【推荐1】A small group of Cuban dive instructors have started a project to grow coral (珊瑚) and replant it. The divers hope to restore part of Cuba’s barrier reef (堡礁). And they are working with limited financial support and using materials recovered from the coast.

Luis is one of the project’s leaders. The 44-year-old fisherman grew up on Cuba’s north coast. He said, “It’s incredible to see the loss of coral in the past 30 years.” He added, “Our dream is to make the parts of the barrier reef that have lost their coral grow again.”

To make that happen, Luis worked with other dive instructors and neighborhood schoolchildren with the support from Cuba’s environmental organizations. They began collecting pieces of coral spread across the ocean floor after large storms three years ago. The pieces were then hung on branches of underwater “trees” made from old plastic pipes and supported by fishing lines recovered from the coast. They were then “replanted” on the coral reef, fixed by nails driven into the rock. In a year, most survive and grow enough to repopulate the part of the barrier reef between 60 to 80 meters in length.

Like many coral reefs around the world, the ones in Cuba are threatened by changing water temperatures, destructive plants and animals, pollution and over-fishing. It is reported that the world has already lost 30 to 50 percent of its coral reefs.

Karine is a French diver who just visited Cuba for the first time. She said the reef looked better than others she had seen on dives elsewhere in the world, including in Africa. “The coral needs to be protected,” she said after two dives on a recent trip to nearby Varadero. She said, “It’s good to see that in Cuba they take care of what they have, and that it is still not too affected by too much tourism.”

1. What can we infer from the recovery of the Cuba’s barrier reef?

A．It is just a new project to start.

B．It is a slow and difficult process.

C．It is mainly carried out by schoolchildren.

D．It is greatly supported by the government.

2. How do the dive instructors fix the pieces of coral on the reef?

A．They are fastened to the rock by fishing lines.

B．They are supported by the trees on the ocean floor.

C．They are placed firmly by nails driven into the rock.

D．They are hung by old plastic pipes collected on the coast.

3. What does the underlined word “destructive” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Endangered.

B．Beneficial.

C．Plentiful.

D．Harmful.

4. What is Karine’s attitude towards the Cubans’ effort to recover the coral reef?

A．Doubtful.

B．Concerned.

C．Positive.

D．Disappointed.

【推荐1】When you buy food or other products at the store, you probably don't think much about the people who grew them or made them. That's normal, but many farmers and others involved in producing food and other goods have very hard lives. Farmers work hard to grow crops, but sometimes the weather is bad, and their fields don't produce much. Or sometimes the price of what people produce goes down, and they can't earn enough to support their families. In some industries, workers are not fairly paid to make products cheaper. The fair trade movement tries to solve these problems by taking care of the people whose work benefits consumers.

Fair trade is difficult to define because it includes multiple organizations in many countries. These organizations encourage distributors (分销商) to pay a specified (指定的) minimum price for products. This minimum is often higher than the market price, but it makes sure producers earn enough to make a living. Distributors also pay some additional money that goes to the community that produced the product. This money is spent to thrive the community. For example, they might build a school or dig a well, either of which benefits everyone who uses it.

To be labeled fair trade, products have to be made following certain high standards related to treating workers well and protecting the environment. This can be expensive, but the higher prices paid by purchasers cover the extra costs. These standards can vary from industry to industry to reflect the details of the various production processes.

What does this mean for you? Many fair-trade organizations offer certification for products made with fair-trade ingredients (成分). There are different levels of certification depending on what percentage of the ingredients are fair trade. Certain websites can help you find fair-trade products.

Buying fair-trade products when possible is important because it communicates that you want companies to be involved in fair trade. Businesses need to make money, so manufacturers (制造商) are more likely to use fair-trade ingredients if they know people will pay for them. It's also important for your own integrity. Buying fair trade ensures that you're not benefiting from someone else's suffering. If you want to help more, you can write to companies you buy from and ask them to use fair-trade ingredients. In short, fair trade is about helping people who help you through their labor.

1. The fair trade movement aims to ________.

A．guide farmers to produce more crops

B．help the people who make the products we use

C．tackle the problem of food shortage in rural area

D．encourage consumers to purchase more products

2. What does the underlined word "thrive" in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Rebuild.

B．Develop.

C．Recover.

D．Decorate.

3. In the fair trade movement, the consumers need to pay a higher price because ________.

A．distributors are in charge of the market price

B．the products labeled fair trade are of higher quality

C．organizations in fair trade encourage them to do so

D．they need to pay for the expense to meet the high criteria

【推荐2】The Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw once noted, “England and America are two countries separated by the same language.” As a native of Britain, raised to speak the Queen’s English, I never could have foreseen just how much translating would be required while living on the east coast of America. While both the British and Americans officially speak the same language, our different communication styles and cultural contexts can make it really hard to communicate with one another.

I have countless examples of the confusion different nouns can bring. Translations learned from the TV shows of my childhood were an easy adaption: “pavement=sidewalk”, “motorway=highway”, and “boot=trunk”. We were stretched a little more after having children: “pushchair=stroller”, “nappy=diaper”, and “paddling pool=kiddie pool”. In most cases, British words are met with a blank look from clerks. When the right American equivalent happens to be slow at coming to mind, my husband and I turn to what may appear to an onlooker as charades(打哑谜猜字游戏) in an effort to make ourselves understood.

Similar scenarios of being misunderstood have been played out in the business arena during my seven years in the United States. On the business front, I have found that the need to adapt not just my terms, but also my communication style, is even more critical than in the personal realm.

In many ways, the stereotype of British people as indirect communicators does hold true. It does not serve us well in the United States, however. I have forced myself to stop prefacing(以……作为开场白) emails with “I believe” or “maybe” when I actually mean “it is” or “just do it”. A modest start to anything in the straight-talking land of the free is simply interpreted as a weak suggestion, or a lack of confidence in oneself.

In our cultural context, directness can be viewed as rudeness. So we politely ask, “Are there any other options to consider?” instead of bluntly stating the fact that “I don’t like your idea”. We tend to assume that the people we are addressing understand our underlying message. However, it turns out that our audience is not reading between the lines in the same way our fellow Britons would; they are expecting us to state our case in “plain English”. I have seen positive results from adjusting my communication style, and have achieved a greater understanding of my colleagues and our differing cultures.

Sometimes you may not need to cross an ocean to find yourself misunderstood. Even if you are speaking the same language, take a page from my experience. Communicating is about a message being sent AND received—and you will want to make sure that your audience is receiving the message you intend to deliver.

1. According to the article, which of the following words might have confused the author when she settled in the United States?
① chips 2 pants 3 dress 4 football

A．①②③

B．①②④

C．①③④

D．②③④

2. In paragraph 5, the author explains the main reason why it was ________.

A．easy to misunderstand Americans

B．important to learn about different cultures

C．natural to get into trouble in a foreign country

D．necessary to adjust her own communication style

3. The author’s purpose in writing the article was to show ________.

A．the impact of language barriers

B．the complexity of cultural contexts

C．the difficulty in learning a foreign language

D．the significance of effective communication