【推荐1】After years of sales growth, major publishers reported a fall in their e-book sales for the first time this year, introducing new doubts about the potential of e-books in the publishing industry. Yet despite the increasing realization that digital and print can easily coexist in the market, the question of whether the e-book will       “kill” the print book continues to surface. It doesn’t matter if the intention is to predict or dismiss this possibility; the potential disappearance of the book does not stop to inspire our imagination.

After television was invented, many claimed radio would die. But radio ended up surviving by finding new uses; people started listening in cars, during tram rides and on factory floors. The myth of the disappearing book isn’t new, either. As early as 1894, there was guess that they’d be replaced by what we today call audiobooks. This happened again and again. Movies, radio, television, and smartphones—all        conspired to destroy print books as a source of culture and entertainment. It is not by chance that the idea of the death of the book surfaces in moments of technological change.

We create emotional bonds with media as they become an integral part of our life. The emergence of a new technology —like e-readers — doesn’t just in indicate economic and social change. It also causes us to adjust our relationship with something that has become an integral part of our day-to-day life.

The ones who still worry for the disappearance of print books may rest assured: Books have endured many technical revolutions and are in the best position to survive this one. Yet the myth of the disappearing medium will continue to provide an appealing narrative about both the power of technology and our dislike to change. Easy to remember and to spread, the story of the death of       media reflects       our excitement       for the future, as well as our fear of losing parts of our intimate world一and finally, of ourselves.

1. What do people tend to believe according to the text?

A．Print books will disappear in the end.

B．It is unwise to invest in e-books.

C．Digital and print will exist all the time.

D．The death of books is just an imagination.

2. What can we learn from the second paragraph?

A．The forms of books change with new technology.

B．Books have a bright digital future actually.

C．Culture will disappear with the end of books.

D．The idea of book death follows technological changes.

3. What does the myth of disappearing books reflect?

A．Our doubt about the power of technology.

B．Our fear of losing ourselves in society.

C．Our preference for new technology.

D．Our pleasure of experiencing technical revolutions.

【推荐2】Not all bad emotions (情感) are necessarily bad. In fact, they can direct your behaviour in useful ways. If you’re stuck in traffic, anger with the situation might motivate you to find an alternative route (线路), which will then relieve your stress. But anger is less useful if you’re in the same situation, but stuck on a motorway with no option to alter directions.

Emotions have physiological effects, such as raising the level of cortisol in your bloodstream, which can affect your health. Indeed, a new study, published in Psychology and Aging, shows that high levels of anger are associated with poor health in older people.

The Canadian study did the study on 226 adults aged 59-93. They took blood samples to assess levels of chronic (慢性的) low-grade inflammation (炎症) and asked the participants to report any age-related chronic illnesses they might have. The participants also completed a short questionnaire about the level of anger or sadness they experienced in three typical days over a one-week period.

For the analysis, the researchers considered whether age could affect the results. They found that higher levels of anger were associated with inflammation and ill health in the oldest participants (aged 80 and above), but not the youngest ones (59-79 years). Sadness was not associated with inflammation or ill health in either age group.

The study is cross-sectional, meaning that it assessed a group of people at a single point in time. To get a fuller understanding of the relationship between bad emotions and health, we need studies that follow participants for a period of time — so-called prospective observation studies. Future studies should also take into account other factors that might relate, such as other emotions, stress and personality.

Although this new research shows a link between emotion and health in older age, we do not know whether anger causes inflammation and illness or whether health problems make people angrier.

1. What does the underlined word “alter” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Change.	B．Control.
C．Measure.	D．Operate.

2. Why were participants taken blood samples?

A．To analyze their levels of health.

B．To fill in the form of questionnaires.

C．To know the levels of some inflammation.

D．To compare the change of anger in three days.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Anger is the greatest danger to health.

B．The influence of anger on illness is unclear.

C．People in poor health are easy to get angry.

D．Evidence is needed to prove the effect of health.

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

A．Adjusting Our Emotions Is Necessary

B．Bad Emotions Affect People’s Feelings

C．New Conclusions Make People Amazed

D．Anger Is Linked to Illness in Old Age

【推荐3】Next time you’re planning to go out for a relaxing walk with your MP3 player, be sure to check the weather forecast first. Summer is the prime time for lightning strikes, a fact that Jason Bunch, a teen from Castle Rock, Colo, learned in a hard way. A couple of summers ago, he was mowing (割草) grass while listening to some Metallica on his iPod. Although there wasn’t any rain falling on Bunch, he did hear distant thunder. Bunch was then struck by lightning, which seemed to travel through his music player, blowing out his eardrums and leaving him with burns where the device and its power lines were close to his body.

Devices such as MP3 players don’t attract lightning, says Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, an emergency room physician at the University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago. However, they may change the pathway that lightning’s energy follows in the human body. Lightning that might have passed rather harmlessly over the skin may react differently to the metal of these devices and cause damage.

Rather than leaving your tunes at home, your best bet is watching out for lightning before it hits. Though people have been injured while using MP3 players in storms, Cooper says, “The devices’ main task is keeping you from paying attention to thunder and the sky.” If you’re caught in a storm, seek shelter.

1. When does lightning happen most?

A．Winter.

B．Fall.

C．Summer.

D．Spring.

2. What was the effect of this lightning strike on Jason Bunch?

A．The lightning burned Bunch and blew out his eardrums.

B．The lightning passed harmlessly over Bunch’s skin.

C．Bunch fell to the ground and couldn’t move his upper body.

D．Bunch was fine, but his iPod was burned by the lightning.

3. What can you conclude about the safety of using MP3 players during a storm?

A．MP3 players are desperately unsafe to use during a storm.

B．IPods are safe to use during a storm, but other MP3 players are not.

C．MP3 players increase your safety during a storm by directing lightning toward the ground.

D．MP3 players become unsafe to use if they keep you from paying attention during a storm.

4. The primary purpose of this text is       .

A．to describe the joy that Jason Bunch felt after he survived a lightning strike

B．to inform the risks of wearing an MP3 player during lightning strikes

C．to tell a lightning emergency Jason Bunch met with

D．to show that MP3 players are so popular among teenagers

【推荐1】From the beginning of the Internet, online dating (约会) has become one of the most popular things to all the consumers (顾客)．Although this may be fun, it is important to remember to think of your safety when trying to meet that certain somebody.When talking about safety I am referring to taking care of your computer and yourself.

Before getting into the world of online dating you should make sure you take care of protecting your computer.A good fire wall and an anti­virus program are a must. These are needed to protect your emails and anywhere you surf on the Internet.   There are many great programs offered at your local computer store or available to buy online.   With great programs often come some pretty good costs.   There is something that is better for the people who just can't afford the cost of a good anti­virus—you can find quite a few decent ones on the Internet for free.

Protecting yourself could surely be much more important than protecting your computer. You want to be careful in choosing your dating sites. Do some good research. If you know anyone who has tried an online dating   service，ask them what they thought. There are so many online dating sites that you should do extensive (广泛的) researches. Make sure you keep the web addresses. Keep a list of fees, regulations and anything else that looks interesting to you. If a place looks shady or makes you feel uncomfortable then you should steer clear away. At the end of the day make sure you take care of yourself.

1. When you meet somebody online you should         ．

A．try to know something about him or her

B．learn to protect yourself and your computer

C．remember that all of you are safe enough

D．realize that you are likely to be in trouble

2. The second paragraph is mainly to tell   us   that         ．

A．it is necessary for you to protect your emails

B．good programs are usually very expensive

C．we can buy good programs at the local store

D．an anti­virus is needed to protect the computer

3. Before you visit the dating sites        ．

A．you should try to learn more about them

B．you'd better have a talk with your friends

C．you can look through the web addresses

D．you will collect as many sites as you can

4. The underlined word “shady” in Paragraph 3 means “        ”．

A．funny	B．strange
C．unsafe	D．secret

【推荐2】For humans, adapting to climate change will mostly be a matter of technology. More air conditioning, better-designed houses and bigger flood defenses may help lessen the effects of a warmer world. Animals will have to rely on changing their bodies or their behaviour. In a paper published inTrends in Ecology & Evolution, a team led by Sara Ryding, a professor in Australia, shows that is already happening. In some species of Australian parrot, for instance, beak size has increased by between 4% and 10% since 1871. Similar trends are seen in species of mice and bats growing bigger ears, tails, legs and wings.

All that fits nicely with evolutionary theory. “Allen’s rule”, named after Joe Allen, who suggested it in 1877, holds that warm-blooded animals in hot places tend to have larger appendages than those in mild areas. Such adaptations boost an animal’s surface area relative to its body volume, helping it to shed extra heat. Fennec foxes, meanwhile, which are native to the Sahara desert, have strikingly large ears, especially compared with their Arctic cousins.

Ryding’s team combined data from different species in different places. Now that they have little in common apart from living on a warming planet, climate change is the most reasonable explanation. Since any evolutionary adaptation comes with trade-offs, it is unclear how far the process might go. Bigger beaks might interfere with feeding, for instance. Larger wings are heavier, and bigger legs cost more energy to grow.

Honestly, studying a broader range of animals will help firm up exactly what is happening. For now, at least, the increase is small, never much more than 10%. That may change as warming accelerates. But it seems clear that the world of the future is not just going to be hotter than humans are used to. The animals living in it will look different, too.

1. What does the author want to tell us by mentioning Australian parrot in Paragraph 1?

A．Climate change is affecting animals.

B．Scientists are doing research on animals.

C．Humans can adapt to climate change more easily.

D．Animals are adapting to warmer climate in their own ways.

2. What is the benefit of having bigger body parts according to the passage?

A．Getting rid of additional heat.

B．Becoming larger and stronger.

C．Enlarging animals’ surface area.

D．Becoming more sensitive to the environment.

3. What do we know about the change in animals from the last two paragraphs?

A．It comes at an expense.	B．Its cause is definite.
C．It happens in the same habitat.	D．Its process will end soon.

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

A．Living on a Warming Planet	B．Evolution to Survive Heat
C．Pioneering Research on Animals	D．Measures to Fight against Heat

【推荐3】Living in an urban area with green spaces has a long-lasting positive influence on people's mental well-being, a study has suggested. UK researchers found moving to a green space had a lasting positive effect, unlike pay rises or promotions, which only provided a short-term boost.
Co-author Mathew White, from the European Centre for Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter, UK, explained that the study showed people living in greener urban areas were displaying fewer signs of depression or anxiety. "There could be a number of reasons," he said, "for example, people do many things to make themselves happier: they try hard for promotion or pay rises, or they get married. But the trouble with all those things is that within six months to a year, people are back to their original baseline levels of well-being. So, these things don't make us happy in the long term. We found that for some lottery (彩票) winners who had won more than $500,000 the positive effect was definitely there, but after six months to a year, they were back to the baseline."

Dr. White said his team wanted to see whether living in greener urban areas had a lasting positive effect on people's sense of well-being or whether the effect also disappeared after a period of time. To do this, the team used data from the British Household Panel Survey by the University of Essex.

Explaining what the data revealed, he said: "What you see is that even after three years, mental health is still better, which is unlike many of the other things that we think will make us happy." He observed that people living in green spaces were less stressed, and less stressed people made more sensible decisions and communicated better.

With a growing body of evidence establishing a link between urban green spaces and a positive influence on human well-being. Dr. White said, “There's growing interest among public policy officials, but the trouble is who funds it. What we really need at a policy level is to decide where the money will come from to help support good quality local green spaces.”

1. According to one study, what do green spaces do to people?

A．Help them build a positive attitude towards life.

B．Lessen their concerns about material well-being.

C．Improve their work efficiency.

D．Add to their lasting happiness.

2. What does Dr. White try to find out about living in a greener urban area?

A．How long its positive effect lasts.	B．How strong its effect is.
C．How it affects different people.	D．How it benefits physically.

3. What did Dr. White research reveal about people living in a green environment?

A．Their memories were greatly strengthened.

B．Their stress was more obvious than real.

C．Their communication with others improved.

D．Their decisions required less consideration.

4. According to Dr. White, what should the government do to build more green spaces in cities?

A．Improve urban planning.

B．Find financial support.

C．Raise public awareness of the issue.

D．Involve local residents in the effort.