【推荐1】Engineers have put a huge garbage collector to gather plastic material in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii, the world's largest spread of garbage, twice the size of the state of Texas.

The Ocean Cleanup organization created the collector. The group's founder, Boyan Slat, an inventor born in 1994, was just 16 when he was moved to clean up the oceans when he was on a dive and saw more plastic bags than fish

Last Saturday, a ship pulling the pipe-shaped floating barrier left San Francisco. Attached to it is a screening skirt that hangs three meters down in the water. The screen is designed to collect the plastic as it moves through the water. Sea animals can safely swim under the barrier

The cleanup system also comes with lights powered by the sun, cameras, and other special devices, so the system can communicate its position at all times. That way a support ship can find it every few months to remove the plastic that has been collected.

Shipping containers will hold all the plastic gathered , including bottles and fishing equipment and are expected to be back on land within a year. Then the plastic will be recycled. The free-floating barriers are made to survive extreme weather conditions and damage from continual use. They will stay in the water for twenty years , thus collecting 90% ofthe garbage in the area.

The Ocean Cleanup has received $ 35 million in donations to pay for the project, hoping to put 60 free-floating barriers in the Pacific Ocean by 2020. "It's important to turn off the taps on plastic entering the ocean, but I also think people can do more than one thing at a time to deal with this problem," Slat said.

1. What drove Slat to invent the collector?

A．The interest in invention.

B．His failure to dive due to rubbish.

C．The sight of too many plastic bags.

D．His knowledge ofgarbage in the Pacific Ocean.

2. How does the floating barrier work?

A．It reaches into the water to collect the plastic.

B．It has large containers to produce power.

C．It forms barriers to protect sea animals.

D．A ship drags it along in the ocean.

3. Which does the underlined word "it" in paragraph 4 refer to?

A．The support ship.

B．The floating barrier.

C．The plastic to be recycled.

D．The position of special devices.

4. What is important for protecting the ocean according to Slat?

A．Sending more collectors into the ocean.

B．Inventing more ocean cleanup devices.

C．Stopping plastic from entering the ocean.

D．Banning the use ofplastic bags in boats.

【推荐2】A

Five meteorologists who were trapped for two weeks after polar bears surrounded their weather station are now able to leave after the creatures were chased away. Their supervisor told NBC News early Wednesday.

Russian officials had feared the siege could last for another month, the time it would take to reach the islands in the Kara Sea, high in the Arctic Circle. But on Tuesday night a research ship took a detour to assist those weathermen, station supervisor Vasily Shevchenko told NBC News. The ship run by Russia’s state-run oil firm Rosneft frightened away the bears using its helicopter, before resupplying the weather station with more food and puppies. The puppies are not yet big enough to deter the bears, but the station is planning to draft in a replacement adult guard dog as soon as possible.

Some of the bears had taken to sleeping directly outside the windows of remote outpost. There was no risk of the researchers starving because they had a year’s worth of food, but they were forced to take dangerous trips to a nearby building, holding a gun for protection, according to Shevchenko.

Polar bears are an endangered species. In Russia, it’s a crime to shoot them unless in self-defense. The bears usually leave the islands in the summer, but this time they were trapped by the melting ice, an apparent sign of climate change, according to Shevchenko. “They’ve stayed on the island because there is nowhere for them to go,” he said.

The animals suffer from global warming because it shrinks the floating ice that forms their main hunting ground. According to the environmental group the World Wide Fund for Nature, known as the WWF, this has got some polar bears to go near human habitats in search of food.

1. What did the research ship do to help the five meteorologists?

A．Drive them home.	B．Shoot all the bears.
C．Use its helicopter to scare the bears away.	D．Supply the weather station with more money.

2. The underlined word “deter” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to “______”.

A．stop

B．respect

C．protect

D．raise

3. What made the bears trapped on the island according to the text?

A．Sea Pollution.	B．Climate change.
C．Humans’ hunting.	D．Animals’ hunting

4. What can we infer from the text?

A．People in Russia can hunt bear for money.

B．The melting ice will kill all the polar bears.

C．The five meteorologists hated the bears very much.

D．WWF made some contributions to protecting polar bears.

【推荐3】A selection of wildlife sculptures made out of recycled rubbish is being displayed at an exhibition at the Harley Gallery in Glasgow, England. The sculptures have, been created by Glasgow — based artist Michelle Reader, who has been working with recycled materials for over 20 years. The inspiration behind this collection of artwork was the increase in fly-tipping during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Fly-tipping is when people illegally dump rubbish or litter in a public place.

Reader told the BBC, “Glasgow Wildlife Trust showed me some of the materials that were found on their reserves — a washing machine, rusty bike frame, car tyres.” She decided to create wildlife sculptures out of these materials to encourage people to think about the damage fly-tipping can do to the environment and wildlife. Her three-dimensional artworks included recycled items such as skis, a gas mask, and washing machine, parts.

Reader often drew inspiration from the “beauty of the natural world,” and said that the large model of the white-tailed bee was inspired by the many hours she spent on her distribution during the pandemic. Another sculpture, of a bearded eagle, was inspired by the sighting of one such bird in the Peak District in July 2020. This was only the second time it had been spotted in the UK.

Other projects Reader has been involved with have highlighted issues such as the importance of recycling and reducing food waste. In April, the National Space Centre in Leicester, England, launched their Home Planet gallery, which featured an art installation from Reader. Using rubbish found in rivers, such as plastic bottles, tennis balls, footwear, and toys, Reader created a large wave sculpture to highlight the problem of littering.

Reader says that through her sculptures she draws attention to environmental issues in an attractive and humorous way. The exhibition is on at Harley Callery in Glasgow, England, until 24 July.

1. What inspired the exhibition at the Harley Gallery?

A．Recycled materials.	B．The covid -19 pandemic.
C．Wildlife sculptures.	D．The increasing fly-tipping.

2. Why does Reader create the wildlife sculptures?

A．To be environmentally-friendly.	B．To protect wildlife animals.
C．To love the sculpture art.	D．To improve creative ability.

3. Where does this passage probably come from?

A．A family survey.	B．A health magazine.
C．An environmental magazine.	D．A science guide.

4. What may be the best title for the passage?

A．Look at the art from another angle.	B．Explore the artistic talents in your life.
C．Wildlife sculptures made from rubbish.	D．A new way to live a sustainable life.

【推荐1】Why did Chinese people have more than one name in ancient times?

In ancient China, people’s names had three parts, their family name, given name and courtesy name. Take famous poet Li Bai for example. His family name, which came from his father’s name, was Li. His given name was Bai, and his courtesy name was Taibai.

People used their given names when they were among family members. But in social life, they called each other by their courtesy names to show respect. This was mostly done among people of similar ages. If you were talking about yourself, or if your elders were talking about you, the given name would be used instead of the courtesy name.

Men would get their courtesy names when they turned 20. It was a symbol of adulthood (成年礼). Women would get their courtesy names after getting married.

One’s courtesy name often had something to do with one’s given name. For example, the name of Mencius was Meng Ke. His courtesy name was Ziyu. Both Ke and Ziyu mean “carriage (马车)”. Zhuge Liang’s given name was Liang, which means “bright”. His courtesy name was Kongming, which means “very bright”.

1. How many parts are there in people’s names in ancient China?

A．3.

B．4.

C．5.

D．6.

2. Why did people call each other by their courtesy names in social life?

A．To show their love.	B．To show their good relationship.
C．To show their kindness.	D．To show their respect.

3. According to the passage, what name would be used if your elders were talking about you ?

A．Family name.	B．Nickname.
C．Given name.	D．Courtesy name.

4. How does the writer develop his idea in the last paragraph?

A．By telling stories.	B．By giving examples.
C．By comparing differences.	D．By listing numbers.

【推荐2】Exercising regularly not only helps you keep slim, but also improves your overall health and well-being. Different exercises produce different results, as they focus on alternate parts of the body. There are four broad exercise categories: endurance, strength, flexibility, and balance. Many people often only focus on one exercise type, but including all four in your workout will produce better results and reduce your risk of injury.

Endurance

Endurance exercises increase your breathing and heart rate. By doing endurance exercises, you are working to keep your heart, lungs, and blood-flow system healthy while improving your total fitness. Over time these activities will make everyday activities seem easier.

Strength

If you want to build up your muscles, then strength exercises, which are also known as “resistance training”, are right for you. Even the slightest increase in strength can make a huge difference in your ability to carry out daily tasks. Developing strong muscles also reduce your risk of weak bones.

Flexibility

Flexibility exercises help stretch your body’s muscles. This allows for more freedom of movement for other exercises and can also improve your range of motion, posture, ability to breathe deeply, and blood flow. Also, it reduces the muscle tension caused by stress.

Balance

Balance exercises help prevent falls and are especially important to older adults, helping them stay independent. Most good balance exercises are ones that keep you constantly moving with your feet on the ground. Heel-to-toe walking and standing on one foot are simple ways to improve balance.

1. How can a person benefit most from their exercise routine?

A．By combining different exercise types together.

B．By having enough rest between their workouts.

C．By concentrating on one training aspect at a time.

D．By increasing the frequency of their training gradually.

2. Which exercise types are most useful to improve a person’s breathing function?

A．Strength and Balance.	B．Flexibility and Balance.
C．Endurance and Strength.	D．Endurance and Flexibility.

3. Which part of the body plays the most important role in balance-related exercises?

A．Arms.

B．Legs.

C．Waist.

D．Neck.

【推荐3】Have you ever been to a music festival? Well if you live in the UK, the answer is probably yes. The number of festivals has grown greatly over the last few years and now there are around 200 every summer. So let’s look at the history of four famous festivals.

The Glastonbury Festival is a five-day festival of contemporary(当代的) performing arts held most years in Somerset, in the south-west of England. There are a rock and pop stage, a jazz stage, the Avalon stage, a theatre comedy stage, a cinema tent, a dance tent and a circus(马戏团). The festival started in1970and about 120,000 people go to it every summer.

The Reading Festival is truly world-class with rock and pop bands(乐队) appearing from all over the world, particularly(尤其) the USA. About 80,000 music fans go to Reading every August Bank Holiday. The festival first came to its present site on the banks of the River Thames in Reading in 1971, when it moved from Plumpton in Sussex. It is still on the same site over 47 years later!

WOMAD stands for World of Music, Arts and Dance and was the idea of rock musician Peter Gabriel to promote(宣传) world music. The WOMAD Festival started in 1982 and takes place in July at Charlton Park, near Malmesbury in Wiltshire, and you can see different bands and musicians from all over the world. The festival welcomes over 26, 000 visitors each year.

The one-day Monsters of Rock Festival at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes was first held in 1980 and gave visitors the chance to hear the very best of hard rock and heavy metal. There were no festivals between 1996 and 2003 as a result of changing musical fashions, but now it has returned and grown into a two-day festival with a campsite for the 30,000 people who go there in summer days.

1. Which festival draws the largest number of fans every year?

A．The Reading Festival.	B．The WOMAD Festival.
C．The Glastonbury Festival.	D．The Monsters of Rock Festival.

2. What can we learn about the Reading Festival?

A．It mainly attracts rock music fans.

B．It is especially popular with local bands.

C．It is named after the place where it is held.

D．It has been held in the same site since it started.

3. What do the four festivals have in common?

A．All last five days.	B．All are held in the summer.
C．All take place every year.	D．All are held near the River Thames.