【推荐1】When it comes to friends, I desire those who will share my happiness, who possess wings of their own and who will fly with me. I seek minds whose qualities illuminate(照亮) me and train me up for love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing hours, too good not to share.

When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and “too serious” about our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say: “Let’s start with a train whistle today.” We would sit quietly together and write separate poems or stories that grew out of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we, too, were changed into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped.

When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend.He was in despair(失望) and 1 was in despair. But our friendship was based on the idea in each of us that we would be sorry later if we did not explore this great city because we had felt bad at the time. We met every Sunday for five weeks and found many excellent things. We walked until our despairs disappeared and then we parted. We gave London to each other.

For almost four years I have had a remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine. We write long letters in which we often discover our strangest selves. Each of us appears, sometimes in a funny way, in the other’s dreams. She and I agree that, at certain times, we seem to be parts of the same mind.In my most interesting moments, I often think: “Yes, I must tell…’’We have never met.

It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist, who will only fill up the healing(愈合的) silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would rather be my own best friend.

1. In Paragraph 3, “We gave London to each other” probably means _________.

A．our exploration of London was a memorable gift to both of us

B．we were unwilling to tear ourselves away from London

C．our unpleasant feeling about London disappeared

D．we parted with each other in London

2. In the darkest moments, the author would prefer to _________.

A．seek professional help

B．be left alone

C．stay with her best friend

D．break the silence

3. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Unforgettable Experiences

B．Remarkable Imagination

C．Lifelong Friendship

D．Noble Companions

【推荐3】How would you feel if moving to a new town meant losing track of your friends? What if the only way of getting news from faraway friends was writing letters that took ages to be delivered?     1     Thanks to advances in technology, how we make friends and communicate with them has changed significantly.

Nowadays, we can move around the world and still stay in touch with the people that we want to remain friends with. Social media tools let us see what our friends are up to and maintain friendships.     2    

The digital age also enables us to find people who share our interests, such as collecting model cars or playing an unusual instrument. Whatever our hobbies, the Internet can connect us with others who also enjoy doing them, even if they live on the other side of the world.

But when you “friend” people online, does this mean that they really are your friends?

    3    

If people always exchange true personal information online, then yes, these friendships can be real and meaningful. But we need to keep in mind that what we see on social media is often not the whole truth about a person.

On social media sites, people tend to post only positive updates that make them appear happy and friendly. But smiling photos can hide real problems.     4     A young person could be old; a woman could be a man; we could even be sharing our information with criminals.

    5     Although technology has changed the way we acquire friends, the meaning of friendship and our longing for friends remain the same. As Aristotle said, no one would choose to live without friends, even if he had all other goods.

A．It depends.

B．All you need is a Wi-Fi connection.

C．It’s a problem that’s getting a lot of coverage.

D．This was how things worked not very long ago.

E．Remember the saying: on the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.

F．But that doesn’t mean that a higher percentage of people feel lonely now.

G．But this doesn’t mean that we should throw the baby out with the bathwater.

【推荐1】The United States is a nation of car owners. Ninety-five percent of houses own a car, and 85 percent of people get to work in one. This lifestyle results in traffic jams on our roads and does big damage to the environment. As autonomous vehicles（自动驾驶车辆）begin to hit the streets over the next ten years or so, it is believed that all this will change.

This future is not ensured, however. To realize the full possible benefits of driverless cars, we will have to act soon to encourage a culture in which transportation is shared. Consider what would happen if most people own their own driverless car, the same trouble we will suffer if they insist on riding alone.

It is well-known that autonomous vehicles will most likely reduce the number and seriousness of crashes, and reduce traffic jams and increase capacity. Nobody knows whether these positive effects would overcome the negative effects of private ownership, but we wouldn’t bet on it.

Many people think that driverless vehicles will surely be shared, but there is little evidence. Vehicle providers have no reason to encourage shared usage of vehicles. It is suggested that driverless cars will be only a little more expensive than traditional cars, which means they’ll be within reach of many consumers, so users have little reason to ask for services that provide shared rides.

If most people are going to buy-in to a shared-ride culture, they need to get a clear benefit. Saving a few dollars off the fare isn’t likely to encourage the movement. A better benefit would be knowing that you’re going to reach your destination more quickly.

The way to make quick passage possible is to redesign our roads to give priority（优先）to collective transportation modes like building priority lanes（车道）for ride-sharing autonomous vehicle. Autonomous vehicles carrying many people should get higher priority than those carrying one or none at all.

Decision-makers at the local and state levels must encourage the most efficient use of our limited roadway. The autonomous future is rapidly coming; it is critical that we act now, while the impacts of autonomous vehicles are still largely within our control.

1. What can we know about autonomous vehicles?

A．They cause traffic jams on roads and big damage to the environment.

B．Many people have ridden autonomous vehicles to make traffic jams change.

C．They are most likely effective at reducing traffic jams and increasing capacity.

D．People will not want an autonomous vehicle because of its expensive price.

2. Which is not a benefit of sharing autonomous vehicles?

A．To reduce the number and seriousness of crashes.

B．To redesign roads to prioritize car-shared modes.

C．To save a few dollars off the fare you used to need.

D．To let you reach your destination much more quickly.

3. What is the author’s attitude to autonomous vehicles’ hitting the streets now?

A．Supportive.

B．Doubtful.

C．Objective.

D．Uncaring.

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Will Driverless Cars Make Our Traffic Problems Better?

B．Autonomous Vehicles Will Make a Big Change to Traffic.

C．Decision-makers Should Take Some Measures Quickly.

D．What is The Situation of Cars Now in The United States?

【推荐3】One morning a few years ago, Harvard President Neil Rudenstine overslept. For this busy man, it was a sort of alarm: after years of non-stop hard work, he might wear himself out and die an early death.
Only after a week’s leave—— during which he read novels, listened to music and walked with his wife on a beach—— was Rudenstine able to return to work.
In our modern life, we have lost the rhythm between action and rest. Amazingly, within this world there is a universal but silly saying: “I am so busy.”
We say this to one another as if our tireless efforts were a talent by nature and an ability to successfully deal with stress. The busier we are, the more important we seem to ourselves and, we imagine, to others. To be unavailable to our friends and family, and to be unable to find time to relax—— this has become the model of a successful life.
Because we do not rest, we lose our way. We miss the guide telling us where to go, the food providing is with strength, the quiet giving us wisdom.
How have we allowed this to happen? I believe it is this: we have forgotten the Sabbath, the day of the week—— for followers of some religions—— for rest and praying. It is a day when we are not supposed to work, a time when we devote ourselves to enjoying and celebrating what is beautiful. It is a good time to bless our children and loved ones, give thanks, share meals, walk and sleep. It is a time for us to take a rest, to put our work aside, trusting that there are larger forces at work taking care of the world.
Rest is s spiritual and biological need; however, in our strong ambition to be successful and care for our many responsibilities, we may feel terribly guilty when we take time to rest. The Sabbath gives us permission to stop work. In fact, “Remember the Sabbath” is more than simply permission to rest; it is a rule to obey and a principle to follow.
1. The “alarm” in the first paragraph refers to “_______”.

A．a signal of stress

B．a warning of danger

C．a sign of age

D．a spread of disease

2. According to Paragraph 4, a successful person is one who is believed to _______.

A．be able to work without stress

B．be more talented than other people

C．be more important than anyone else

D．be busying working without time to rest

3. Some people feel guilty when taking time to rest because they _______.

A．think that taking a rest means lacking ambitions

B．fail to realize that rest is an essential part of life

C．fail to realize that religions force them to rest

D．think that taking a rest means being lazy

4. What is the main idea of this passage?

A．We should balance work with rest.

B．The Sabbath gives us permission to rest.

C．It is silly for anyone to say “I am busy.”

D．We should be available to our family and friends.