【推荐1】As a language learning enthusiast, I’ve come up with the best apps for learning English from the thousands of mobile apps out there.

Best for Pronunciation: ELSA Speak

ELSA Speak is probably the best mobile app around for helping you improve your English pronunciation. The app’s greatest strength is its intensive AI feedback, but ELSA also provides mini-training sessions to really perfect your pronunciation. The AI analyzes your recordings based on pronunciation, intonation and fluency then points out exactly which parts sound inaccurate.

Best for Immersing in English Videos: FluentU

FuentU is a language learning app that teaches you English through authentic videos like news reports, movie scenes and interviews, with learner tools for all levels. Each clip has interactive subtitles so if you’re not sure what a word means, you can hover over it and get in explanation. The app also gives video examples for each word so you can learn vocabulary in context.

Best for Practical Topics: Babbel

Babbel has you learn and practice English with realistic conversations that surround things that you’re personally interested in. Lessons are short and consist of written and audio versions of the grammar featured in the lessons. Then you are able to complete practice exercises to solidify your understanding.

Best for Fun Beginner Lessons: Lingodeer

Lingodeer uses games and short exercises to teach beginner and intermediate English learners. Lingodeer takes a gamified approach to language learning with a goal-oriented curriculum consisting of structured lessons and regular reviews. Lingodeer’s lessons are arranged according to themes, such as sports, weather, parts of the body and shopping.

In summary, whether you’re focusing on pronunciation, immersion, practical themes, or engaging beginner lessons, ELSA Speak, FluentU, Babbel, and Lingodeer have got you covered. Every language learner’s arsenal should include these apps as they pave the way for effective and enjoyable English language learning. Each is unique in its approach, but all aim to make your English learning journey as straightforward and motivating as possible.

1. What is the feature of ELSA Speak?

A．It analyzes learners’ recordings.

B．It provides guidance for learners.

C．It gives learners helpful feedback.

D．It improves learners’ communication skill.

2. Which app provides videos as learning resources?

A．ELSA Speak.

B．FluentU.

C．Babbel.

D．Lingodeer.

3. Which method does Babbel use for language teaching?

A．Learning through genuine dialogues.

B．Learning through songs and music.

C．Learning through flashcards only.

D．Learning through books and online lectures.

4. What can learners do with the app Lingodeer?

A．Design games.

B．Structure lessons.

C．Take advanced courses.

D．Study around a theme.

5. What is the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?

A．To criticize English learning apps.

B．To describe various features in mobile phones.

C．To recommend the best apps for English learning.

D．To discuss the role of technology in education.

【推荐2】The world’s biggest Internet search engine，Google，has proven once again to be king of the Web．Users can download“Google Wi-Fi”software and then enjoy free Wi-Fi service available in some US cities since last Tuesday．
Wi-Fi is short for“Wireless Fidelity”(无线上网)．It allows laptop computers and personal digital assistants to connect to the Internet at high speed by radio signal．
A person with a Wi-Fi enabled computer can connect to the Internet when near one of the network’s access points．The place covered by one or several access points is called a hotspot．Google has already set up two“hotspots”in the US city of San Francisco which provide a free Wi-Fi service．
The Wi—Fi technology even allows users to enjoy a free Internet phone service．
Some scientists argue that Wi-Fi may replace mobile phone networks．
Wi Fi is still limited to a few cities．where there are“hotspots”．But its capability (容量)of sending information has already done better than that of the mobile phone network，even that of 3G(Third Generation telecommunication technology)．Some scientists have started to call Wi-Fi 4G．
In addition to a high speed Internet connection，Wi-Fi has other advantages com pared to mobile phones．Wi-Fi is global．The same Wi-Fi system works in different countries around the world．Different from using cell phones，you don’t need to change computers to use Internet phones when you go to other places and most importantly，many Internet phones cost you nothing at all．
1. Wi-Fi is not available in cities without             ．

A．a computer

B．a radio

C．a hotspot

D．a cell phone

2. Which of the following is NOT the advantage of Wi-Fi?

A．The high speed Internet connection．

B．Many free Internet phones．

C．Using the same computers for Internet phones when you go to other places．

D．Used in all the US cities

3. Some scientists started to call Wi-Fi 4G，because        ．

A．it is the product of the Google's 4th generation

B．it is more capable of sending information than the mobile phone network

C．it has been used by more than four generations

D．Wi-Fi will surely take the place of the mobile phone network

4. Which the following is the best title?

A．Third Generation Telecommunication Technology

B．Free call Service

C．Google Launches Free Wi-Fi Service

D．Google， King of the Web

【推荐3】Thanks to YouTube, Streaming first caught on in 2005. Today nearly three quarters of American households subscribe to at least one video streaming service. With almost 200 million subscribers worldwide and a billion hours of content viewed each week, Netflix is by far the biggest paid service. No. 2 is Amazon Prime Video. But for every Goliath, there are a hundred Davids. Many smaller streaming services show nothing but sports, classic movies, or Japanese anime.

In the early days of streaming the appeal was the lower cost, and it still is. The average streamer spends $37 a month and subscribes to three streaming platforms, while the average cable ser pays more than $200 per month. Still streaming has become more expensive in recent years. In 2019, Netflix raised the price of its basic service 12. 5 percent to $8.99 a month. A quarter of its subscribers, who protested price increases, said they would cancel their subscriptions. Few did.

A major reason: streaming networks have become home to many of the most popular TV series, including recent Emmy winners. They offer full-length feature films as well, and last year, Netflix received more Oscar nominations than any other media company. In fact, streaming has changed the Oscar competition, at least for this year. Usually only films shown in theaters are considered, but because of the coronavirus, all movies released online in 2020 are qualified for the 2021 Oscar Academy Awards. That shift is especially good news for Disney, which is putting the much anticipated movie Mulan on a new streaming service, Amazon Prime Video. But watching Mulan from your own home will cost $29.99 — on top of the service’s monthly fee of $6.99.

Too much streaming can have its disadvantages, however. There are those who binge-watch, a term Merriam-Webster added in 2017 with the definition “to watch many or all episodes of a TV series on end.” Alejandro Fragoso from New York holds the Guinness World Record: 94 straight hours.

1. What do the underlined words “Goliath” and “David” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A．TV viewers.	B．TV programs.
C．Streaming services.	D．Streaming subscribers.

2. Why did most Netflix subscribers continue their subscriptions?

A．They cannot go without it.	B．They think it is good value for money.
C．Netflix has controlled the market.	D．They think the low cost is a thing of the past.

3. What does the good news in Paragraph 3 mean to Disney?

A．The movie Mulan will win an Oscar award.

B．The movie Mulan will generate great profits.

C．The movie Mulan can be released on Amazon Prime Video.

D．The movie Mulan can compete for an Oscar.

4. What do binge-watchers tend to do?

A．They watch TV series continuously.	B．They start a new life.
C．They break world records.	D．They watch TV series aimlessly

【推荐3】The message is drummed into us from childhood: forgive people who’ve wronged you, because it’s the right thing to do. Forgiveness is a virtue, we’re told, the only way for us to truly move on and heal. But forgiving someone is not always what’s best for us. In fact, if someone has hurt you deeply and the relationship isn’t healthy, trying to “fix” things can do more harm than good.

Most of us would probably agree that forgiving a wrongdoer means letting go of negative feelings like anger towards them. Actually it pressures us to minimize our feelings and revise our boundaries — to say “it’s OK” when for us, it isn’t. And when someone doesn’t make us feel seen or safe, forgiving them can actually weaken our self-respect. A 2010 research paper published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology called this “the doormat effect”. It found that people who forgave partners that didn’t make them feel valued had less respect for themselves, along with a weakened sense of self.

If you keep on forgiving someone who’s done wrong, it can encourage that person to keep hurting you. That’s what 2011 research by psychology professor James K McNulty argues. He looked at how 72 newlywed couples expressed forgiveness towards acts of aggression (攻击性), and whether this caused any changes in the wrongdoer’s behaviour. He found that when a partner was more likely to forgive those acts, the aggressor was more likely to keep committing them. This is because facing the consequences of their actions is what motivates people to change their ways, and being offered a clean sheet can allow them to avoid making changes. Forgiving frequent and major offenses (冒犯), like verbal or physical abuse, can do more harm than good.

What if, instead of looking to forgiveness like a magic medicine, we put our energies towards accepting a situation for what it is? This way, we can focus on recognizing what happened and coming to terms with it, however that looks for us and without any sense of obligation towards our offender. It’ll still be a process, sure, but it’s one centred around you and your needs.

1. What will happen if we forgive a wrongdoer according to “the doormat effect”?

A．We’ll be free from negative thoughts.

B．The relationship will be strengthened.

C．The wrongdoer will change his behavior.

D．We’ll have less self-respect and self-awareness.

2. How does the writer mainly illustrate his argument?

A．By making comparisons.	B．By listing examples.
C．By citing research results.	D．By giving definitions.

3. What can be concluded from James K McNulty’s research?

A．Forgiving a wrongdoer’s behavior stops him from hurting others.

B．Facing the consequences of aggression does more harm than good.

C．Ignoring major offenses encourages a wrongdoer’s acts of aggression.

D．Forgiving frequent aggression prevents a wrongdoer from making changes.

4. What does the writer suggest readers do?

A．Forgive and forget.	B．Learn to take the situation as it is.
C．Center on yourself.	D．Keep on good terms with offenders.

【推荐1】An Indian civil servant, SM Raju, has come up with a new way of providing employment for millions of poor people in Bihar. His campaign to encourage people to plant trees effectively addresses two burning issues of the world: global warming and shrinking job opportunities.
Mr Raju’s success could clearly be seen on 30 August, 2009 when he organized 300,000 villagers from over 7,500 villages in northern Bihar to engage in a mass tree planting ceremony.
Mr Raju has linked his “social forestry” program to the central government’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which is also designed to provide employment for poor people. Under NREGA — started in February 2006 as the government’s most ambitious employment generation scheme for poor people — the authorities are bound by law to provide a minimum of 100 days of employment a year for members of families living below the poverty line. About 44% of Bihar’s population fall into this category.
Mr Raju says that Bihar — being the poorest and most lawless state of India — hasn’t been able to spend the allocated (分配的) NREGA funds. “This is because of a lack of awareness among officials about the scheme,” he said. “So the idea struck to my mind: why not involve families below the poverty line in social forestry and give them employment under this scheme for 100 days? Under the scheme, each family can earn a minimum of 10,200 rupees ($210).”
The civil servant immediately made a plan of his idea. In June, Mr Raju published a booklet of “dos and don’ts” and distributed it to village heads. His plan meant that NREGA funds were fully used — in the past this hasn’t always been the case.
“I told the villagers they would get 100 days employment in a year simply by planting trees and protecting them. The old and disabled would be given preference,” he explained.
Every village council has now been given a target of planting 50,000 saplings — a group of four families have to plant 200 trees and they must protect them for three years till the plants grow stronger.
“They would get the full payment if they can ensure the survival of 90% of the plants under their care. For a 75-80% survival rate, they’ll be paid only half the wage. For less than 75%, the families in the group will be replaced,” the guidelines say.
Significantly, his scheme has even stopped the migration of poor labourers from the area in search of employment elsewhere.
1. According to the passage, the main purpose of SM Raju’s “social forestry” program is to _____.

A．promote the practice of NREGA

B．make efforts to prevent global warming

C．increase the employment of poor people

D．prevent poor people from migrating elsewhere

2. According to the passage, the poor people in Bihar don’t make full use of NREGA funds because _____.

A．the local officials don’t realize the importance of NREGA

B．the local government doesn’t get enough support from the central government

C．the local poor people know little about NREGA

D．Bihar is the most lawless state in India

3. We can infer from the passage that _____.

A．most people in Bihar will benefit from NREGA

B．the old and disabled people are not involved in tree planting

C．families who can’t ensure 75% survival rate of the trees will not be paid

D．Raju’s new plan will reduce Bihar’s population below the poverty line

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．There’s a good way to deal with global warming

B．Tree planting provides employment for the poor

C．Tree planting solves the problem of unemployment

D．Raju’s “social forestry” program wins the support of NREGA

5. How can villagers get more NREGA funds?

A．Thinking better ways to stop global warming

B．Working hard for one hundred days

C．Planting more trees and ensuring the survival of plants

D．Stopping moving from the area to search employment elsewhere

【推荐2】Earth's longest artificial structure is usually said to be the Great Wall of China while the second-longest is not a wall, but a fence. It stretches for 5,614km across eastern Australia and is intended to stop the country's wild dogs, the dingoes, from hunting sheep.

Australia's dingo fence does not stand alone. Millions of kilometres of fences wrap the world. Some are intended to limit the movement of animals, some the movement of people, and some merely to mark the the boundary.

Until recently, data on the effects of fences on wildlife have been inadequate. That has changed with the publication of a report by professor Alex McInturff. One discovery he has made is that more than half of published fence research focuses on just five countries-America, Australia, Botswana, China and South Africa. A second is that only a third of these studies examined the impact of fences on anything other than the target species involved, meaning the animals purposely intended to be kept in or out.

Non-target species, however, are often those that have their fortunes most greatly reshaped by the appearance of poles and wire. Australian fences intended to keep out dingoes are also barriers to long-necked turtles, which travel great distances over land when moving between nesting sites. In Botswana fences built to spare cattle from wildlife-borne disease result in serious interference with wildebeest (角马) migrations.

Not every creature fares badly. Hawks (鹰) in Montana gladly sit on newly built livestock fences to hunt small animals, while fence-based spiders in South Africa outperform their tree-based cousins when it comes to catching insects.

Often, though, the winners are creatures that cause trouble for existing ecosystems. Keeping dingoes out of large parts of Australia has allowed aggressive red foxes to multiply. Native rodents (啮齿类动物) have suffered as a result. Some have been brought to the edge of extinction.

1. Which is a purpose of building fences?

A．To expand the boundary of a country.

B．To protect livestock like sheep and cattle.

C．To stop wild animals from being hunted.

D．To help people move around freely.

2. What can we learn about the studies on fences?

A．Data on the impact of fences have been proved.

B．Previous researches were complete and systematic.

C．About two-thirds of the studies focus on the target animals.

D．Not all studies examined the effect of fences on wildlife.

3. Which animals unexpectedly benefit from fences?

A．Cattle in Botswana.

B．Wildebeest in Botswana.

C．Red foxes in Australia.

D．Native rodents in Australia.