【推荐1】Famous for its tolerance (宽容) as well as its narrow houses and broad canals (运河), Amsterdam is undergoing a change of attitude when it comes to the millions of tourists that come to see it each year. Tolerance has reached its limits in the capital of Dutch, which is now actively urging visitors to head elsewhere.

Ellen van Loon, a partner at Dutch architectural firm OMA says, “We don’t want to turn into a Venice. While tourism earns the Dutch economy around 82 billion Euros a year, the problem we are currently facing is that Amsterdam is so loved by tourists, we just have so many coming to the city.”

Netherlands tourist officials recently took the decision to stop advertising the country as a tourist destination. Their “Perspective 2030” report, published earlier this year, stated that the focus will now be on “destination management” rather than “destination promoting”. The document also describes the country’s future strategy, acknowledging that Amsterdam’s livability will be severely influenced by “visitor overload” if action isn’t taken.

Solutions (解决办法) listed include working to discourage groups of visitors by either limiting or completely shutting down accommodation and entertainment products aimed at them, as well as spreading visitors to other parts of the Netherlands. Some of these measures have already come into play. Last year, the famous “I Amsterdam” sign was removed from outside the Rijksmuseum, the city’s main art gallery. The two-meter high letters have been moved to various “lesser-known neighborhoods” in order to entice travelers to leave the center of the city.

But will the measures being put in place be enough to save it from being damaged by its own success? Like many other locals, Van Loon fears Amsterdam has lost its uniqueness forever. “The reason tourists come here is that there’s something in the character of Amsterdam they love,” she explains. “But at a certain point, when the number of tourists is increasing and increasing, they actually kill what they loved in the first place.”

1. What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 2 indicate?

A．Amsterdam doesn’t necessarily copy Venice.

B．Venice does more poorly than Amsterdam.

C．Amsterdam is more popular than Venice.

D．Venice is suffering from over-tourism.

2. Why did Amsterdam advise visitors to head elsewhere?

A．To avoid much spending on city management.

B．To turn the focus on destination promoting.

C．To promote the development of other areas.

D．To reduce its pressure of mass visitors.

3. What does the underlined word entice in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Promise.

B．Persuade.

C．Inform.

D．Allow.

4. What’s Van Loon’s attitude to the measure?

A．Skeptical.

B．Intolerant.

C．Ambiguous.

D．Positive.

【推荐2】To begin your expedition of wonder, get yourself a driver’s license at your local department of motor vehicles, then rent a car and take off for New Hampshire’s Crawford Notch State Park. This beautiful park is abundant in wildlife, natural vegetation and running rivers falling from high cliffs. It is a place of spectacular mountain views, hiking trails, waterfalls and fishing locations. All you need to do is jump in your rented car or SUV and head for the sunset!
Okay, so you’ve just finished those crazy summer final exams and you’re exhausted from all of the stress. That’s okay because New Hampshire’s State Park also offers a perfect way to recover at Coney’s Flume Park where visitors can ride all the rapids in a hollowed out log, eat hotdogs and play on the amusement tides.   Good times will be had no matter what your preference at Dry River Campground, which offers wood cabins, showers, electricity, flush toilets, laundry and fire rings. It’s like a home away from home, so gather your camping gear and head for the journey!
Lake Winnipesaukee
If you’re stuck on figuring out how to access your own wheels, how about finding a bus to take you to Weirs Beach? There are fall leaves tours running in the fall through the end of October. Let the captain do the driving while you enjoy the colors along the shoreline and the mountainsides.
If you can’t find some peace of mind from those nasty final exams while relaxing in your lakeside cottage, take a cruise and go fishing, go bird sightseeing, or just kick back in a rented boat and let the coo of the birds wash your troubles away.
No matter where you go in New Hampshire, you’ll meet the most friendly people you can imagine. Do dive into that rental car or SUV, take off for a vacation to New Hampshire and treat yourself to one of America’s most beautiful states. Enjoy!
1. Who is this passage mainly intended for?

A．School students.	B．Bird lovers.
C．Driving learners.	D．Trouble makers.

2. Where can you enjoy riding on logs?

A．At Weirs Beach.	B．In your lakeside cottage.
C．At Coney’s Flume Park.	D．At Dry River Campground.

3. What type of writing is this text?

A．A tour introduction.	B．A travel diary.
C．An announcement.	D．An official report.

【推荐3】The Charles Dickens Museum in London is the world’s most important collection of material relating to the great Victorian novelist and social commentator (评论员). The only surviving London home of Dickens (from 1837 until-1839) was opened as a museum in 1925 and is still welcoming visitors from all over the world. On four floors, visitors can see paintings, rare editions; manuscripts, original furniture and many items relating to the life of one of the most popular and beloved personalities of the Victorian age.

Opening Hours:

The Museum is open from Mondays to Saturdays 10: 00-17: 00; Sundays 11: 00-17: 00.

Last admission is 30 minutes before closing time.

Special opening times can be arranged for groups, who may wish to book a private view.

Admission Charges:

Adults: £ 5. 00; Students: £ 4: 00; Seniors: £ 4. 00; Children: £ 3. 00; Families: £ 14. 00 (2 adults & up to five children).

Group Rates: For a group of 10 or more, a special group rate of £ 4. 00 each applies. Children will still be admitted for £3. 00 each.

Access:

We are constantly working to improve access to the Museum and its collection. Our current projects involve the fitting of a wheelchair ramp (活动坡道) for better access, a customer care kit and an audio tour for visitors with impaired vision. Our Handling Sessions are also suitable for the visually impaired. The Museum has developed an online virtual tour through the Museum. Click here to visit all the rooms in the Museum online.

Hire the Museum:

        The Museum can be hired for private functions, parties and many other social occasions.

Find Us:

The Museum may be reached by using the following buses: 7, 17, 19, 38, 45, 46, 55, 243. And by these underground services: Piccadilly Line; Central Line. For a map, please click here The British Museum and the Foundling Museum are within walking distance.

1. When is an ordinary visitor permitted to enter the museum?

A．15: 00 on Tuesday.	B．16: 40 on Wednesday.
C．17: 00 on Saturday.	D．10: 00 on Sunday.

2. How much will they pay if a family with two adults and three children go to the Museum together?

A．£22. 00.

B．£19. 00.

C．£14. 00.

D．£12. 00.

3. What can be learned from the passage about the Museum?

A．Individuals cannot hire the Museum for parties.

B．Visitors with poor vision can enjoy the Museum.

C．In no case can people visit the Museum after 17: 00.

D．Visitors can see rare editions of many Victorian novelists.

4. Where does this text probably come from?

A．Guidebook.

B．Magazine.

C．Newspaper.

D．Website.

【推荐1】The local government killed more than 34,000 stray dogs (流浪狗) several months ago because those officials were afraid that the dogs would spread rabies (狂犬病).

This caused a debate across the country. Some people said that it was very cruel to dogs. There might be a better way to prevent the disease.

In the future, killing stray dogs might be seen as a crime. Last month, the Chinese government published a draft of animal rights laws. It says that a person who kills a stray dog without one good reason will be put in prison.

The draft also says that animal abuse and abandoning animals will be considered crimes under the criminal law.

The government published the draft so that the public could read it and discuss their thoughts. People have different reactions. Some think the law is good. They say other countries like Britain and Japan have similar laws. They say we will do better at protecting animals if there is one. But others say it’s not crucial to fight animal abuse with a new law. Criticism and fines can do the job.

Some people also say that the draft doesn’t deal with the biggest issues facing the country’s development. The country should make progress to give all people equal rights, they say, before turning attention to animals.

Another part of the draft is causing discussion. It says that people should not force animals to do something dangerous, like jumping through a ring of fire. But many people enjoy watching this kind of performance at the circus, especially kids. They say that if the animal does it properly, it will not get hurt.

1. Why did the local government kill many dogs?

A．The dogs were dirty.	B．Those officials wanted to prevent rabies.
C．The dogs were homeless.	D．Those officials wanted to eat the dogs.

2. Which of the following is acceptable according to the draft of animal rights laws?

A．Killing a dog with rabies.	B．Beating an animal for fun.
C．Abandoning a blind pet dog.	D．Forcing a cat to jump through a ring of fire.

3. What can we tell from the text?

A．All people agree with the law.

B．Criticism and fines can protect animals.

C．Protecting animals is the biggest issue in China.

D．People have different opinions on the law.

4. What will happen if the law takes effect?

A．People can’t kill stray dogs any longer.

B．The country won’t have human right problems.

C．Kids may not be able to watch animals’ performances in a circus.

D．Animals will not be killed.

【推荐2】Robots are increasingly being developed to think and act like humans. But one common human quality that has been difficult for engineers to recreate in machines is humor.

Most robots are powered by artificial intelligence, or AI. Some have performed better than humans in tests designed to measure machine intelligence.

Computer scientists have also hoped to give robots technical skills to help them recognize, process and react to humor. But these attempts have mostly failed.

Kiki Hempelmann is a computational language expert who studies humor at Texas A&M University. “Artificial intelligence will never get jokes like humans do,” he told the Associated Press. The main problem, Hempelmann says, is that robots completely miss the context of humor.

Tristan Miller is a computer scientist and linguist at Darmstadt University of Technology in Germany. In one research project, he studied more than 10,000 puns(双关语).

Puns are a kind of joke that uses a word with two meanings. For example, you could say, “Balloons do not like pop music.” The word “pop” can be a way of saying popular music; or, “pop” can be the sound a balloon makes when it explodes.

But a robot might not get the joke. Tristan Miller says that is because humor is a kind of creative language that is extremely difficult for computer intelligence to understand.

Despite the difficulties, Darmstadt University’s Miller says there are good reasons to keep trying to teach humor to robots. It could make machines more relatable, especially if they can learn to understand sarcasm(讽刺), he noted. Humans use sarcasm to say one thing but mean another.

But Texas A&M’s Kiki Hempelmann is not sure such attempts are a good idea. “Teaching AI systems humor is dangerous because they may find it where it isn’t, and they may use it where it’s inappropriate,” he said. “Maybe bad AI will start killing people because it thinks it is funny,” he added.

1. Which is difficult for robots to gain according to the passage?

A．Thinking.	B．Humor.
C．Intelligence.	D．Action.

2. What does Kiki mean by saying robots’ missing the context of humor?
a. They lack creativity and skills.
b. They have no sense of humor at all.
c. They don’t understand the situation.
d. They have no related ideas that make a joke funny.

A．ab	B．ac
C．bd	D．cd

3. What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．The risk of teaching humor to AI.

B．The necessity of making AI smart.

C．The reason to keep robots humorous.

D．The possibility of robot understanding humor.

4. Which is the best title of the passage?

A．To Be Smarter, Be Humorous.

B．AI can Get Jokes Like Humans.

C．How to Help Robots Learn Humor?

D．Why Robot Humor Mostly Falls Flat.