【推荐2】The number of women taking maternity leave(产假) in the United States has not changed over the last two decades, according to a new study, even as the national economy has grown and new family leave policies have been implemented in three states.

Study author Jay Zagorsky says he began looking into maternity leave rates after two of his nieces gave birth around the same time last year. ＂One got an amazing package — full pay for a few months — and the other had to cobble together(拼凑) vacation and sick time,＂ he says. ＂I was astonished.＂

＂I did a little research, and there were no numbers,＂ he added. ＂The government tracks which employers provide maternity leave, but no one has calculated how many people are using it.＂ Zagorsky was troubled to find no increase over time, considering research that shows how beneficial it can be — for both parents and newborns — to spend time together. Giving mothers time off from work to bond with new babies has been shown to improve the physical and mental health of mothers, reduce cesarean deliveries（剖腹产）, save infants’ lives and encourage breastfeeding, the study notes.

Over the 22-year study, the U.S. economy grew by 66%, and the GDP rose from $9.9 trillion to $16.4 trillion a year. During that time, California, New Jersey and Rhode Island passed the first state laws to provide paid family leave. New York will become the fourth state to offer paid family leave in 2018. In other states, most employees are covered by federal law providing 12 weeks of unpaid time off after a baby’s birth. Individual companies or state policies may expand beyond these provisions.

＂But just because maternity leave is available doesn’t mean women will take it, ＂Zagorsky says. The Department of Labor estimates that only about 12% of private sector employees have access to paid family leave, and Zagorsky’s study showed that only 47.5% of the women who took time off in 2015 were paid for it.

The rate of paid maternity leave increased over the study period, but only by a quarter of a percent per year. At that rate, Zagorsky says, it will take another decade before even 60% of U.S. women going on leave receive such benefits. ＂This is a very low figure for the nation with the world’s largest annual GDP,＂ he writes.

Even if a woman is paid for her maternity leave, she may keep herself aloof from it. The reason may be that she’s worried about being replaced or valued less at work, the study notes. She may also only receive a small part of her normal salary, which can make providing for her family unmanageable.

The study suggests that the paid maternity leave laws that are in place may be ＂ineffective, not fully implemented, or too narrowly defined to have an impact＂. The women who took time off after giving birth were more likely to be better educated and financially better off than the typical mother.

Zagorsky did not have information about the number of births every month, so he was unable to determine the exact percentage of working parents that used family leave. But based on the number of births per year, he estimates that about 10% of men and 54% of women take some time off. Based on employment and economic data, Zagorsky says the stalled (停顿的) maternity leave numbers can’t be explained by unemployment rates, the recession or women dropping out of the workforce.

In a 2007 analysis of 173 countries, the United States was one of only four nations that didn’t have a federal paid maternity leave policy for women after childbirth. In 98 countries, new mothers were required to receive at least 14 weeks of paid time off. During his campaign, President Donald Trump said he supported a plan for six weeks of paid leave for new mothers. (He has not proposed paid leave for fathers or other caregivers.) Even if those six weeks are implemented, Zagorsky says, ＂We still have a long way to go to catch up with the rest of the world.＂

1. Why does Jay Zagorsky mention his two nieces?

A．To introduce the subject of his study.

B．To state the purpose of his study.

C．To explain the inspiration behind his study.

D．To stress the significance of his study.

2. Which statement may Zagorsky agree with?

A．Unpaid maternity leave will be knocked out gradually.

B．At least 14-week paid maternity leave should be offered.

C．The U.S. paid maternity leave policies are well carried out.

D．Few U.S. women really benefit from the paid maternity leave.

3. The underlined sentence implies that a U.S. woman __________.

A．may fail to take on her responsibilities

B．dare not voice her doubts and concerns

C．is dissatisfied with her maternity leave

D．may not take her paid maternity leave

4. In Zagorsky’s view, what contributes to the unchanged maternity leave numbers?

A．High unemployment rates.

B．Maternity leave policies.

C．The worsening national economy.

D．Lack of female employees.

5. What’s Zagorsky’s attitude to the condition of maternity leave in America?

A．Doubtful.

B．Subjective.

C．Concerned.

D．Optimistic.

6. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Maternity leave isn’t getting more popular in the U.S.

B．Introducing paid maternity leave is a difficult task

C．Maternity leave still has a long way to go in the U.S.

D．Maternity leave is all a matter of choice

【推荐3】Disasters are like a mirror. They show both our bright and dark sides, as individuals and as a society. As citizens in China and beyond continue to fight against the coronavirus(新冠状病毒),the daily lives of many have gone through changes - from simple routine adjustments to complete devotion from volunteers.

People have consciously chosen to stay at home to prevent further human-to-human spread. However, that didn't stop employees and students from working and studying at home. On Feb 17, the scheduled first school day, many teachers started to give online lessons. Bored at home, many people began to learn new things to fill their newly-found time, such as baking or knitting.

The film named Contagion,2011 shows the worst-case that might happen after a worldwide epidemic. Fortunately, the situation in China couldn't be more different than the movie. Rather than violence and food shortage, everything has worked out rather well in China so far.

Scientists isolated (分离) the first virus strain, more than 30,000 medical workers in over 100 medical teams gathered and thousands of construction workers came to build hospitals in Wuhan, Hubei province. Thousands of volunteers are working nonstop to help deliver supplies and assist the affected regions.

Sociologists once debated whether volunteer service is common to see around the world. Indeed, more than 30 years of research—exploring disasters in Europe, Asia, and America—confirmed that the need to help is universal wherever disaster strikes.

“It's normal that when disasters happen, people will fall into panic. In reality, we're more likely to rush in to help others than run them over to save ourselves,” wrote American psychologist Kelly Caldwell in Pacific Standard. “It's an exercise in mass healing.”

1. What is the main purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To tell readers a lesson.

B．To show the effect of a disaster.

C．To introduce the topic of the text.

D．To raise the readers' interest in the mirror.

2. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．People chose to stay at home to avoid panic.

B．People tried every means to learn new things.

C．Online working and studying became more popular.

D．People adjusted to their routines to avoid infection.

3. Which does the underlined part in Paragraph3 mean?

A．China's situation was the same with the movie.

B．China experienced violence and food shortage.

C．Chinese people have gone through many changes.

D．China's situation was quite different from the movie.

4. From which is the text probably taken?

A．A newspaper.	B．A science fiction.
C．A medical journal.	D．A science report.

【推荐2】There have been big changes in the attitudes of most parents over the last few years. Physical punishment is banned in schools in most countries, and in many countries, there are moves to ban all physical punishment of children even at home. However, many parents still believe that they have the right to use some physical punishments to deal with certain misbehavior at certain ages.
It’s easy to find reasons to allow some physical punishments. One issue is that many parents find it very difficult to abandon physical punishment completely. Parents argue that this was the way they were brought up and that it didn’t do any harm to them. They believe that for the child’s sake they have the right to discipline the child in any way they consider fit, including using some physical punishments. The other one is that physical punishment can be quick and effective. There is not much point reasoning with a screaming child in the supermarket.
However, there are several reasons why we should stop using physical punishment. One point is that most parents are not trained to deal with misbehaving children. They don’t have enough resources or choices to handle the situation. As a result, they immediately react by hitting the child even if there are other solutions to the problem. Another point is that unless people are challenged or forced to change their belief, they may keep following negative habits. An example is seat belt use —now most people wear seat belts without thinking, while years ago the idea of using seat belts was strange to most people. In the same way, banning physical punishment will force people to change their habits.
In conclusion, parents have to change some of their belief and ideas about how children should be raised. It is possible to avoid the use of physical force, and doing so will help us move closer to the dream of removing violence from our society.
1. According to the first paragraph, many parents think that ____________.

A．they are free to use physical punishment on their children

B．most of the children behave badly in their daily life

C．they have changed their attitudes towards their children

D．physical punishment is effective to educate their children

2. Many parents won’t give up physical punishment because _____________.

A．they are disappointed with their children

B．they were brought up just in the same way

C．they don’t want to hurt their children badly

D．they don’t know what to do with their children

3. The author gives the example of using seat belts in order to show ____________.

A．most people are used to wearing seat belts

B．it’s not difficult to change some negative habits

C．seat belts are really very necessary and useful

D．people won’t change their old habits unless forced

4. The main purpose of the author in writing this passage is to ____________.

A．talk about a ban on using physical punishment

B．tell us we should educate our children in other ways

C．advise parents to give up using physical punishment

D．suggest physical punishment should be used at home

【推荐3】You never see them, but they're with you every time you fly. They record where you are going, how fast you're traveling and whether everything on your airplane is functioning normally. Their ability to withstand (抵挡) almost any disaster makes them seem like something out of a comic book. They're known as the black box.

When planes fall from the sky, as a Yemeni airliner did on its way to Comoros Islands in the India Ocean June 30, 2009, the black box is the best bet for identifying what went wrong. So when a French submarine detected the device's homing signal five days later, the discovery marked a huge step toward determining the cause of a tragedy in which 152 passengers were killed.

In 1958, Australian scientist David Warren developed a flight-memory recorder that would track basic information like altitude and direction. That was the first mode for a black box, which became a requirement on all U.S. commercial flights by 1960. Early model, often failed to withstand crashes, however, so in 1965 the device was completely redesigned and moved to the rear of the plane — the area least subject to impact — from its original position in the landing wells (起落架舱). The same year, the Federal Aviation Authority required that the boxes, which were never actually black, be painted orange or yellow to be visible.

Modern airplanes have two black boxes: a voice recorder, which tracks pilots' conversations, and a flight-data recorder, which monitors fuel levels, engine noises and other operating functions that help investigators reconstruct the aircraft’s final moments. Placed in an insulated（隔绝的）case and surrounded by a quarter-inch-thick panels of stainless steel, the boxes can withstand massive force and temperatures up to 2,000℉. When submerged (潜入水中), they’re also able to emit signals from depths of 20,000 ft.

Experts believe the boxes from Air France Flight 447, which crashed near Brazil on June 1, 2009, are in water nearly that deep, but statistics say they’re still likely to turn up. In the approximately 20 deep-sea crashes over the past 30 years, only one plane’s black boxes were never recovered.

1. What information could be found from the black box on the Yemeni airliner?

A．Data for analyzing the cause of the crash.

B．The total number of passengers on board.

C．The scene of the crash and level of the damage.

D．Homing signals sent by the pilot before the crash.

2. Why was the black box redesigned in 1965?

A．New materials became available by that time.

B．Too much space was needed for its installation.

C．The early models often got damaged in the crash.

D．The early models didn't provide the needed data.

3. Why did the Federal Aviation Authority require the black boxes be painted orange or yellow?

A．To distinguish them from the colour of the plane.

B．To caution people to handle them with care.

C．To obey international standards

D．To make them easily seen.

4. What do we know about the black boxes from Air France Flight 447?

A．There is an urgent need for them to be reconstructed.

B．There is still a good chance of their being recovered.

C．They have stopped sending homing signals.

D．They were destroyed somewhere near France.

【推荐1】A primary school in UK has banned Valentine’s Day cards because of concerns that young pupils spend too much time talking about boyfriends and girlfriends.
Ashcombe Primary School in Weston Super Mare，Somerset，has told parents that cards declaring love can be“confusing” for children under the age of 11，who are still emotionally and socially developing. In this month’s newsletter(通讯)，Peter Turner，the head teacher，warned that any cards found in school would be confiscated(没收)．He wrote：“We do not wish to see any Valentine’s Day cards in school this year. Some children and parents encourage a lot of talk about boyfriends and girlfriends. We believe that such ideas should wait until children are mature enough emotionally and socially to understand the commitment involved in having or being a boyfriend or girlfriend.”Mr.Turner said any families wanting to support the Valentine’s Day idea should send cards in the post or deliver them to home addresses by hand.
His views were endorsed by Ruth Rice,46，who has twins Harriet and Olivia at the school. She said，“Children at that age shouldn’t really be thinking about Valentine’s Day，they should be concentrating on their schoolwork.”They are at an age when they are impressionable(易受影响的)and most parents including myself are with Mr.Turner. “She added that the cards cause” too much competition. If someone gets a card and another doesn’t，then someone will be disappointed.
However，Rajeev Takyar,40，who has two children Jai,11，and Aryan，five，at the school，said he was “outraged”．He said，“There are schools that have banned conkers(栗子游戏)and snowballs，and now Valentine’s Cards.”I think banning the cards stops children from having social skills. How are they going to learn about relationships otherwise？It’s ridiculous. Alec Suttenwood，father of three children，said of the ban：“It’s totally ridiculous. Young children just send the cards to each other as friends and to their parents. It’s just a bit of harmless fun. There is no difference between this and Mother’s or Father’s Day.”
1. Which of the following is the best title?

A．Ban on Valentine’s Day cards at school is well received.

B．Ban on Valentine’s Day cards at school causes argument.

C．British children spend too much time talking about love.

D．A British high school bans Valentine’s Day cards.

2. The underlined word “endorsed” means________.

A．criticized	B．quoted
C．disapproved	D．approved

3. What do you know about Harriet and Olivia?

A．They will send Valentine’s Day cards this year.

B．They are strongly against the school’s decision.

C．They are of the same age.

D．They are the children of Rajeev Takyar.

4. According to Rajeev Takyar，________.

A．sending Valentine’s Day cards helps develop children’s social skills

B．banning Valentine’s Day cards will benefit children

C．the cards cause too much competition among children

D．children are too young to talk about love

5. The newsletter by Peter Turner probably appeared on________.

A．February 22	B．February 6
C．March 18	D．August 1