【推荐1】Tea drinking was common in China for nearly one thousand years before anyone in Europe had ever heard about tea. People in Britain were much slower in finding out what tea was like, mainly because tea was very expensive. It could not be bought in shops and even those people who could afford to have it sent from Holland did so only because it was a fashionable curiosity. Some of them were not sure how to use it. They thought it was a vegetable and tried cooking the leaves. Then they served them mixed with butter and salt. They soon discovered their mistake but many people used to spread the used tea leaves on bread and give them to their children as sandwiches.
Tea remained scarce and very expensive in England until the ships of the East India Company began to bring it direct from China early in the seventeenth century. During the next few years so much tea came into the country that the price fell and many people could afford to buy it.
At the same time people on the Continent were becoming more and more fond of tea. Until then tea had been drunk without milk in it, but one day a famous French lady named Madame de Sevigne decided to see what tea tasted like when milk was added. She found it so pleasant that she would never again drink it without milk. Because she was such a great lady that her friends thought they must copy everything she did, they also drank their tea with milk in it. Slowly this habit spread until it reached England and today only very few Britons drink tea without milk.
At first, tea was usually drunk after dinner in the evening. No one ever thought of drinking tea in the afternoon until a duchess（公爵夫人）found that a cup of tea and a piece of cake at three or four o'clock stopped her getting “a sinking feeling” as she called it. She invited her friends to have this new meal with her and so, tea-time was born .
1. This passage mainly discusses           .

A．the history of tea drinking in Britain

B．how tea became a popular drink in Britain

C．how the Britons got the habit of drinking tea

D．how tea-time was born

2. Tea became a popular drink in Britain           .

A．in the sixteenth century

B．in the seventeenth century

C．in the eighteenth century

D．in the late seventeenth century

3. We may infer from the passage that the habit of drinking tea in Britain was mostly due to the influence of             .

A．a famous French lady

B．the ancient Chinese

C．the upper(上层的) social class

D．people in Holland

【推荐2】You know the feeling--your ears start to warm up, your tongue goes numb (麻木的), and you start sweating and taking deep breaths. You’ve just eaten something spicy, knowing it would be painful, but you chose to do it anyway. Are humans just masochistic (自讨苦吃的), or is there something else going on?     1    .

Spicy isn’t actually a taste like salty, sweet, sour and bitter-- it’s a sensation.     2    . When we eat foods containing capsaicin (辣椒素), our bodies are tricked into thinking the temperature is actually rising. In trying to temper the burning sensation, our bodies release endorphins (内啡肽) which control pain and, at the same time, give a feeling of pleasure---like painkillers.

This is what is happening chemically, but there is also a conscious side to choosing spicy food. Dr Tamara Rosenbaum, Cognitive Neuroscientist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, explains in an interview with the BBC that this is     3    . Furthermore, we obtain pleasure from the other ingredients chilli is generally cooked and eaten with- including fat, sugar and salt. So-like skydiving-eating, chilli is a form of thrill-seeking,     4    .

This masochistic relationship with capsaicin started in the Andes of South America, where chilli peppers originate. Humans were one of the few mammals on Earth that developed a taste for capsaicin. As archaeological evidence suggests, they started cultivating chilli peppers about six thousand years ago. Human intervention changed the chilli pepper to suit human tastes and needs--including the pepper’s colour, size and capsaicin content-helping to explain the many different types of chilli peppers now available.     5    . We eat around 57. 3 million tons of peppers globally each year, and chilli is a key ingredient in traditional dishes from Mexico to Korea. Maybe we are masochistic after all.

A．It lies in both science and history

B．This is caused by a chemical compound called ‘capsaicin’

C．where we get pleasure from a seemingly negative sensation

D．It has something to do with human nature and body composition

E．why Chop Bell Pepper Fish Head enjoys great popularity among Hunanese

F．Fast-forward to today, and our love affair with the chilli pepper is going strong

G．because we know that the burning sensation of chilli does not physically harm us

【推荐3】These days, many people are concerned about plastic waste; however, the convenience and cost of plastic food packaging are hard to beat. But now, a growing number of inventors are trying to make edible (可食用的) packaging and tableware from foods like seaweed, milk proteins and potato starch, according to an article in Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society.

Edible films, wrappers and straws have already found a specialty market and are starting to attract attention from larger food and beverage companies, according to freelance contributor Prachi Patel. At the 2019 London Marathon, the start-up company Notpla handed out sports drink, packaged in seaweed-based capsules, to thirsty runners. Although the packaging is safe to swallow, runners can choose to spit out the film. In that case, it breaks down in only 4-6 weeks. The New York-based company Loliware is making seaweed-based straws that feel like plastic for 24 hours after getting wet. Once used, they can be eaten, or they will break down in the environment within 2 months. Marriott Hotels and alcoholic-beverage firm Pernod Ricard have already started using the straws.

Although edible packaging is gaining ground, challenges remain. Some worry about the hygiene (卫生) of eating packaging that has been touched or exposed to germs during transport or while sitting on the shelf. Experts agree that edible packaging will require an outer layer, but these materials could also be made from sustainable materials, such as paper. Another obstacle is public acceptance: will people eat something that is usually thrown away? Consumers could perhaps be convinced if the packaging includes nutrients, such as vitamins or proteins, or just tastes good. And finally, improvements in heat and moisture stability need to be made before edible packaging can enjoy widespread use.

1. What does the author intend to tell us in paragraph 1?

A．Plastic is convenient and cheap.

B．People are concerned about plastic.

C．Seaweed can be widely used as wrappers.

D．New food packaging is catching more attention.

2. Which of the following can best describe Notpla?

A．It is a computer company.	B．It produces edible straws.
C．It is run by Prachi Patel.	D．It’s a newly founded company.

3. What is implied in the third paragraph?

A．Edible packaging may cause more pollution.

B．It takes time for edible packaging to be popular.

C．No one but experts support edible packaging.

D．Edible packaging will certainly replace plastic.

4. What can be the best title of this text?

A．Edible Food Packaging	B．Environmental Issues
C．Brand New Inventions	D．The Food of the Future

【推荐2】Kids who talk regularly with their fathers are happier than kids who don’t, according to a new research.

Children who converse with their fathers “most days” considered them-selves 87 out of 100 on a happiness degree, while those who rarely talk to their dads got a score of 79. The study results showed the findings “highly important”, because the research has proved that a person’s happiness later in life has something to do with their parents Relationship during the teen years.

Dads may not have as many meaningful conversations (谈话) with their kids as moms, but they tend to roughhouse with them more than moms do, and the research shows that’s important for kids’ development, too. There are new studies showing that this kind of play inspires kids to explore in kids’ future life. Studies also show that dads often give power to their children and encourage them to explore and meet new people. And dads tend to be more in charge of playtime than moms, too.

“Mothers help children feel connected> expected and wanted,” said Patrick Tolan, “Fathers teach them how to interact with others and how to control themselves when they feel their needs aren’t being met.”

One study from School of Psychology, Université de Mentréal observed parents interacting with their toddlers (刚学会走路的孩子) while children were put into “risky” situations. In one experiment, a stranger came up toeing the kids and in another, the kids saw toys placed at the top of stairs. The dads followed their kids at a distance, which encouraged kids to explore.

“We found that fathers are more Likely than mothers to activate exploratory behavior by being less protective Daniel Paquette said. And as any in-dependent-minded child knows, the chance to explore without an overprotective mom on board leads to even more happiness.

1. The underlined phrase converse with?, in Paragraph 2 may mean ________.

A．talk with	B．compete with
C．work with	D．play with

2. If dads roughhouses with kids, kids ________.

A．will become more violent in later life

B．will be active in finding more in life

C．will have no pity for others

D．will treat their parents badly

3. Why did kids with dads explore more?

A．Because dads are more confident in themselves.

B．Because dads are usually careless parents.

C．Because dads are willing to take risks themselves.

D．Because dads don^ protect them eagerly.

【推荐3】We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively. We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.

We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom is passive, and so is the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines. Conditioned (习惯) as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.

Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay (传闻) and rumor (谣言).

Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared. Typically, the original message has changed.

That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping (打上标记) it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.

This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be restated as a fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.

1. According to the passage, ________ belongs to passive learning.

A．doing a medical experiment	B．solving a math problem
C．visiting an exhibition	D．doing scientific reasoning

2. The author mentions the game rumor to show that ________.

A．a message may be changed when being passed on

B．a message should be delivered in different ways

C．people may have problems with their sense of hearing

D．people tend not to believe in what they know as rumor

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Active learning is less important	B．Passive learning may not be reliable
C．Active learning occurs more frequently	D．Passive learning is not found among scholars

4. Through the passage, the author intends mainly to ________.

A．introduce the advantages of passive learning	B．persuade us to adopt active learning
C．explain why passive learning can be bad	D．compare active learning and passive learning

【推荐2】Loneliness is significant mental health concern and can raise risk of death by 45% and contact with nature in cities significantly reduces feelings of loneliness, according to a team of scientists.

The study is the first to assess how the environment can affect loneliness. It used real-time data, collected via a smartphone app, rather than relying on people’s memory of how they were feeling.

The research found that feelings of overcrowding increased loneliness by an average of 30%. But when people were able to see trees or hear birds, feelings of loneliness fell by 28%. Feelings of social inclusion also cut loneliness by 21％ and when these feelings coincided(巧合) with contact with nature, the beneficial effect was boosted by a further 18％.

The findings pointed to interventions to reduce loneliness. The researchers said, “Specific measures that increase social inclusion-and contact with nature should be taken, especially in thickly populated cities.” Time spent in nature is known to boost well-being, with woodland walks estimated to save the UK at least ￡185m a year in mental health costs, for example.

The research collected data from urban citizens across the world using the Urban Mind search app. More than 750 people provided 16,600 of these assessments. The participants were self-selecting and so it did not provide a representative sample of the wider populations. But when the researchers took age, education, and occupation into account, the benefits of nature contact and feelings of social inclusion on loneliness remained strongly statistically significant. Johanna Gibbons, part of the research team, said, “Cities are probably the only habitat that is increasing at a high rate. So we should be creating urban habitats where people can thrive(兴旺).”

1. How was the research conducted?

A．By relying on people’s memory.

B．By surveying 750 paricipants.

C．By collecting data through a smartphidoapp.

D．By checking a worldwide representative ample.

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 4?

A．Many big cities take the lead in the research.

B．Time spent indoors improves people’s well-being.

C．Woodland walks greatly reduce social contact with people.

D．Interventions to reduce loneliness benefit the UK financially.

3. What ean be inferred about the research?

A．The findings are statistically markable.

B．It offers a wide range of samples globally.

C．The carefully selected participants are Defiable.

D．Many factors are considered except eduction.

4. What’s the text mainly about?

A．The mental problems of living in big cities.

B．Reducing loncliness in cities via contact with nature.

C．Developing urban habitats at a high speod.

D．Research on how to get rid of loneliness in nature.

【推荐3】Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, and has long been a favorite destination of tourists from all over the world, as well as an important cultural and political center.

With its museums, shops, wonderful historic castles, many pubs and restaurants, there are many things for visitors to enjoy all year round. And of course, as it is in Scotland, there is a wide range of whiskies to try!

However, there is more to Edinburgh than historic monuments and tourism. Each year, the Edinburgh Festival takes place in the city. In late summer, for three weeks, the festival presents classical music, theatre, opera and dance at six major theatres and concert halls and several smaller ones throughout the city. Whatever your cultural tastes are, you are sure to find something to enjoy.

Local talent is always represented at the Edinburgh Festival giving Scottish composers and playwrights the opportunity to show their work and gain praises from a wider audience.

In addition, orchestras and theatre companies come from all over the world to perform at the festival. Last year saw the arrival of orchestras from the United States and Germany.

The festival has now become an important part of Scotland's economy as well as its culture. Last year's festival gained over £130 million in Edinburgh alone, and across Scotland nearly 2,900 jobs exist as a direct result of the festival.

The festival is so popular that it has become, in some ways, a victim of its own success. The huge interest in performing there led to the setting up of a rival festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Fortunately, demand for live entertainment during the summer is so great that both festivals continue to develop.

1. How many theatres and concert halls are there in Edinburgh?

A．Five.

B．Six.

C．Less than six.

D．More than six.

2. What has become an important part of Scotland's economy?

A．The Edinburgh Festival	B．The Local talent.
C．The festival and its culture	D．The orchestras.

3. Why are there two festivals, the Edinburgh Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival?

A．Because people there need them.	B．Because of the huge interest in performing there.
C．Because one is not enough.	D．Because the government requires them.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Edinburgh’s historic monuments	B．The interesting places of Scotland.
C．Scotland ’s tourism.	D．Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland