【推荐1】"For years, we had seen a lot of old villages dying slowly before being torn down. It's such a shame. So I wanted to do something," says Zhang Lei, a professor from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Nanjing University.

Zhang's two design works for Librairie Avant-Garde, the Yunxi Library bookshop in Tonglu county's Daijiashan village and Chenjiapu Bookstore in Songyang county, both in East China's Zhejiang province, were opened respectively in 2015 and 2018. The villages have since seen increasing number of visitors. Hostels have been built and, as a result, property prices in the villages have soared. For instance, the annual rent of a house in Daijiashan village was 2,000 yuan ($306) in 2015, but has now grown to 8,000 yuan.

Similarly, Chenjiapu village used to be dying despite a history stretching back 600 years. The bookstore, however, means that holidays bring so many visitors that there are often traffic jams on the road leading to the village. "I never thought that a small bookstore could change the fate of a village," he says.

When Qian Xiaohua, founder of Librairie Avant-Garde headquartered in Nanjing, started opening bookstores in the countryside six years ago, he met with a lot of doubts and questions. After all, bookstores in cities, with much bigger populations, could barely survive due to online competition. Even more surprisingly, Qian prefers targeting old villages that are losing their young people, with just the elderly and children left behind. Those villages are usually located in picturesque surroundings, many with historical details. Qian, accompanied by architects, will then choose old buildings from the villages to be renovated into well-lit modern bookstores that remain true to their original structures and decorative aspects.

Since April 2014, Qian has opened five bookstores in the countryside. All have attracted large numbers of tourists and even young villagers to return home. Apart from their commercial success and subsequent economic revival of the villages, these bookstores have become new public spaces for locals, benefiting the development of rural areas in the long run.

1. What can we know about many old villages from Zhang Lei’s words in paragraph 1?

A．They were booming gradually.	B．They were being deserted.
C．They were under construction.	D．They were overdeveloped.

2. What does the underlined word “soared” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Risen.

B．Decreased.

C．Changed.

D．Overturned

3. How might people feel about Qian Xiaohua opening bookstores in the countryside initially?

A．Favorable.

B．Interested.

C．Hopeful.

D．Skeptical.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Old Villages Survive Amazingly	B．Rebuild Traditional Settlements
C．Bookstores Rewrite Old Villages	D．Knowledge Changes Villages

【推荐2】One thing that sets humans apart from other members of the animal kingdom is our tendency to develop customs and traditions. Here are some astonishing customs from around the world.

An odd custom associated with the United States is its complicated tipping culture. Unlike many other countries that don’t tip at all or that only tip in small amounts when the food is particularly good, tipping is actually mandatory at most restaurants in the US. To put it another way, customers have a duty to leave between 10-20 percent of the bill in tips. Wait staff rely on these tips for a living because legal wages for waiters are low. Furthermore, there are rules for tipping bartenders, delivery people and other service personnel. While some criticize this practice as irrational, there’s no doubt that tipping culture in the US gives an incentive for waiters and waitresses to provide better service.

Some countries find the act of pointing with the index finger to be rude. While members of most cultures would probably agree that pointing fingers, both literally and figuratively, isn’t exactly the nicest thing in the world, in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, this gesture can be seen as incredibly offensive. Instead, it is customary to gesture towards things with the thumb as this is seen as a more polite option. In many countries in Africa, pointing is reserved for inanimate objects only, not people.

Most societies around the world have rules about table manners. For western cultures, noisily consuming food is considered rude. In Japan, however, making slurping(啧啧响的)sounds while eating has an entirely different meaning. This might have something to do with the fact that in western countries, noodles are properly consumed by twirling(缠绕)them on a spoon before putting them in the mouth. Meanwhile, the Japanese simply slurp up their noodles without contorting them first, an act that is naturally noisier than the former. Making slurping sounds when eating noodles in Japan is a way of indicating that you’re rely enjoying them. Some scientists even argue slurping invites air into the mouth and actually enhances the noodles’ flavor.

1. What does the underlined word “mandatory” in paragraph2 probably mean?

A．Required by tradition.	B．Highly spoken of.
C．Changeable over time.	D．Popular among people.

2. What does the author think of tipping?

A．It is totally unreasonable.	B．It must follow a fixed standard.
C．It can improve the quality of service.	D．It should only target waiters and waitresses.

3. Which practice is acceptable according to the text?

A．Skipping tipping in the USA.	B．Twirling noodles on a spoon in Africa.
C．Pointing with the index finger in Indonesia.	D．Making sounds while eating noodles in Japan.

4. Where is this text probably taken from?

A．A research paper.	B．A travel brochure.
C．An online advertisement.	D．A popular magazine.

【推荐3】Recently, researchers at Yale did a groundbreaking study that found that parents had enormous power to reduce their child’s anxiety,even if the child didn’t do anything different.

The study involved 124 parents and their children, aged 7 to 14, who had been diagnosed with anxiety disorders. Half the children received 12 weekly sessions of cognitive(认知的)behaviour therapy(治疗). The other half received no therapy at all，but their parents received 12 weekly sessions to guide them on how to respond to anxiety in their children.

Parent therapy focused on helping parents reduce their accommodation behaviour, which are the behaviour that make anxiety more possible. These behaviour included parents supporting avoidance, over-comforting, changing the environment to avoid anything that might fuel anxiety, accommodating obsessive-compulsive(强迫症)behaviour(either by joining in or making way for them). For example,if a parent received loads of text messages a day from an anxious child, that parent gradually reduced the number of text messages he or she sent back to two or three. Parents of children who were refusing or avoiding school because of anxiety-driven stomachaches were taught to respond with something like,“I know you are feeling upset right now, and I know you will be okay,”before sending the child to school.

The results were remarkable. Children in both groups showed the same reduction in anxiety, regardless of whether they or their parents received suggestions. On top of this, the relationship between the parent and child was better in the group where only the parents received therapy. If you have stood with a child during anxiety,you would probably be way too aware of the sense of helplessness that can swamp them. When anxiety lays a heavy hand, it can understandably be tough for our children to open up to doing something different. What this research is telling us is that we don’t need them to. Even without involving their children, parents have enormous power to reduce anxiety in their children by changing the way they respond to anxiety.

1. What are the two therapies intended for?

A．One for children and one for parents.

B．Both for children’s cognitive behaviour.

C．Both for parents’ anxiety and behaviour.

D．Both for children with anxiety and bad deeds.

2. Why should parents reduce sent-back messages when receiving so many?

A．To let experts give some advice.

B．To show their ignorance to them.

C．To reduce the children’s anxiety.

D．To give children too much comfort.

3. What does the result of the research show to us?

A．Children’s ways to deal with anxiety are vital.

B．Parents’ proper behaviors are more important.

C．Children’s cognitive behaviors should be guided.

D．Children are short of experience in treating anxiety.

4. What should a parent do in treating children’s anxiety?

A．Change himself.	B．Give advice quickly.
C．Take them to doctors.	D．Get into their behaviors.

【推荐1】Imagine you are on a beautiful tropical beach. The blue water shines in the sun, and the sand is warm under your feet. You notice a small fruit in the sand. It looks like a little green apple. You pick it up and smell it... it smells sweet. But whatever you do. Don’t take a bite!

This is the fruit of the manchineel tree. It is the most poisonous tree in America. You can find it in Florida, as well as in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America.

If you were to eat the fruit, it would taste delicious. But then your mouth would start to burn. Your throat would tighten and make it difficult to breathe. You could even die.

The fruit isn’t the only risky part of the manchineel tree. The tree is full of milky white sap. Sap is a liquid that flows through a plant, like blood flows through a person. The manchineel’s sap is hazardous. If it gets on your skin, it will cause painful blisters. So don’t try to cut down these trees, because you could get sap all over you!

And if you try to burn manchineel wood, the smoke will choke and blind you.

Manchineel trees are dangerous, but they’re also an important part of the environments where they grow. Manchineels protect beaches with their strong roots. The roots help stop sand and soil from washing away. This is good for the plants, animals, and people living nearby. There aren’t many manchineel trees left in the world. So even though they’re harmful, people are trying to protect them. Still, if you see one, stay away!

1. What do we know about the manchineel tree?

A．It looks ugly.	B．Its fruit is dangerous.
C．Its fruit tastes terrible.	D．It grows in cool places.

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

A．Clear.	B．Smelly.
C．Sweet.	D．Unsafe.

3. What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To help people choose fruit.

B．To introduce the manchincel tree.

C．To improve people’s sense of safety.

D．To attract people to tropical beaches.

【推荐3】Methuselah

Until 2013, Methuselah，an ancient bristlecone pine (狐尾松), had been the oldest known organism on Earth. While Methuselah still stands at the ripe old age of 4,848 in the White Mountains of California, in Inyo National Forest, another bristlecone pine which was unnamed in the area was discovered to be over 5,000 years old. Methuselah and the unnamed pine’s exact locations are kept a close secret in order to protect them.You can still visit the woods where Methuselah hides, but you’ll have to guess at which tree it is Could this one be it?

Sarv-e Abarqu

Sarv-e Abarqu, also called the “Zoroastrian Sarv”, is a cypress(柏树) tree in Yazd Province, Iran. The tree is estimated to be at least 4,000 years old. Having lived through the dawn of human civilization not far away, it is considered an Iranian national monument. Many have noted that Sarv-e Abarqu is most likely the oldest living thing in Asia.

Llangernyw Yew(紫衫)

This incredible yew is in a small churchyard of St. Digain’s Church in Llangernyw village, North Wales, United Kingdom. About 4,000 years old, the Llangernyw Yew was planted sometime in the prehistoric Bronze Age and it’s still growing! In 2002, the tree was named as one of 50 great British trees by the Tree Council.

The Senator

Though the Senator suffered tragedy in 2012 after a fire caused much of the tree to fall down, this iconic tree still stands. Formerly located in Florida, the Senator was widely considered the oldest of its species known to exist. It was also likely the largest U. S. tree of any species east of the Mississippi River. Estimated to have been around 3,500 years old, the Senator was used as a landmark for the Seminole Indians and other native tribes. The Senator’s size was particularly impressive because it went through many hurricanes, including one in 1925 which reduced its height by 40 feet.

1. Why will visitors be puzzled when they want to see Methuselah?

A．They can’t understand why it can be so old.

B．They don’t know how to protect it in its location.

C．They don’t believe it is a tree over 5,000 years old.

D．They can’t find out its specific location in the woods.

2. Which of the following is regarded as an Iranian national monument?

A．Methuselah.

B．Sarv-e Abarqu.

C．Llangernyw Yew.

D．The Senator.

3. What did the tree Senator go through?

A．It was once burned to the ground.

B．It was once cut short by a hurricane.

C．It was once used to protect the Seminole Indians.

D．It was once named as the greatest British tree.