【推荐1】The Australian environment department has not finalised a single recovery plan for threatened species in nearly 18 months. The last time the department completed a recovery plan was in June last year. And the department says it has no time frame for addressing the other requests for recovery plans, which include the critically endangered animal Leadbeater’s possum (澳洲负鼠).

Recovery plans are documents that outline key facts about endangered animals and plants, threats to their survival, and what should be done to prevent their extinction. Under national laws, it is the environment minister who decides whether a species requires a recovery plan. Once a plan is adopted, the minister cannot make any changes that might harm the plan. It has been previously reported that less than 40% of the listed threatened species have a recovery plan. A further 10% have been identified as requiring a recovery plan but those plans haven’t been developed.

The Australian Conservation Foundation said the exposure was “shocking” and accused the department of prioritizing the economic development over environmental protection. “The fact that iconic (最具代表性的) species like the possum still don’t have a recovery plan highlights how broken the system is,” James Trezise, a policy analyst at the Foundation, said. “It is a critical issue that the development and implementation of these plans seem to be optional. These plans should be developed, as required by law, and their implementation should be funded.”

Trezise said the significant delay in developing the plans stood “in sharp contrast” to the government’s rush to carry out environmental assessments for major projects like the one for the mining company Rio Tinto. “The department’s priorities are all wrong,” he said. “They can bring bills before the congress for mining projects that harm the environment, but they can’t get just one recovery plan for a threatened species completed.”

He said the delays would push more species closer to extinction. He called on the government to urgently address the issue and commit more resources to recovery planning. But for now, officials could not tell when the delays would be addressed, saying it would “take a very long time”. Emma Campbell, a senior official, said the department was working with an independent scientific committee to “reevaluate” which species should have a recovery plan.

1. The underlined phrase “the exposure” (Line 1, Para 3) refers to ______________.

A．the coming extinction of many endangered animals

B．the lack of funding for the implementation of the plan

C．the denial of the critical situtaion facing some species

D．the government’s delay in developing recovery plans

2. Which of the following is TRUE about recovery plans?

A．They can be changed as the environment minister likes.

B．They can help prevent endangered animals from going extinct.

C．They document how endangered animals interact with humans.

D．They cover more than half of the threatened species.

3. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The government has not done enough about the recovery plans.

B．The endangered animal possum will be extinct in 18 months.

C．The government prioritizes Rio Tinto over mining projects.

D．The independent committee is vital to addressing the issue.

4. What might be the best title of the passage?

A．Environment department accepting bribes

B．Endangered animal protection with no funding

C．Threatened species at risk with no recovery plans

D．Government forming tense relationship with the public

【推荐1】In China, cultural differences arose from growing rice or wheat.Different thinking styles between northern and southern Chinese people can trace(追溯)their roots to rice fields and wheat fields.
Rice farming promotes a holistic(整体的)focus on distinguishing relationships among people and objects, and valuing others as much as or more than oneself, say psychologist Thomas Talhelm of the University of Virginia and his colleagues.Holistic thinking among many modem Chinese people partly reflects regional histories of building communal irrigation systems(共有灌溉系统)and cooperatively planting and harvesting rice fields over thousands of years.
They draw that conclusion based on studies of college students from regions with different agricultural practices. Students from southern and central China’s rice. growing provinces think holistically, even though they have probably never farmed rice,Talhelm’s group reports.In contrast, students from northern and central Chinese provinces that have specialized in wheat growing exhibit a preference for abstract analysis and self over others, the scientists find.Wheat is less labor-intensive(劳动密集型)to grow than rice, so farmers can plant and harvest crops without much help from neighbors.Analytical, individualistic thinking is not more common among students from richer
Provinces, contrary to the argument that this attitude springs from modernization. ”Rice theory might explain why East Asia is so much less individualistic than expected based on its wealth, ” Talhelm says.
Talhelm's team tested 1,162 Chinese students, who Viewed lists of three items, such as a rabbit, a dog and a carrot. For each list,students chose two items that belonged together. Earlier research found that analytical thinkers often group items according to categories, so rabbits and dogs go together. Holistic thinkers tend to look for relationships, such as rabbits eating carrots. Students from rice-growing areas made an average of around seven to nine holistic matches of 10 possible matches, compared with roughly five to seven holistic matches for those from wheat-growing areas.
Talhelm’s team also analyzed national statistics in China from 1996, 2000 and 2010 and found a higher divorce rate and a greater number of successful patents for new inventions in wheat-growing provinces than in rice-growing provinces. That trend is in line with the ides that analytical thinking develops both individualism and creativity.
1. People who think holistically probably_____________.

A．come from wheat—growing areas

B．1ive in northern and central China

C．rely more on themselves

D．think of others before themselves

2. Which of the following statements is true?

A．East Asia is poorer than the other areas of Asia.

B．Modernization contributes to analytic al thinking.

C．Analytical thinkers tend to pick out items by type.

D．Richer people show more individualistic thinking.

3. The author develops the passage mainly by____________.

A．making comparisons

B．listing examples

C．telling his personal experience

D．presenting problem and solution

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Cultural differences in China

B．Listing examples

C．Chinese people tracing their roots

D．Farming influences thinking styles

【推荐2】In Japan many workers for large corporations have a guarantee of lifetime employment. They will not be laid off during recessions or when the tasks they perform are taken over by robots. To some observers, this is capitalism at its best, because workers are treated as people not things. Others see it as necessarily inefficient and believe it cannot continue if Japan is to remain competitive with foreign corporations more concerned about profits and less concerned about people.

Defenders of the system argue that those who call it inefficient do not understand how it really works. In the first place not every Japanese worker has the guarantee of a lifetime job. The lifetime employment system includes only “regular employees.” Many employees do not fall into this category, including all women. All businesses have many part time and temporary employees. These workers are hired and laid off during the course of the business cycle just as employees in the United States are. These “irregular workers” make up about 10 percent of the nonagricultural work force. Additionally, Japanese firms maintain some flexibility through the extensive use of subcontractors. This practice is much more common in Japan than in the United States.

The use of both subcontractors and temporary workers has increased markedly in Japan since the 1974-1975 recession. All this leads some people to argue that the Japanese system really is not all that different from the American system. During recessions Japanese corporations lay off temporary workers and give less business to subcontractors. In the United States, corporations lay off those workers with the least working experience. The difference then is probably less than the term “lifetime employment” suggests, but there still is a difference. And this difference cannot be understood without looking at the values of Japanese society. The relationship between employer and employee cannot be explained in purely contractual terms. Firms hold on to the employees and that employees stay with one firm. There are also practical reasons for not jumping from job to job. Most retirement benefits come from the employer. Changing jobs means losing these benefits. Also, teamwork is an essential part of Japanese production. Moving to a new firm means adapting to a different team and at least temporarily, lower productivity and lower pay.

1. According to the passage, a woman in Japan _________.

A．cannot get a lifetime job	B．is impossible to get a part time job
C．will be employed for life	D．is among the regular workers

2. Which of the following is NOT the reason why Japanese workers stay with one firm?

A．They don’t want to lose their retirement benefits.	B．They are not adaptable people.
C．Any change of jobs will make them less paid.	D．They get used to the teamwork.

3. It can be inferred from the passage that _________.

A．those who want to change jobs frequently in Japan should think twice

B．those who are first laid off by American corporations are temporary workers

C．the use of subcontractors makes Japanese firms less flexible

D．the Japanese system is totally different from the American system

4. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A．The extremely hard situation during recessions.

B．The extensive use of subcontractors in Japan.

C．The characteristics of corporations in the United States.

D．The features of lifetime employment in Japan.

【推荐3】Kids everywhere love to play. And they know that a ball is a perfect thing to play with. Now scientists report bumblebees (大黄蜂) seem to know the same thing, making bumblebees the first insects known to play.

Lots of animals play. But the behavior is best known in mammals and birds. For many animals, playing is often seen as a kind of training for things they’ll have to deal with in later life. But before this, there were no reports of insects playing.

Dr. Lars Chittka did an earlier experiment, where he trained bumblebees to roll balls into a goal for food. He noticed some bees were rolling balls even when they weren’t rewarded. He wondered if they were playing.

To test the idea, he with other scientists set up a new experiment. First, they marked 45 young bumblebees, both male and female, between one and 23 days old. Then they set up a clear pathway from the bumblebees’ nest to a feeding area. On either side of the open pathway, small colored wooden balls were placed. On one side of the path, the balls couldn’t move. On the other side, the balls could roll around.

For three hours a day over 14 days, the scientists opened the pathway. The bumblebees never had to leave the pathway to find food, but they left anyway. They weren’t so interested in the side where the balls couldn’t move, but they made lots of visits to the side with the rolling balls.

Grabbing the balls with their legs, the bumblebees would beat their wings to pull on the balls, causing them to roll. The 45 marked bumblebees did this 910 times during the experiment. Though some only did it once, others did it a lot. The scientists found the younger bumblebees spent more time rolling balls, and that males seemed more likely to play than females.

The scientists say it’s not clear why the bumblebees roll the balls or whether they enjoy it. But the experiment raises important questions about how the insects’ minds work and whether they have feelings.

1. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．The discovery that many insects like playing.

B．The experiment about mammals’ living habits.

C．The report that bumblebees play for fun.

D．The comparison between insects and birds.

2. What did Dr. Chittka’s experiment focus on?

A．Bumblebees’ types.	B．Bumblebees’ habitats.
C．Bumblebees’ behavior.	D．Bumblebees’ food.

3. What can we learn from the experiment?

A．Male bumblebees tend to play balls more often.

B．Colorful balls are bumblebees’ favourite toys.

C．Younger bumblebees are better at rolling balls.

D．Bumblebees show interest in anything round.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Bumblebees Act Just Like Kids	B．Balls Are a Perfect Thing to Play with
C．Playing Is Animals’ Second Nature	D．Bumblebees Are First Insect Known to Play