【推荐2】Imagine the tallest building in the United States. Fill that giant building 44 times with rotten fruits and vegetables. Now you know how much food Americans waste every year.

It is hard to believe, right? About 133 billion pounds of food get thrown away. That’s one-third of all the food we produce. And a lot of it is thrown away for one simple reason: It’s ugly.

The problem is that nature isn’t perfect. Apples can get scarred (留下疤痕) by storms. Cucumbers grow in C shapes. Carrots change into unusual fork-like forms. Watermelons get too big to fit on a refrigerator shelf. These crazy-looking fruits and vegetables may taste great. But most grocery stores refuse to sell them. Store owners say people judge food by how it looks. No one wants a tomato that looks like a two-headed monster. But what if you could buy that tomato for half-price?

A new movement is trying to make people see the “beauty” in ugly food. Some stores are selling ugly produce. It tastes the same. And you pay less for it because the food doesn’t look perfect.

Usually, the stores find a nicer word than “ugly”. A Canadian chain uses “naturally imperfect”. In some US stores, it’s “misfit produce”. Whatever you call it, ugly food helps many people. Fanners get paid for food they were going to have to throw away. Shoppers get cheaper fruits and vegetables. The ugly-food movement will also help some of the 44 million Americans who don’t have enough to eat. Many groups give the ugly produce to hungry people.

So really, who cares if that carrot looks a little… ugly?

1. Why are lots of fruits and vegetables thrown away in the US?

A．Because they don’t look nice.

B．Because they have gone bad.

C．Because they don’t taste good.

D．Because they are badly polluted.

2. What is the 5th paragraph mainly about?

A．The stores selling ugly food.

B．The better names for ugly food.

C．The number of hungry Americans.

D．The benefits of the ugly-food movement.

3. What does the mark “…” in the last paragraph suggest?

A．The author would like to buy ugly carrots.

B．No one would care if a carrot looks a little ugly.

C．The author does not quite like the word “ugly”.

D．Nobody really wants to buy carrots that look ugly.

【推荐3】We often hear such statements “I spilled juice, but it wasn’t my fault.”, “I got in trouble at school, but it wasn’t my fault.” Or “I was in a car accident, but it wasn’t my fault.” That “It’s not my fault.” is a go-to response for so many people and especially teenagers.

Parents complain they are tired of the “excuse”. The reason why variations(变体) of “It’s not my fault.” are so popular is that it lets us off the hook from guilt and blame. I’m a fan of not owning responsibility for things that I can’t control. Teens who often say “It’s my fault.” when something bad happens tend to be highly self-critical, perfectionistic and more easier to be troubled by anxiety and depression.

While it is important to recognize a lack of reason to blame oneself, many teens over-rely on “It’s not my fault.” When trying to get them to take responsibility, parents usually attempt to convince their teens that something is their fault. The approach tends to be ineffective and turn into a power struggle. No one wins. A more effective approach can be to stress significant drawbacks to consistently focusing on removing our responsibility with this phrase.

Overuse of the phrase can result in feelings of lack of ability to control their own lives. This sense has been shown to cause low motivation. Besides creating feelings of lack of ability, overuse of “It’s not my fault.” focuses a teen’s attention on what is done as opposed to what needs to be done.

People may not have caused all their problems, but they have to solve them anyway. The example I frequently share with teens is the question of what one will do if he is pushed into a deep lake. One can certainly stay in water, yelling, “It’s not my fault.” However, that won’t get him out of water. He needs to swim to the shore, regardless of the fault.

If you take a proper approach to communicating with your teens, you can help them avoid over-reliance on “It’s not my fault.”.

1. What phenomenon is described in Paragraph 1?

A．The teenagers’ dislike for school life.

B．The common trouble faced by teenagers.

C．The reasons for blaming others for accidents.

D．The tendency for people not to be responsible for mess in life.

2. What type of teens tends to suffer great mental pressure according to the text?

A．Those lacking confidence and ambition.

B．Those allowing others to find excuses.

C．Those unable to get along well with others.

D．Those often blaming themselves for some incidents.

3. What’s the author’s attitude to parents’ usual way of guiding children?

A．Supportive.

B．Negative.

C．Ambiguous.

D．Neutral.

4. What’s Paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．It’s harmful to overuse “It’s not my fault.”.

B．It’s important to learn lessons from faults.

C．It’s difficult for people to admit their fault.

D．It’s absurd to often find excuses for mistakes in life.

5. What lesson is conveyed in the example often shared by the author?

A．We should try to avoid troubling others.

B．We should focus on how to solve problems.

C．We should dare to point out others’ mistakes.

D．We should be self-critical as much as possible.

【推荐2】By the rivers and under trees of rural South Auckland, New Zealand’s newest and most special school is in class. The weather is fine, so the students would go fishing, and then they would cook lunch on a wild fire. What about homework and lectures? No. “We are called a school but we look nothing like any school out there,” says Joey Moncarz, co-founder and head teacher at Deep Green Bush School.

Moncarz used to be a teacher in the traditional schools. After five unhappy years there in New Zealand, he stopped to found Deep Green Bush School, which was kind of inspired by the Sudbury Valley School in the US. Now It has a roll of eight students, and no classroom walls or tests. Most importantly, he considered that traditional schools were not preparing children for the global problems of the future – such as climate change, so Moncarz founded Deep Green Bush School, a completely different kind of education, based on the skills of hunting, gathering and survival.

The more traditional school skills, such as reading, writing and maths, are learned at students’ own pace, after they begin showing an interest in them. Not, says Moncarz, when the teacher orders it is time to learn.

“We don’t have what you’d traditionally consider problem kids,” says Moncarz. “Our parents saw their kids were unhappy and stressed in traditional education and they started questioning: is it normal or right for kids to come home stressed and unhappy?”

Moncarz insists that the school isn’t an “experiment” in education, and is based on two million years of evidence of how parents have raised their kids.

1. Where do students in Deep Green Bush School study?

A．In the classroom.

B．At home.

C．In the wild.

D．On the Internet.

2. What’s Moncarz’s main purpose of founding Deep Green Bush School?

A．To stop his unhappy teaching years.

B．To compete with the traditional schools.

C．To research how parents raise their kids.

D．To prepare children for the future global problems.

3. When do students of Deep Green Bush School learn traditional school skills?

A．After teachers order study time.

B．After students have interest in them.

C．As soon as students come into the school.

D．As soon as students finish learning the basic skills.

4. What can we infer from the passage?

A．All the students in schools are stressed.

B．Moncarz had fun teaching in traditional schools.

C．Deep Green Bush School is the first special school.

D．Some parents may be unsatisfied with traditional schools.

【推荐3】Lang Ping

As a player, Lang Ping brought honor and glory to her country. As a coach, she led the China women’s volleyball team to medals at world championships and the Olympics.As a person, Lang Ping is loved by fans at home and abroad. When the Chinese team was preparing for the 2015 World Cup, her determination was tested.The team that Lang Ping had built was falling apart. One of the best players had been injured, and the team captain had to leave because of heart problems. Losing two important players was a big challenge, but Lang Ping did not lose heart. She had faced difficulties before, and she knew that her young players could win if they worked together as a team. Two weeks later, they were world champions! Then in 2016, Lang Ping led her volleyball team to Olympic gold in Brazil.

Michael Jordan

When Michael Jordan’s feet left the ground, time seemed to stand still. The player who became known as “Air Jordan” changed basketball with his graceful moves and jumps. Jordan’s skills were impressive, but the mental strength that he showed made him unique. In the final seconds of a game, Jordan always seemed to find a way to win. Jordan says that the secret to his success is learning from his failures. “I can accept failure; everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” Losing games taught him to practice harder and never give up. In life, Jordan has learnt to share his success with others. The Boys and Girls Club which he started in Chicago has been helping young people since 1996.

1. It can be inferred from the passage that Lang Ping is a(n)   ___ person.

A．Stubborn

B．determined

C．easy-going

D．careful

2. The following about Jordan is right EXCEPT___.

A．he accepts failures

B．he can not accept not trying

C．he believes that the secret to success is learning from failures

D．he doesn’t like to share his success with others

3. Which of the following about Michael Jordan is NOT true according to the second part?

A．His secret to success is failure.

B．His moves were graceful and his skills were impressive.

C．He started the Boys and Girls Club in Chicago.

D．He showed great mental strength in the games.

4. What do Lang Ping and Michael Jordan have in common?

A．They are both leaders of their teams.

B．They are both famous coaches.

C．They are both masters of their fields.

D．They both learn from failures.