【推荐1】Steel Vengeance, a world-record-breaking hybrid roller coaster, recently made its first public appearance at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio.

The ride is constructed from both wood and steel (钢). A steel running track on a huge wooden base allows the ride to provide the types of twists (扭转) and turns that are not possible on wooden roller coasters.

Steel Vengeance breaks ten world records, including tallest, fastest, and longest hybrid roller coaster. “It is just a roller coaster that you want to ride again and again,” said Tony Clark, director of communications at Cedar Point. The 90-degree, 200-foot drop on the first hill takes your breath away.

At a recent event at Cedar Point, I experienced the excitement of the new ride first-hand. Thanks to my strong heart, I had a really cool time!

THE MAKING OF VENGEANCE

“The biggest part of making a roller coaster is planning it,” Clark said.

Jason McClure, general manager of Cedar Point, added: “We have to get a main idea of the basics of the coaster and then plan a budget.”

WOOD, STEEL, AND HARD WORK

Rocky Mountain Construction designed and built Steel Vengeance. About 1.2 million pounds of steel and 1.4 million boards of wood were used to build the ride.

Fred Grubb, co-founder of Rocky Mountain, noted that “people who design roller coasters for my company have to have first-hand experience building things with their hands, not just hold an engineering degree. When you have built things for yourself, you get it, and understand what will work.”

Clark was pleased with the results. “We at Cedar Point are so happy with how Steel Vengeance turned out,” he said.

McClure added: “What we put into this roller coaster was wood, steel, and a lot of hard work.”

1. What can we learn about Steel Vengeance?

A．It is going through tests.

B．It belongs to Rocky Mountain.

C．It is made from both steel and wood.

D．It was mainly designed by Fred Grubb.

2. What advantage does Steel Vengeance have over wooden roller coasters?

A．It will last longer.

B．It cost less money.

C．It took less time to build.

D．It offers more kinds of twists.

3. How did the author feel on Steel Vengeance?

A．Worried.

B．Excited.

C．Frightened.

D．Shocked.

4. People who design roller coasters for Rocky Mountain must _____.

A．hold an arts degree

B．be roller coaster lovers

C．be skillful at wood work

D．have built things themselves

【推荐2】You may not have heard of it before, but Solid Rain has been helping Mexican farmers fight droughts for over a decade. The magic powder can take in water up to 500 times its original size and keep it in the ground for up to a year.

The story of Solid Rain began in 1970, when American scientists developed an absorbable product used to help keep baby bottoms dry. However, a Mexican chemical engineer saw this magic powder as an opportunity to fight the drought. He developed with a different version of this product that could be mixed with soil and slowly feed water to plants over a long period of time. His company, Solid Rain, has been quietly selling the product to Mexican farmers for over 10 years.

The crop yield is absolutely on the increase. For sunflowers, the yield was 3000 kg per hectare when Solid Rain was used, compared to just 1,000 kg in regular conditions. For beans, the difference was much higher—3,000 kg compared to just 450 kg.

Solid Rain seems greatly effective in Mexico. However, it has not come into use around the world. Well, that’s mainly because a lot of people still don’t know about it. The Mexican company has invested almost nothing into marketing, relying instead on word-of-mouth between Mexican farmers. However, recently, they have gotten requests from other dry countries like India and Australia.

Solid Rain has received the Ecology and Environment Award, but it has also attracted some negative views. Dr Linda Scott says that the product is hardly new and that there is no scientific evidence that it can hold water for a year or last in the ground for a decade. Besides, Solid Rain can cause more harm than good in certain conditions. However, real-life use seems to show that Solid Rain is actually of great use to farms. Frank Torres, a former green bean farmer used to rely on it even though the drought wasn’t such a big issue. He said that his crop yield had increased by 50%.

1. What is Solid Rain used to do by Mexican farmers?

A．Offer water to plants.

B．Keep baby bottom dry.

C．Fight the drought.

D．Improve the soil.

2. What does the third paragraph mainly tell us?

A．Solid Rain works perfectly in Mexico.

B．The crop yield has reached the maximum so far.

C．Mexican farmers earn more than before.

D．More plants should be planted in Mexico.

3. Why hasn’t Solid Rain been used worldwide?

A．It’s forbidden to spread abroad.

B．Other countries don’t want to use it.

C．It’s not known in other countries.

D．It’s kept as a secret in Mexico.

4. What is Dr Scott’s attitude towards Solid Rain?

A．Positive.

B．Objective

C．Hopeful

D．Critical

【推荐2】Don't ignore the difference teenagers can make.

Jonny Thomas, 14, Florida

When Jonny Michael Thomas decided to honor his friend and classmate Elizabeth Buckley, who died from cancer, he remembered how much she loved peacocks (孔雀). He wanted to build a life-sized peacock fountain in Elizabeth's favorite park in the city. He thought it could be a place for people to relax and be inspired. Jonny raised $52,000 to build the fountain.

Barrett England, 13, Utah

The wheels began to turn for Barrett England when he heard about Karma Bike shop, a place where young people can earn a free bike by reading and performing community service. Barrett visited Karma's owner with his idea: He would collect and repair used bikes and donate them to the shop. He expected to get about 10 donated bikes. In the end, Barrett received 39.

Zachary Blohm, 15, Wisconsin

The 25-year-old playground at an elementary school near Milwaukee, Wis., was so small that only 70 of its 575 students could play on it at a time. That's when Zachary Blohm saved the day. He and some volunteers build a huge playground. To raise money, Zac planned T-shirt and bake sales (烤饼义卖), sold tickets and more. He held monthly money-raising events for more than a year. Overall, he collected $130,000--- enough to finish his project.

Jack Zimmerman, 16, New Jersey

For some people, finding a meal is as simple as opening the refrigerator. For more than 366,000 hungry kids in New Jersey, it's not that easy. That fact didn't sit well with Jack Zimmerman, who organized a drive to reduce childhood hunger in his state. His goal: create 40,000 packaged meals that could be donated to those in need. On game day, Jack and his volunteers started their work. After the final count, the team had packaged 47,124 meals--- well above Jack's goal.

1. The peacock fountain was built in a park ________.

A．to encourage people	B．for the love of animals
C．in memory of a teenager	D．to cure a cancer sufferer

2. What did Barrett do for Karma Bike shop?

A．He helped it win customers.	B．He repaired bikes there.
C．He donated bikes to it.	D．He offered a reading service there.

3. What do the four people have in common?

A．They care about others.	B．They're top students.
C．They like various public activities.	D．They're money raisers for the poor.

【推荐3】In a new study, 186 four-year-old kids were given regular carrots and, on other lunch days, they were given the same vegetables renamed X-ray Vision Carrots. On the latter days, they ate nearly twice as many.
The study suggests the influence of these names might persist. Children continued to eat about 50 percent more carrots even on the days when they were no longer labeled as anything special.
The research, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, was presented at the annual meeting of the School Nutrition Association in Washington, D.C..
“Cool names can make for cool foods,” said the lead author Brian Wansink of Cornell University. “Whether it be ‘power peas’ or ‘dinosaur broccoli trees’, giving a food a fun name makes kids think it will be more fun to eat. And it seems to keep working — even the next day,” Wansink said.
Similar results have been found with adults. A restaurant study showed that when the Seafood Filet was changed to Romantic Hawaii, sales increased 28 percent and taste rating increased by 12 percent. “Same food, but different expectations, and a different experience,” said Wansink, author of “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think.”
The study was conducted in pre-schools, but the researchers believe the same naming tricks can work with children at home.
“I’ve been using this with my kids,” said researcher Collin Payne, “Whatever sparks(激发) their imagination seems to spark their appetite.”
1. Those four-year-old kids ate ________ when the carrots were renamed X-ray Vision Carrots.

A．twice more carrots	B．nearly double carrots
C．about 50 percent more carrots	D．as many carrots as they used to

2. According to the passage, _______ make(s) kids think it will be more fun to eat.

A．power peas	B．dinosaur broccoli trees
C．fun names of food	D．cool foods

3. The restaurant study didn’t show that ________.

A．sales increased 28 percent when the name Romantic Hawaii was taken

B．taste rating increased by 12 percent after the Seafood Filet was renamed

C．same food would let people have a different experience with different names

D．the researchers got similar results when they work with children at home

4. The purpose of the passage is to tell us ________.

A．people prefer food with cool names

B．how to name the food which kids eat

C．how to help kids eat in a healthy way

D．kids often imagine when they eat food