【推荐1】Whom should you marry? Where should you live? How should you spend your time? For centuries, people have relied on their gut instincts (直觉) to figure out the answers to these life-changing questions. Now, though, there is a better way. We are living through a data explosion, as vast amounts of information about all aspects of human behavior have become more and more accessible. We can use this big data to help determine the best course to chart.

There has long been overwhelming—and often surprising—evidence that algorithms (算法) can be much better than people at making difficult decisions. Researchers have collected data on various kinds of choices people make, the information they base those choices on, and how things turn out. They have found, for example, that a simple data-driven algorithm would have been better than judges at deciding whether a defendant should stay in prison or be released; better than doctors at deciding whether a patient should undergo surgery; and better than school principals at deciding which teachers should be promoted.

The power of data analysis has been proved in the sports and business worlds, too. As made famous by the book and movie Moneyball, baseball teams found that algorithms were better than scouts (星探) at picking players, and better than managers at picking strategies. In finance, the hedge fund Renaissance Technologies dramatically defeated competitors by seeking out patterns in stock market data and using them to inform its investment strategy. Tech firms in Silicon Valley have found that data from experiments provides better insights into how to design their websites than designers could.

These are the early days of the data revolution in decision-making. I am not claiming that we can completely count on algorithms to make our lifestyle choices, though we might get to that point in the future. I am claiming instead that we can all dramatically improve our decision-making by consulting evidence mined from thousands or millions of people who faced dilemmas similar to ours. And we can do that now.

1. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Big data is a double-edged sword.

B．Data revolution will change people’s life.

C．Big data is helpful in making important decisions.

D．Algorithms behaves better than people in many fields.

2. According to paragraph 2, algorithms might NOT defeat people in_________.

A．court rulings	B．job promotions
C．operative estimation	D．teaching practices

3. What is the writing purpose of paragraph 3?

A．To provide further evidence.	B．To show potential applications.
C．To encourage the use of big data.	D．To explain how to use algorithms.

4. Which of the following will the author most probably agree with?

A．Algorithms offer perfect advice now.

B．Big data will certainly cause a revolution.

C．Big data can make up for our lack of experience.

D．Algorithms are bound to be fully trusted in the future.

【推荐2】       Maybe you are aware that the latest job markets news isn’t promising: Unemployment is still more than 9 percent, and new job growth has fallen close to zero, which is bad for economy, of course. And it may be especially discouraging if you happen to be looking for a job or hoping to change careers right now. But it actually shouldn’t matter to you nearly as much as you think.

That’s because job growth numbers don’t matter to job hunters as much as job turnover data. After all, existing jobs open up every day due to promotions, resignations, terminations, and retirements. In both good times and bad, turnover creates more openings than economic growth does. Even in June of 2007, when the economy was still falling along, job growth was only 132,000, while turnover was 4.7 million!

And as it turns out, even today — with job growth near zero — over 4 million job hunters are being hired every month.

I don’t mean to imply that overall job growth doesn’t have an impact on one’s ability to land a job. It’s true that if total employment were higher, it would mean more jobs for all of us to choose from. And it’s true that there are currently more people applying for each available job opening, regardless of whether it’s a new one or not.

But what often distinguishes those who land jobs from those who don’t is their ability to stay motivated. They’re willing to do the hard work of identifying their valuable skills; be creative about where and how to look; learn how to present themselves to potential employers; and keep going, even after repeated rejections. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed that 2.7 million people who wanted and were available for work hadn’t looked for a job within the last four weeks and were no longer even classified as unemployed.

So don’t let the headlines fool you into giving up. Four million people get hired every month in the U.S. You can be one of them.

1. The author tends to believe that high unemployment rate _______.

A．causes many people to lose job opportunities

B．should not stop people from looking for a job

C．prevents many people from changing careers

D．does not mean the U.S. economy is worsening

2. Where do most job openings come from?

A．Job growth.	B．Business expansion.
C．Improved economy.	D．Job turnover.

3. What does the author say about overall job growth?

A．It increases people’s confidence in the economy.

B．It doesn’t have much effect on individual job seekers.

C．It gives a ray of hope to the unemployed.

D．It doesn’t mean greater job security for the employed.

4. What is the key to landing a job according to the author?

A．Never giving up.	B．Being intelligent.
C．Being educated.	D．Being experienced.

5. What do we learn from the passage about the unemployment figures in the US?

A．They clearly indicate how healthy the economy is.

B．They provide the public with the latest information.

C．They don’t include those who have stopped looking for a job.

D．They warn of the structural problems in the economy.

【推荐3】Mid-afternoon on a particularly busy Tuesday, I took leave of my desk at work and walked into a local Starbucks only to find a space where neither my clients nor my children would ask me to do something.

Inside, I ran into Kate, a co-worker of mine. The topic of parenthood came up. I complained about how packed my schedule was. From the minute I woke up to the minute I fell asleep, I was constantly in demand and always had someone knocking at the door. But a bit of sadness seemed to come over Kate’s face.

“Well, my daughter’s in San Francisco and she doesn’t seem to need me at all these days,” Kate said. It was in that moment that I realized although I might often feel in high demand, there will come a day when I will actually miss that same stress I then complained about.

And as our conversation continued, it turned to our children’s younger years, with Kate smiling proudly, thinking of the little boy and girl she raised who are now a man and a woman. But I noticed her smile was marked with regret. She explained that she often wondered about what she could have done differently when her children were in their earlier years.

This got me thinking. Is regret an unfortunate footnote (注脚) to parenthood? With that in mind, I asked six older parents one question: What is your biggest regret from your early days as a parent?

It turned out that all of them thought they could have done it better. But, each of them also has a strong, healthy relationship with their kids. Whatever regrets their parents might have had about their upbringing, one thing is clear ------- it didn’t affect them in a meaningful way.

The bottom line is, we all feel like we could be doing this parenting thing better. And quite clearly, years later, we’re still going to look back and wish we tried things differently. But the past can’t be changed, and neither should it.

1. What can be inferred from the first three paragraphs?

A．Kate had the same problem as the author's.

B．The two people had arranged to meet in the coffee shop.

C．The author went to the coffee shop to escape from the pressure around him.

D．Kate went to the coffee shop so no one could find her there.

2. Why did Kate feel sad and regretful?

A．She and her daughter had a fight.

B．She hadn’t paid enough attention to her kids.

C．She thought that she could have done better in raising her kids.

D．She was disappointed with her kid’s performance.

3. What did the author find when the author spoke to six older parents?

A．Some of the parents have a bad relationship with their kids.

B．He was moved by the love of these parents for their children.

C．These parents improved their behavior after their kids grew up.

D．None of the parents were completely satisfied with the way they raised their kids.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Give more love to your kids.

B．Regret for the parenting can be softened by time.

C．Nearly all the parents have regretful parenting.

D．Never stop learning how to be a good parent from others.

【推荐3】Hanukkah (光明节) is a Jewish festival. It is celebrated on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev (犹太教历), which is usually sometime in December. It is often called the festival of lights. The festival celebrates the time, over 2，000 years ago, when the Jewish people fought against an emperor who would not let them follow their own traditions and religion. When the Jewish people won back their temple in Jerusalem, they found there was only little holy oil to keep the sacred light burning for one day. However, to their surprise, this small amount of oil kept the light burning for eight days and nights until the people had time to make more oil.

At the center of the Hanukkah celebrations is a candlestick (called a Menorah) that holds nine candles. On the first night of Hanukkah the first candle is lit, and each day this candle is used to light another candle, until on the eighth day, the last day, all the candles are lit. During Hanukkah, people go to the synagogue (犹太教堂) to pray and to remember the miracle (奇迹) of the holy oil. Hanukkah is a time for family and friends to come together. People exchange gifts and greeting cards, and children go to parties. Parents often give their children money at Hanukkah. Potato cakes, called latkes, are a traditional Hanukkah food.

1. From the first paragraph we know that Hanukkah is a festival about ________.

A．Jewish month of Kislev	B．Jewish traditions and religion
C．how to make more holy oil	D．traditional Hanukkah food

2. According to the passage, what is necessary when celebrating Hanukkah nowadays?

A．Oil.

B．Money.

C．Cards.

D．Candles.

3. What does the Menorah remind Jewish people about?

A．The war that they fought 2，000 years ago.

B．The God that they honored best.

C．The miracle of the holy oil that happened 2，000 years ago.

D．The church they built 2，000 years ago.

4. The passage mainly tells us about ________.

A．the history of Hanukkah and how it is celebrated

B．why Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah

C．why Jewish people protect their traditions

D．the miracle of the holy oil in the Jewish temple