【推荐1】A retired postman from Turkey and a beautiful white swan have been inseparable for nearly four decades, and the story of their amazing friendship has melted the hearts of millions.

When Recep Mirzan spotted a wounded swan in a field in Turkey’s Edirne province, in 1984, he had no idea that he was about to meet his best friend. He was in a car with a group of friends, when he spotted a swan that appeared to have a broken wing in an empty field. Mirzan quickly realized that leaving the bird there was the same as signing its death sentence, as predators (捕食者) would have most likely eaten it, so he stopped the car and took the bird with him. He took it home and started nursing it back to health.

“Since I love animals, I took her home instead of leaving her as food to foxes,’’ Mirzan told The Associated Press. We got used to each other. We never separated. Even after the female swan's broken wing healed, it didn’t try to fly away. Instead, it befriended the other animals on Recep’s farm in the Karaagac region, and decided to stick around. Recep named her Garip, and she has been with him for the last 37 years.

“She comes when I call. Since 1984, she has never left me, not even during the river floods,” the retired postman told Anadolu News Agency. “She used to be more vigorous, but she has grown old now. If she dies, I will make her a nice grave here, but I hope we live more together.”

Garip has her own coop on Mirzan’s farm, but she mostly spends nights in it. During the day, she is busy following her human friend around, either during his daily chores, or on his evening walks.

After his wife died a few years ago, Recep Mirzan started spending more time with his animals, and since he has no human children, he regards Garip as his child.

Whooper swans can live for decades in protected environments, but Garip has long surpassed the average lifespan for her species.

1. Why did Recep save the swan according to the passage?

A．He felt extremely lonely.

B．The swan was a rare animal.

C．He was a real animal lover.

D．The swan was being followed by foxes.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that __________.

A．the swan stayed with Recep at night after the death of his wife

B．Garip lived a longer life probably because of the care of Recep

C．Recep’s friends directly signed the wounded swan death sentence

D．Recep was sure to meet a lifelong friend when he spotted the wounded swan

3. What might be the best title for the text?

A．A Retired Postman’s Story Has Melted the Hearts of Millions

B．Man and Swan Have Been Best Friends for the Last 37 Years

C．A Wounded Swan Has Befriended the Other Animals on a Farm

D．Humans Have Made Efforts to Protect the Environments for Swans

【推荐3】Every autumn and winter, a large number of migratory(迁徙的)birds look for shelter in the area around Fan Yunting’s home village of Daxinzhuang in Kaifeng, Henan province. It is always the busiest time of the year for the 66-year-old farmer.

Braving bitterly cold winds and occasional heavy snow, he often patrols(巡逻)more than 10 kilometers a day by bike along the banks of the Yellow River. Fan has been doing this unpaid work for more than 20 years. To date, he has helped over 500 wild birds that have been trapped, injured or even poisoned(中毒的), and prevented illegal(非法的)hunting more than 200 times. His devotion has seen him wear out five bikes.

His love for birds dates back to his childhood. As a small boy, he often fed wild birds with whatever food he could get. In early adulthood, he not only kept the habit, but also sold crops for money to treat any injured or sick birds he came across. He even sometimes bought meat to feed wild eagles.

At then, when few people were aware of the need to protect birds, his actions won him the nickname “Idiot”. However, he just smiled when he was called the name and continued his protection work without complaint(抱怨).

Later, the officials invited him to work as a volunteer for wildlife protection. He accepted it with pleasure. Since then, from October to March, when many migratory birds arrive to overwinter, Fan usually gets up at about 5 am to patrol the shores of the Yellow River near his village.

The freezing temperatures are not the only challenge he has had to face. In 2001, he even argued with hunters. “I tried to persuade a group to stop hunting. But they refused and together they started to beat me,” he recalled.

Fan’s strong will has brought him many honorary titles. He became a model worker of China in 2020. In 2021, he was selected as one of the country’s top 100 model volunteers in the field of environmental protection.

1. What makes every autumn and winter the busiest time for Fan Yunting?

A．Protecting migratory birds.	B．Doing a lot of paid work.
C．Hunting migratory birds.	D．Building shelters for migratory birds.

2. What attracts Fan Yunting to protect birds all the time?

A．His neighbors’ encouragement.	B．Receiving many honorary titles.
C．His deep love for birds.	D．Getting much money

3. What does the underlined word “Idiot” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．A hero.

B．A fool.

C．A guide.

D．A fan.

4. Which of the following best describes Fun Yunting’s job?

A．Boring.

B．Dangerous.

C．Meaningful.

D．Relaxing.

【推荐1】Norwegian author, playwright and poet Jon Fosse has been named the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Swedish Academy said on Thursday it was for his “innovative plays and prose which gives voice to the unsayable”.

This made him the first Nynorsk writer to receive the prize and the fourth Norwegian to win it, following Sigrid Undset, who won it in 1928. Previous winners of the prize — given for a body of works, rather than a single book-have included Toni Morrison, Doris Lessing, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Bob Dylan.

Born in 1959, Fosse grew up in western Norway, on a small farm in Strandebarm. He started writing poems and stories at age 12, and found writing to be a form of escape. Fosse enrolled at the University of Bergen and studied comparative literature during which time he began writing in Nynorsk, a minority language.

In 1983, Fosse published his first novel Red, Black, kicking off a remarkably prolific (高产的) career. He has published 40 plays, as well as novels, poetry, essays, children’s books and works of translation. Although he started as a poet and novelist, Fosse rose to fame as a playwright. He gained international recognition in the late 1990s with a Paris production of his first play Someone Is Going to Come, which was said to be written in four or five days without revision.

Fosse has long been tipped to receive the Nobel. In 2013, British bookmakers even temporarily suspended betting on the award after numerous bets on his winning, although the prize did not come his way for another decade. When it finally did, the call from the Nobel Prize’s organizers came while Fosse was traveling to Frekhaug, a village on Norway’s west coast. He admitted he was overwhelmed and somewhat frightened.

Nobel committee chairman Anders Olsson said, “What is special with him is the closeness in his writing. It touches on the deepest feelings that you have — anxieties, insecurities, questions of life and death — such things that every human being actually encounters from the very beginning. It doesn’t matter if it is drama, poetry or prose — it has the same kind of appeal to this basic humanness.”

1. What can we learn from the article?

A．Fosse won the Nobel Prize for his abundant works.

B．Nynorsk is a widely used Norwegian language for literature.

C．With his career taking off for the first novel, Fosse became globally recognized.

D．It’s believed that Fosse had his first play polished in a couple of days.

2. What can be inferred from the incident in 2013?

A．It proved that British bookmakers were against Fosse.

B．It demonstrated that Fosse was a failure for a long time.

C．It indicated that Fosse was in favor with the general public.

D．It revealed that Fosse didn’t receive the Nobel Prize until 2023.

3. What makes Fosse’s writing unique?

A．Productivity in works.

B．Diverse types in writing.

C．The language style different from others.

D．Deep emotional connections with humans.

4. Where is this article probably taken from?

A．A novel.

B．A newspaper.

C．A brochure.

D．A guidebook.

【推荐2】High street retail (零售业) staff are to wear cameras after a sudden large increase in the number   of violent arguments over facemasks.

Tesco, Boots, Matalan, JD Sports, Co-op and Sainbury’s are equipping their employees with the recording devices to protect them.

The move comes after the retail union Usdaw said that abuse towards shop workers had doubled since the pandemic began. It added that there had been a 42 per cent increase in violent confrontations related to rows over face coverings.

Tesco said it would provide the body-worn cameras at £1,400 of its stores across the UK by the end of February. Boots has started testing the cameras which are said to prevent aggression. Co-op has invested £70 million in security measures for its staff at more than 500 stores after more than 2,000 employees were attacked in 2019. Sainsbury’s introduced neck-worn security cameras, typically used by the police, for its workers.

Reveal, a British company that provides body-worn cameras, confirmed a 30 per cent increase in sales during 2020 which it attributes to an increase in demand from UK stores.

Alasdair Field, the chief executive of Reveal, said: “For many, the pandemic has opened their eyes to some of the daily challenges faced by retail workers, from managing customer behavior to making sure that new rules are obeyed.”

Unfortunately, recent figures show incidents of violence and abuse toward staff are at the second highest ever recorded... Body-worn cameras provide support, reassurance, and confidence to staff and the public. They have been proven to reduce complaints, increase safety, limit the use of force and even increase productivity.

1. What is the function of the second paragraph?

A．To give some examples of different stores.

B．To give statement fact.

C．To add some details.

D．To continue from the above and introduce the following.

2. What is the sixth paragraph mainly about?

A．New rules must be obeyed.

B．Retail workers have to face the daily challenges.

C．Customer behavior should be managed.

D．The pandemic has opened people’s eyes.

3. What can we expect of the security measures in the future?

A．They will promote social progress.

B．They may end up with chaos.

C．They might be of much effect despite arguments.

D．They could stop economic development.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A．Abuse towards shop workers doubled since the pandemic.

B．Shop workers are to wear body cameras after rise in abuse.

C．Incidents of violence and abuse toward retail staff increase.

D．Body-worn security cameras are to be used.

【推荐3】When 66-year-old Londoner Sylvia Haller was laid off in February, it wasn't her income that took a hit. It was her self-respect. “I had this feeling like ‘I'm too old’,” she says. “Nobody wants to employ me anymore.” When a friend told her about TaskRabbit, an app that allows workers to sell all kinds of services—like fixing furniture or waiting in line for special breakfast. She set up an account on her phone, and lined up customers for many different jobs.

The gig economy(零工经济)has exploded in recent years. In a report, researchers estimate 77 million people within Europe, India, and the US formally identify themselves as freelancers(自由职业者).

For most of those workers, freelancing is a choice: only a small minority said they were unable to find full-time jobs. They got into the gig economy in the hope of getting more control over their careers and diversifying the sources of their income.

Almost one-third of Americans who work in the gig economy are baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964. Among those 55 and older, 32% said they were driven, at least in part, by a desire to be around interesting people. “Not knowing what kind of customer you're going to meet is quite exciting,” says Haller, recalling fixing a bed for a student. “I spend less time working and have more time to be home.”

For boomers who work in physically demanding fields, digital gig work can be a relief. Jerry Nelson, a photojournalist, says he's “too old to charge into forests...” Instead, he writes blog posts for others he finds through an online platform.

For some others, gig work is a way to finally pursue their passions. American Dan Hays, 68, who spent most of his career in the oil and gas industries, in 2015 booked his first voi-ceover(旁白)acting job. “I want to try something different and that suits my fancy,” said Hays.

1. What hit Sylvia Haller hardest with being unemployed?

A．Her income.	B．Her pride.
C．Her family.	D．Her knowledge.

2. What can be learned about gig work?

A．It's an app.	B．It aims at elder people.
C．It's a new way of working.	D．It's a new form of consumption.

3. Why did Dan Hays get into the gig economy?

A．To meet fun people.	B．To reach out for something new.
C．To gain more recognition.	D．To balance work and family.

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

A．The baby boomers in the US

B．The daily work of the elderly

C．People change retirement with a new form

D．Work helps people connect with their communities