【推荐1】Maximalism, as a design aesthetic (审美), is rooted in cultural shifts throughout history. In the mid-20th century, minimalism dominated social aesthetic, which laid great emphasis on the idea of less was more. In the late 1960s, postmodernism challenged the ideas of minimalism and embraced a more playful approach to design.     1     During the 1980s, maximalism reached its peak and continued to evolve in the following decades.

Today, maximalism has become a noticeable design style characterized by celebrating individuality,embracing the unexpected, and creating st unning and expressive spaces.     2     They hold that maximalism can make homes blossom into spaces that radiate with warmth and joy, and reflect the personalities and tastes of everyone in the house.

    3    Even hallways can be turned into gallery-like spaces with unique art collections, vibrant wall coverings that enhance visual impact. Mirrors, if strategically placed, can add to the pleasant feel of a space that could otherwise be a boring passage.

The living room unfolds with patterns and decor items, creating a dynamic and cozy atmosphere which is all about individuality and comfort.     4     A combination of decoration items such as sculptures, vases, and books are also on display.

Breaking free from regular kitchen aesthetics, maximalism transforms kitchens into exciting and inspiring environments. Using unexpected kitchen lighting options can add some home atmosphere.    5    

As an interior (室内的) stylist, I encourage you to get the best from your home and the possessions you already have by displaying what you love most. This will spark joy everywhere you look, and this concept is at the heart of maximalism.

A．Delicate table lamps may work well.

B．Your home should be a celebration of all you are.

C．Many interior designers are advocates of maximalism.

D．Maximalism breathes life into often-overlooked corners.

E．You can find a variety of ways to bring it into your home, too.

F．Maximalism emerged as a reaction against the idea of simplicity.

G．There is a mix of different patterns through throw pillows and curtains.

【推荐2】阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英语回答问题。

The musician Moby once said, “Music has no form whatsoever — all it is air moving just a little bit differently. It’s the only art form that you can’t touch.” It is true that we cannot touch music, but that does not mean that music is an invisible art form. There is, in fact, a way to “see” music.

How can we see music? Neuroscientists, people study the human brain, use MRI machines (magnetic resonance imaging machines) to look inside the brain. These tools let them see what actually happens in the brain when people are doing things. For example, the tools let them see the neurons (神经细胞), or brain cells that are in use when people are listening to music. Computer screens linked to MRIs show neurons lighting up when they are in use. And when people listen to music, neurons light up in many parts of the brain.

Neuroscientists have discovered that it isn’t necessary to hear music for the neurons to light up. Even when you just think about a song, these neurons light up. In addition, the same neural activity in the same part of the brain happens when people experience other pleasurable activities. For example, some of the same neurons light up when we eat something delicious or hug a loved one. This is because these neurons are in the areas of the brain that reward us by making us feel good. Negative feelings such as fear or anxiety make neurons in a different area light up. However, when an anxious or frightened person listens to pleasurable music, these neurons stop lighting up.

Now that neuroscientists can “see” the, effects of music on the brain, they want to know what the benefits of music are. It turns out there are many benefits. Neuroscientists have discovered that music can help memory and may keep our brain young. Recent studies show that an elderly musician often has a better visual memory than an elderly non-musician. For example, elderly musicians are better at memorizing a written list of words than their non-musician peers.

Why does music have so many benefits? The answer may be because it uses so many different parts of the brain. According to neuroscientists, using many parts of the brain at one time gives your brain a good “workout.” In fact, one of the best brain “works” is to read music and play a musical instrument at the same time. Reading music while playing an instrument is a challenging task. It uses more parts of the brain simultaneously than most other activities and requires excellent coordination (协调性). It involves both physical movement and mental activity, much like playing a sport such as soccer.

So, although Moby is completely correct that we cannot touch music, it is possible to “see” the effect of music on our brains. There is still a lot to learn about the effects of music on our brains. However, there is no doubt that scientists have shown that music is an extremely powerful art form with many positive effects.

1. How do MRIs help people “see” music?
__________________________________________________________
2. Why did the author mention the elderly musician in paragraph 4?
__________________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Pleasurable activities and negative feelings activate neurons in the same part of the brain, but in a different way.
__________________________________________________________
4. Now that you know the many benefits of music, how do you think, music may be able to help you solve your problems in your life? (in about 40 words)
__________________________________________________________

【推荐3】Power from home-based wind turbines (涡轮机) can be used locally, or sold back to the power company to offset power costs. Power companies buy green power from homeowners at retail (零售) rates, rather than the lower wholesale rates.

There is a great deal of power to use in the wind, and even a small homeowner can get involved. An effective way to use wind power is with a home wind turbine. Wind power is inconsistent in most areas of the world, so a wind generator alone is seldom sufficient to power a house.

However, a single wind generator can ease power cost in a household, especially coupled with other forms of clean energy, such as solar power. Multiple turbines can even be connected with a battery storage system for the household that wants to be completely reliant on air for power. One of the most impressive aspects of air as a power source is that once the turbine is in place, it operates at zero carbon production, making it an extremely environmentally friendly power source.

When siting wind turbines, the following factors should be kept in mind: check with the local government for the laws and regulations about siting wind turbines. Wind speeds are always higher at the top of a hill, on a shoreline, and in places clear of trees and other structures. Remember that trees grow over the years; wind turbine towers do not. Ensure neighbors are informed of plans early on to avoid conflict later on. Wind turbines can be a source of green power that will keep paying off for years to come, though the initial investment can be high. Bear in mind that the wind turbines are also likely to cause problems for wildlife, especially birds and bats.

1. What does the underlined word “offset” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Result in.

B．Call off.

C．Make up for.

D．Give rise to.

2. Why is a wind turbine inadequate to meet the power demand of a house?

A．Wind turbines have a low efficiency.

B．Sometimes there is little wind to take advantage of.

C．The household consumes too much electricity.

D．Wind power is consistent in most areas of the world.

3. Which goes against building a house completely reliant on green power?

A．Multiple turbines.	B．A battery storage system.
C．Solar power.	D．Carbon production.

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．The best places for siting wind turbines.

B．The disadvantages of siting wind turbines.

C．Matters needing attention when siting wind turbines.

D．Costs and dangers of siting wind turbines ecologically.

【推荐1】The threat of climate change and warming oceans is growing bigger for the world’s coral reefs, which are struggling to adapt to increasingly bad waters. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have showed a new way we may be able to limit the damage — taking coral species that have already survived severe heat stress and transplanting them to degraded reefs to sow the seeds (播种).

We are seeing a lot of focus from environmental scientists on how corals can be made more resistant to heat stress. Some creative solutions include planting them with helpful bacteria, developing tougher species through a new technique and feeding them medicine to increase their chances of survival.

All of these are part of the effort to prevent the changes brought upon corals by abnormal sea temperatures, which causes algae (藻类) living in them to become stressed and break free. This leaves the coral without a key source of food and causes them to turn white (coral bleaching), and in a lot of cases, die off, as seen in the bleaching events to trouble Australia's Great Barrier Reef in recent years.

An eco-friendly solution being explored by the University of Pennsylvania team focuses on corals that have already proved themselves in the face of severe bleaching events. The scientists searched for Hawaii's coral reefs, which survived severe bleaching in 2015, with. The intention of studying how they respond to being placed in an entirely different environment. “The cool thing was that we didn’t see any differences in their bleaching response after this transplant, and they were still in good condition,” says Katie Barott, who led the research team.

While the findings promise well, these techniques to address the broader problem isn’t a practical solution. “Techniques like this can buy us a little time, but there isn’t a substitute for limiting carbon emissions,” says Barott. “We need global action on climate change because even bleaching-resistant corals aren’t going to survive forever if ocean warming keeps increasing as fast as it is today.”

1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．The need to plant corals.	B．The work to develop new corals.
C．The need to save weak corals.	D．The work to help corals to survive heat stress

2. What can we know about corals with heat stress?

A．They may die of hunger.	B．They are harmful to fishes.
C．They change color to green.	D．They hide themselves deep in the sea.

3. How did the transplanted corals grow in the new environments?

A．Slowly.

B．Normally.

C．Rapidly.

D．Hard.

4. In which section of a magazine can we probably read the text?

A．Culture.

B．Health.

C．Environment.

D．Tourism.

【推荐2】China starts to give heavy fines to those who disobey the nation's restrictions on disposable plastic products, including single-use plastic bags and straws. Many restaurant brands have tried to replace plastic straws with eco-friendly ones. Luckily for us, there is no shortage of options. While they may not be as fun and convenient as disposable plastic straws, it's time for everyone to play their part in no longer hurting our planetary ecosystem by choosing convenience over responsibility.

Glass straws

Dirt can be spotted through glass. And glass straws are quite comfortable to drink from, but can be easily broken if you're not too careful when handling them. You may also feel it inconvenient to carry a glass straw around with you wherever you go.

Stainless steel straws

The stainless steel straw is very strong thanks to its base material, and thus can be reused and cleaned thoroughly without damaging its surface. While being strong gives stainless steel straws one point over glass straws, their opaque (不透明的)look makes it impossible for us to see whether the inside is dirty or not.

Bamboo straws

Bamboo is a very durable, strong type of wood, and can be easily recycled. Bamboo straws are usually made without any plasticizer. However, the drawback of using this type of straw is its tendency to accumulate mold(霉菌)in the wet environment.

Silicone(硅酮)straws

Silicone straws are soft, flexible and most never break. They're very easy to clean, fun-looking, and especially popular among children. However, silicone is said to be something of a hybrid between a synthetic(合成的)rubber and a synthetic plastic polymer, which menus it's still a plastic.

1. What is an advantage of a glass straw?

A．It is fun-looking.	B．Dirt can be seen easily.
C．It is effortless to clean it.	D．It is convenient to carry it around.

2. Which of the following best describe both stainless steel straws and bamboo straws?

A．Strong and recyclable.	B．Kids-friendly and reusable.
C．Strong and flexible.	D．Soh and durable.

3. Children are most likely to choose________.

A．glass straws	B．stainless steel straws
C．bamboo straws	D．silicone straws

【推荐3】Want to save the Earth and its oceans? Eat ice cream in a cone(卷筒)! Seriously, single-use plastic items like ice cream spoons make up more than 40 percent of plastic waste, and     1    . And that waste endangers wildlife. But solving the plastic problem can be as easy as getting your sweet treat in a cone. Check out our top 5 quick tips to reduce your single-use plastic pollution today!

Say no to straws(吸管).

Animals can get sick after mistaking them for food.     2    . Learn how to make your own paper straw!

Fill up at a fountain(喷泉式饮水器)

Drink out of a reusable water bottle instead of a plastic version(版本). That way you won’t be buying one of the nearly one million plastic drink bottles sold every minute around the world.

 Snack on fruit

Pack an apple, banana, or orange instead of snack packs.     3    . (Save the core, peels, and rinds for your compost bin.)

    4    .

Hey, sometimes you have to use plastic, and that's OK! But always recycle the plastic that you can, and never leave it in the environment. Trash left on the ground often blows into rivers, finally making its way to the ocean.

Pick up what you can

    5    . But be careful: Never grab anything that looks sharp or dangerous.

A．Never litter

B．Make a better bag

C．Instead, carry your own paper straw or reusable version

D．you don’t need plastic spoons and cups when you eat the bowl

E．Fruit fills you up in a healthy way, plus there’s no extra packaging

F．each year about 8.8 million tons of plastic trash runs into the ocean

G．Go with a parent and pick up the trash that you find in your local river

【推荐1】Famous American poet Robert Frost once said, “Poetry is what gets lost in translation.” Although it is not impossible to translate poetry, Xu Yuanchong, a well-known Chinese translator, has striven to convey the beauty of ancient Chinese poetry throughout his life.   

His teacher Qian Zhongshu commented on his poetry translation, “You are dancing while chained by rhyme (押韵) and rhythm, but the dance shows amazing freedom and beauty, which is quite extraordinary.”

Xu has just turned 100 years old. On April 1, China Translation and Publishing House published a series of commemorative (纪念的) books about his life and career to pay tribute to this centenarian.

Since 1978, Xu has published more than 100 translated novels, anthologies (选集) and plays in Chinese, English and French, reaching potentially millions of readers at home and abroad. Most notably, he translated Chinese poems into rhymed verses in both English and French. He is also the first Asian winner of the “Aurora Borealis Prize” for Outstanding Translation of Fiction Literature.

Xu is known to be very fastidious in his work. He has dedicated his life to“[translating] beautifully”. For him, English is a “scientific” language that demands accuracy, while Chinese is an “artistic” language that includes a wider range of content. Following this principle, Xu not only keeps faithfulness in sense but beauty in sensibility in his translation.

Through Xu’s translations, time-honored Chinese wisdom has made an impact on Western societies and the world at large.

For instance, when former US president Barack Obama tried to begin a controversial healthcare reform during his presidency, some senators (参议员) were opposed at first. But after reading the poem titled Fishing in Snow (《江雪》) translated by Xu, one senator was so impressed with the fisherman’s independent, non-conformist (不墨守成规的) thinking that he chose to part with the party line to support Obama, noted NewsChina.

Having made such great achievements, the 100-year-old remains diligent. He lives alone in an old house near Peking University. In his simple room, decorated with Chinese traditional furniture, he maintains a routine. Every day he translates roughly 1,000 words, working till 3 to 4 am, sleeping about 3 hours and getting up at 6 am to continue.

“Translation is a means of communicating with the writer’s soul. A sudden flicker (闪现) of [a] good word or [a] good line thrills every pore (毛孔) and every inch of my skin,” Xu told NewsChina.

1. What does the article tell us about Xu Yuanchong?

A．He’s the first winner of The Aurora Borealis Prize.

B．He has translated about 100 Chinese literary works into English.

C．He is widely known for his translated rhymed verse.

D．He has mastered at least three foreign languages.

2. What does the underlined word “fastidious” in paragraph 5 probably mean?

A．Particular.

B．Satisfied.

C．Inventive.

D．Productive.

3. Why was Barack Obama mentioned in the article?

A．To show Xu’s popularity.

B．To illustrate Xu’s impact.

C．To introduce his reform.

D．To stress Xu’s wisdom.

4. Which of the following best describes Xu?

A．Modest and insightful.

B．Considerate and cautious.

C．Creative and open-minded.

D．Dedicated and passionate.

【推荐2】In late 2017, California-based fine arts photographer Norma Quintana was planning a trip down to her native Puerto Rico to document Hurricane Maria’s destruction. Instead, she and her family found themselves caught in another natural disaster much closer to home. Beginning in early October, the Atlas Fire swept through Napa County and lasted weeks. When Quintana and her family were finally able to return to their property, everything was gone: her home of nearly 30 years, her studio, her photographs, her prints and her collection of over 100 cameras.

Ever an artist at heart, she began photographing the remains of her home and possessions. Those photos would eventually become a series, Forage from Fire. Now, the project can be viewed as part of “Fire Transforms”, a new exhibition at the Palo Alto Art Center. The exhibition mainly explores the following themes: living with fire, learning with fire, and creating with fire. It features photography, paintings, ceramics (陶瓷), sculptures, textiles (纺织品) and digital media.

One of the artists on the exhibition is Linda Gass, a textile artist and environmental activist, who sewed a map of the damage from the 2013 Rim Fire, the largest recorded fire in the Sierra Nevada. Brian Fies’ A Fire Story is a graphic (图表的) novel and an account of the artist’s losing his home in the 2017 Tubbs Fire, along with 6,000 others. At the time, it was California’s most destructive fire, though the Camp Fire in 2018 would be worse.

“Art offers a safe place of comfort after the firestorm has passed,” says Rina Faletti, who is in charge of the exhibition. “How can we learn to transform our fear, sadness, loss, anger and confusion into something more comforting and clear? How can we rest from climate change, even as we face the real losses that fire causes in the face of global change? Thankfully, we have artists to help us.”

1. What happened to Quintana in October 2017?

A．She lost her family members forever.

B．Her home and belongings were destroyed by a fire.

C．Her trip to Puerto Rico was interrupted by a hurricane.

D．She failed to achieve her dream of becoming a photographer.

2. What can be learned about “Fire Transforms”?

A．It mainly deals with seven central themes.

B．It is part of a series called Forage from Fire.

C．It covers a wide range of artworks and media.

D．It is an annual exhibition at the Palo Alto Art Center.

3. What do Gass and Fies have in common?

A．Both are known as environmental activists.

B．Both recorded wildfires through their works.

C．Both played a key role in the 2017 Tubbs Fire.

D．Both experienced the 2013 Rim Fire first-hand.

4. What do Faletti’s words in the text stress?

A．The role of art in fighting climate change.

B．The permanent losses that fire has caused.

C．The progress we’ve made on controlling fire.

D．The influence of artists on preventing global change.