【推荐1】Farming is moving indoors, where the sun never shines, where rainfall is irrelevant（不相干的）and where the climate is always right. The perfect crop field could be inside a windowless building with controlled light, temperature, wetness, air quality and nutrition. It could be a high-rise building in New York or a sprawling complex（综合楼） in the Saudi desert. It may be an answer to the world’s food problems.

The world is already having trouble feeding itself. Half of the people on earth live in cities, and nearly half of those—about 3 billion—are hungry or ill-fed. Food prices, currently increasing, are buffeted by dryness, floods and the cost of energy required to plant, harvest and transport it. And prices will only get more unstable. Climate change makes long-term crop planning uncertain. Farmers in many parts of the world are already using water available to the last drop. And the world is getting more crowded: by mid-century, the global hungry population will grow to 9 billion.

To feed so many people may need to expand farmland at the expense of forests and wilderness, or finding ways to completely increase crop output.

Gertjan Meeuws has taken the concept of greenhouse—growing vegetables and house plants in enclosed（封闭的）and controlled environments. In their research station, water flows into the pans when needed, and temperature is kept constant. Lights go on and off, creating similar day and night according to the rhythm of the plants.

A building of 100 square meters and 14 layers（层）of plants could provide a daily diet of 200 kilograms of fresh fruit and vegetables for the entire population of Den Bosch, about 140,000 people. Their idea is not to grow foods that require much space, like corn or potatoes.

Here sunlight is not only unnecessary but can be harmful. Plants need only specific wavelengths of light to grow. Their growth rate is three times faster than those under greenhouse conditions. They use about 90 percent less water than outdoor agriculture. And city farming means producing food near consumers, so there’s no need to transport it long distances.

1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell us？

A．The climate is worse and worse.	B．The city people live a hard life.
C．The world has difficulty feeding its people.	D．The world’s population is increasing fast.

2. The underlined word “buffeted” in Paragraph 2 means “________”.

A．badly affected

B．prevented

C．demanded

D．well achieved

3. It can be inferred from the text that Gertian Meeuws’s farming ________.

A．helps save sea water a lot

B．suits different conditions

C．is completely different from greenhouse agriculture

D．suits the production of corn

4. What is the text mainly about？

A．The development of indoor farming.	B．A great revolution in farming.
C．Advantages of indoor farming.	D．Sunless and rainless indoor farming.

【推荐2】If some parts of a body are very sick or damaged, then doctors might need to remove them. Another way doctors can help is to grow new tissue to replace what is sick or damaged. This is called regenerative medicine (再生医学).

Regenerative medicine sounds like something from a science fiction movie but it is not a new idea. Inside our bones, we have something called ‘marrow’, which makes our blood and keeps us healthy. Doctors have been giving sick people the bone marrow from other healthy people for the last 30 or 40 years, and this is a kind of regenerative medicine.

Newer developments in regenerative medicine include growing new skin in a laboratory and using it to help people who have been hurt in fires or accidents. Another example of regenerative medicine is a technique developed from studying frogs and mice. When cells are old, like in adults, they can’t change what they do in our bodies. For example, a skin cell can’t change into an eye cell. But when cells are very young, they can become any cell type. These young cells are called stem cells, and doctors can use them to grow any type of tissue, such as skin, heart or eye. John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka won the 2012 Nobel Prize for their studies in this area.

Professor Fiona Watt, from the Centre of Regenerative Medicine at King’s College, London, believes that regenerative medicine is so exciting because many different kinds of experts need to work together. 3D printers may be used to print new bones by experts, who need to work closely with university scientists and the surgeons who do the operations in hospitals.

We can not yet grow new arms or legs for people, but the science fiction dream of regenerative medicine may be closer than we think. Perhaps in the future, doctors will be able to grow whole new bodies for us.

1. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．How to help very sick or damaged people.

B．Regenerative medicine and science fiction.

C．We can grow our new bodies in the future.

D．Regenerative medicine and its development.

2. Which of the following is right according to this passage?

A．Marrow can help grow new bones.

B．Stem cell can be used to grow any type of tissue.

C．Surgeons now use 3D printers to print new bones.

D．Regenerative medicine is a new science in medicine.

3. What’s the writer’s attitude to the development in regenerative medicine?

A．Pessimistic.	B．Optimistic.
C．Doubtful.	D．Indifferent.

【推荐2】We see art everywhere around us. In public parks, city squares, shopping streets and public buildings, we find modern art objects on display. Classical art, such as valuable paintings, precious statues and other fine arts, usually ends up in the collections of museums, companies or rich people.

Both art and architecture have a history of ages. All forms and ways of expressing the beautiful things have been explored. In the case of architecture, many buildings designed in the past have proven beautiful and served their purposes. Governments and companies could save millions of dollars by building or copying designs of architecture of buildings from the past. There are still many designs for buildings made by famous architects that were never realized. Besides, some people find modern architecture ugly. So why should we pay a lot of money to architects for designing new buildings?

The same holds for modern art, both paintings and statues. Many storerooms contain enough art lo decorate all public buildings and other public places. There is no need to create more art, and as with modern architecture，many people find new art difficult to understand or appreciate.

Given these facts, why are architects and artists asked to create new art works? The answers have to do with the function of art in society today. First of all, the function of art is to decorate. Art works make our living environment more beautiful. Another function of art is enriching real life. Art helps people to learn to think creatively. In art things are not always what they seem to be. Very often you can hardly tell what the funny art objects are. People need such creative moments. Finally, art is often seen as a way to instruct the audience. Statues of heroes from the past remind us of our history. Paintings and other art objects can also help us realise which goals we should set for ourselves.

Because ideas about society change and every period of time has its own taste, there is always a need for new art. We can still appreciate the beautiful art works made in the past but they are often too valuable to be placed in public buildings. Besides, they also often need special protection.

1. Who owns collections of ancient statues and paintings?

A．Public parks or city squares.

B．Shopping streets or public buildings.

C．Museums, companies or rich people.

D．In some historical sites or private possessions.

2. What's the writing purpose of Paragraph 2?

A．To explain why some people find modern art ugly.

B．To introduce the reason for the necessity of new art.

C．To show the benefits of copying designs from the past.

D．To prove both art and architecture have a long history.

3. Why can't we use old art to decorate public buildings?

A．Because they need long-lasting restoring.

B．Because more people prefer modern art.

C．Because of the changes and difference of tastes.

D．Because of their value and need for protection.

4. What does the fourth paragraph mainly talk about?

A．The functions of art in society.

B．The functions of architecture,

C．The reason why art is difficult.

D．The reason why art is precious.

【推荐1】Keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than spending hours doing some exercises, according to scientists. They say that socialising and meeting with friends help increase levels of brown fat in the body which burns calories(卡路里)to produce heat.

     Living in an exciting social environment was found to reduce fat in mice's belly by half over four weeks, even if they ate more. US researchers say that social excitement aids weight loss by turning white fat into brown. White fat stores calories and makes us fatter, while brown burns energy to produce heat. Turning white fat into brown is extremely difficult，normally requiring long- term stay in cold conditions or exciting part of the body's nervous system.

However, scientists from Ohio State University now think that having a busy social life is an even more effective way of changing white fat into brown. The team came up with their theory by studying the effects of various living environments on mice. Those, who lived alongside a greater number of mice, had more space and toys to excite themselves and then lost far more weight over the course of the study than their “couch potato" fellows.

   Study author, Dr Matthew During, whose team's findings appear in the journal Cell Metabolism, said, "I'm still amazed at the degree of fat loss that occurs." Explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socialising, he added, "It's not just a sedentary(久坐 的)lifestyle and high calorie foods, but an increasing lack of social activities." Co-author Dr Lei Cao said，"Loneliness is a potential factor for cancer and death; it's equal to cigarette smoking to a certain extent. Social activities are very vital.，，
1. What information can we get from the first two paragraphs?

A．Brown fat stores calories and makes us fatter.

B．It doesn't take long to turn white fat into brown.

C．Social excitement helps gain more weight.

D．Brown fat can burn energy to produce heat.

2. Which of the following statement does the text support?

A．Levels of brown fat can be increased by socialising.

B．The mice lacking social life lose more weight.

C．The research findings haven't been published so far.

D．Dr Matthew During wasn't convinced of the result.

3. We can conclude from the text that _______.

A．the fat in mice's belly was reduced because of the relaxing environment

B．a sedentary lifestyle and high calories foods influence people's social life

C．surfing the Internet may influence people's face-to-face communication

D．cancer and death are mainly caused for lack of social life

4. What’s the main idea of the text?

A．Brown fat is beneficial to people's health.

B．Socialising is unnecessarily important in people's daily life.

C．White fat can be changed into brown fat.

D．Socialising contributes to people's losing weight.

【推荐2】Ship tourism to Antarctica is on the rise: More than 35,000 tourists are expected to visit Antarctic this summer. In 1992-1993, 6,750 visited Antarctica, according to the Antarctica Treaty. All of this tourism, however, is putting both tourists and the environment in great danger.

Among the tourist ships that visit the continent, the Explorer, a Canadian ship, was one of the first. Put to use in 1969, it was built to carry tourists to Antarctica. Last week, however, it became the first commercial passenger ship to sink beneath the waters. Fortunately, all of the passengers and crew members were rescued from the ship. However, the sunken ship endangered the Antarctic’s fragile(脆弱的) environment. The ship was estimated to be holding 48,000 gallons of fuel.

The accident was not unexpected. Both the US and UK had warned a conference of the Antarctic Treaty member countries in May that the tourism situation in this area was a potential disaster. The US said in a paper, people “should take a hard look at tourism issues now, especially those related to ship safety.” Although the Antarctic seas are relatively calm, floating ice causes a potential threat to ships. The owner of the Explorer blamed the sinking on a fist-like hole in the ship created by ice.

Many of the other large ships now visiting Antarctica are not designed especially against thick ice. Such ships generally can only come to the continent in summer. But the tourist rush is pushing ships into dangerous situations. “The increasing number of ships operating in Antarctic means that the ship are under great pressure to get there in time for the key visiting sites,” the British government wrote in a paper at the meeting of member countries.

As a natural frontier, Antarctica is in a messy legal situation. There are no obvious answers as to who is responsible for dealing with the threat that tourist may cause to human life and the environment.

There is no coast guard for Antarctica. Do we want it to become Disneyland, or do we need some controls?

1. Which of the following is true according to this passage?

A．Antarctica tourism has a history of about 17 years.

B．The number of tourists to the Antarctic is over 5 times as large as that of 17 years ago.

C．The tourism boom has caused holes in the floating ice in the Antarctic.

D．The Antarctica Treaty is responsible for the environmental problems.

2. The sinking of the Explorer____________.

A．led to a conference about the tourism situation in the Antarctic.

B．was caused by the rough seas

C．had been predicted

D．did harm to the Antarctic.

3. In this passage, the writer suggests that___________.

A．people had better not make a tour of the Antarctic

B．ships to the Antarctic should be built strong enough

C．there should be legal controls over tourism in the Antarctic

D．the Antarctic’s environment is fragile to be protected