【推荐1】One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is open. For many of us the “cashless society” is not on the horizon----it’s already here.
While computers offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply _______ They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how fast they are moving. Decisions to reorder or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customer for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer analyzed marketing reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.
Numerous other commercial enterprises, from theaters to magazine publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.
1. According to the passage, the credit card enables its owner to            .

A．withdraw as much money from the bank as he wishes

B．obtain more convenient services than other people do

C．enjoy greater trust from the storekeeper

D．cash money where he wishes to

2. From the last sentence of the first paragraph we learn that            .

A．in the future all the Americans will use credit cards

B．credit cards are mainly used in the United States today

C．nowadays many Americans do not pay in cash

D．it is now more convenient to use credit cards than before

3. The phrase “ring up sales” most probably means            .

A．make an order of goods

B．record sales on a cash register

C．call the sales manager

D．keep track of the goods in stock

4. It can be inferred that            .

A．computers will bring disaster

B．computer industry will not develop faster

C．computers will bring about more convenience to people’s life

D．None

【推荐3】Electric cars are getting cheaper and their sales are on the rise, but their future success may depend on abandoning a key ingredient: the heavy metal cobalt (钴). The mineral is used in lithium-ion (锂离子) batteries that power most electric cars, and demand for it is steadily increasing. A new analysis by Elsa Olivetti at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has found that there may be cobalt shortages if we don't start refining (提炼) and recycling it more efficiently or in greater quantities. She estimates that global demand for cobalt will rise to between 235,000 and 430,000 tonnes by 2030 — an amount that is at least 1.6 times the world's current ability to refine the metal, as of 2016 figures.

Cobalt is often produced as a by-product of copper or nickel mining. It is expensive, at around $33,000 per tonne, and also comes with a human cost. Most of the world's supply — 60 per cent— comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where mining has been linked to child labour and deaths.

The new analysis suggests short-term cobalt supply is adequate, but that more mining exploration, such as in the ocean, is required. In addition, we will need to speed up cobalt recycling by recovering it from batteries in unusable electric cars, laptops and mobile phones. Another option is to shift to batteries that use less cobalt, or none at all. Elon Musk's car firm Tesla is in talks with battery manufacturer CATL to use entirely cobalt-free batteries in its China-made cars.

Lithium-ion batteries in electric cars commonly use either lithium nickel cobalt aluminium oxide or lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide for their ability to provide a high energy density — a key factor in how far an electric car can go on a single charge. For short-range cars made and sold in China, Tesla claims that it will instead use lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO 4 ) (磷酸铁锂) batteries, which are much cheaper and have a longer lifespan (寿命). Besides, they have less of an environmental impact compared with those needing cobalt. The disadvantage is that they tend to have a lower energy density, reducing how far a car can travel without needing to be charged.

LiFePO 4 batteries are already widely used by other Chinese firms, including BYD, the world's biggest electric car manufacturer. If other electric car manufacturers follow internationally, we may be able to reduce our dependence on a limited mineral resource.

1. What is Elsa Olivetti's prediction?

A．Cobalt will be needed badly.

B．Cobalt will be recycled efficiently.

C．Cobalt will be refined in a different way.

D．Cobalt will be replaced by other heavy metals.

2. What is a suggested solution to cobalt shortages?

A．Turning to renewable energy sources.

B．Choosing batteries produced by Tesla.

C．Decreasing the number of private vehicles.

D．Making the best use of abandoned batteries.

3. Compared with lithium-ion batteries, LiFePO 4 batteries _____.

A．are more expensive	B．are more eco-friendly
C．have fewer life cycles	D．offer more usable energy

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

A．Cobalt: a new choice for batteries

B．How do lithium-ion batteries work?

C．Tesla vs. BYD: a tough competition

D．Can electric cars kick the cobalt habit?

【推荐2】Forcing waiters and waitresses to survive on tips from customers rather than normal wages is a pointless, crude, and unique American custom that, in the past several years, a handful of progressive restaurant owners have attempted to do away with, often with positive results. On Wednesday, one of the most famous names in the dining business says he’s about to join their ranks. Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group, has announced that he plans to gradually eliminate tipping at the company’s 13 restaurants and charge higher menu prices in order to pay staff fairly. Diners wont simply be discouraged from leaving a tip; their checks won’t even include a line to write one in.

What, exactly, is wrong with tipping? As Danny Meyer has explained, more or less it’s everything. To start, leaving a waiters pay in the hands of variable customers has a feeling of classism. And in theory, handing restaurant customers the power to tip is at least supposed to motivate better, more attentive service. This fails in practice because humans turn out to be pretty personal about their tipping behavior. Research has shown the amount diners leave has little to do with their level of satisfaction. All of this doesn’t encourage waiters and waitresses to do anything but turn over as many tables as possible.

Tipping is also very unfair to kitchen staff. The law allows restaurants to divide tips between front-of-the-house workers like waiters, hosts and hostesses, but not cooks. This creates a system in which the people serving the food in a restaurant can earn more than the people preparing it.

Unlike some restaurant owners who have taken an anti-tipping stand, Meyer won’t simply add a standard extra charge to diners’ bills. Rather, Union Square Hospitality Group intends to raise menu prices enough to fully cover the cost of a meal. If Meyer manages to move away from tipping at all without hurting his profits, it would almost certainly set the stage for others to follow suit.

1. According to the passage, the restaurants which stop the custom of tipping       .

A．are very popular with people

B．are growing more and more

C．are against customers’ interest

D．are widely supported by waiters

2. What might make Danny Meyer stop the custom of tipping at his restaurants?

A．Increasing income.

B．Keeping up-to-date.

C．Seeking for better service.

D．Customers’ bad behavior.

3. What can be inferred from Paragraph 3?

A．Cooks work harder than servers.

B．American’s laws are progressive in tipping.

C．Tipping makes eating-out more expensive.

D．Tipping may be bad for restaurant management.

4. What difference will customers find after eating in Danny Meyer’s restaurants?

A．The total expense is high.

B．The restaurants are crowded.

C．The price of food is high.

D．The food there is very cheap.

【推荐3】Nobody laughed when the UK comedy show Little Britain toured the US. Americans didn’t find the “British stereotypes(刻板印象)”funny. One character was a woman who was sick whenever she saw a foreigner.Another was a loud and rude 15-year-old girl cursing(骂)at her teachers.But back home,British people were laughing,thinking,“Yes!That’s exactly what we’re like!”

A laugh is a laugh in any language,but the reasons for it can be very different.Britons and Americans speak the same language,but humor does not always translate.

Take The Office as an example.This was originally a UK TV series but it was changed for the US.Both the US and UK series are set in a boring workplace in a boring town.But David Brent,the boss of the UK office,is not a nice guy like Michael Scott in the US version. “We had to make Michael Scott a slightly nicer guy,”wrote series creator Ricky Gervais.“He couldn’t be too mean.”

Gervais said British people are different from Americans because“Britons cruelly make fun of people we like or dislike…and of ourselves”. He believes the differences between the American and British senses of humor are because of“our upbringing”.

“Americans are brought up to believe they can be the next president of the United States,”he wrote.“Britons are told,‘It won’t happen for you’.”

Things usually turn out fine at the end of every US Office episode(集). Even if they’re not perfect, the characters “learn a lesson” for the future.

But in David Brent’s office—and in lots of UK comedies—the last scene is often sad. You are often left with the feeling that things just couldn’t get worse. For British people, this seems truer to life and so much funnier.

It’s not just Britain and the US that have comic differences. Few foreigners would understand a Chinese cross-talk show,for example.

Cultural differences are no laughing matter. But comic differences can be a window into a culture.

1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To show that British humor is not funny at all.

B．To show that American people don't understand British people.

C．To show that Britain and America have different stereotypes.

D．To show how humor may mean different things in different cultures.

2. What's the meaning of the underlined word“mean”in Paragraph 3?

A．Unkind.

B．Great.

C．Average.

D．Ugly-looking.

3. Which of the following statements about The Office is TRUE according to the article?

A．David Brent is quite a nice guy.

B．Michael Scott is a rather mean guy.

C．Episodes in the UK version often end on a hopeless note.

D．Episodes in the US version often end in a boring way.

4. What can we infer from the article?

A．Britons do not like to make fun of others.

B．British comedy often has a moral message.

C．American people are brought up to be more positive.

D．Jokes are difficult to translate from one language into another.

5. What is the author’s opinion of comic differences?

A．They are slight differences that can be ignored.	B．They can partly show cultural differences.
C．They show stereotypes of different cultures.	D．They help people communicate with each other.