【推荐1】Most Chinese know the story of Chang’e, the Chinese goddess of the moon. People can’t hear the word “Chang’e” without thinking of romantic images of a moon goddess.

For this reason, China’s mission to the moon was calling out for a strong female figure. Therefore, a young female space commander ( 指 挥 员 ) is under heated discussion on Chinese social media for her work on the Chang’e-5 Moon exploration program with comments about how she is a “frontline soldier in the field of aerospace” that young Chinese can look up to. Soon her pictures spread quickly on social media.

Ms Zhou, a 24-year-old lady of Tujia ethnic group, is China’s youngest ever space commander. She was involved in the successful launch of the Chang’e-5 lunar probe on 24 November, in charge of the rocket connector system, described as a key role.

In Wenchang space launch site, though she is only 1.58 meters and looks “mini”, she is called “big sister” for her attitude and energy. Since senior high, she has dreamed of being a member of a space research team. With her great efforts, she was admitted to an aircraft system and engineering major of a domestic university in 2014, making her aerospace dream come true. To grow into a commander, in two and a half years, she changed five positions to be familiar with different posts and types of work, each of which takes great courage and is full of challenges.

Her story has received attention from Chinese state-run media as well as overseas media outlets. However, it has not appeared to have had much of an effect on her. According to the media, she declined repeated requests for interviews because she does not wish to let fame get in the way of her work.

1. Why is Chang’e mentioned at the beginning of the text?

A．To introduce the topic.	B．To give an example.
C．To tell a romantic story.	D．To spread Chinese culture.

2. What makes Ms Zhou a heated topic on Chinese social media?

A．Her youth and beauty.

B．Her pictures on the media.

C．Her identity of Tujia Ethnic group.

D．Her role in the moon-landing program.

3. Why did Ms Zhou reject the media’s invitation to interviews?

A．She was too busy with her work.

B．She was shy and was not used to interviews.

C．She feared her fame might affect her career.

D．She considered fame nothing but a burden.

4. What can we learn from Ms Zhou’s story?

A．Many hands make light work.

B．Hard work makes up for inability.

C．The grass is always greener on the other side.

D．Attitude determines how successful one becomes.

【推荐2】In the tiny village of Angelica, New York, the post office is more than a place to get mail or send packages. There you’ll find the heart of this lovely community. It’s where villagers meet and greet friends.

When Angelica’s post office was threatened with being closed in the 1980s，a villager，Pat, came up with a plan to save it. “At Christmas time I would hear on the news about towns named Snow or Bethlehem having celebrations,” says Pat, “Why couldn’t we do the same thing with Angelica?”

Pat, who is an artist，created a postal cancellation (邮戳) design featuring an Angelica angel.

She drew her angels in a traditional fashion and submitted her suggestion to the U.S. Postal Service. Once approved, the drawing was carved into a cancellation stamp that could be used for one day only. The postmistress (女邮局局长) then had another idea to make the day even more special calling the post office Angel Station.

The large increase in mail amount saved Angelica’s post office from being closed and keeps the doors open today.

Now it’s tradition that on the first Friday in December，people come to Angelica to mail their Christmas cards. Each year the amount of mail going through the Angelica Post Office increases during late November and early December. Stamp collectors from around the world have accepted the Angel Station cancellation, some sending mail from as far away as France.

Because the stamp is destroyed each season, Pat draws a new angel that conveys season’s greetings from Angel Station every year. Post offices may close in other parts of the country, but this tiny one continues.

1. What did Pat do to save the post office?

A．She invented a new cancellation.	B．She hosted Christmas celebrations.
C．She gave the office a better name.	D．She designed a special set of stamps.

2. Which of the following can best describe Pat?

A．Stubborn and determined.	B．Humorous and intelligent.
C．Curious and friendly.	D．Creative and warm-hearted.

3. What can we learn about Angelica’s post office from the passage?

A．It was complately closed in the 1980s.

B．Its name has been changed many times.

C．Its stamp remains the same each season.

D．It is also the centre of local social life.

【推荐3】I used to believe courtesy was a thing of the past. Very seldom have I encountered a courteous human being in this modern era.

Recently, I had to change my thinking, when I came face to face with just such a human being in a coffee place, with my two daughters. The place was crowded as usual and we had to climb steep stairs in order to find an empty table. After enjoying coffee and snacks, we went down the narrow stairs, where there was hardly any space for another person to either climb up or come down.

Just as I was in the middle of the stairs, a gentleman entered the main entrance of the restaurant which was right in front of the staircase. I was sure I would be pushed roughly by this man going up. I kept coming down as fast as I could. My daughters were already down, looking up at me worriedly, hoping I would reach them before the stranger started walking up the stairs, knowing I was a nervous sort.

Nearly reaching them, I noticed the man still standing near the door. I reached my daughters and passed the stranger at the entrance door which he kept holding open. I looked back thinking he was still at the door, deciding whether to go in or find another less crowded place. I saw him going up the stairs, two at a time. I told my daughters about it and all three of us felt bad that we did not even thank the courteous gentleman who was actually holding the door open for us ladies to pass through before going up.

Such well mannered people are hard to find these days, when pushing is very common in our advanced but aggressive society. We applauded for his chivalry(骑士精神).

1. What did the author think of the man at the first sight of him?

A．He was in a hurry.	B．He would wait for her.
C．He would cross her rudely.	D．He was a man with good manners.

2. Why did the author’s daughters worry about her?

A．She was too old to walk fast.	B．She was easy to be disturbed.
C．She took up too much space.	D．She focused too much on the man.

3. What can we learn about the man from Paragraph 4?

A．He might be a waiter of the café.

B．He might have an urgent business to do.

C．He fell in love with one of the author’s daughters.

D．He would hold the door open for all.

【推荐1】In February-25-year-old Hallam Chitty graduated from his modeling training course. Just hours later, he fell from 15 meters out of a tree and became a paraplegic(下身麻痹患者). Not one to give up, he is now Australia’s first wheelchair model.

At first, the young man immediately thought his modeling dream was over, but looking back now, he said he was lucky to even be alive. “I have my good days and my bad days dealing with what’s happened” he said.

Hallam spent two weeks in a complete bed rest. In early March, Hallam was moved to the Hampstead Recovery(康复) Centre where he broke the record for his quick recovery. He was out in just eight weeks –a huge improvement on the four to six months he was told it would take.

“I was crazy about getting myself into shape, moving and being able to do things for myself again,” he said. While he was recovering, Hallam was visited by Ute and Vivienne from Ute and Powell Models, which encouraged him to keep going.

“I honestly thought that my modeling dream was completely over, but they told me I could still sell my top halt,” he said. On Monday, the 25-year-old worked his   first   photo   shoot   as Australia’s   first   wheelchair model with respected photographer Nectario Karolos Papazacharias.

Hallam said that though he was nervous at the beginning, he was proud of the final result. “Nectario gave me a lot of advice. He said ‘the wheelchair is part of you now. Just be comfortable in it and play around in it －make it you own’. He gave me a lot of confidence.”

The support is something Hallam is excited to pass on to other people who are going through a similarly difficult situation. “If I could help someone else through what I’m doing, that would be very wonderful. Life doesn’t end because you’ve got an injury. It’s important to cheer up.”

1. Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．Hallam Chitty’s Quick Recovery

B．Hallam Chitty’s Pain and Suffering

C．Australia’s First Wheelchair Model

D．Australian Man’s Modeling Dream

2. From Paragraphs 3-6, we can learn that __________.

A．Hallam tried hard to build a good shape

B．Hallam rested on bed for nearly six months

C．Hallam won the respect of his photographer Nectario

D．Hallam managed to make his wheelchair part of him

3. In the last paragraph, Hallam Chitty actually wants to say”________”

A．Never give in to difficulties	B．Cheer for a new start of life
C．Always do wonderful things	D．Life is upset sometimes

【推荐2】There is a country — I read about it once — where the local custom is that if you go to a house and praise some small possession, the owners feel obliged to offer it to you as a gift. The only other place I know of with such a custom is my mother’s apartment.

Knowing Mama, I have always been careful with my compliments, but that doesn’t stop her. If she catches me staring at anything small enough to put in a grocery bag, she hands it to me as I leave. It would do no good to protest. “I was merely staring at that photograph of Mount Hood because I have one exactly like it in my living room.” Mama would only nod and say, “Of course. You were thinking how nice it would be to have a set. If a mother doesn’t understand, who does?”

As far as I can remember, Mama was telling people they were in the wrong line of work and suggesting alternative careers. My turn came when I grew up and became a housewife. “You missed your calling,” Mama sighs, examining the doodles (涂鸦) on my phone book. “You should have been an artist.” Later, I tell her how I returned rancid fish to the supermarket and demanded a refund, and she links this to lawyer. I know it’s horsefathers, but I like it.

I have been worrying for weeks now about what to give my mother for Mother’s Day. There is always the danger that a gift given to Mama will bounce swiftly back to the giver. If I buy her something wearable, she perceives in an instant that it could be let in here, let out there, and it would fit me perfectly. If I give her a plant, she cuts off the top for me to take home and root in a glass of water. If I give her something edible, she wants me to stay for lunch and cat it.

Papa, a sensible man, long ago stopped trying to shop for Mama. Instead, on Mother’s Day, her birthday, and other appropriate occasions, he composes a short poem in which he tells of their life. After nearly 30 years of poems, Papa sometimes worries that the edge of his inspiration has dulled, but Mama doesn’t complain. She comes into the room while he is struggling over a gift poem and says, “It doesn’t have to rhyme (押韵) as long as it’s from the heart.”

This year, finally, I think, too, have found a painless gift for Mama. I am going to give her a magazine article, in which I wish her “Happy Mother’s Day” and tell her there’s nothing Papa or I could ever buy, find, or make her that would be half good enough anyway.

1. What can be learned about the “my” mum from Paragraph 2?

A．She doesn’t like “my” complements.

B．She doesn’t think I am careful enough.

C．She will give “me” whatever she thinks “I” like.

D．She takes it for granted that “I” love what she has.

2. By “it’s horsefeathers” (paragraph 3), “I” imply that ______.

A．being an artist has always been “my” dream

B．what “my” mother says makes no sense

C．“my” mother knows well about “me”

D．“my” mother is too involved in “my” choices of job

3. Why am “I” worried about “my” gift for Mother’s Day?

A．It may well end up in a dustbin.

B．It will hardly satisfy “my” mother.

C．It may be returned to “me” in some way.

D．It will be given to someone else in the neighbourhood.

4. What can be concluded from the passage?

A．“I” love “my” mother very much.

B．Being sensible is important for an adult.

C．“My” mother dreams of becoming a poet.

D．“My” father no longer gives “my” mother any gift.

【推荐3】I’m not much of a gardener. I love having beautiful flowers but I don’t have a good track record when it comes to making them grow.

A few months after our son left for the Middle East, my friend gifted me a box of tulip bulbs (郁金香球茎). She explained that these bulbs were put into the ground in the fall and lay sleeping all winter. They had all the nutrients they needed inside the bulb and would come out in the spring. “When you see the leaves of the tiny flowers pushing toward the sun, you’ll know that it’s almost time for your son to come home. They’ll give you what you need most.” She walked me through the process of planting them. I thanked her—trying to show my gratitude for her gift.

It was a long winter—cold and dark. I endured both the weather and the loneliness and fear I felt with my son away. Dead leaves, frost and finally a heavy snow covered the area where I’d planted those flowers, and I soon forgot they were there.

Finally the weather began to warm. One day, as I walked down my front steps, I noticed an area of green. I bent down to inspect the situation more clearly and saw that those tulips had begun to grow, their tiny leaves forcing their way to the sun.

Day after day I noted the flowers’ progress. And day after day, the time approached when my son would finally be home. Now with spring just around the corner, nothing could keep either of us from marching toward the light. Almost all of those bulbs bloomed. And with each brightly coloured flower, I marked off one day closer to getting to hold my son in my arms again.

1. What can we know about the author?

A．She is a professional gardener.

B．She is not good at growing flowers.

C．She never plants flowers at home.

D．She often sends friends flowers as gifts.

2. Why did the writer forget the tulip bulbs soon?

A．The bitter winter reminded her of her son far away.

B．She was discouraged from making another attempt.

C．They failed to live through the cold and long winter.

D．She had no hope for beautiful flowers indeed.

3. What were those flowers mentioned in the last paragraph referred to?

A．Real representation of the hope

B．Things deep inside her heart and soul

C．A lesson she will never forget completely

D．The trouble she had in making them come out.

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

A．A dark winter with hope.

B．Planting hope in winter.

C．An area of green in spring.

D．Living a changeable life.