【推荐2】People often go to cafes to relax themselves and keep themselves from falling asleep, but Mr. Healing, a popular cafe chain in South Korea actually does the opposite. Customers can come in, order a drink, lie down a comfortable massage（按摩）chair, and take a nap.

Many Koreans suffer from a lack of sleep as a result of overworking, so any opportunity to relax and even take a nap is greatly appreciated. Mr. Healing is the perfect place to go when you’re on a short work or school break and you need to catch up on sleep. The cafe offers massage periods in various modes, depending on how much time you have and how you choose to spend it.

The 20-minute session is priced at $ 3.5, the 30-minute massage costs $ 7, and the 50-minute session is $ 9, all of which also include a drink. Once you make your choice, you are taken to the “healing center”. You are asked to take off your shoes as well as any jewelry that might damage the chairs, after which you can choose a massage mode, from “stretch” or “sleep”. You can start with stretch for a few minutes, and then switch to sleep if you want to take a short nap. After it comes to an end, you are taken back to the cafe area to enjoy a coffee or one of the many other refreshing drinks on the menu.

Mr. Healing cafes are so popular in Korea that customers are advised to make reservations in advance to be sure that a massage chair is available. “I have to sit on a chair and stare at a computer monitor all day due to my job, the healing room was truly effective to relieve tiredness and stress from weekdays,” said Park Hye-sun, a 24-year-old officer.

Some have described Mr. Healing and other similar cafes in South Korea as simple fashions, but others see them as a sustainable business model, because they offer a service that Koreans really need.

1. Why do customers come to Mr. Healing?

A．To have themselves checked.	B．To rest for a while.
C．To drink specialty coffee	D．To sleep before work.

2. What does the third paragraph mainly talk about?

A．The price of the service.	B．The choices for customers.
C．The process of the service.	D．The tips for customers.

3. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The massage.	B．The coffee.
C．A sound sleep.	D．Your choice.

4. What is Park’s attitude towards Mr. Healing?

A．Negative.	B．Neutral.
C．Critical.	D．Positive.

【推荐1】The unusual day of February 29 comes up on the calendar only every four years. In American English, February 29 is called a leap day. And the entire 12-month period with a February 29 in it is called a leap year. The year 2020 is such a year.

As a verb, the word “leap” means to jump, or to move quickly. “Leap” can also be a noun, meaning a jump or a sudden move. In a leap year, the dates jump over one day of the week. In 2017, the last day of the year December 31, fell on a Sunday. In 2018, it fell on a Monday. In 2019, it fell on the Tuesday. But in 2020, December 31 will fall on a Thursday. It just leaps right over Wednesday. “Leap” is also an important word for two American expressions. One is a kind of warning. If you want someone to investigate a situation completely before taking action, you might say “look before you leap”. The other expression is a phrase of hope. Urging someone to “take a leap of faith” invites the person to take action, even if not everything about a situation is known.

Interestingly, both phrases are completely reasonable to say to someone who is about to get married.

On that note, some people choose to marry on February 29 because it is an unusual day. But some ancient people would likely tell couples not to do it. Leap years were believed to be difficult, and leap days were unlucky and a bad time to begin anything new.

Whatever you think about them, the changes in the calendar will be gone soon enough. Then we can return to normal, and leap over February 29 as usual.

1. If December 31, 2121 is Wednesday, what day is December 31, 2124?

A．Thursday.

B．Friday.

C．Saturday.

D．Sunday.

2. When can you use the phrase “take a leap of faith”?

A．When you encourage someone to take action.

B．When you advise someone not to hold a wedding.

C．When you warn someone not to make a decision quickly.

D．When you want someone to investigate a situation carefully.

3. What did some ancient people think of leap days?

A．They were good days to try new things.

B．They were normal days in leap years.

C．They were a bad time for getting married.

D．They were a good time for moving house.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Lucky Days for Couples

B．Leap Days and Leap Years

C．The Changes in the Calendar

D．The Importance of February 29

【推荐2】A spoonful of pickles (腌菜) can sometimes make a meal taste better. Recently, a new type of pickle is being discussed: “digital pickled vegetables”. It refers to the videos people watch while eating that make their food more appetizing.

The topic received more than 16 million clicks on Sina Weibo and about 100,000 people participated in the discussion. Instead of being accompanied by friends and family during a meal, many young people in China are kept company by TV shows or short videos. Many believe that their food is tastier with the “digital pickles”.

Can this habit affect your diet? According to a research paper published in 2019, you may eat more unconsciously. The international research team asked 62 volunteers to follow different eating patterns on four different days. The patterns included eating while looking at the mobile phone, reading magazines and without distraction. After analyzing their diets, the team discovered that eating with a distraction increased caloric intake by about 15 percent.

To explore the reason, the team also invited two groups of people: one group ate while listening to an audio clip about another person eating and the other listened to a clip that helped them imagine themselves eating. The results showed that the second group ate less since they were more focused on their meals. When eating with the “digital pickles”, our attention can be distracted, which leads to eating more than expected.

This works not only for eating meals but other demanding tasks as well. A research project led by the University of Sussex, UK, pointed out that activities which require lots of attention trick many participants into overeating. The team invited 120 participants to do various tasks while providing them with drinks and snacks. “Our study suggests that if you’re eating or drinking while your attention is distracted by a highly engaging task, you’re less likely to be able to tell how full you feel” one of the authors Martin Yeomans explained.

1. What do “digital pickles” refer to?

A．A new type of vegetables.

B．Electronic products popular online.

C．Videos people watch while eating.

D．Digital games suitable for families.

2. Why do people eat more with “digital pickles’ according to the text?

A．They are more focused on their meals.

B．They are distracted by “digital pickles”.

C．The food tastes better with “digital pickles”.

D．The “digital pickles” make them feel hungrier.

3. What can we learn from the experiment carried out by the research team?

A．It explores the reason why people prefer “digital pickles” while having meals.

B．Eating while hearing another person eating can keep one more focused on his meal.

C．Eating while imaging oneself eating can keep one more focused on his meal.

D．When eating without the “digital pickles”, we are bound to eat less.

4. Why does the author mention a different study in the last paragraph?

A．To give another case that causes overeating.

B．To describe the effects of “digital pickles”.

C．To explain how to judge you are full.

D．To present how to avoid being distracted.

【推荐3】Which hand do you use to write your name? Which foot do you use to kick a ball? You probably use the same hand or foot. That's called your dominant side.

About 90 percent of humans are right-handed. Scientists want to know whether other animals also have dominant sides. So they give simple challenges to zoo animals and pets.

At first, chimpanzees（大猩猩） appeared to be left-handed. Dr. Hopkins watched chimpanzees as they went “ants fishing", using sticks to pull ants out. Most of the chimps did the job with their left hand. However, when chimpanzees ate butter from a narrow pipe, they tended to use the left hand to do the easy part (hold the pipe) and a finger on the right hand to do the hard part (reach in for the treat).

Does that mean chimpanzees are left-handed for some tasks and right-handed for others? That's not likely. Dr. Hopkins says the chimps may have used the weaker hand to pull out the ants and the dominant hand to hit the insects and put them in mouths.

But how about other animals? Dr. Wells wondered if cats are right- or left-pawed. At the beginning. he gave the cats the simple task of moving across the floor. The cats showed no preference; they used either paw. Dr. Wells also made the cats perform given movements. The researcher dropped a small fish into a can and wrote down which paw each cat used to fish out the treat. All of the female cats except one used the right paw. For males, 19 out of 21 used the left paw. Dr. Wells tested each cat many times to make sure it really preferred to use one paw instead of the other.

1. In Paragraph 1, the word "dominant" can be replaced by “_______”.

A．gentle

B．powerful

C．opposite

D．unique

2. What can we learn from Dr. Hopkins' research?

A．Chimpanzees use right hands for tough tasks.

B．About 10 percent of humans are left-handed.

C．Chimpanzees get the treat with the weaker hands.

D．Left hands are more important in getting the butter out.

3. Dr. Wells probably agreed that ________.

A．moving across the floor was a challenging task for cats

B．various foods were necessary to carry out a scientific study

C．eats used different paws each time in the repeated tests

D．male and female cats had the opposite choice to get the fish

4. As to "whether other animals also have dominant sides", the two scientists _______.

A．saw eye to eye with each other

B．discovered it was not a simple yes or no

C．raised different animals to seek the truth

D．worked together to perform experiments

【推荐1】The term “helicopter parents” refers to “a style of parents who are over focused on their children”.

Helicopter parents are always making a big push to provide children with every opportunity to succeed, from baby steps at age 1, homework at age 8, college application at age 18, employment issues at age 25 to family problems at age 30, 40 or even older. They constantly shadow the child, always directing his behavior, allowing him zero alone time.

Helicopter parenting can develop for a number of reasons. Worries about the economy, the job market, and the world in general can push parents toward taking more control over their child’s life in an attempt to protect them. Adults who felt unloved or ignored as children can overcompensate their own children. When parents see other overinvolved parents, it can cause a similar response. They feel that if they don’t involve themselves in their children’s lives, they are bad parents.

The main problem with helicopter parenting is that it can backfire. To give an example, the house where Mary lived with roommates was broken into and things were stolen. Mary called the landlord (房东) to install an alarm system, but before she could finish the negotiations (协商), her mother rushed in and demanded action. “I felt like my mother ruined my communication with our landlord. We could have gotten it done ourselves. She was well intended but only made me feel annoyed and defeated,” says Mary.

Obviously, overparenting is motivated with the idea of doing good things but it does the exact opposite. In the long run parents are actually damaging their child’s basic skills to deal with matters independently. It makes the child feel lacking in confidence, less competent in dealing with the stresses of life on their own. They’re winning the battle, but actually losing the war.

1. What’s the purpose of the helicopter parents’ overparenting?

A．To do something good for their children.

B．To make their children find a good job.

C．To help their children find a good job.

D．To get rid of the pressure from other parents.

2. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Children who have helicopter parents live a hard life.

B．Helicopter parenting only happens to very young children.

C．Helicopter parents can protect their children against all problems.

D．Helicopter parents do their children great harm in the long run.

3. What will possibly be discussed in the paragraph that follows?

A．The bad effects of helicopter parenting.

B．How we can avoid being helicopter parents.

C．Different opinions about helicopter parenting.

D．The reasons for the development of helicopter parents.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards “helicopter parenting”?

A．Uninterested.	B．Objective.
C．Positive.	D．Disapproving.

【推荐2】Watching kids' cartoons can be an effective way to learn a language. The basic plot lines of kids' cartoons are fairly simple and the characters speak more slowly, and the dialogue is typically standard and casual. Here are four worldwide popular kids' cartoons which may help you with your English learning.

Peppa Pig

Peppa Pig, the pink piggy, has gained worldwide popularity. There are even videos showing an American child speaking in a British accent to her mom after watching the popular cartoon.

The Simpsons

The Simpsons in the ' 90s was smart, culturally savvy (有见识的), and unbelievably entertaining TV about an average American family. At its height, no show - animated or otherwise - could reach The Simpsons' greatness. From the cleverness of “Marge vs. the Monorail” to everything Lisa Simpson ever said. The Simpsons was fearless and game-changing television.

Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a Time is a French educational animation, created by Procidis. There are seven series (系列), each focusing on different aspects of knowledge. These are mostly historical, focusing on the overall history of mankind or specified historical fields, such as the lives and achievements of the explorers or inventors.

Sazae-san

Sazae-san is more than a kids' show. It's a cultural institution, a national treasure and the longest- running animated series in the world, ever!

It's about a typical Japanese big family living together in Tokyo. The central character is an outspoken but somewhat clumsy woman in her early 20s, living with her husband, son, father, mother, brother and sister all under one roof.

All of the characters are colorful and funny, and all are named after fish!

1. Why does the American girl speak in a British accent?

A．She was born and brought up in Britain.	B．Peppa Pig has strongly influenced her.
C．The British accent is popular in America.	D．She wants to make fun of her mother.

2. What will a fan of history choose to watch?

A．Peppa Pig	B．The Simpsons
C．Once Upon a Time	D．Sazae-san

3. What can you learn about Sazae-san from the text?

A．It is about an average American family.	B．It is the longest-running of the four.
C．It is a well-received French cartoon.	D．It includes seven different series.

【推荐3】People used to say that British food was boring and bland (乏味的). Nowadays people in Britain have a world of food to choose from.

Travel around London and you'll find food from around the globe. You might come across restaurants and cafes serving foreign food from Armenia, Bangladesh, China, France, etc. Take a look on the Internet and you'll find even more, from Africa, South and Central America and the Pacific. Some restaurants mix different cuisines (烹饪) to create fusion (融合) food. It is similar across the rest of the UK, and growing.

It hasn't always been the case. Once upon a time, other Western Europeans described British food as boring and bland, too heavy and full of fat, with tasteless soups and puddings only the British could love. Sixty years ago, there were only four Indian restaurants in the UK. Now there are over 9,500. There were Italian restaurants in Britain in the nineteenth century but no real Chinese restaurant until the 1930s. The first Indian restaurant opened three hundred years ago.

So why did the British grow bored with their food? Firstly soldiers, administrators and planters who had worked overseas encouraged others to try out new food. In the 1970s, the British began to take holidays abroad and discovered new tastes. And at the same time, people from around the world settled in the UK to live and work, bringing food from home which attracted the British.

Traditionally, Britain's national dish has always been fish and chips, but it is more exotic (异国风味) than that. Many people, including former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, now consider chicken tikka masala the national dish. It contains chicken in creamy sauce, Indian style. It has come to symbolize (象征) multicultural Britain and could be considered as an example of "fusion" food.

1. What is the main idea of Paragraph 2?

A．London is a multicultural global city.

B．It is easy for Londoners to travel to different countries.

C．Many restaurants in London belong to different countries.

D．People in Britain have different kinds of food to choose from.

2. Which of the following statement is true?

A．Indian cooking has a long history in the UK.

B．Western Europeans used to enjoy British food.

C．Four Indian restaurants opened in the UK three hundred years ago.

D．Real Chinese restaurant opened in the UK in the nineteenth century.

3. Which is the reason why British People grew bored with their food?

A．British people working abroad encouraged others to try out new food.

B．Travel offered British people opportunities to change their diet.

C．Non-British people working in the UK brought food from their countries.

D．Above all.

4. Why did Robin Cook consider chicken tikka masala the national dish?

A．Because it was invented by an Indian chef.

B．Because it is a traditional British dish and more exotic.

C．Because it is a kind of fusion food and the sign of a multicultural Britain.

D．Because British doesn't have as many dishes to show off as other countries.