【推荐1】In some islands north of Scotland, head lice, which live on the hair or skin of people or animals, were a part of life. If the lice left their host, he became sick and feverish. Therefore, sick people had lice put in their hair intentionally. There was a method to their madness: As soon as the lice had settled in again, the patient improved. The story explains the confusion of cause and effect. If the lice leave the sick, it is because he has a fever and they simply get hot feet. When the fever breaks, they return. We may laugh at this story, but false causality misleads us practically every day.

Consider the headline: “Fact: Women Who Use Shampoo XYZ Every Day Have Stronger Hair.” This statement says very little — least of all, that the shampoo makes your hair stronger. It might simply be the other way round: Women with strong hair tend to use Shampoo XYZ-and perhaps that’s because it says “especially for thick hair” on the bottle.

A further example: Scientists found that long periods in the hospital did harm to patients. This was music to health insurers’ ears, who, of course, are keen to make stays as brief as possible. But, clearly, patients who are dismissed immediately are healthier than those who must stay on for treatment.

Recently I read that students get better grades at school if their homes contain a lot of books. This study was surely a shot in the arm for booksellers, but it is also an example of false causality. This simple truth is that educated parents tend to value their children’s education more than uneducated ones do. Plus, educated parents often have more books at home. In short, a dust-covered copy of War and Peace alone isn’t going to influence anyone’s grades; what counts is parents’ education levels, as well as their genes.

Another example of false causality was the supposed relationship between the birth rate and the numbers of stork (鹳) pairs in Germany. Both were in decline, and if you plot them on a graph, the two lines of development from 1965 to 1987 appeared almost the same. Does this mean the stork actually does bring babies? Obviously not, since this was a purely accidental connection. In conclusion: Connection is not causality. Take a closer look at linked events: Sometimes what is presented as the cause turns out to be the effect, or just the other way around. And sometimes there is no link at all — just like with the storks and babies.

1. Which is an example of false causality?

A．The birth rate and stork population in Germany are connected.

B．The women with strong hair tend to use a certain shampoo.

C．Longer periods in the hospital benefit patients.

D．Lice can make a person sick and feverish.

2. The underlined phrase “a shot in the arm” in Paragraph 4 means ________.

A．pain

B．defeat

C．guidance

D．encouragement

3. According to the author, students get better grades probably because ________.

A．their homes are full of books	B．they have read War and Peace
C．their educated parents value education	D．their parents are successful booksellers

4. It can be concluded from the passage that ________.

A．connections are pure accidents	B．cause and effect are interdependent
C．connections are mostly cause and effect	D．linked events may turn out to be unrelated

【推荐2】The dirty, homeless man sat on the pavement, staring at the stones. He thought back more than twenty years to when he was a boy living in a small red brick house on this very street. He recalled the flower garden, the swing his dad made, and the bike he had saved up for months to buy.

The man shrugged impatiently, for the brightness of those pictures hurt him, and his memory traveled on another ten years. He had a job by then, plenty of friends and started to come home less. He did not really want to remember those years, nor the day when, because of debts, he had gone home planning to ask for money. He felt embarrassed, but he knew exactly where his dad kept the money. When his parents stepped out of the room, he took what he wanted and left.

That was the last time he had seen them. Ashamed, he went abroad, and his parents knew nothing about the years of wandering or time in prison. But locked in his cell he often thought of home. Once free, he would love to see his parents again, if they were still alive, and still wanted to see him.

When his prison time was up, he found a job, but couldn’t settle. Something was drawing him home. He did not want to arrive penniless, so he hitchhiked most of the long journey back. But less than a mile from his destination he started to feel sick with doubt. Could they ever accept this man who had so bitterly disappointed them?

He spent most of that day sitting under a tree. That evening he posted a letter which, although short, had taken him hours to write. It ended with:

I know it is unreasonable of me to suppose you want to see me ... so it’s up to you. I’ll come early Thursday morning. If you want me home, hang a white handkerchief in the window of my old bedroom. If it’s there, I’ll come in; if not, I’ll wave good-bye and go.

And now it was Thursday morning and he was sitting on the pavement at the end of the street. Finally he got up and walked slowly toward the old house. He drew a long breath and looked.

His parents were taking no risks. 　　1　　

The man threw his head back, gave a cry of relief and ran straight through the open front door.
1. Why did the man shrug impatiently (paragraph 2) while he was thinking of his childhood?

A．The thoughts made him angry.

B．He felt he had wasted time.

C．He was anxious to go home.

D．The sweet memory caused him much pain.

2. Why did it take him hours to write the letter?

A．He doubted if his parents still lived in that house.

B．He had much news to tell his parents.

C．He felt ashamed to ask for forgiveness.

D．He was longing to return home and felt excited.

3. In what order did the following events take place?
a. He took the money from his parents.
b. He bought a bicycle with his savings.
c. He was sentenced to prison.
d. He wrote the letter home.
e. He sat on the pavement.
f. He hitchhiked back home.

A．b, a, c, d, e, f	B．b, a, c, f, d, e
C．a, c, b, d, f, a	D．a, d, b, c, e, f

4. Which of the following best fits into paragraph 8?

A．Every inch of the house was covered in white. Sheets, pillowcases and table clothes had been placed on every window and door, making it look like a snow house.

B．The house before him was just as he remembered: the red bricks, the brown door and nothing else.

C．A colorful blanket was over the front door. On it, in large letters, was written, “Welcome home, son”.

D．A police car was parked in the drive way, and two officers stood at the front door.

5. The best title of the passage is _______.

A．Sweet Memory	B．White Handkerchief
C．Abandoned Son	D．Leaving Home

【推荐3】“Regrets, I’ve had a few. But then again, too few to mention,” Frank Sinatra chanted in his 1969 hit “My Way”. The song’s idea is attractive: that anyone can just declare what’s done is done and move on. Some take the declaration a step further and claim they have no regrets at all. Whether a boast or an actual attitude, “no regrets” suggests that life can and should be lived without looking through the rear-view mirror.

Easier said than done, though. In 2020, author Daniel H. Pink launched the World Regret Survey, the largest ever survey on the topic. With his research team, Pink asked more than 15,000 people in 105 countries, “How often do you look back on your life and wish you had done things differently?” 82% said regret is at least an occasional part of their life; roughly 21% said they feel regret “all the time.” Only 1% said they never feel regret.

If you are of the “no regrets” type, you might think that all this regret is a recipe for unhappiness. But that isn’t the case. True, being overwhelmed(不知所措) by regret is indeed bad for you. But going to the other extreme may be even worse. To rid yourself of regrets doesn’t free you from shame or sorrow; it leads you to make the same mistakes again and again. To truly get over our guilt requires that we put regret in its proper place.

As uncomfortable as it is, regret is an amazing cognitive(认知的)achievement. If today your relationship with your partner has worsened, your regret might mentally take you back to last year. You would remember your being mean and sensitive, and then imagine yourself showing more patience, being kind instead of hurtful at key moments. Then you would fast-forward to today and see how your relationship could be progressing instead of languishing.

But regret doesn’t have to be left unmanaged. The trick is to acknowledge it and use it for learning and improvement. You can be honest with yourself about what went wrong and use that knowledge to enjoy better relationships in the future.

1. What should we do if we have had a bitter quarrel with a close friend according to Frank Sinatra?

A．Attract more people to your argument.

B．Send him/her a letter of apology.

C．Boast about being more reasonable.

D．Forget about it and just let it go.

2. Which of the following statements about “regret” may the writer agree with?

A．We can do nothing about regret.

B．Unhappiness results from regret.

C．Ignoring regrets is missing the opportunity to improve.

D．Ridding yourself of regrets helps free you from sorrow.

3. What does the underlined word “languishing” in paragraph 4 most probably mean?

A．Improving.	B．Maintaining.
C．Showing up.	D．Breaking up.

4. What might be a suitable title for the text?

A．Regret to become smarter—if you let it.

B．Long for a different past? Regret it!

C．Regret? Not my way!

D．Stay away! Regret will heal itself.

【推荐1】You may think that the story of Pygmalion (《卖花女》, 1913)---in which people are judged by the way they talk --- is something that only existed in the days of British high society. But thanks to etiquette (礼仪) expert and author William Hanson, we realize that little has changed during the past 100 years.

In a BBC radio program, Hanson released a list of common words used in British English that could reveal whether a person is “common” or “fashionable”.

And yet here comes the interesting part: While some of us might go through life using fancy words, dressing in ways that make us appear more well-off than we really are, there are wealthy people in the world who try to hide their riches because they want to be seen as “normal” instead of “showy”.

Beatrice, for example, is a New Yorker who inherited (继承) millions of dollars. She told The New York Times that she has a habit of removing the price tags from her clothes so her house staff don’t see them and feel uncomfortable.

“We don’t want that ‘Wow’.” said Scott, also a New Yorker, who had just inherited over $50 million. “We’re just not the type of people who wear it on our sleeve.”

1. What does William Hanson find?

A．People failed to judge others’ manner.

B．People meet impolite persons frequently.

C．People tend to use more polite words.

D．People judge others by their way of talking.

2. What do rich people prefer to do?

A．To earn more money.

B．To hide their riches.

C．To think highly of their wealth.

D．To judge others by their wealth.

3. Why did Beatrice remove the price tags on her clothes?

A．To show off her fashion sense.

B．To avoid making people around her uncomfortable.

4. What does the underlined word “it” in the last sentence mean?

A．The Times magazine.	B．The brand label.
C．The inheritance contract.	D．The price tag.

【推荐2】There's a curious thing about people.All of us are driven in some way or another to achieve—we want to run faster,be more creative,win more awards,and earn more money.But here's the thing: if you want to offer warm words of wisdom,constructive criticism or "360-degree feedback（反馈;反应）",then think again.Most of us would rather not hear it.

Our easily-broken egos（自尊心）are partly to blame.We all want to meet our own expectations of ourselves,and so being criticized can present a huge threat to our egos.Yet as decades of psychological theory and research have indicated,people have endless tricky strategies(策略) of remaining positive in the face of criticism.For this reason,rather than us welcoming feedback with open arms,our first response is often an automatic defense.These reactions serve to make us feel better about ourselves.

Psychological research exposes this unhealthy appetite for ignorance.In one study,students watched a false educational film about a serious disease called "TAA Deficiency".In fact,TAA Deficiency is completely fictional,but the students were not told this information;instead,they were asked whether they wished to provide a cheek test for assessing（评估）their risk of developing the disease.Half of the students were told that if they ever developed TAA Deficiency,then the treatment would involve them taking a two-week course of pills.Of this group,52% agreed to provide the cheek test.The other half of students learned the treatment would involve taking the pills for the rest of their lives.Of this group,only 21% agreed to the test.

These findings show a common pattern seen in other studies within and beyond the context(背景) of healthcare. That is,people are especially resistant to hearing feedback when they believe it could force them to do something difficult or unpleasant.

1. What can we infer from paragraph 1?

A．People should be satisfied with what they have.

B．People should offer constructive criticism.

C．People should be cautious when giving advice.

D．People should care less about others.

2. How do people usually react when facing criticism?

A．They try to accept it.

B．They deal with it seriously.

C．They tend to support or protect themselves.

D．They turn to psychological theory.

3. Why didn't most of the second group agree to the test?

A．They didn't believe in the result.

B．They knew there wasn't such a disease.

C．They were sensitive to the negative result.

D．They didn't agree with the test.

4. What can be the best title for the passage?

A．Meeting Criticism	B．Rethinking Feedbacks
C．Improving Healthcare	D．Fighting TAA Deficiency

【推荐3】Texting（发短信）walkers aren't just an annoyance to other walkers, Australian researchers armed with movie special-effects technology have determined scientifically that they're threats to themselves. Using motion-capture technology similar to that used for films, researchers concluded that texting while walking not only affects balance but also the ability to walk in straight line.

“Some people like checking emails while walking to work in the morning” said the study co-author Hoorn, “but they may not know it has a serious effect on the safety of themselves”. Other facts have also proved this. A tourist from Taiwan walked off a pier near Melbourne last month while checking Facebook, bringing a sudden and icy end to a penguin-watching visit. Another person who was too wrapped up in his phone to notice dangers walked straight into the fountain in front of a shopping mall.

The Australian study involved 27 volunteers, a third of whom admitted having knocked into objects while texting. They were asked to walk 8.5 meters three times—once without phones, once while reading text and once while writing text, when eight cameras recorded their actions.

They found the volunteers using the phone walked slower, and, more seriously, they locked their arms and elbows in like “robots”, which forced their heads to move more, throwing themselves off balance. “In a pedestrian（步行的）environment, inability to maintain a straight path would be likely to increase potential for traffic accidents”, said Mr. Hoorn. “The best thing to do is to step aside and stop, or keep off the phone.”

Authorities world-wide have taken note. Signs on Hong Kong's subway system advise passengers in three languages to keep their eyes off their phones. Police and transport authorities have highlighted the danger in Singapore, where the Straits Times newspaper recently declared cellphone-distracted road crossing as “bad habit No. 2” contributing to the rising number of road deaths. Some U.S. states, including New York and Arkansas, are considering bans on what they're calling phone jaywalking.

1. According to the passage, people texting while walking usually____________.

A．do not influence other walkers	B．do harm to their eyes
C．put themselves in danger	D．can still walk straight

2. Which of the following words has the closest meaning to “wrapped up” in Paragraph 2?

A．absent-minded	B．annoyed
C．confused	D．absorbed

3. The two examples in Paragraph 2 are given in order to __________.

A．prove texting walkers are threats to others

B．show texting walkers may harm themselves

C．analyze the causes of the danger

D．amuse the readers

4. About the Australian study, we know that___________.

A．the volunteers using phones while walking moved normally

B．ten volunteers admitted having bumped into things while texting

C．the volunteers were divided into three groups during the study

D．texting walkers are exposed to greater possibility of traffic accidents

5. The last paragraph suggests that_________.

A．actions have been taken against texting while walking

B．Hong Kong’s subway system forbids texting walkers to take the train

C．New York has made laws to ban phone jaywalking

D．cellphone-distracted road crossing is considered the worst habit in Singapore

【推荐1】There’re currently 21.5 million students in America, and many will be funding their college on borrowed money. Given that there’s now over $1.3 trillion in student loans on the books, it's pretty clear that many students are far from sensible. The average student’s debt upon graduation now approaches $40, 000, and as college becomes ever more expensive, calls to make it “free” are multiplying. Even Hillary Clinton says that when it comes to college, “Costs won’t be a barrier.”

But the only way college could be free is if the faculty and staff donated their time, the buildings required no maintenance, and campuses required no utilities. As long as it's impossible to produce something from nothing, costs are absolutely a barrier.

The actual question we debate is who should pay for people to go to college. If taxpayers are to bear the cost of forgiving student loans, shouldn’t they have a say in how their money is used?

At least taxpayers should be able to decide what students will study on the public dime. If we're going to force taxpayers to foot the bill for college degrees, students should only study those subjects that are of greatest benefit to taxpayers. After all, students making their own choices in this respect is what caused the problem in the first place. We simply don’t need more poetry, gender studies, or sociology majors. How do we know which subjects benefit society? Easy.

Average starting salaries give a clear indication of what type of training society needs its new workers to have. Certainly, there’re benefits to a college major beyond the job a student can perform. But if we’re talking about the benefits to society, the only thing that matters is what the major enables the student to produce for society. And the value of what the student can produce is reflected in the wage employers are willing to pay the student to produce it.

A low wage for elementary school teachers, however, doesn’t mean elementary education isn’t important. It simply means there’re too many elementary school teachers already.

Meanwhile, there’re few who’re willing and able to perform jobs requiring a petroleum engineering major, so the value of one more of those people is very high.

So we can have taxpayers pick up students’ tuition in exchange for dictating what those students will study. Or we can allow students both to choose their majors and pay for their education themselves. But in the end, one of two things is true:

Either a college major is worth its cost or it isn’t. If yes, taxpayer financing isn’t needed. If not, taxpayer financing isn’t desirable. Either way, taxpayers have no business paying for students’ college education.

1. What does the author think of college students funding their education through loans?

A．They only expect to get huge returns.

B．They are acting in an unwise way.

C．They benefit at taxpayers’ expense.

D．They will regret doing so someday.

2. What should students do if taxpayers are to bear their college costs?

A．Work even harder to repay society.

B．Choose their subjects more carefully.

C．Choose majors that will serve society’s practical need.

D．Allow taxpayers to participate in college administration.

3. What does the author say about the value of a student’s college education?

A．It is well reflected in their average starting salary.

B．It is to be proved by what they can do on the job.

C．It is underestimated by profit-seeking employers.

D．It is reflected in how they remove social barriers.

4. What message does the author want to convey in the passage?

A．Students should think carefully whether to go to college

B．Taxpayers should only finance the most gifted students.

C．The worth of a college education is open to debate.

D．College students should fund their own education.

【推荐2】“New and improved. “These words are put in so many marketing campaigns that we tend to accept them as linked. But many new drugs aren’t an improvement over the best existing drug for a given condition, and the fast drug-approval processes in recent years have added to the uncertainty about their advantages.

A recent report in the British Medical Journal, “New Drugs: Where Did We Go Wrong and What Can We Do Better? “Analyzed the issue. The authors looked at 216 drugs approved between 2011 and 2017:152 were newly developed, and 64 were existing medicine approved for new uses. Only 25%offered a major advantage over the established treatment, and fully 58%had no confirmed added benefit to reduce symptoms or improve health-related quality of life.

“This doesn’t mean there’s no added benefit, “lead author Wissler said. “It just means we have no positive proof. Either we have no studies or have studies not good enough. “Wissler and her co-authors work for a German institute which evaluates new treatments and advises on whether the country’s health care system should pay a premium(补贴)for them. Such organizations, known as health technology assessment(HTA)agencies, work a little differently in the US, says Sean Tunisia researcher in Baltimore: “If payers think a new drug isn’t better than an existing drug, these agencies will require that hospitals try the cheaper drug first.”

Germanys HTA demands trials to prove that a new treatment beats the existing standard. This isn’t always practical. For one thing, such studies can be expensive and time-consuming, with no guarantee of success. Secondly, it can discourage companies from attempting to develop new alternatives. This is already happening. Drug developers are increasingly focused on areas where there are no good treatments to compete with, such as rare diseases.

This lack of meaningful data to guide patients is a major point of Wissler’s paper. With accelerated approval, there are more products approved, with a greater amount of uncertainty about risks and benefits. But there are other solutions besides drug trials. One idea is to require postmarked studies to track the effectiveness of newly approved drugs—a step too often neglected.

1. What message does the recent report convey?

A．Improved drugs have advantages over old ones.

B．Many new drugs have no improved advantages.

C．Before 2017 no improvement was made to drugs.

D．The approval processes for new drugs are too fast.

2. What will US HTA agencies do when no advantage is found in new drugs?

A．Get hospitals to use the cheaper drugs.

B．Remove government premium on them.

C．Arrange financial support for the patients.

D．Put new drugs on further trials and studies.

3. What’s the disadvantage of Germany’s HTA trial demands?

A．Getting patients to depend on the government for support.

B．Making drug companies think of illegal ways to cut cost.

C．Holding companies back from improving existing drugs.

D．Pushing companies to try alternatives for existing drugs.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．The Advantage of Existing Drugs

B．A Dilemma with New Drug Alternatives

C．Misunderstanding of New and Old Drugs

D．People’s Preference for New or Old Drug

【推荐3】Mom was right! If you say "thank you" for even the smallest gift or slightest show of kindness, you'll feel as happy as Larry.

Gratitude, says Robert A. Emmons, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, is an important element of happiness. In his recent book, Thanks!Emmons uses the first major study on gratitude to prove mom's point. In acknowledging and developing this much-ignored expression of thankfulness, he explains how people have benefited-even improved their health.

Expressing gratitude shouldn't be a reaction； it should be a state of mind. To feel grateful when life is a breeze and you have more than you need is easy. To feel grateful in time of crisis-anger, hatred and bitterness-is easier. Also, too many people are aware of life's blessings only after these are lost.

It's crisis and chaos-danger, disease, disability and death-that bring many individuals to realize just how dependent they are on others. Yet it's the way each of us begins life and ends it. It's too bad that so many people waste those decades in between labouring under the illusion that they are self-sufficient, says Emmons.

The abundance of voices expressing gratitude from his studies of individuals with chronic health problems is many. But Emmons goes beyond his groundbreaking" science to make his case for gratitude by including the inspirational writings of philosophers, novelists and saints, as well as the beliefs of various religions and their respective scriptures. Taken together, these observations are summed up quite nicely by famous humanist Albert Schweitzer, who said the secret of life is "giving thanks for everything".

To enable and embrace gratitude, Emmons encourages the readers of Thanks! to keep a gratitude diary. He even provides easy-to-follow directions on how to practice and develop gratitude.

I'm not a reader or advocate of self-help books, but I am thankful for the reference I found in a newspaper article to the research Emmons was conducting on gratitude involving organ donors and recipients. The chance discovery led me to this book.

Mom implied that kindness seems to find its way back to the giver because life really is all about giving, receiving and repaying. So I'll pay attention to her Professional advice and say: Thank you, Professor Emmons.

1. What is the text mainly discussed?

A．There are many ways of being thankful.	B．Mom is great for her being thankful.
C．Gratitude is important to happiness.	D．Being thankful will keep you fit forever.

2. The author mentions Robert Emmons' book Thanks! in order to prove that_________.

A．Professor Emmons supports mom's study on psychology.

B．mom is as great a psychologist as Professor Emmons.

C．Professor Emmons is a famous psychologist.

D．mom is right about her viewpoint on gratitude.

3. What is the opinion of Professor Emmons?

A．It is enough to thank others orally.

B．Whether you are thankful is always up to you.

C．Remember to be thankful anytime and anywhere.

D．It is easier to be thankful for yourself than for others.

4. In the writer's opinion, Emmons' book Thanks! on gratitude is_________.

A．helpful	B．unreasonable
C．puzzling	D．one-sided