【推荐1】Some of the world’s most significant problems never hit headlines. One example comes from agriculture. Food riots and hunger make news. But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about. This is the decline in the growth in yields of some of the world’s major crops. A new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where, and how far, this decline is occurring.

The authors take a vast number of data points for the four most important crops: rice, wheat corn and soybeans. They find that on between 24% and 39% of all harvested areas, the improvement in yields that took place before the 1980s slowed down in the 1990s and 2000s.

There are two worrying features of the slowdown. One is that it has been particularly sharp in the world’s most populous countries, India and China. Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world food markets. That self-sufficiency cannot be taken for granted if yields continue to slow down or reverse.

Second, yield growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in corn and soya beans. This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods, accounting for around half of all calories consumed. Corn and soybeans are more important as feed grains. The authors note that “we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather than on crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world.”

The report qualifies the more optimistic findings of another new paper which suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050, as the Food and Agriculture Organization has argued.

Instead, it says, thanks to slowing population growth, land currently ploughed up for crops might be able to revert to forest or wilderness. This could happen. The trouble is that the forecast assumes continued improvements in yields, which may not actually happen.

1. What does the author try to draw attention to?

A．Food riots and hunger in the world.	B．News headlines in the leading media.
C．The decline of the grain yield growth.	D．The food supply in populous countries.

2. Why does the author mention India and China in particular?

A．Their self-sufficiency is vital to the stability of world food markets.

B．Their food yields have begun to decrease sharply in recent years.

C．Their big populations are causing worldwide concerns.

D．Their food self-sufficiency has been taken for granted.

3. What does the new study by the two universities say about recent crop improvement efforts?

A．They fail to produce the same remarkable results as before the 1980s.

B．They contribute a lot to the improvement of human food production.

C．They play a major role in guaranteeing the food security of the world.

D．They focus more on the increase of animal feed than human food grains.

4. What does the Food and Agriculture Organization say about world food production in the coming decades?

A．The growing population will greatly increase the pressure on world food supplies.

B．The optimistic prediction about food production should be viewed with caution.

C．The slowdown of the growth in yields of major food crops will be reversed.

D．The world will be able to feed its population without increasing farmland.

【推荐2】Alongside air and water, food is a necessity for human beings to survive and thrive. But it’s a lot more than that. As Mariette Dichristina of Scientific American wrote: “The most intimate (亲密的) relationship we will ever have is not with any fellow human being. Instead, it is between our bodies and our food.”

Nowadays, for most people in the world’s wealthiest countries, food is a hobby, an enthusiasm, and even something fashionable.

Turn on the TV in the US, UK or France, and you’ll find at least one channel feeding this popular obsession.

And most of us know at least one person who thinks of themselves as a “foodie”. It’s almost impossible nowadays to check our social media apps without at least two or three photos of delicious meals appearing on our screen.

But behind the fancy recipes and social media bragging (夸耀), many of us forget how much we take food for granted. This is why World Food Day is held each year.

Take Kenya for example. This east African nation has been suffering terrible droughts. The result is that people are beginning to starve. Children in particular are suffering, with some of them even dying.

This may seem shocking to know, especially as many cultures outside of Africa think of food in a completely different way. But even in the UK, families on low incomes are forced to use food banks—European organizations that hand out donated food to those who can’t afford to pay for it themselves.

So what can we do on World Food Day? One good way to spend it would be to feel humble and appreciate what we have. After all, food is essential for survival, but not everyone is as lucky as we are when it comes to dinner time.

1. According to Mariette Dichristina, what has the closest relationship with us?

A．Air.	B．Water.
C．Food.	D．Human beings.

2. What does the underlined word “foodie” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Delicious food.	B．A person fond of food.
C．A social media app.	D．A photo of delicious meals.

3. Who can get help from food banks?

A．Poor people in the UK.	B．Poor people in Africa.
C．Starving children in Kenya.	D．People in the drought-stricken.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．Treat Food as a Hobby	B．Time to Appreciate Food
C．Food Shortage in Some Countries	D．How to Spend World Food Day

【推荐3】You may have heard adults say they are uncomfortable in the morning without a cup of coffee. One reason they may feel that way is that coffee contains caffeine(咖啡因). Caffeine appears naturally in coffee, tea, and cocoa beans, which are used to make chocolate. But now food makers are adding it to many products, from potato chips to water.
The US government is especially worried about the problem. That’s why the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is studying the health effects of caffeine on young people. Studies show that too much caffeine can make people nervous and unable to sleep. What’s more, caffeine is habit-forming. Those who consume it regularly and stop suddenly may experience headaches and feel tired.
One of the biggest concerns is the large amount of caffeine added to so-called energy drinks, like Red Bull. A 12-ounce can of cola has about 35 milligrams of caffeine. A similar serving of Red Bull contains more than three times that amount.
The Institute of Medicine is also working on caffeine-safety measures. “Teenagers should not drink beverages that contain caffeine. They should be aware of caffeine’s effects on health and on how the brain works. Take, for example, teenagers who consume caffeine to stay awake and study for a test. They will remember less of what they just studied,” said Stallings, a member of the institute.
Companies that make products with added caffeine claim they do not advertise them to kids. However, there is no law to stop children from buying them. So the FDA needs to set limits on caffeine, especially in energy drinks. As for added caffeine in foods, the government should just say no. If not, the amount of caffeine should be printed on food labels to remind consumers. The government must do that.
Doctors say kids should avoid caffeine. If you need extra energy, try these natural boosters: eat right, exercise, and get plenty of sleep.
1. What is the US government particularly concerned about?

A．The fact that coffee contains caffeine.

B．The practice of adding caffeine to foods.

C．The measures of avoiding caffeine’s effects.

D．The practice of using caffeine to make chocolate.

2. Red Bull is listed in the third paragraph as an example of _____.

A．caffeine’s effects on health

B．teenagers’ addiction to caffeine

C．drinks which contain much caffeine

D．people’s concern about teenagers’ health

3. Paragraph 5 is mainly about _____.

A．the measures of protecting teenagers from caffeine’s effects

B．the process of the government’s controlling the use of caffeine

C．the government’s responsibility of taking care of teenagers

D．the risk of buying products containing caffeine nowadays

4. The author may agree that _______.

A．headaches and feeling tired are common in teenagers

B．food makers don’t add much caffeine to many products now

C．caffeine is good and useful for teenagers’ study

D．getting enough sleep can make people energetic

【推荐1】With more than two million videos on YouTube, cats are one of the most searched things on the Internet. A new exhibition called “How Cats Took Over The Internet” opened at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York. It looked at the history of how cats rose to Internet fame, and why people like them so much.

Almost half of all original YouTube videos are of people ’s pets, and around 26 billion views are just for cats, making them the single most popular category. Some cats have become famous and earned millions of pounds after their owners posted their pictures online.

So how did cats become so popular?

Since the Internet became widely used in the 1990s, people have been sharing pictures of their cats via email. In 2005 one of YouTube’s co-founders Steve Chen posted a video of his cat called Pyjamas playing with a rope, making him the first person to upload a cat video to YouTube.

In 2007 Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami started a website sharing funny pictures of cats, The site quickly became popular, and users were able to upload pictures of their cats with writing over the top. It now has over 100 million views a month and has created a whole new form of communication on the Internet.

Why cats? A scientific study has proved that looking at videos of cats can improve people's mood. Assistant professor Jessica Gall Myrick from Indians University, America, asked 7,000 people how they felt before and after watching videos of cats. The results showed that people felt happier after watching videos of cats, and that they felt less anxious.

The Internet has also been responsible for creating a number of famous cats such as Grumpy Cat, Lil BUB and Maru. They have appeared on lots of TV shows, advertisements and film festivals, and even have their own brands. Lil BUB even has her own charity, and has raised around $130, 000 for pets with special needs.

1. What’s true about cats according to the text?

A．Their fame is related to the widespread of the Internet and a relative website.

B．Cat videos take up half of all the original YouTube videos.

C．They are the first to be filmed among all the animals throughout the world.

D．They earned millions with their videos in the 1990s.

2. Why did Jessica make the study?

A．To improve people's mood and reduce people's anxiety.

B．To ask about people's present feelings and living conditions.

C．To find the effect of watching cat videos on people's mood.

D．To help people live their life to the fullest.

3. What’s special about Lil BUB?

A．She has the most videos online.	B．She is popular at home and abroad.
C．She has her own brands.	D．She has her own charity.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．Cats become celebrities	B．Cat videos rule the Internet
C．Watching cat videos counts	D．Cats’ contributions to the world

【推荐3】Zero-emission large passenger aircraft powered by hydrogen will be technically available in five years, according to Airbus, but they will not enter service for at least a decade as the price of the fuel needs to come down.

The prediction comes from Glenn Llewellyn, vice-president of zero-emission technology at the pan-European plane-maker. He said that while Airbus planned to demonstrate hydrogen-powered aircraft in 2025, over the next 10 years, hydrogen won't be more economic than the fossil fuel equivalent. “To make real emissions free hydrogen-powered planes, which give out only water and heat, their fuel needs to come from hydrogen produced via renewable sources such as wind and solar,” he added. Another barrier is building up the ecosystem that hydrogen aircraft will need”.

However, Mr Llewellyn predicted that there was enough interest in the sector to make this happen. In an interview, Mr Llewellyn said, “We already see massive increases in the amount of renewable energy being produced across the world. Wind energy production has multiplied by two over the last five years and solar energy production has multiplied by four.” He added, “There are a number of independent institutes that have mapped out how hydrogen costs can come down over the next decades. We see a 30% reduction in renewable hydrogen costs in 2030 compared to where it is today, and a 50% reduction in renewable hydrogen costs by 2050. They are exactly the kind of cost figures that are interesting for us, because it makes zeroemission aircraft commercially viable （可行的）in the 2030s.”

Last month UK-based Zero A via conducted the world’s first flight of a commercial - grade aircraft powered by hydrogen. A few days before, Airbus announced a series of design proposals for hydrogen-driven aircraft, including a “blended wing” concept that provides greater storage capacity. This design could be key to hydrogen-powered aircraft as the fuel is less energy dense （密度大）than conventional fuel and so requires more space to match performance of existing airplanes.

1. Which can be the suitable title for the text?

A．A prediction about Zero-emission aircraft.

B．Zero-emission large aircraft will be available.

C．How Zero-emission large aircraft will be made.

D．The barriers to make Zero-emission large aircraft.

2. What does Paragraph 2 focus on?

A．The future to make hydrogen-powered aircraft.

B．The importance to make hydrogen-powered aircraft.

C．The problems to make hydrogen-powered aircraft.

D．The possibility to make hydrogen-powered aircraft.

3. What does the underlined word “capacity" in the last paragraph mean?

A．Space.

B．Ability.

C．Place.

D．Capability.

4. What is Mr Llewellyn's attitude towards the future of Zero-emission large aircraft?

A．Cautious.

B．Negative.

C．Doubtful.

D．Positive.

【推荐1】Born in the 1950s, shopping malls were once the symbol of the U.S. consumer culture, but many are now dying out.

Dying shopping malls can be found across the United States, often in middle-class suburbs. Economic decline in certain areas together with an upward trend towards online shopping and new forms of urban shopping centers have pushed the once seemingly unbeatable shopping malls into decline. It is estimated that 15 to 50 percent of shopping malls may close in the coming decades.

American shopping culture follows its housing culture. Numerous shopping malls were therefore born after the Second World War, as Americans with cars and fat wallets moved to the suburbs. U.S. shopping malls were built at a rapid pace as shoppers fled cities, peaking in the mid-1990s when they were being built at a rate of 140 a year. Thus, too many shopping malls are left though construction has gradually decreased since then.

Currently, there are around 1,500 shopping malls across the U.S. Most share a handful of similar feature. They usually contain two or three stories of stores separated by walkways. Food courts serve pizza and other fast food. Parking lots are big enough to easily misplace a car.

Shopping malls in Europe might contain grocery stores or childcare centers, while those in Japan are often built around mass transit (交通枢纽). But the suburban American shopping malls are hard to get to and mainly sell clothes and gifts.

As many shopping malls became redundant (过剩的), leaders in many U.S. towns who once fought for malls now struggle with how to transform them to new uses. Highland Mall in Texas is being transformed into a community college campus, and Lakeland Mall in Florida now houses a megachurch (大型教会). Others have been redeveloped to include housing, offices and even green space. However, it is hard to imagine every shopping mall meeting the demands for such transformations.

1. What is this passage mainly about?

A．The introduction to American consumer culture.

B．The changes in Americans' shopping habits.

C．The growth of American shopping centers.

D．The decline of American shopping malls.

2. When did the construction speed of IS shopping malls reach the highest point?

A．After the Second World War	B．In the mid-1990s.
C．After mass transit appeared.	D．In the 2000s.

3. What do many U.S. towns do to solve the redundant shopping malls?

A．They make them look different from each other.

B．They make them more accessible to the public.

C．They change them to serve other purposes.

D．They move them to the urban areas.

【推荐2】America is growing older. Fifty years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 65 or older. Today, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 65. The aging of the population will affect American society in many ways: education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the aging of America has made us a very different society—one in which people have quite a different idea of what kind of behavior is suitable at various ages.
A person’s age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be. It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29-year-old university president or a 35-year-old grandmother, or a 70-year-old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing.
Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother or my father was at my age.” No one says “Act your age.” any more. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.
1. It can be learned from the text that the aging of the population in America _______.

A．has made people feel younger.

B．has changed people’s social position.

C．has changed people’s understanding of age.

D．has slowed down the country’s social development.

2. The underlined word “one” refers to _______.

A．a society	B．America
C．a place	D．population

3. “Act your age.” Means people should _______.

A．be active when they are old.

B．do the right thing at the right age.

C．show respect to their parents young or old.

D．take more physical exercises suitable to their age.