【推荐2】Soccer is played by millions of people all over the world, but there have only been few players who were truly great. How did these players get that way — was it through training and practice, or are great players “born, not made”? First, these players came from places that have had famous stars in the past — players that a young boy can look up to and try to imitate. In the history of soccer, only seven countries have ever won the World Cup — three from South America and four from Western Europe. There has never been a great national team — or a really great player — from North America or from Asia. Second, these players have all had years of practice in the game. Alfredo Di Stefano was the son of a soccer player, as was Pele. Most players begin playing the game at the age of three or four.
Finally, many great players come from the same kind of neighborhood — a poor, crowded area where a boy’s dream is not to be a doctor, lawyer, or businessman, but to become a rich, famous athlete or entertainer. For example, Liverpool, which produced the Beatles, had one of the best English soccer teams in recent years. Pele practiced in the street with a “ball” made of rags. And George Best learned the tricks that made him famous by bouncing the ball off a wall in the slums(贫民窟) of Belfast.
All great players have a lot in common, but that doesn’t explain why they are great. Hundreds of boys played in those Brazilian streets, but only one became Pele. The greatest players are born with some unique quality that sets them apart from all the others.
1. According to the writer, which of the following statements is true?

A．Soccer is popular all over the world, but truly great players are few.

B．Millions of people all over the world are playing soccer, but only seven countries have ever had famous stars.

C．Only seven countries from South America and Western Europe have ever had national teams.

D．Soccer seems the least popular in North America and Asia.

2. The world “tricks” at the end of Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ______.

A．experience	B．training
C．skills	D．cheating

3. The Brazilian streets are mentioned to show that ______.

A．a great soccer player may be born in a slum area

B．people in poor areas are born with some unique quality

C．children in poor areas start playing football at the age of three or four

D．famous soccer players live in slum areas

4. The writer mentions all the factors that may affect a soccer player’s success except ______.

A．his family background	B．his neighborhood
C．his character	D．his practice

【推荐3】
1. Who wrote the story about a little boy and a little mouse?

A．Bill Bosworth.	B．Michelle O. Donovan.
C．Dr. Joseph L. Rose.	D．Gloria Coykendall.

2. The ISBN for the book of poems is _______________________.

A．9781462031795	B．9781412027854
C．9780595433582	D．9781462058679

3. What kind of readers will probably like reading More Things in Heaven?

A．Those who are searching for the meaning of life.

B．Those who are trying to be spiritual leaders.

C．Those who study the art of writing.

D．Those who like traveling abroad.

4. Which of the following books explores the origin of humans?

A．Seeking the Edge.

B．Creation or Evolution.

C．Joshua, Helmut, and Bethlehem.

D．More Things in Heaven.

【推荐1】The constant rise of global demand for protein poses a threat of meat shortage in the agricultural sector. To address this, a few scientists use artificial meat as an alternative to traditional ones, which from the growing process to its benefits proves it does no harm or even it does good to us.

Currently, one of the most advanced techniques to grow meat in the lab involves taking cells from an animal and changing them to muscle cells. The cells are then cultured with nutrients and essential vitamins and can be developed to any quantity and then shaped into hamburgers, steaks or mince, and so it is also called “cultured” meat. “Cultured meat is not genetically engineered,” Dr. Mark Post of Maastricht University says. “It is meat grown from the same cells that produce the meat in the cow, but this time outside the cow.” He believes that cultured meat shouldn’t be any better or worse for you than old-school animal flesh.

This may sound like science fiction, but it is not such a strange idea and there are reasons to be excited about it. “The environment impacts of cultured meat could be lower than those of meat produced in the conventional way,” said Hanna Tuomisto, a researcher at Oxford University. The process would require between 7% and 45% less energy than the same volume of conventionally produced meat such as pork, beef or lamb, and could be engineered to use only 1% of the land and 4% of the water associated with conventional meat. Tuomisto’s research also shows that cultured meat could be part of the solution to feeding the world’s growing population, at the same time cutting emissions and saving both energy and water.

Aside from the above benefits, cultured meat should also provide cheap nutrition. Animal protein is an increasing part of diets, as millions of people in rapidly emerging economies are drawn out of poverty and become able to afford more meat in their diets. The pressure this creates has been an important factor in rapidly rising grain prices, deforestation in the Amazon basin, increasing water shortage and rising pressure to find new farmland. Growing meat artificially could potentially take huge pressure off farmlands around the world.

Another benefit would be to help animal welfare and protect endangered species. If most of our meat was grown, there would be no need for factory farms. Conditions for animals could be greatly improved. Elsewhere, it could also stop illegal endangered species hunts by providing an alternative way to produce meat form these species.

Exactly how long it takes before the meat is sold in supermarkets depends on the investment in research and development. One thing seems clear: Unless vegetarianism catches on in a very big way, the world’s demand for meat will soon outpace our supply of cows, chickens, pigs and other edible animals. The health and environmental impacts of cultured meat aren’t going to be hypothetical for much longer.

1. What does the underlined word “cultured” probably mean?

A．grown.

B．sorted.

C．connected.

D．shaped.

2. Compared with traditional meat, the artificial meat______.

A．tastes much better	B．contains more nutrients
C．saves more natural resources	D．changes people’s habit of eating meat

3. The author tries to persuade the readers to accept his argument mainly by______.

A．comparing the results from different researches

B．explaining the advantages of the artificial meat

C．presenting the problems caused by meat shortage

D．showing the current situation of food consumption

4. Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
I: introduction        P: point        SP: sub-point   C: conclusion

A．	B．
C．	D．

【推荐2】阅读理解。

Climate change has caused a rise in sea levels. This has increased an amount of salt in fresh water used on farms near the sea. As a result farmers are unable to use fields close to the sea. Scientists call this process “salinization(盐碱化)”, which is reducing the world’s farm lands by 1 to 2 percent every year.

But a farmer in Holland, Marc Van Rijsselberghe started with an experiment, using a mixture of sea and fresh water to grow healthy and tasty vegetables. He put several kinds of plants in the fields. Mr. Van Rijsselberghe worked on the project with scientists from the Free University of Amsterdam. He divided a farm into eight areas. Every area was watered by different water. “We put in a lot of plants in the fields and then we put them in fresh water and in sea water with all the varieties(变化) between them, and then we saw which variety was surviving and which variety was dying.” A computer program created water with eight levels of salinity(盐度). Computerized measuring devices(测量仪器)controlled the water levels and the levels of salinity.

Mr. Van Rijsselberghe said he was able to harvest vegetables from most of the eight test areas. He said the vegetables were smaller than those grown in fresh water. But he said they had more sugar and salt, so they tasted better.

The farmer grew carrots, potatoes, cabbage and onions. He found that potatoes grew better than the other vegetables in the combination of sea and fresh water. Mr. Van Rijsselberghe said four kinds of these potatoes were recently sent to Pakistan, where thousands of hectares(公顷)of land have been damaged by salinization. Farmers in Pakistan will test the Dutch potatoes to see if they can be grown in those fields.

1. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Farms near the sea are becoming less and less in Holland.

B．The damage salinization brings to the farms in Holland.

C．Farmers improve the skills to make full use of fresh water.

D．A Dutch farmer uses a mixture of sea and fresh water to grow vegetables.

2. What does the underlined word “them” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．The plant.

B．Fresh water.

C．Sea water.

D．Fresh and sea water.

3. It can be known from the passage that______.

A．salinization brings great benefits to farmers in Holland

B．the farmer did the experiment using high technology

C．vegetables grew better in sea water than in fresh water in the experiment

D．the farmer achieved success without anyone else helping him in the experiment

4. The vegetables watered by a mixture of sea and fresh water______.

A．had less sugar than those grown in fresh water

B．were much bigger than those grown in fresh water

C．had a better taste than those grown in fresh water

D．had more beautiful colors than those grown in fresh water