【推荐2】阅读下面短文，按照要求用英语回答问题。

Trees are useful to man in three very important ways: they provide him with wood and other products; they give him shade; they help to prevent drought and floods.

Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, man has not realized that the third of these services is the most important. To make money from the trees, he has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had.

Two-thousand years ago, a rich and powerful country cut down-its trees to build warships, with which to gain itself an empire. It gained the empire, but since the trees were cut down, its soil became hard and poor. When the empire fell to pieces, the home county found itself faced by floods and hunger.

Even where a government realizes the importance of an enough supply of trees, it is difficult for it to let the villagers see this. The villagers want wood to cook their food with, and they can earn money by selling wood to the townsmen. They are usually too lazy or too careless to plant and look after new trees. So, unless the government has a good system of control or can educate the villagers, the forests will not get protected. This does not only mean that the villagers’ sons and grandsons will have fewer trees. The results are even more serious. Where there are trees, their roots break the soil up, allowing the rain to sink in, which makes the soil stick together and prevents it being washed away easily. Where there are no tree, the rainfall son hard ground and flows away on the surface, causing floods and carrying away with it the rich top-soil, in which crops grow so well. When all the top-soil is gone, nothing remains but worthless desert.

1. Why do men cut down trees in large numbers in many places? (No more than 10 words)
___________________________________________________________________________
2. What happened to the soil after trees were cut down in the rich and powerful country? (No more than 5 words)
___________________________________________________________________________
3. What should the government do to protect the trees? (No more than 15 words)
___________________________________________________________________________
4. What does the underlined phrase “sink in” in the last paragraph mean in English? (No more than 5 words)
___________________________________________________________________________
5. Do you think it is important to protect trees? Why do you think so? (No more than 20 words)
___________________________________________________________________________

【推荐3】About 70 kilometers offshore from the southern coast of Iceland, there is a volcanic island called Westman Islands. Every summer, locals can often be seen standing on the edge of the cliffs (悬崖) throwing birds down. The birds they throw are called puffins (海鹦), a type of seabird. Puffins are the most common bird in Iceland, and the Westman Islands are the largest puffin habitat in the world. Every year in late spring, the puffin producing season arrives and the islands are filled with busy puffins.

However, in the past 20 years, these puffins have been slowly disappearing for various reasons, one of which has something to do with their nature. Each year, the babies are born and grow in the caves on the high sea cliffs. About two months later, they will leave the cave to seek food on the ocean by following the moonlight. But they always mistake humans lights on the ground for the moon, and eventually lose their way and crash into the town. They are too young to fly back to the ocean again. Unable to find food, they are left to wait for death.

Over time, the locals realized that freeing the young puffins at the cliffs could set them on the correct path. So a puffin patrol (巡逻队) made up of mainly local children was formed. Their mission is to search for lost baby puffins in the streets with boxes. flashlights and food on the nights of September and October every year. Once found, baby puffins will be taken to the cliff and set free to the ocean. Over the years, the puffin patrol has gradually become a tradition, working quietly for the protection of puffins.

In spite of the love and care of the children, the number of puffins has dropped greatly ind recent years due to climate change, environmental pollution and rising sea temperatures, So there is still a lot of angst about what their future will be like.

1. Why do the baby puffins always arrive at town?

A．They try to search for food in town.	B．They lose their way during the flight.
C．They intend to rest during the flight.	D．They find it a better producing place.

2. What is the purpose of the puffin patrol?

A．To help puffins produce young.	B．To feed the young puffins.
C．To rescue the endangered puffins.	D．To direct puffins with lights.

3. What does the underlined word “angst” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Concern.

B．Origin.

C．Approach.

D．Joy.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．How do we prepare for the puffin season?	B．Why are the baby puffins thrown off cliffs?
C．Why is the population of puffins falling?	D．How can we free young puffins correctly?

【推荐2】I can remember occasionally nodding off with my phone between my ear and shoulder after hours of conversation with a friend. I’d wake up with the dial tone screaming in my ear. What happened? What did I say? The next day, my friend would tell me a funny story about how I had trailed off（声音逐渐减弱）with some meaningless words and begun snoring（打鼾）into the phone. We had a good laugh, but there was no harm because at least there was no permanent record of it.

For today’s young people, nodding off during a verbal phone call may mean a text written in their sleep. Who even knew texting while sleeping was possible before? But it’s possible today. A newly-published study from Villanova University’s M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing surveyed 372 college students and found that a quarter of them had sleep texting-texting while in a sleep state at some point. Of that group, 72% had no memory of the event. Respondents most likely to text in the sleep were, unsurprisingly, those who regularly slept with the phone on bed with them.

The study indicated that those who reported sleep texting admitted that cellphone use ravaged their sleep, which meant they suffered poor sleep. The study also found that most college students do not get high quality sleep, and that most do not turn off the cellphone when they go to sleep.

Young adults, especially college students, sleep even less than other age groups, often having only 6 to 7 hours of sleep per night. The demands of heavy class loads and the busy social life of college, combined with little to no adult supervision, have already been an environment fit for sleep disruption. Because of today’s technology of smartphones laptops, and so on, a solid night’s uninterrupted sleep sounds like a faraway dream indeed.

Maybe it’s time for a change.

1. Why did the author trail off with some meaningless words over the phone?

A．Because she wanted to horrify her friend.

B．Because she wanted to make up funny story.

C．Because she got tired and fell asleep gradually.

D．Because she was tired of talking with her friend.

2. What does the author want to show by mentioning the study about college students?

A．Texting while sleeping is actually common.

B．Today’s young people can’t live without the phone.

C．College students often forget what they’ve done.

D．College students have a bad habit of texting before going to sleep.

3. What does the underlined word “ravaged” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Protected.

B．Damaged.

C．Improved.

D．Controlled

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

A．College students should stop using their smartphones.

B．College students’ class loads should be reduced.

C．Having a solid night’s uninterrupted sleep is impossible today.

D．College students should avoid using the phone before bedtime.

【推荐3】Alice Roosevelt Longworth was the daughter of one of America’s most beloved presidents, Theodore Roosevelt. She was also a writer who was famous for giving high-society parties and being one of Washington, DC’s biggest gossips. On the sofa in her living room, there was an embroidered cushion (绣花靠垫) which read, “If you can’t say anything nice about someone, come sit next to me.”

If Alice were still alive today (she died in 1980 at the age of 96), she would feel right at home with modern social media... at least the worst parts of it. Platforms such as WeChat and Weibo have become places where Internet troll and bullies hang around, spreading gossip and insults(侮辱), and causing real harm to people, especially young people. This phenomenon of social media bullying (cyberbullying) is a worldwide problem. In February, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) declared a special day, Safer Internet Day, to raise awareness of the problem and to discuss ways to solve it. According to the organization, as many as 20 percent of young people say that they have been bullied online. And the effects of this bullying can be destructive, leading to lower grades, lower self-esteem, depression and even suicide. UNICEF’s Henrietta Fore says that the Internet has become “a kindness desert”.

Closer to home, a study of Chinese high school students found that 58 percent had been bullied, and 38 percent had bullied someone either at school or on the Internet. “They spread rumors about you or defame you in order to isolate or marginalize(排斥) you,” says psychologist Zhou Zhonghui. “It is hard for people that age to bear, and it makes them depressed.”

There are laws in China against cyberbullying, and offenders can be fined and have their accounts shut down. In fact, everyone can take steps to stop the bullying. First, don’t be silent. If you are being bullied, don’t hesitate to tell your parents and teachers. Second, think before you post. Is your comment kind or hurtful? Would you like someone to say the same thing about you? Would you like your mother to read your comment? Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s cushion was a humorous re-working of an old piece of wisdom: If you can’t say anything nice about someone, don’t say anything at all. By following that wisdom, you can make flowers bloom in the “kindness desert”.

1. By mentioning Alice Roosevelt Longworth in the first paragraph, the author intends to ________.

A．compare her to her father

B．present the topic of cyberbullying

C．describe her achievements

D．recognize her way of life

2. What is Henrietta Fore’s tone when he discusses the Internet?

A．Positive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Objective.

D．Critical.

3. Which of the following is WRONG according to the passage?

A．A majority of Chinese high school students have bullied others.

B．Cyberbullying caused great harm to teenagers.

C．Cyberbullying is no longer unique to Chinese students.

D．A number of Chinese high school students feel depressed.

4. Which of the following has NOT been mentioned in the passage?

A．The victims of cyberbullying.

B．The solutions to cyberbullying.

C．The consequences of cyberbullying.

D．The causes of cyberbullying.

【推荐2】While the arts can't stop the COVID-19 virus or the social unrest we see in the world today, they can give us insight into the choices we make when moving through crises and chaos. The arts invite everyone to think in new ways.

We often experience works of art as something that's pleasing to our senses without a full understanding of the creative effort. Great art often shows us contradictions and crises, and we can learn a great deal from their resolutions (解决). Through our understanding of art, we can gain a deeper understanding of how we might overcome our own challenges. In understanding extremes of contrast, we can see the beauty in art with themes that are not simply pleasing for their magnificent features or qualities.

Beethoven offers a wonderful example of moving artfully through crises and chaos. He composed his Symphony No.9 as his hearing loss became more and more pronounced. The opening of the symphony seems to come out of nowhere, from near silence in the opening to a full expression of what many consider to be the joy of freedom and universal brotherhood with Schiller’s Ode to joy (欢乐颂). Beethoven appears to have created a work of art that not only freed him from his personal struggles, but one that also speaks to the joy of living together in peace and harmony.

Have a dialogue between the two opposing parts and you will find that they always start out fighting each other until we come to an appreciation of difference — a oneness of the two opposing forces. The arts offer many lessons that can help us gain the knowledge we need to move more confidently in today's competitive and uncertain environment. An openness to arts-based solutions will give you more control over your future.

1. What value does art have beyond pleasing people's senses?

A．It brings people inner peace.	B．It contributes to problem-solving.
C．It reduces the possibility of crises.	D．It deepens understanding of music.

2. What can we learn about Beethoven's Symphony No. 9?

A．It aims to show crises and chaos.	B．It celebrates freedom and unity.
C．It opens with Schiller's Ode to Joy.	D．It is quiet and peaceful throughout.

3. What was Beethoven's condition like when he wrote his Symphony No. 9?

A．He had almost gone deaf at the time.

B．He was going through a personal creative crisis.

C．He was enjoying the joy of freedom with his brothers.

D．He was considered as an example of symphonic composition.

4. What is the author's suggestion on dealing with conflicting forces?

A．Leaving things as they are.	B．Making a choice between them.
C．Separating them from each other.	D．Engaging them in a conversation.

5. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．How art can change people's lives.	B．Essentials of Symphony No. 9.
C．Moving artfully through crises.	D．Joy in the eyes of Beethoven.