【推荐1】I thought I was pretty good at teaching myself—until I read Tara Westover’s Educated. Her ability to learn on her own blows my right out of the water. I was thrilled to sit down with her recently to talk about the book.

Tara was raised in a Mormon survivalist home in rural Idaho. Her dad had very non mainstream views about the government. He believed doomsday was coming and that the family should interact with the health and education systems as little as possible. As a result, she didn’t step foot in a classroom until she was 17, and major medical crises went untreated. (Her mother suffered a brain injury in a car accident and never fully recovered).

Because Tara and her six siblings worked at their father’s junkyard from a young age, none of them received any kind of proper homeschooling. She had to teach herself algebra and self-studied for the ACT, which she did well enough on to gain admission to Brigham Young University. Eventually, she earned her doctorate in intellectual history from Cambridge University.

Educated is an amazing story and I get why it’s spent so much time on the top of the New York Times bestseller list. It reminded me in some ways of the Netflix documentary Wild. Wild Country, which I recently watched. Both explore people who remove themselves from society because they have these beliefs and knowledge that they think make them more enlightened. Their belief systems benefit from their separateness, and you’re forced to be either in or out.

But unlike Wild, Wild Country—which revels in the strangeness of its subjects. Tara is never cruel, even when she’s writing about some of her father’s most fringe beliefs. It’s clear that her whole family, including her mom and dad, is energetic and talented. Whatever their ideas are, they pursue them.

Tara’s process of self-discovery is beautifully captured in Educated. It’s the kind of book that I think everyone will enjoy, no matter what genre you usually pick up.

1. What does the author think of Tara’s self-teaching?

A．unbelievable

B．not bad

C．doubtable

D．impossible

2. Which of the following about Tara’s family is true?

A．There are altogether six children in the family.

B．Tara’s dad often holds mainstream beliefs about the government.

C．They are a Mormon family living in the urban area of Idaho.

D．Tara did not receive formal education until 17.

3. Why does the author mention Wild, Wild Country in the text?

A．To highlight that Educated is an amazing story worth reading.

B．To analyze the content of it.

C．To show that Educated is one the top of The New York Times bestseller list.

D．To introduce a documentary to the reader.

4. What genre does Educated belong to?

A．novel

B．science fiction

C．biography

D．news report

【推荐2】There is no way they just drove into that water, thought Corion Evans. The 16-year-old was hanging out with friends in a parking area underneath a Moss Point, highway in July when a car with three teenage girls inside fell into the Pascagoula River. It came to rest some 20 feet from land, then sank. The driver, Evans would learn, had blindly followed wrong directions from her GPS.

It was around 2:30 a. m. by the time Evans and brothers Karon and Caleh Bradley got to the river’s edge. In the darkness, they could barely make out the girls clinging to the roof, the only part of the car still, barely, above water. But they could hear screaming.

Evans took off his shirt and shoes, put his phone down, and then dived into the water, a river he knew alligators (鳄鱼) called home. He helped the first girl he saw and, keeping her head above water, led her ashore.

Just then, a man called out. Police Officer Garry Mercer had arrived. He dived into the river to help another of the girls. But halfway back to shore she panicked and went underwater, pulling Mercer down with her. Evans jumped back into the water and helped them until they could stand. “If he hadn’t been there, who knows?” Mercer told the Washington Post.

There was still one girl in the water. Cora Watson, 19, could not swim. She was gulping water, struggling to stay afloat. And scared.

“I heard Watson screaming ‘Help! And I thought she was done,” Caleh told WLOX in Biloxi.

“I just knew my last breath was coming,” Watson said. “My mind said, You’re slowly losing yourself.” She began to go under. Then, a surprise. “Corion had grabbed me.”

All of them were taken to the hospital and released. They’re alive because Corion Evans risked his life to save them. They’re alive, says his mother, Marquita Evans, because Corion Evans broke his curfew (宵禁). But she’s not mad, she told the Post, “He had a good reason.”

1. Why did the car fall into the river?

A．Because the driver was blind.

B．Because the driver was a teenager.

C．Because the GPS was not accurate.

D．Because the car broke down accidentally.

2. How many people did Corion Evans save?

A．One

B．Two

C．Three

D．Four

3. Which of the following best describes Corion Evans?

A．Optimistic and honest	B．Skillful and brave
C．Humorous and kind	D．Responsible and creative

4. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Police Officer Garry Mercer can’t swim.

B．The river that the car fell into is dangerous.

C．Evans and his friends saved the girls together       .

D．Marquita was angry about Evan’s breaking his curfew.

【推荐2】Alone in the wilderness. Nothing but jungle. A world of shadow with the rays of light falling like blonde hair from the crowns of the giant trees. Jungle in the middy sun. Everything motionless. Not a sound from sky or earth. Complete silence. Only some coconuts falling, very far away. The world reduced to the soft touch of cool grass along my naked back, and a sweet smell of rich soil and vegetation. Stretching out with closed eyes beside my heavy burden of fruit and firewood, I enjoyed the feeling of fresh blood streaming through every part of my body and fresh jungle air filling every corner of my lungs.

Resting motionless, I could see the sun through my closed eyelids, alone in the sky, as lonely as I, and as motionless and silent as everything else. The earth had surely stopped turning and somewhere on this planet there was supposed to be roaring traffic in busy streets. What a crazy, unbelievable thought!

Another coconut fell, to make the world come to a complete standstill. I had to roll over onto my stomach to feel that at least I could move and make noises. Then I found company. A little brown ant was struggling to find its way with a bit of dry straw (草) through the jungle of leaves and grass below my nose. I wondered if I could give the little fellow a lift with its burden, but it showed not the slightest sign of tiredness and struggled on with all six legs, head first or head last, waving its feelers energetically as if the trip had just started. Who ever saw a tired ant? Tiredness, disagreeable tiredness, is restricted to hunted animals, slaves and modern man. It is as great an effort for an office to walk five blocks with a heavy brief-case as it is for a jungle-dweller to cross a valley with a goat on his back. It is as hard to get up and climb or run when you have been seated for years as it is to get up and walk when you have been in bed for months. The body is strange. Spare it, and you get really tired for almost nothing; use it, and almost nothing makes you really tired.

I rose to my feet. I had heard a horse neighing down in the valley. Above me, on the open highland plains, there were wild horses. But down in the valley there was never a horse unless there was a man on it. Somebody was making his way up the valley and my wife was alone.

1. The author mentions coconut’s falling to ________.

A．show his loneliness

B．add beauty to the jungle

C．express his love of nature

D．stress the absolute silence

2. What’s the right order of the following events?
① I heard a horse neighing down in the valley.
② I went to the jungle.
③ I found an ant carrying a bit of dry straw.
④ I lay on the ground to have a break.
⑤I picked fruits and chopped firewood.

A．②③⑤①④

B．⑤③②④①

C．②⑤④③①

D．⑤④③②①

3. How does the author feel about the ant?

A．He admired its behavior toward work.

B．He was amazed at its tireless efforts.

C．He had pity on the little ant.

D．He was happy to have its company.

4. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the writer would probably ______.

A．work harder than before

B．talk to the man on the horse

C．make his way home

D．stay in the valley to enjoy the beautiful view

【推荐3】Very early on in my senior year of high school, my parents pretty much carried the flame for my future college. I was happy going to a 2-year college before going after my bachelor’s degree. This was for two reasons: to help them save money and to make sure I major in English. However, they insisted their only boy should attend a 4-year college right off the bat.

I was pushed to start searching for colleges therefore, ones that my parents approved of and fit within the range of tuition that my mom thought was acceptable to. I was also restricted to the immediate area, which really only included New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, so I was talked out of applying to any colleges in one of my favorite places: New Hampshire.

I should be honest: it got a bit tense at times with several different opinions between my parents and me, and with other family members or friends voicing their thoughts to my parents.

In the end, I ended up applying to three schools: SUNY Albany, SUNY New Paltz, and Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. I had been to New Paltz quite often as it was only 45 minutes away from our home. And Kutztown is located in an area our family often visited.

I was accepted by all three, and I quickly gave up Albany. I was not impressed with the city and wasn’t familiar with the area. It was between New Paltz and Kutztown. After a few weeks, I ended up settling on New Paltz because Kutztown just didn’t “feel right” for me. When I was on the campus, I had a feeling that this was it.

Looking back now, I wish I had known more about the application process and had a little more freedom of choice about which college I could apply to. I probably still would have attended SUNY New Paltz, but I would have loved to have a few more options.

1. What did the author’s parents think he should do?

A．Choose a college that can provide good jobs.

B．Go to a community college to save money.

C．Choose a college that he likes best.

D．Directly go to a 4-year college.

2. Why didn’t the author choose colleges in New Hampshire?

A．He wasn’t familiar with it.	B．His situation didn’t allow it.
C．The living expenses there were too high.	D．He wasn’t sure if he would fit in there.

3. What did the author think of his final choice?

A．Embarrassed.

B．Regretful.

C．Satisfied.

D．Worried.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．How I Chose My College	B．How to Apply to a College
C．Different Choices, Different Future	D．The Meaning of Attending College