【推荐2】Playing stickball or jumping rope with friends in the street is a sweet memory for most adults and neighborhood streets used to be children’s playgrounds. However, traffic is always a problem. Now one organization wants to bring those back to kids by temporarily closing local streets to traffic and letting kids play outside.

Playing is important but community buildings end the fun. So here came Play Streets. It began in Bristol in 2009 with just one street encouraged by the success, the idea grew. It really took off in 2011 with support from The Funding Network and now thousands of people across the UK are taking part in the activity and playing in the streets. Later, Play Streets became a global movement and moved across to US communities in San Francisco, Chicago and Seattle. Now Play Streets is spreading like wildfire.

“Our society has changed and communities are having higher levels of isolation or loneliness than ever before and kids aren’t playing outside as much, either. But Play Streets gives people a place to have street meetings and parties, or simply a place to play for a few hours,” Valli Morphett, the chief executive of CoDesign Studios said.

You can bring Play Streets to your street in your neighborhood too. Get a group of neighbors together to organize activities and you can even ask local schools to help plan your activities. But you just can’t put up a sign and close your street to traffic. Before you start, you should consider the following question to make sure Play Streets will go well. Is the local government supportive? You should handle the necessary paperwork with the local government so that rules are followed. The local government is normally receptive to the activity and likely to make it easy to close the street. Once the permit has been approved, it’s time for fun. Gather a kit of toys and supplies, get the word out, and get each organizer to take on a role to share the load.

1. What is the initial intention of Play Streets?

A．To remind people of the old good days.

B．To reduce the inconvenience caused by traffic.

C．To bring children a balance between study and play.

D．To help children have fun in the street.

2. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The growth of Play Streets.	B．The reason for Play Streets.
C．The support for Play Streets.	D．The origin of Play Streets.

3. What can we learn about Play Streets according to Valli Morphett?

A．Play Streets instructs kids to play better games.

B．Play Streets brings people closer in communities.

C．Play Streets provides people with space for physical education.

D．Play Streets encourages people to have meetings and parties.

4. What should be done to bring Play Streets to your community?

A．Ensuring safety by putting up signs.

B．Relying on local schools to organize activities.

C．Spreading the idea of Play Streets among people.

D．Getting permission of the local government.

【推荐3】The ability to deal with anxiety is an important part of sports training.People who are able to overcome their anxiety perform much better than some of the strongest competitors of the game.Unfortunately，at times sportspersons fail because they feel nervous when they are on the playing field，which makes them lose confidence in themselves.As a matter of fact，performance anxiety is quite common among stage artists and athletes，who are required to present themselves and their skills to a large crowd.

Various psychologists have found that expert athletes may behave like amateurs under great pressure.So what causes performance anxiety？First of all，during training and preparing for any competition，an athlete focuses on improving his or her skills in a familiar environment.All the efforts taken and practice done are，thus，stored in the procedural memory.However，in a real competitive situation，the conscious awareness of new grounds corrupts the memory of the practiced game，thus causing anxiety.It is also found that with more cheering crowds，the pressure for the athlete to achieve the best builds up rapidly.

Secondly，our body releases certain hormones(荷尔蒙) to welcome the upcoming exciting situation，which causes quickening of the heartbeat and sweaty hands.These signs are often misinterpreted(曲解) by an athlete as fear and lack of ability to perform.The negative thoughts often result in a terrible panic attack.

Thirdly，while training，some athletes set unrealistic targets for themselves.Failure to achieve those targets is regarded as lack of skills and puts the athletes in self­denial(自我否定) of their own improvement.Even if they are fully prepared for an event，they tend to think poorly of their capabilities.Such reaction can turn any professional player into a green hand，thus ruining their performance.

Fortunately，something can be done to solve the problem.One of the best ways to overcome such a situation is distraction(分心)．As soon as you have the awareness of anxiety，pay your attention to something else—maybe singing or asking a fellow sportsperson about something that is not related to the game.Besides，you can take some small but effective measures.For instance，cut down on caffeine and sugar and have a carbohydrate­rich meal before the game to preserve energy.Anyway，performance anxiety is not a disease that athletes can get rid of once and for all.They should handle it properly to improve their performance so as to achieve sporting glory.

Performance Anxiety in Sports
Concept of performance anxiety	·Performance anxiety refers to the     1     of nervousness，which leads to athletes doubting their abilities. ·Its common     2     are stage artists and sportspersons.
Causes of performance anxiety	·Sportspersons can feel anxious when competing in a(n)     3     environment. ·The     4     of large cheering crowds makes a sportsperson feel more stressed. ·Sportspersons think too     5     about some normal body signs，such as fast heartbeat and sweaty palms. ·Sportspersons begin to doubt themselves when they     6     to achieve their targets.Thus，they tend to undervalue themselves even though they’ve made full     7     for the event.
8     to performance anxiety	·When you feel anxious，pay your attention to something     9     to the game. ·    10     caffeine and sugar，and consume something rich in carbohydrate before the game.

【推荐1】Educating girls quite possibly yields a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world. Women's education may be unusual territory for economists, but enhancing women's contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue. And economics, with its emphasis on incentives（激励）, provides guidepost that point to an explanation for why so many girls are deprived of education. ____①_____ .

Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else's family and bear children. ____②_____. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and are kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school—the prohecy（预言） becomes self-fulfilling, trapping women in a vicious circle （恶性循环） of neglect.

An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be educated and healthy. ____③_____. The vicious circle is thus transformed into a virtuous circle.

Few will argue that educating women has great social benefits. ____④_____. Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers. Wages rise by 10 to 20 per cent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant impact on health practices, including family planning.

1. What does the author say about women’s education?

A．It deserves greater attention than other social issues.

B．It is now the main concern in many developing countries.

C．It will yield greater returns than other known investments.

D．It has aroused the interest of a growing number of economists.

2. What can be inferred by saying the underlined sentence in paragraph 2?

A．Girls will turn out to be less valuable than boys.

B．Girls will be capable of realizing their own dreams.

C．Girls will eventually find their goals in life beyond reach.

D．Girls will be increasingly discontented with their life at home.

3. The sentence “But it has enormous economic advantages as well” can be best placed in _______.

A．①	B．②
C．③	D．④

【推荐2】Music is magic! Music speaks louder than words and it is a “language” that the whole world can understand. A piece of music can produce a response in the heart and mind. Like feeling an electrical current or receiving a personal radio signal, music has a spiritual effect on a person. Different kinds of music influence people in different ways.
I have listened to music all my life. When I was twelve years old, the Beatles came to America and my whole world opened up. Maybe young people today cannot understand the influence of the Beatles when they exploded across America. Their influence changed the way we dressed, looked, acted and spoke... even our culture. The Beatles arrived in America from the UK just under three months after the assassination(暗杀) of President John Kennedy, which had put America into a great depression. And the freshness and lively spirit of the Beatles was exactly what the country needed to refresh itself.
Music links the heart of the hearer with that of the composer. This means that it mixes the spirit of the composer with your spirit when you listen to it. And the music can take your spirit out of your body and transport you into another world. Music has a great way of touching people. Music can make you laugh, cry or shout. It's also a great source of inspiration.
Try this one day and notice what happens: make yourself a cup of tea, sit on your sofa and play one of your favorite songs. Close your eyes, and soon you'll find yourself creating vivid mental images—matching the music that you are listening to.
1. Music has magical power because it ________.

A．is a kind of language

B．can be played much louder than words

C．receives a personal radio signal

D．can influence a person's spirit

2. One can learn from the second paragraph that the Beatles ________.

A．were the biggest band in American history

B．are not accepted by modern American people

C．appeared at a special time in American politics

D．represented the roots of American culture

3. One will do all of the following while listening to music EXCEPT ________.

A．feeling very refreshed

B．having emotional changes

C．painting some vivid pictures

D．feeling inspired by the composer

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the author ________.

A．has been influenced by the Beatles

B．enjoys drinking tea in his spare time

C．admires President John Kennedy very much

D．likes to match his own feeling with that of the composer