right time, long enough to answer — in character — “The better to eat you with, my dear,” and go back to her place in the magazine article.

1. Which of the following best describes Mrs. Calloway?

A．Quiet.

B．Strict.

C．Humorous.

D．Considerate.

2. What do the underlined words “this feeling” refer to in the last paragraph?

A．Desire to read.	B．Love for Mrs. Calloway.
C．Interest in games.	D．Fear of the library rules.

3. Where is the text probably from?

A．A guidebook.	B．An autobiography.
C．A news report.	D．A book review.

【推荐1】Volunteers make sweaters for elephants in India

It isn’t often that zookeepers call on craftspeople for help. But cold weather at the Wildlife SOS Elephant Conservation and Care Center in northern India was putting elephants at risk. So the center’s staff joined forces with locals to find a creative way to keep the animals warm. Now the elephants are stepping out in style, thanks to volunteers who take advantage of their crafting talents to knit (编织) enormous sweaters to protect the animals.

Wildlife SOS is a conservation group that has been taking action against animal cruelty and saving wildlife in pain since 1995. Their Elephant Conservation and Care Center is dedicated (致力于) to rescuing the gentle giants from abuse and exploitation (剥削) in circuses, illegal hunting, and other circumstances where they have been neglected or treated with extreme cruelty. There are currently 20 elephants living at the center, and the staff hopes to take in 50 more of the creatures this year.

Because most of the elephants housed at the center are recovering from injuries or are elderly and weak, they are particularly vulnerable to cold temperatures. When staff reported near-freezing nighttime temperatures this winter, volunteers from surrounding villages began knitting enormous sweaters to keep the elephants warm. The sweaters are large enough to cover the elephants’ backs, bellies, and legs.

Making the sweaters is a big undertaking-each one takes approximately four weeks to create, with volunteers working together on the huge garments. Still, the volunteers make sure that the knits arc not only warm and comfortable, but they are also colorful, and even fashionable. Centered on a common, compassionate goal, the project helps promote a sense of community in all who participate.

1. Why do people make sweaters for the elephants?

A．To dress the elephants up for performances.

B．To help the elephants keep warm.

C．To make the elephants step out in style.

D．To show off their outstanding knitting talents.

2. How many elephants are expected to live at the center at the end of this year?

A．70.

B．50.

C．30.

D．20.

3. The underlined part “vulnerable to” probably means “________”.

A．easy to be harmed by.

B．connected with.

C．getting used to.

D．able to deal with.

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Volunteers are often called on to knit sweaters for elephants.

B．Elephants are always treated well in India.

C．Wildlife SOS is an organization that knits sweaters for animals.

D．It takes great trouble to knit sweaters for elephants.

【推荐2】Thanksgiving Day was around the corner. When Mrs. Klein told her first graders to draw a picture of something for which they were thankful, she thought how these little children, who lived in a deteriorating (恶化的) neighborhood, actually had to be thankful for. She knew that most of the class would draw pictures of turkeys or of heavily loaded Thanksgiving tables. That was what they believed was expected of them.

What took aback Mrs. Klein was Douglas’s picture. Douglas was so lonely and likely to be found close in her shadow as the kids went outside for break. Douglas’s drawing was simply this: A hand, obviously, but whose hand?

The class was fascinated by his image. “I think it must be the hand of God that brings us food,” said one student.

“A farmer,” said another, “because they grow the turkeys.”

“It looks more like a policeman, and they protect us.”

“I think,” said Lavinia, who was always so serious, “that it is supposed to be all the hands that help us, but Douglas could only draw one of them.”

Mrs. Klein had almost forgotten Douglas in her pleasure at finding the class so responsive. When she had the others at work on another project, she bent over his desk and asked whose hand it was.

Douglas mumbled, “It’s yours, Teacher.”

Then Mrs. Klein recalled that she had taken Douglas by the hand from time to time; she often did that with the children. But that it should have meant so much to Douglas …

Perhaps, she reflected, this was her Thanksgiving, and everybody’s Thanksgiving—not the material things given to us, but the small ways that we give something to others.

1. What does the underlined phrase “take aback” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．surprised.

B．frightened.

C．upset.

D．amused.

2. Why did Douglas draw a hand?

A．He was grateful for the help of God.

B．He appreciated what the teacher did for him.

C．He had no idea of what to draw and who to thank.

D．He would like to thank everyone who offered help.

3. What can you learn from the passage?

A．It is never too old to learn.	B．Don’t judge a book by its cover.
C．A friend in need is a friend indeed.	D．A small act makes a great difference.

【推荐3】“They’re following me!” I thought to myself, as I watched the two young men on motorbikes slow down next to me as I drove. “Ignore them. They’ll go away.” I decided and turned my attention back to the road. As a woman living in a big city, such encounters were not new, but I was unusually disturbed by a strange sadness that day. I realized that whenever I stopped at a signal, the two bikers would also pause alongside, staring intently (热切地).

This continued through three traffic signals, leaving no room for doubt. I drove as fast as I could to stay ahead of them, but I couldn’t shake them off for the busy evening traffic. I finally reached home and released a sigh of relief until I realized that they had chased me all the way to my doorstep. Even scarier, they were now off the bike and at the gates, trying to talk to me.

Feeling safer on familiar ground, I turned back to tell them off. “Please don’t get us wrong,” one of them said, his tone low and concerned. “We saw you weeping inside your car and wanted to make sure you were okay.”

I realized in an instant what must have happened. The men had seen me breaking down in my car and followed me out of concern. I thanked them sincerely. My emotions got better at the time. I never saw them again. But even more than 10 years later, I still am struck by their selfless concern for a stranger and remember them with gratitude.

1. Why was it difficult for the author to get rid of the bikers?

A．They rode so fast.	B．The road was crowded.
C．She wasn’t good at driving.	D．She wanted to know who they were.

2. Why did the bikers follow the woman?

A．To ask for help.	B．To figure out why she broke down.
C．To make sure that she was fine.	D．To find out where her home was.

3. What made the bikers believe the woman was down?

A．Her weeping in her car.	B．Her unusual driving way.
C．Her telling of her trouble.	D．Her stop at every traffic signal.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the two strangers?

A．Admirable.

B．Hateful.

C．Satisfied.

D．Grateful.