【推荐1】Financial Education-Awareness Dilemma

When it comes to financial education, the majority of today's youth will regard it as a necessity for certain specific people who want to make their career in the financial world.     1     Actually, elementary financial education is a must for all, as money transaction is an essential part of our day-to-day life.

Suppose you have $100 in a saving account that pays simple interest at the rate of 2%per year. lf you leave the money in the account, how much will you have accumulated after 5 years: more than $102, exactly $102, or less than $102? The test might look simple, but only half of the people surveyed gave the correct answer.

    2    The explanation goes as follows: People with low levels of financial literacy suffer from that lack of knowledge at every stage of their lives. Researchers on this subject say people with a high degree of financial literacy are more likely to plan for their retirement.     3    

On the contrary, people who have a lower degree of financial literacy tend to borrow more, accumulate less wealth, and pay more in fees related financial products. They are less likely to invest, more likely to experience difficulty with debt, and less likely to know the terms of their mortgages and other loans. Thus, the cost of this financial ignorance is very high.     4    

What   is the solution?     5     Like reading and math, financial education must become part of the core curriculum in our schools. Likewise, parents should engage in regular, constructive conversations about money matters. This will give their kids a solid foundation for financial well-being, which will keep on giving returns throughout the course of their lives.

A．Financial education must start early.

B．However, they miss an important point.

C．Why does each of us have to face a financial challenge?

D．Why does financial literacy matter so much in our society'?

E．Rich people are generally better educated on financial management.

F．Besides, these people have more than double the wealth of people who don’t.

G．For example, they frequently make late credit card payments, overspend their credit limit, etc.

【推荐2】Alida Monaco doesn’t spend her summers doing the usual teenage work, like working at the mall. Instead，she ‘ s studying.

It used to be that a summer job was considered a teenage thing. Today, Monaco ,who has never had a summer job, is part of growing trend (趋势)teenagers focusing on their studies, even during the summer. That’s down from 72% of Americans aged 16 to 19 who worked in July of 1978, according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Fierce (激烈的)competition, older workers returning to the workforce and weak economic growth are all adding to the decrease of teenagers in the workforce. But as schoolwork grows increasingly heavy and homework eats up more time, data suggest the biggest reason why some teens won’t be working this summer is that they simply don’t1 have time.

For college - bound teens, some teachers even advise students not to waste time on a summer job. “ Some of my students only have about six weeks off in the summer,” said Shannon Reed, a lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh and a former high school English teacher.” I could never advise that they get jobs during that short break. ”

Young people who don’t work may miss out on valuable skills that they’11 need control and help people learn to deal with adult situations. But Monaco, who plans to attend Harvard, isn’t fazed by her lack(缺乏)of work experience. “Maybe I have missed out on a couple of life skills, “she said. “ But I don’t think it will harm me in way .”

1. What is the trend of American teenagers?

A．They are becoming lazy.

B．They are fond of doing holiday jobs.

C．They are focusing more on studies than on jobs.

D．They are becoming particular about (挑剔)holiday jobs

2. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．The reasons for teenagers giving up work.

B．The fierce competition teenagers face.

C．The structure (结构)of America’s workforce.

D．The effects of America9 s weak economy.

3. What’s Shannon Reed’s attitude towards the new trend?

A．uncaring.

B．favorable(支持的).

C．worried.

D．doubtful.

4. What does the underlined word “fazed” in the last paragraph mean?

A．supported.

B．helped.

C．upset.

D．confused.

【推荐1】We’ve all heard it before: to be successful, get out of bed early. After all, Apple CEO Tim Cook gets up at 3:45 am, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne at 3:30 am and Richard Branson at 5:45 am- - -and, as we know, “The early bird catches the worm.” Indeed, it may be true that those who get up early have a jump start on the day before others are even out of bed.

But just because some successful people wake up early, does that mean it’s a trait most of them share? And if the idea of having exercised, planned your day, eaten breakfast, visualized and done one task before 8 am. makes you want to roll over and hit snooze until next Saturday, are you really doomed to a less successful life?

For about half of us, this isn’t really an issue. It’s estimated that some 50% of the population isn’t really morning- oriented or evening oriented, but somewhere in the middle. Roughly one in four of us, though, tend more toward bright-eyed early risers, and another one in four are night owls. For them, the effect can go beyond falling asleep in front of the TV at10 pm or being regularly late for work.

Numerous studies have found that morning people are more self-directed and agreeable. And compared to night owls, they are less likely to be depressed, drink or smoke.

Although morning types may achieve more academically, night owls tend to perform better on measures of memory, processing speed and cognitive ability, even when they have to perform those tasks in the morning. Night-time people are also more open and more creative. And one study shows that night owls are as healthy and wise as morning types- and a little bit wealthier.

Still think the morning people sound more like CEO material? Don’t set your alarm for 5 am just, yet, as it turns out, overhauling (大修) your sleep times may not have much effect.

“If people are left to their naturally preferred times, they feel much better. They say that they are much more productive. The mental capacity they have is much broader,” says Oxford University biologist Katharina Wulf. On the other hand, she says, pushing people too far out of their natural preference can be harmful. When they wake early, for example, night owls are still producing melatonin (褪黑激素 ). “Then, you disrupt it and push the body to be in the daytime mode. That can have lots of negative, physiological consequences,” Wulff says like a different sensitivity to insulin and glucose (葡萄糖) which can cause weight gain.

1. What can we know from the 4th and 5th paragraphs?

A．Neither night owls no morning persons perform better than the middle ones.

B．To beat night-time people, ask them to do maths calculation in the morning.

C．Night owls tend to sacrifice their health for their wealth.

D．Morning types are more conservative but more optimistic.

2. Which of the following does Katharina Wulff support?

A．Don’t fall asleep in front of the TV.

B．Better not overhaul your sleep times.

C．Stop sting your alarm for 5 am.

D．Avoid being-regularly late for work.

3. What does the author do in the first three paragraphs?

A．raising the problem→analysing the problem→solving the problem.

B．presenting author’s viewpoint → providing supporting proofs→making a conclusion.

C．leading in the topic→challenging a viewpoint → discussing about the topic.

D．introducing a viewpoint -raising the question→presenting author’s viewpoint.

4. Why does the author write this article?

A．To argue against the view that the early bird catches the worm.

B．To compare the differences between early risers and night owls.

C．To advise people to get up neither too early nor too late.

D．To explain why some people are more successful.

【推荐2】Walmart will soon use 360 robot cleaners across a few hundred of its stores. Using maps input by human employees, the AI-powered cleaners will travel in the store with no difficulty, sweeping the floor--just as human employees used to do.

Perhaps the most striking thing about these robot workers is how not-striking they are. Sci-fi movies suggest a future full of human-like robots who appear with their horrible qualities. Now the future is coming into view, and it looks like a giant lie. It's easy to imagine walking past an Auto-C on a shopping trip without even noticing its presence.

AI has already started to become a part of our everyday life. In New Jersey this week, dozens of workers were hospitalized after a robot at an Amazon fulfillment centre accidentally broke a can and enveloped workers in eye-and-lung-damaging gas. Days earlier in California, an auto-piloted Tesla drove a drunk, sleeping driver down a highway, which no doubt did some potential risk to the other drivers on the road. Highway patrol officers figured out on the spot how to stop the AI car.

Of course, industrial accidents and drunk drivers existed well before AI. Tools with the power to release the burden of physical labor—horses, steam machines, self-driving cars—also come with the power to injure. And the presence of AI-powered machines just steps away from us is, for now, still a rare thing for most people.

But the nature of robots’ coming into our daily life lives will make it harder to recognize—or object to—the bigger changes they bring later. Walmart insists that the robot cleaners give employees more time for customer service and other tasks. Critics point out that they could just as easily become an excuse to reduce staff and wages.

1. What is the difference between sci-fi movies and the reality?

A．Now the human-like robots is hard to recognize.

B．Now people don’t go to see the sci-fi movies.

C．Now the human-like robots can tell lies.

D．Now it is easy to ignore the robots.

2. Why were some workers in hospital in New Jersey?

A．They damaged the robot first.

B．The robot caused an accident on purpose.

C．The robot made a mistake by chance.

D．The robot driving them on the highway had an accident.

3. What is the attitude of the author to AI?

A．Supportive

B．Objective

C．Doubtful

D．Indifferent

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Artificial intelligence is bringing great effect to our daily life.

B．Walmart will soon use 360 robot cleaners across its stores.

C．We should say no to artificial intelligence.

D．Artificial intelligence is dangerous to our life.

【推荐3】Today’s amazing newspaper headline!

First family of four to walk to the South Pole wearing Mickey Mouse ears and clown’s shoes.

No, not really. It isn’t true. I invented it. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see it one day soon. It seems that every week someone becomes ”the first” or “the youngest” or “the oldest” or even “the first married couple” to do something that doesn’t seem to be very useful to the rest of humanity.

This year I’ve seen headlines saying “The youngest person to sail the Atlantic alone”, “The youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest”, and “The first people to fly around the world in a hot air balloon”. Why do they do it? Don’t they have better things to do with their time and money? And why should I be interested anyway?

Human beings have already climbed the highest mountains, sailed across the oceans and flown around the world. People have already reached the most remote parts of our planet. Many of these things were done a long, long time ago. There just isn’t anything left to explore nowadays. I suppose there’s still a lot of the universe left, and the bottom of the oceans is still a bit of a mystery, but you need a lot of technology to explore areas like that. So, those people who feel the need for adventure can only do things that have been done before. So they have to try and do it in a new way, or be “the fastest” or “the youngest” or “the oldest” to do something that isn’t really new at all.

What is so great about climbing Mount Everest these days anyway? It’s become a popular tourist trip. People pay thousands of dollars to be taken up the mountain by the local Sherpas, who lead the way and carry the bags. At any one time there are about a thousand people either climbing up or on their way back down. As a result, Everest is covered with rubbish and the Sherpas have to make special trips up the mountain to pick it up. The climbers are often inexperienced and when they get into trouble other people have to risk their lives to bring them down to safety. Helicopter crews have been killed trying to reach people who were stuck on the mountain.

In January 2003 a helicopter carrying two British men crashed into the sea near Antarctica. I’m not quite sure what they were trying to be “the first” or “the youngest” to do. The Chilean navy picked them up after a nine-hour rescue mission that cost tens of thousands of pounds, all paid for by the Chilean and British taxpayers.

Talking of taxpayers, many Australians are getting a bit fed up with record breakers. A lot of people trying to break sailing or rowing records get into trouble in the seas around Australia, so the Australian navy has to send ships to save them. There have been a lot of difficult, time-consuming rescue missions in recent years costing the Australian government millions of dollars. I suppose we can’t just leave them to drown, but personally, I think we should give the bill to the people who are rescued. Perhaps they would think twice about doing it if they had to pay for expensive insurance premiums (保费). Then I wouldn’t have to read about them in the newspapers either.

1. The writer invents the newspaper headline in paragraphs 1 & 2 to ________.

A．persuade readers of a new trend	B．entertain readers with his humor
C．get readers interested in the topic	D．remind readers of an important event

2. By saying “It’s become a popular tourist trip”, the writer means ________.

A．Mount Everest is now covered with a lot of rubbish

B．climbing Mount Everest has already lost its true meaning

C．it’s impossible to climb up Mountain Everest without help

D．people without experience may get in trouble or even danger

3. Which is the reason why many Australians dislike the record breakers?

A．They have to pay for the costs of rescuing the record breakers.

B．The Australian navy was not something intended for rescue work.

C．The record breakers should pay for their insurance premiums themselves.

D．A great number of people try to break records in the seas around Australia.

4. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A．It’s All Been Done Before	B．Never Do Something New
C．You Are the Next Record Breaker	D．Be Responsible for Your Adventures