【推荐1】The common over-the-counter painkiller, Aspirin (阿司匹林) gained popularity right before the turn of the 20th century, but after many a decades’ worth of work, it was eventually replaced by other medicines.

    1     Soon it was being handed out by doctors for daily usage to help prevent blood clots (凝块) and being packed away in purses across the globe for the purpose of heart-attack prevention. That is, unless you’re this age, which could make a use of aspirin deadly.     2     It may just help keep your teeth in good condition, according to the BBC.

Scientists in Belfast, Ireland, recently completed a study analyzing aspirin’s ability to help protect teeth, and the results were promising. The researchers at Queen’s University found that the common painkiller improves teeth’s ability to avoid tooth decay (腐烂).

    3     The researchers are currently looking into ways in which the aspirin can be applied practically, as the drug needs to be installed in a way that it can slowly release doses into the tooth over time. For example, aspirin could make fillings abandoned, because the teeth would regenerate (再生) themselves.

Professor Tom Green, one of the researchers behind the study, expressed that the commonness of aspirin can prove to be a huge advantage for future research and application: ＂We are not really talking about something in 10 or 20 years’ time.     4     This novel approach could not only increase the long-term survival of teeth but could also result in huge savings for healthcare systems worldwide.＂

    5    

A．Aspirin becomes more and more valuable.

B．But aspirin’s application increased sharply.

C．But aspirin’s application shifted and changed.

D．Now it appears this miracle drug has one more use.

E．Soon it could be tried in a clinical trial with patients.

F．The solution isn’t as simple as simply taking an aspirin a day.

G．The more researches scientists do, the more aspirin’s additional uses grow.

【推荐3】Last week, Vodafone started a test of the UK’s first full 5G service, available for use by businesses in Salford. It is part of its plan to trial the technology in seven UK cities. But what can we expect from the next generation of mobile technology?

One thing we will see in the preparation for the test is lots of tricks with the new tech. Earlier this year, operators paid almost ￡1.4 billion for the 5G wavelengths, and to compensate for that cash, they will need to catch the eye of consumers. In September, Vodafone used its bit of the range to display the UK’s first hologram(全息) call. The Manchester City captain Steph Houghton appeared as a hologram in Newbury. It isn’t all holograms, however: 5G will offer faster Internet access, with Ofcom(英国通讯管理局) suggesting that video that takes a minute to download on 4G will be available in just a second.

The wider application is to support connected equipment on the “Internet of things” –not just the Internet-enabled fridge that can reorder your milk for you, but the network that will enable driverless cars and delivery drones(无人机) to communicate with each other.

Prof William Webb has warned that the technology could be a case of the emperor’s new clothes. Much of the speed increase, he claims, could have been achieved by putting more money in the 4G network, rather than a new technology. Other different voices have suggested that a focus on rolling out wider rural broadband access and addressing current network coverage would be more beneficial to the UK as a whole.

Obviously, 5G will also bring a cost to consumers. It requires a handset for both 5G and 4G, and the first 5G-enabled smart phones are expected in the coming year. With the slow pace of network rollout so far, it is likely that consumers will end up upgrading to a new 5G phone well before 5G becomes widely available in the next couple of years.

1. Why does Prof William Webb say “the technology could be a case of the emperor’s new clothes”?

A．He is in favor of the application of the new technology.

B．5G will bring a cost to comsumers in their daily life.

C．5G helps people communicate better with each other.

D．He prefers more money to be spent on 4G networks.

2. The underlined word “addressing” in the fourth paragraph has the closest meaning to ________.

A．making a speech to	B．trying to solve
C．managing to decrease	D．responding to

3. The last paragraph indicates that ________.

A．it’ll take several years to make 5G accessible to the public in the UK

B．5G service shows huge development potential and a broad market

C．customers are eager to use 5G smart phones instead of 4G ones

D．it’s probable that 5G network rollout is speeding up in Britain

4. What do we know about the text?

A．Vodafone is successful in spreading the 5G service.

B．Steph Houghton appeared as a hologram by 4G.

C．The application of 5G will make life much easier.

D．5G phones are available in rural areas of the UK.

5. What’s Prof William’s attitude towards 5G service, the new generation of mobile technology?

A．Favorable.	B．Negative.
C．Indifferent.	D．Objective.

【推荐1】Does Using Technology in the Classroom Help College Students?

Almost anywhere in the world, you are likely to find people doing the same thing in public places, on trains and buses or wherever else you look. They spend their day looking at laptop computers, smartphones or other personal electronic devices. They are thinking mainly about their electronic devices, and not much else.

    1    . More and more college students have no problem walking into a classroom and immediately opening their laptops. Others may spend an entire study period with a smartphone in hand.     2     But recent research suggests that using technology during class time may harm college students’ ability to remember and process the subject material they are learning.

Arnold Glass, a professor in Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and a student researcher investigated the issue of divided student attention. During half of their daily class periods, the students in their study were permitted to use any electronic device as much as they wanted.     3    

The students’ academic performance was measured in several ways throughout the semester. They took a short test every day, longer tests every few weeks and a final exam covering all the class material. The researchers found that the average daily quiz results showed no evidence of harmful effects from the use of technology.     4     They showed that all the students performed poorly on questions covering material taught on days when they were permitted to use technology in the classroom.

Glass says that it shows the use of electronic devices in the classroom prevents students from processing information. The students hear what the professor is saying. But they might be buying things online or reading unrelated emails at the same time, for example. So they are not thinking deeply about the subject matter as they are hearing it.     5    

A．The same can be said about the world of college education.

B．However, the average results of the larger tests and final exam told a different story.

C．And that, Glass says, makes it harder for the information to enter their long-term memory.

D．Technology, in general, is not the only way that students find to distract themselves in class.

E．But even if technology is helpful to some students, there are times when it needs to be turned off.

F．Some students argue that the increasing use of technology can have many helpful effects on society.

G．During the other half, researchers closely watched them to make sure no one was using any technology.

【推荐2】Directions: Complete the following passage by using the sentences given below. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

It’s time to re-evaluate how women handle conflict at work. Being overworked or over-committed at home and on the job will not get ou where you want to be in life. It will only slow you down and hinder your career goals.

Did you know women are more likely than men to feel exhausted? Nearly twice as many women than men ages 18-44 reported feeling, “very tired” or “exhausted,” according to a recent study.

    1    It’s also the age range when many women are trying to balance careers and home. One reason women may feel exhausted is that they have a hard time saying “no.” Women want to be able to do it all -- volunteer for school parties or cook delicious meals -- and so their answer to any request is often “Yes, I can.”

Women struggle to say “no” in the workplace for similar reasons, including the desire to be liked by their colleagues.    2    .

At the workplace, men use conflict as a way to position themselves, while women often avoid conflict or strive to be the peacemaker, because they don’t want to be viewed as aggressive or disruptive at work.    3    Men are more likely to face that dispute from the perspective of what benefits them most, whereas women may approach the same dispute from the perspective of what’s the easiest and quickest way to resolve the problem -- even if that means doing the boring work themselves.

This difference in handling conflict could be the deciding factor in who gets promoted to a leadership position and who does not.    4    Shouldering more of the workload may not earn you that promotion. Instead, It may highlight your inability to delegate effectively.

A．Unfortunately, this inability to say “no” may be hurting women’s health as well as their career.

B．Leaders have to be able to delegate and manage resources wisely -- including staff expertise.

C．For example, there’s a problem that needs to be addressed immediately, resulting in a dispute over who should be the one to fix it.

D．Men and women tend to behave differently when faced with a dispute

E．This may not be surprising given that this is the age range when women have children .

F．The reason why women in this age range suffer so much is that they cannot say “no.”

【推荐3】Nowadays high schools are faced with a very controversial issue whether or not community service hours are needed to graduate. High schools are arguing that 40 hours of community service are needed to graduate, but many upset students are voicing protests to this demand.

Supporters of the community service project argue that while high school students are participating in community service, they will become better aware of what the real world is like. Students will learn valuable life lesson by doing community service.     1     They feel that if high school students are forced to do community service they will begin to see it as a punishment and as something that they have to do because it is required instead of something that they want to do.     2     They will continue to carry a negative attitude towards community service for their lifetime.

Another idea that the protestors give about this community service issue is time restriction. When a student goes to school full time, he is involved in after-class activities and also works. The time that is needed to participate in a community service project may place quite a burden on the student.    3    . If students well manage their time and start the community service in their first year in high school, all they need to do is an hour every other week.

    4    . The protestors argue that high school students do not have their driver’s license, so how are they expected to get to their community service site when their parents or friends are at work or just too busy to give them a ride.     5    . The supporters argue that students can find community service projects close to home or find another student to car pool with if they live in the country.

In my opinion, community service is a wonderful thing that everyone should be required to do at some point in their life, but are high school students mature and responsible enough to take on community service projects at this stage in their life?

A．Protestors have struck back with a very solid argument.

B．A final controversial issue that appears is transportation.

C．Students will feel good about themselves for helping others in need.

D．Unless the school offers a means of transportation for the students there really is no solution to this problem.

E．Both sides have solid arguments about why community service should or should not be forced upon students.

F．Students will in the future look back at the community service projects that they were forced to do throughout high school.

G．Supporters argue back that high school students only need to fulfill 40 hours of community service throughout 4 years.

【推荐2】The world is witnessing the worst refugee crisis(难民危机) since World War II. Tens of thousands of people are fleeing civil war and unrest(动荡) to find new homes in Europe — sometimes with sad consequences(后果).

On Aug 27, Austrian officials found the dead bodies of 71 Syrian migrants(移民) in a deserted truck near Austrian-Hungarian border, just as European leaders were holding a meeting in Vienna to figure out how to deal with the refugee crisis. On the same day, 200 migrants were found dead and 200 rescued as two boats packed with refugees sank off the coast of Libya, according to media reports.

The terms “migrant” and “refugee” are often used interchangeably. But there’s a big difference between them, says an article in the Atlantic magazine. Here is how the United Nations defines refugees:

“Refugees are persons fleeing armed conflict( 武 装 冲 突 ) or ill-treatment. Their situation is often so dangerous and intolerable that they cross national borders to search for safety in nearby countries. …These are people for whom denial(拒绝) of protection has possibly deadly consequences.”

Migrants, on the other hand, move mainly to improve their lives by finding work, or for education, family reunion or other reasons, said the agency.

Countries should offer refugees certain protections under their international treaty obligations(条约义务).

This is why some states hesitate to admit those people who are fleeing unrest in their home countries.

When talking about refugee and immigration problems, many media outlets use “illegal immigrant”. Critics say that it gives the impression that it’s the person that is illegal rather than their actions. The UN and the EU parliament have called for an end to the phrase, the BBC reported.

1. The differences between “refugee” and “migrant” are written with the purpose of _____.

A．defining the two words clearly

B．indicating why some states are not willing to admit refugees

C．showing that refugees are more than migrants

D．urging European countries to accept more refugees

2. According to the text     “refugee” differs from “migrant” because _____.
① they both cross national borders but with different purposes
② refugees are illegal while migrants are legal
③ refugees may face deadly consequences while migrants are relatively safe
④ refugees are treated badly while migrants are highly respected

A．①④

B．①③

C．②③④

D．①③④

3. According to the text, what may be discussed in the next several paragraphs?

A．Explanations for “illegal immigrant”.

B．Examples about the refugee crisis in Europe.

C．Measures to offer refugee protections.

D．Causes of the refugee crisis in Europe.

【推荐3】Concerns about health, animals and the environment are leading more people to remove meat from their diet. Plant-based meat alternatives(替代物) increasingly appear in supermarkets and restaurants. But what some people call clean meat—meat grown from cells in a laboratory—is still an idea that is just beginning.

More than 24 companies are testing lab-grown fish, beef and chicken. These business hope to enter the alternative meat market, which could be worth $140 billion by 2029. One of the companies, Shiok Meats, grows its product by taking shrimp(虾) cells and keeping them at a fixed temperature. They are then given nutrients(养分) in a solution. The cells become meat in four to six weeks.

This lab-grown meat’s price is high. One kilogram of it now costs $5,000, said Shiok Meats’ chief executive Sandhya Sriram. At that cost, a single pork and shrimp dumpling could be as much as $300. Sriram, a vegetarian, hopes to cut the cost to $50 for one kilogram by the end of this year. “We are looking at next year, so we might be the first ever company to launch a cell-based meat product in the world,” Sriram said. “Shiok Meats still needs approval from the city’s food regulator, and that matters the most at present.”

Although people increasingly demand meat alternatives, cell - based meat companies still face resistance to their products. In Singapore, some people said they would give lab-grown meat a second thought. “I may not exactly dare to eat it, but I do find the idea appealing because the animals in the oceans are declining,” said 60-year- old Pet Loh, while she shopped for shrimps in a Singapore market.

Any alternative wav of making animal protein without harming the environment is positive, said Paul Teng, a specialist in agriculture technology at Nanyang Technological University. But, he added, more studies are needed to understand any negative result of making cellular protein.

1. Why are more people eating less meat?

A．Because lab-grown meat has more nutrition.

B．Because plant-based food is getting popular.

C．Because meat in the market is increasingly expensive.

D．Because health and the environment are their concerns.

2. What is the most important for Shiok Meats at present according to Sriram?

A．Bringing down the price.	B．Gaining consumers’ acceptance.
C．Obtaining official permission.	D．Getting ahead of other companies.

3. Which word best describes Pet Loh’s attitude towards lab-grown meat ?

A．Doubtful

B．Uncaring

C．Ambiguous

D．Positive

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．A new way to make a fortune.	B．Negative results of lab - grown meat.
C．New research findings on healthy diet.	D．A meat alternative grown in labs.