【推荐1】Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. acknowledgement       B. actually       C. commonly     D. confirm     E. conscious F. crack        G. eliminate     H. independent     I. log     J. shortcut     K. unimaginative

Why Your Password May Not Be As Safe As It Seems

Does “qaz2ws” strike you as a nice safe password? What about “adgimptw”? An analysis has found them to be among the passwords that are most     1     used, which of course means they are not secure at all.

When ten million passwords were leaked to the internet, they appeared to     2     that attempts by internet security experts to make us improve our password strength had been successful, even, in the specific case of the leaked passwords, they were also completely pointless.

While many of the passwords were still single words, such as “password”, there was also a clear attempt by many to make them harder to     3    . The problem was that people seemed to do so in the same way.

“Users are becoming slightly more     4     of what makes a password strong,” explained WP Engine, an internet company that performed the analysis. “For instance, adding a number or two at the end of a text phrase. That makes it better, right?”

But     5     no. They found that almost half a million passwords did this—and in 20 per cent of those all people did was put the number “1” at the end.

Perhaps this is why some companies are now trying to move gradually beyond passwords. Yahoo! is giving users the option to associate their mobile phone with an account, and have a single use password texted to it each time they want to     6     on.

Although the service is voluntary, Dylan Casey, an executive at Yahoo!, said that it was “the first step to     7     passwords”. He said it was a(n)     8     that it was increasingly hard for people to remember all the passwords they had. “I don’t think we, as an industry, have done a good enough job of putting ourselves in the shoes of the people using our products,” he said.

It would certainly be a more sensible strategy than some people’s improving upon “password” by using “password” or tran5p053d numb3r5f0r13tt3r5.

“We are, for the most part, predictably     9     when it comes to choosing passwords, despite a decade of warnings from password strength checkers during sign-ups”, said WP Engine, “We love taking a(n)     10       , and so do password cracker.”

【推荐2】Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

Put down the phone and live in the moment

Have you ever unintentionally left your phone at home and wondered how you would get through the day? Baylor College of Medicine’s Dr. Jin Han explains why this might be a sign that you need to put down your phone more often.

“There has been a(n)     1     in technology as our phones have gone from just regular cell phones to smart phones that allow you to multitask all with one device,” said Han, assistant professor at Baylor. “You use your phone now to receive emails, to text and chat and to access social media platforms --     2     your phone may be your connection to your social life.”

Although they offer many advantages, Han cautions that using your smart devices can be harmful if you use them too much. For example, using your smart phone while driving, or even walking, can cause serious accidents. Also, staring at your screen for too long can be harmful to your     3    .

Being     4     too long to your phone also can impact the quality of your relationships, he said. If you are on your phone constantly and not     5     with those around you, it can take away from your relationships with your family and friends. In addition, if you are using your phone too much in front your children, then they will likely follow your lead and use their own smart devices rather than     6     with you.

“ In the end, the question is how you balance using your phone while not negatively     7     your health.” Han said. “Anything that you are doing to the     8     is no healthy anymore. While it is going to be almost impossible not to use this technology, we have t create a behavior that is healthy.”

To help     9     the time you spend on your phone, Han offered the following tips:

Limit the time spent on your phone: Set up certain time that you allow yourself to be on the phone.

Do not use your phone at night: Being on your phone late into the night can make it harder for you to fall asleep and wake up the next day. Restricting your phone use at night can help you     10     a healthy sleep behavior.

【推荐3】Learn more about the benefits and drawbacks of the Internet. Complete the conversations with the correct forms of the words below.

update     false     theft     access     upset     account     benefit     download     database

A: Do you have any bicycle rental apps?
B: No, though I’ve heard about them. How do you use them?
A: Just     1     an app on your smartphone. You can find the nearest bike in the app. Just enter the bike number in the app and then you can ride it.
B: That’s cool, isn’t it? They must have to constantly     2     their     3    .

【推荐1】III. 完形填空（Cloze）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从方框内选择适当的单词或短语填空。方框内有多余的词或短语，每个词或短语限用一次。（答案写在答题纸上）

found, may, of, led to, sometimes, rather than, mad, in fact, even if, different, water, part, drink, as well as, natural, include, important, wherever

   

Many tourists nowadays walk around carrying plastic bottles of water, even in cities. The bottles seem to have become an     1     fashion accessory（配件）, and not only for tourists.     2    , nowadays everyone seems to carry a bottle of water with them    3     they go. This fashion for being seen with bottled water,     4     called “designer water”, has    5     a massive（大量的） increase in sales over the past few years. There are now so many    6     brand names available in the shops that it is hard to choose.

       But why do some people prefer their water from a bottle     7     a tap? To start with, water forms a very important     8     of a healthy lifestyle. We are now advised to    9     two litres of water daily,     10     eating large quantities of fruit and vegetables. Besides this, designer water offers the promise     11     purity.
It is advertised as clean and     12    , while tap water     13     be viewed with suspicion （怀疑）.
But is there really any difference between bottled and tap     14    ? Surprisingly, in the USA it was     15     that bottled water was not always as pure as most ordinary tap water.

【推荐3】Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. literally          B. innovations          C. eventually            D. professional            E. examine F. features            G. barrier            H. mean            I. please            J. impressive            K. well-positioned

The Best Company to Work For

Every year, Fortune magazine publishes a list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For”. Howdoes the magazine choose the companies? Firstly, it uses a survey: 350 employees answer 57 questions about their company. Secondly, Fortune looks at important     1     of companies: for example, pay, benefits, and communication between workers and management. Finally, the magazine must     2       the results to find its Top 100.

Wegmans Food Markets, which ranks No. 1 on the list, has a motto (座右铭) , “Employees first, customers second”, and it is also one of the 50 largest private companies in the US, with annual sales of $3. 6 billion, according to Forbes magazine. Apparently, being good to your employees is no     3     to making money.

How much of Wegmans’ success is due to the company’s policies? “Up to a point, the success is because of the freedom they give us,” says one employee. “On the other hand, no company gets rich just by not being     4     to its employees. Wegmans has great marketing strategies and it’s     5     within the community. I’ve been here for 15 years. Looking back, I’d say that the company’s     6     for customers’ benefits, such as the Shoppers’ Club electronic discount programme in the 1990s, have been just as important as the benefits to staff.”

But the employee benefits are     7    . Fundamentally, Wegmans believes in     8     development. As well as scholarships, the company gives its employees business opportunities. For years, one employee made delicious cookies for her colleagues. She     9     started selling the cookies in Wegmans. ‘I just asked the manager,’ she says. ‘While looking back, I think I should have asked earlier. I could have made more money!’

The staff’s freedom to make decisions is another thing you won’t find everywhere. Essentially, Wegmans wants its workers to do almost anything to     10     the customers. Believe it or not, an employee once cooked a Thanksgiving turkey in the store for a customer because the woman’s turkey, bought in Wegmans, was too big for her oven.