【推荐1】A handful of small animal and human studies prove that consuming dairy products like milk and cheese before bed may help most people have a more restful night’s sleep, though the reason why remains unclear.

Most experts believe that milk promoting sleep may be related to chemical compounds, the mental effects of this relaxed bedtime habit, or both.

Most experts agree that milk’s sleep-promoting possibility is likely related to specific chemical compounds, such as tryptophan (色氨酸)and melatonin (褪黑素)in milk which may help you fall asleep. Because the role of tryptophan and melatonin in sleep disorders is well established, most experts believe taking supplements of these compounds may reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression that can crop up at bed time.

However, there’s currently no evidence to suggest that a single glass of milk contains enough tryptophan or melatonin to significantly influence your body’s natural production of elements which help a person fall asleep fast or to independently treat a disordered sleeping pattern.

Some professors, such as Clinten in Boston University, draw a theory and suspect that milk’s potential role as a sleep aid has little to do with its nutritional composition and that it’s instead more closely related to the mental effect of having a calming bedtime habit.

Another theory is that drinking warm milk could subconsciously remind you of having milk at bedtime during your early childhood years. These soothing feelings may signal to your brain that it’s time to sleep, making it easier to fall asleep peacefully.

Still, there is not enough evidence to definitely prove any particular effects of developing a habit of drinking milk before bedtime, so more research is needed.

1. What can we know about the viewpoint that milk can promote sleep?

A．Milk can only help animals fall asleep quickly.

B．The reason why drinking milk can promote sleep has been found.

C．Everyone can fall asleep faster by drinking milk before going to sleep.

D．The tryptophan and melatonin in milk may promote healthy sleep cycles.

2. According to the theory, Clinten thinks drinking milk before bedtime can .

A．Release nutritional composition.

B．Add more anxiety and depression.

C．Imply oneself that you should go to bed now with ease.

D．Continue to develop the habit of drinking just like in your childhood.

3. Who is the intended readers?

A．Tradesman who supply milk.	B．People who suffer from wakefulness.
C．Professors in Boston University.	D．Children with a disordered sleeping habits.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the effects of the milk before bedtime?

A．Doubtful.

B．Critical.

C．Indifferent.

D．Negative.

【推荐3】Do you know cultivated meat? Typically, making this sort of meat starts with cells from domestic animals. The cells are grown in bioreactors full of nutrient-rich liquid, and then harvested, and eventually become products such as steak or chicken. In a homely kitchen of Eat Just, a startup, a slice of such meat was fried and then served with peppers. The first mouthful of it was extraordinary because the meat was grown in a lab, rather than on an animal. Meanwhile, it was also dull, because the texture, taste, look and smell of the meat was almost identical to that of chicken.

In June, Eat Just and Upside Foods became the first two companies to win regulatory approval to sell cultivated meat in America. A handful of other firms are trying to bring cultivated meat to market. But the hope is fading owing to continued high costs and troubles with mass production.

The UN reports meat and dairy production already accounts for 12% of humanity’s greenhouse-gas emissions. Demand for meat is skyrocketing among the growing middle classes of Africa and Asia. Lab-grown meat could help meet that demand without the world breaking its carbon budget. By contrast, two-fifths of Americans claim to restrict their meat consumption either for ethical (伦理的) reasons or environmental ones. Lab-grown meat may seem less ethically worrisome than eating animals. And the early success of plant-based meat alternatives gave investors hope. Beyond Meat, one such firm, went public in 2019, and saw its value shoot to $14 billion.

Though lab-grown meat offers an alternative to farm-grown meat, questions have been raised about how climate-friendly it can be. A study published earlier this year found that in some circumstances cultivated meat could be more polluting than the conventional stuff because the bioreactor is in great need of power to control its temperature. Consequently, only if renewable energy is used in the production process will cultivated meat cut the carbon footprint of the meat industry.

Whether this effort can make lab-grown meat attractive and cheap enough to attract consumers remains to be seen.

1. What about cultivated meat does the author focus on in paragraph 1?

A．Its characteristics.	B．Its health benefits.
C．Its cooking methods.	D．Its similarities to artificial meat.

2. What can we infer from paragraph 3?

A．Most Americans tend to skip meat.	B．Asians prefer lab-grown meat.
C．Beyond Meat is facing financial collapse.	D．Cultivated meat may have a growing market.

3. What about the lab-grown meat industry affect(s) the environment?

A．Demand for a good climate.	B．Cultivated land occupation.
C．Greenhouse-gas emissions.	D．Use of conventional bioreactors.

4. What’s the author’s attitude to lab-grown meat?

A．Opposed.

B．Favorable.

C．Uncaring.

D．Reserved.

【推荐3】Annoying brother or sister may break your toys, but he or she may help you when you are in trouble. A new study suggests that younger siblings might be good for your health.

Children who didn't welcome a baby brother or sister into the family before first grade had almost three times the likelihood of obesity compared with kids who experienced the birth of a sibling when they were around 3 to 4 years old, the study found.

“It is possibly because when there is a younger sibling in the family, a child might become more active—for example, running around more with their younger sibling,” said Julie Lumeng, a public health researcher at the University of Michigan.

“Maybe families are more likely to take the kids to the park when there is a younger sibling, or maybe the child is less likely to sit, watching TV, when there is a younger sibling to ask them to join more active pretend play,” she added.

Mealtimes might also be different with a second kid at the table.Parents of only child can often focus too much on what their kid eats, which can lead to bad eating habits, some previous research suggests.

“When parents use restrictive or pressure­to­eat feeding practices, children have an increased risk of being overweight,” said Jerica Berge, a researcher at the University of Minnesota.

“When a new child is introduced, parents may relax their focus on the older child's eating behaviors, making it possible for the older child to self­regulate their eating,” said Berge. “This self­regulation may lead to a healthier weight for the child with a sibling.”

For their study, Lumeng and colleagues followed 697 U．S. children from birth through age 6.However,the authors acknowledged that their study lacked objectively measured birth weights and information on events such as a divorce, a move or a job loss in the family—all of which can influence the odds of children becoming obese. For more information about this topic, please click here.

1. Compared to children with younger siblings, an only child may        .

A．become overweight	B．become selfish
C．have a healthier lifestyle	D．get better parental care

2. How may children change when they have a younger sibling?

A．They may refuse to play at home.	B．They may have more physical activities.
C．They may feel annoyed and unhappy.	D．They may spend more time with their parents.

3. For parents, which of the following may be good for their children's health?

A．Paying more attention to kids' eating habits.

B．Using some restrictive feeding practices.

C．Allowing kids to control their eating.

D．Letting the older child regulate the diet of the younger child.

4. Where can we read this passage?

A．On TV.

B．On the Internet.

C．On the radio.

D．In the newspaper.

【推荐1】There are many American expressions about insects--- like bees, for example. Bees are known as very hard workers. They appear to be busy, moving around their homes, or hives (蜂窝). So you might say you were as busy as a bee if you spent your weekend cleaning your house. In fact, you might say your house was a beehive of activity if your whole family was helping you clean. You also might say you made a beeline for something if you went there right away. When we go to see a movie, my friend always makes a beeline for the place where they sell popcorn (爆米花) .
Here is an expression about bees that is not used much any more, but we like it anyway. We think it was first used in the 1920s. If something was the best of its kind, you might say it was the bee’s knees. Now, we admit that we do not know how this expression developed. In fact, we do not even know if bees have knees!
If your friend cannot stop talking about something because she thinks it is important, you might say she has a bee in her bonnet (女帽). If   someone asks you a personal question, you might say “that is none of your beeswax”. This means none of your business.
Speaking of personal questions, there is an expression when their children ask, “Where do babies come from?” Parents who discuss sex and reproduction (生殖) say this is talking about the birds and bees.
Butterflies are beautiful insects, but you would not want to have butterflies in your stomach. That means to be nervous about having to do something, like speaking in front of a crowd. You would also not want to have ants in your trousers. That is, to be unable to sit still.
1. If you make a beeline for something, you _____ .

A．are as busy as a bee	B．go quickly and directly towards it
C．always go to the same place	D．buy something at a certain place

2. The underlined expression “ it is the bee’s knees” ______ .

A．is not used at all now	B．was first used in the 1820s
C．reminds us that bees have knees	D．means “it is very good”

3. If you ask your American friend Jack “How old is your wife?” he may say “_____.”

A．It is none of your beeswax	B．You have a bee in your bonnet
C．It is the bee’s knees	D．You are talking about the birds and bees

4. When you have butterflies in your stomach, you _____ .

A．are too sick to sit still	B．have ants in your trousers
C．are nervous about something	D．have a stomachache

【推荐2】Anyone can be late a handful of times, but to be the person who is always late—that’s an art, a frustrating art. Or, a side effect of your personality, scientists have found.

So what is it that causes some people to constantly miss trains, make it to the wedding just after the bride’s shown up and regularly annoy their friends? And why is it so hard for us to fix it? “There are allsorts of punishments for being late, but we are still late even when those punishments and consequences exist.” said Justin Kruger, a social psychologist at New York University.

One of the commonest reasons why people are frequently late is that-they fail to accurately judge how long a task will take—something known as the planning fallacy. Research has shown that people on average underestimate the tune to complete a task by a significant 40 percent.

Besides, forever-late-comers are more likely to be multitaskers. A 2023 study found that out of 181subway operators in New York City, those who preferred multitasking were more often late for their job. This is because multitasking makes it harder to have the awareness of what you’re doing. It’s also discovered there is a personality type that’s more likely to be late. While highly nervous, achievement-oriented Type A individuals arc more possible to be punctual, Type B individuals, however, who are calmer and more relaxed, have a higher chance to be late.

Admittedly, knowing all of this doesn’t necessarily help fix the problem. But scientists are starting to work on strategies that can slowly improve our punctuality. For people who constantly underestimate tasks, breaking down an activity into detailed steps can help people estimate how long something will take more accurately. As for your personality type, unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do to change that. But accepting that you need to struggle for it may just help. Acceptance, after all, is the first step to change.

1. What does the underlined word “fallacy” mean in paragrqph3?

A．A reasonable argument.	B．A mistaken belief.
C．A modest expectation.	D．A realistic idea.

2. Which of the following is a feature of forever- late-comers?

A．They tackle more than one task at a time.

B．They plan to spend longer time on a task.

C．They suffer from concentration difficulties.

D．They have high expectations for achic’vcments.

3. What is a possible way to help those who are always late?

A．Learning to accept who you are.	B．Changing your personality type.
C．Keeping to the timetable accurately.	D．Divide a task into smaller ones.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Late comers should be severely punished.

B．Time management contributes to success.

C．The habit of being late is related to character.

D．Accepting your personality improves punctuality.

【推荐3】A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men; and one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men.

A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today that it always was, and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of adversity or distress. It always receives us with the same kindness; amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting and consoling us in age.

Men often discover their affinity to each other by the mutual love they have for a book just as two persons sometimes discover a friend by the admiration which both entertain for a third. There is an old proverb, ‘Love me, love my dog.” But there is more wisdom in this:” Love me, love my book.” The book is a truer and higher bond of union. Men can think, feel, and sympathize with each other through their favorite author.

A good book is often the best urn of a life enshrining the best that life could think out; for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words, the golden thoughts, which, remembered and cherished, become our constant companions and comforters.

Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. What was then said and thought ages ago still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page. The only effect of time have been to sift out the bad products; for nothing in literature can long survive but what is really good.

Books introduce us into the best society; they bring us into the presence of the greatest minds that have ever lived. We hear what they said and did; we see them as if they were really alive; we sympathize with them, enjoy with them, grieve with them; their experience becomes ours, and we feel as if we were to some degree actors with them in the scenes which they describe.

The great and good do not die, even in this world. Embalmed in books, their spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens.

1. The main idea of the first paragraph is that ________.

A．One should read good books

B．Books are like one’s best companions

C．One should make friends with good books

D．One should not live without books and friends

2. The word “affinity” in the third paragraph most probably means ________.

A．similarity

B．understanding

C．rewards

D．compassion

3. The best title of the passage is ________.

A．The Role of Books

B．The Influence of Books

C．The Companionship of Books

D．The Contribution of Books