【推荐1】Weather forecasts help us prepare for the future. Not only do they warn us of potentially dangerous weather headed our way, but they also give us an idea of what to expect in terms of temperature and chance of precipitation(降雨量), so we can dress and equip ourselves appropriately.

    1     Forecasts are a prediction based on an educated guess. Since there are a wide variety of factors that go into a forecast, it’ s possible for meteorologists(气象学家) to guess wrong from time to time. Fortunately, modern technology has allowed forecasters to become much more accurate over the last decade.

Today, meteorologists use complicated mathematical models to predict the weather with the help of powerful supercomputers and tons of observational data from land, sea, and air weather stations around the world. Where does all this data come from?     2     Many people create their own backyard weather stations to measure temperature and precipitation. They can report their observations to local meteorologists to help improve local forecasts.

Technologically advanced weather stations are established by meteorologists all over the world.     3     Various tools are used to measure air pressure, wind speed, relative humidity (湿度), etc.

To get data from the seas and the upper atmosphere, data-collection tools and instruments may be tied to ships, airplanes, and even buoys (浮标) in the middle of the ocean.     4     They can be used on a global scale to spot weather trends for large areas.    

All these tools around the world produce millions of pieces of weather-related observational data every single day.     5     Current data is compared to similar patterns that have occurred in the past to determine what will likely happen in the future.

A．Sometimes it comes from common people like you.

B．However, weather forecasting is not a perfect science.

C．They collect and share data to help improve forecasts.

D．Supercomputers process that data to produce forecasts.

E．Weather balloons and weather satellites also provide observational data.

F．Forecasts about temperature and precipitation are important to agriculture.

G．Data from weather satellites are used in areas where traditional data sources are not available.

【推荐2】“We are running out of space and the only places to go to are other worlds… Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I’m convinced that humans need to leave Earth.” These are the words of the famous scientist Stephen Hawking, spoken at a science festival in Norway in 2017, a year before his death.

Hawking was not alone in this view. Many experts feel that the only way for humanity to last far into the future is to colonize(移民于) other planets. That way, if a terrible disease, nuclear war or some other disaster strikes Earth, civilization as we know it would still have a chance. Mars is one of the most attractive destinations. NASA, the United Arab Emirates, the private company SpaceX, and the organization Mars One all have plans to send humans there. “Either we spread Earth to other planets, or we risk going extinct,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said at a conference in 2013.

But not everyone agrees that colonizing Mars or any other planet is such a great plan. The most common argument against going is that it’s just too expensive or dangerous. It will take huge amounts of money and other resources just to get people there, let alone set up a place for them to live. It’s not even clear if humans could survive on Mars. One of the biggest dangers there is deadly radiation that ruins the planet.

Maybe all the time and money people would pour into a Mars mission would be better spent on more urgent projects here on Earth, like dealing with poverty or climate change. Some experts argue that handling a problem like an asteroid(小行星) strike or disease outbreak while staying here on Earth would be much easier and less expensive than surviving on a new planet.

In addition, moving to a new planet could harm or destroy anything that already lives there. Mars seems uninhabited, but it could possibly host micro-organism like. Human visitors may destroy this life or permanently change or damage the Martian environment. Some feel that’s too much of a risk to take.

1. Why did the author mention NASA, the United Arab Emirates, SpaceX and Mars One?

A．To stress the risk of dying out on Earth.

B．To provide evidence for Hawking’s theory.

C．To show growing intention of moving to Mars.

D．To explain the advanced technology in astronomy.

2. What can we learn from the passage?

A．It is costly and risky to colonize Mars.

B．Civilization is difficult to maintain on Earth.

C．Poverty is the most urgent problem to handle.

D．All the time and money should be spent on Earth.

3. What does the underlined word “uninhabited” mean in the last paragraph?

A．not steady to keep.	B．not fit to live on.
C．not easy to approach.	D．not safe to set foot on.

4. What’s the best title of passage?

A．Leaving Earth to Other Planets

B．Should We Colonize Mars?

C．New Home on New Planet

D．A Mar Mission Is on The Way

【推荐3】The Vienna-based researchers showed that dogs will stop doing a simple task when not rewarded if another dog, which continues to be rewarded is present.

The experiment consisted of taking pairs of dogs and getting them to present a paw for a reward. On giving this “handshake” the dogs received a piece of food. One of the dogs was then asked to shake hands, but received no food. The other dog continued to get the food when it was asked to perform the task.

The dog without the reward quickly stopped doing the task, and showed signs of anger or stress when its partner was rewarded.

To make sure that the experiment was really showing the interaction between the dogs rather than just the frustration of not being rewarded, a similar experiment was conducted where the dogs performed the task without the partner. Here they continued to present the paw for much longer.

Dr. Frederike Range from the University of Vienna says this shows that it was the presence of the rewarded partner that was the greater influence on their behavior.

“The only difference is that one gets food and the other doesn’t. They are responding to being unequally rewarded.” she says.

The researchers say this kind of behavior, where one animal gets frustrated with what is happening with another, has only been observed in primates (灵长类) before.

Studies with various types of monkeys and chimpanzees show they react’ not only to seeing their partners receiving rewards when they are not, but also to the type of reward.

The dog study also looked at whether the type of reward made a difference. Dogs were given either bread or sausage, but seemed to react equally to either. Dr. Range says this may be because they have been trained.

1. The dogs refused to give the paw when they ________.

A．found another dog was given nothing	B．felt they were not treated equally
C．were aware they received less food	D．were given too much reward

2. What would a dog do if it presented its paw alone?

A．It would go on with the performance much longer.

B．It would be too shy to present its paw.

C．It would miss its partner.

D．It would compare what it got with that of another.

3. According to the passage, compared with dogs, monkeys and chimpanzees ________.

A．pay no attention to the type of reward

B．only like to play interesting games

C．pay attention to the type of reward as well as whether they are rewarded

D．care more about how they are rewarded

4. Which of the following can best summarize the passage?

A．Animals’ various ways to show anger.

B．Dogs are more envious than human beings.

C．Most animals want to be rewarded for their work.

D．Animals also have a sense of fairness.

【推荐1】Rivers are very important. Humans rely on them for food and water. But rivers can destroy things, too. They can flood, or rise over their banks, making the water run into the nearby land. Floods can also kill humans and wildlife. However, floods are not always bad. Some ecosystems need them every once in a while.

Flooding can not only drown animals but also destroy habitats. For example, a flood in India in 2012 killed many one-horned rhinos. Flood waters can pick up dirt from riverbanks, which makes the water dirty. Too much dirt will clog rivers and streams, preventing the river from flowing. Sometimes flood waters can carry pollution to the sea and harm marine life. In addition, flood waters can carry disease, including hepatitis A (甲型肝炎) and cholera (霍乱).

However, not everything about floods is bad. Sometimes they bring new life to ecosystems. Flood waters carry nutrients to the nearby land. Over time, the water dries up and leaves behind particles (微粒) of dirt and mud. The particles are called sediment (沉淀物) which can be good due to its ability to improve the dirt and help plants grow. Floods are important to some animals as well. For instance, some animals see floods as a sign that it is time to mate or migrate. Floods leave sediment on river beds where baby fish can grow and carry nutrients for small animals in the water to eat. Moreover, in dry seasons, water might dry up, but floods help refill the wetlands, keeping the ecosystem going.

Floods are a part of nature. They can destroy living things and the environment. But some ecosystems need floods to survive.

1. What’s the possible meaning of the underlined word “clog” in Paragraph 2?

A．Become.

B．Pollute.

C．Block.

D．Develop.

2. How do floods help ecosystems?

A．Nutrients carried by floods can make soil richer.

B．Floods make all the animals migrate more easily.

C．Tiny fish going with floods feed some animals.

D．Floods can improve the dirt and help plants grow.

3. What’s the main idea of Paragraph 3?

A．The way in which floods feed animals.	B．The benefits of floods to ecosystems.
C．An effective means of improving soil.	D．The reason for people’s appreciating floods.

4. What’s the best title of this article?

A．The Bad Effects of Flooding	B．The Secret of Flooding
C．Floods-A Disaster to Humans	D．Floods — A Part of Nature

【推荐2】Scientists say they now have proof to support the old-fashioned advice that it’s best to sleep on a problem．They say sleep strengthens the memory and helps the brain organize the masses of information we receive each day．

The lead researcher Bob Stickgold at the Harvard Medical School said, “Sleep helps us draw rules from our experiences．It’s like knowing the difference between dogs and cats even if it’s hard to explain．”

The US research team studied how well students remembered connections between words and symbols, reports New Scientist．They compared how the students performed if they had had a sleep between seeing the words and having the test, and if they had not slept．They found that people were better able to remember lists of related words after a night’s sleep than after the same time spent awake during the day．They also found it easier to remember themes that the words had in common．But they forgot around one in four more themes if they had been awake．

Prof．John Groeger, of Survey University’s Sleep Research Centre, said, “People have been trying for years to find out what the purpose of sleep is, as we know that only certain parts of it have a restorative （促使康复的）value．”

“We form and store huge numbers of experiences in the head every day, and sleep seems to be the way the brain deals with them all．”

1. The phrase “to sleep on a problem” in Paragraph 1 most likely means “________”．

A．to pay full attention to a problem	B．to wait until the next day for a decision
C．to sleep to forget a problem	D．to have difficulty in sleeping

2. In the study by the US research team, students were asked to ________．

A．put together words of similar meanings	B．remember words and their meanings
C．show their knowledge of words	D．make up lists of related words

3. Which of the following may be easier to remember?

A．Themes learned right before the test．	B．Rules from personal experiences．
C．Words learned before a good sleep．	D．Ideas stored together in the brain．

4. What may be the importance of the research?

A．It shows that sleep may help us manage information．

B．It helps find out the common themes of words．

C．It tells us that more sleep can improve health．

D．It proves the value of old-fashioned advice．

【推荐3】Betty and Harold have been married for years. But one thing still puzzles old Harold. How is it that he can leave Betty and her friend Joan sitting on the sofa, talking, go out to a ballgame, come back three and a half hours later, and they’re still sitting on the sofa? Talking?
What in the world, Harold wonders, do they have to talk about?
Betty shrugs, Talk? We’re friends.
Researching this result called friendship, psychologist Lillian Rubin spent two years interviewing more than two hundred women and men. No matter what their age, their job, their sex, the results were completely clear: women have more friendships than men, and the difference in the content and the quality of those friendships is “marked and unmistakable”.
More than two-thirds of the single men Rubin interviewed would not name a best friend. Those who could were likely to name a woman. Yet three-quarters of the single women had no problem naming a best friend, and almost always it was a woman. More married men than women named their wife/husband as a best friend, most trusted person, or the one they would turn to in time of emotional distress (感情危机). “Most women,” says Rubin, “identified at least one, usually more, trusted friends to whom they could turn in a trouble moment, and they spoke openly about the importance of these relationships in their lives.”
“In general,” writes Rubin in her new book, “women’s friendships with each other rest on shared emotions and support, but men’s relationships are marked by shared activities.” For the most part, Rubin says, interactions (交往) between men are emotionally controlled—a good fit with the social requirements of “manly behavior”.
“Even when a man is said to be a best friend,” Rubin writes, “the two share little about their innermost feelings. However, a woman’s closest female friend might be the first to tell her to leave a failing marriage; it wasn’t unusual to hear a man say he didn’t know his friend’s marriage was in serious trouble until he appeared one night asking if he could sleep on a sofa.”
1. What old Harold cannot understand or explain is the fact that __________.

A．he is treated as an outsider rather than a husband

B．women have so much to share

C．women show little interest in ballgames

D．he finds his wife difficult to talk to

2. Rubin’s study shows that for emotional support a married woman is more likely to turn to __________.

A．a male friend	B．a female friend
C．her parents	D．her husband

3. According to the text, which type of behavior is NOT expected of a man by society?

A．Ending his marriage without good reason.

B．Spending too much time with his friends.

C．Complaining about his marriage trouble.

D．Going out to ballgames too often.

4. Which of the following statements is best supported by the last paragraph?

A．Men keep their innermost feelings to themselves.

B．Women are more serious than men about marriage.

C．Men often take sudden action to end their marriage.

D．Women depend on others in making decisions.