【推荐1】On a number of drives throughout my childhood, my mother would suddenly pull over the car to examine a flower by the side of the road or rescue a beetle from tragedy while I, in my late teens and early twenties, sat impatiently in the car.

Though Mother’s Day follows the Earth Day, for me, they have always been related to each other. My mum has been “green” since she became concerned about the environment. Part of this habit was born of thrift(节俭). Like her mother and her grandmother before her, mum saves glass jars, empty cheese containers and reuses her plastic bags.

Mum creates a kind of harmonious relationship with wildlife in her yard. She knows to pick the apples on her trees a little early to avoid the bears and that if she leaves the bird feeders out at night, it is likely that they will be knocked down by a family of raccoons(浣熊). Spiders that make their way into the house and are caught in juice glasses will be set loose in the garden.

I try to teach my children that looking out for the environment starts with being aware of the environment. On busy streets, we look for dandelions(蒲公英)to fly in the wind; we say hello to neighborhood cats and pick up plastic cups and paper bags. This teaching comes easily, I realize, because I was taught so well by example. Mum didn’t need to lecture; she didn’t need to beat a drum to change the world. She simply slowed down enough to enjoy living in it and with that joy came mercy and an instinct for protection.

I am slowing down and it isn’t because of the weight of my nearly forty years on the planet. It is out of my concern for the planet itself. I’ve begun to save glass jars and reuse packing envelops. I pause in my daily tasks to watch the squirrels race each other in the trees above my house.

Last summer, in the company of my son and daughter, I planted tomatoes in my yard. With the heat of August around me, I ate the first while sitting on my low wall with dirt on my hands. Warm from the sun, it burst on my tongue with a sweetness. I immediately wanted to share with my mum.

1. Why does the author say the Earth Day is connected with Mother’s Day?

A．Because Mother’s Day always falls shortly after the Earth Day.

B．To stress that all the women in her family are environmentalists.

C．To stress how much her mother cares about the environment.

D．Because her mother shows her concern to nature on Mother’s Day.

2. Which of the following in NOT related to Mum’s “green life”?

A．Rescuing a beetle from a certain tragedy.

B．Saving glass jars, empty cheese containers.

C．Setting a caught spider free in the garden.

D．Picking dandelions on busy streets.

3. We can infer from the article that .

A．the author realizes that she should teach her children by example as well

B．the author’s mother knows how to get rid of the wildlife in her yard

C．the author believes that only by learning to slow down can we enjoy life

D．the author’s mother used to lecture her to protect the environment

4. What can be learned from the last paragraph?

A．Tomatoes make the author think of her mother.

B．The author likes eating tomatoes planted by herself.

C．Planting tomatoes is a way of protecting environment.

D．The author really appreciates her mother’s teaching.

【推荐2】I remember meeting him one evening with his pushcart. I had managed to sell all my papers and was coming home in the snow. It was that strange hour in downtown New York when the workers were pouring homeward in the twilight. I marched among thousands of tired men and women whom the factory whistles had unyoked. They flowed in rivers through the clothing factory districts, then down along the avenues to the East Side.

I met my father near Cooper Union. I recognized him, a hunched, frozen figure in an old overcoat standing by a banana cart. He looked so lonely, the tears came to my eyes. Then he saw me, and his face lit with his sad, beautiful smile-Charlie Chaplin’s smile.

"Arch, it’s Mikey," he said. "So you have sold your papers! Come and eat a banana."

He offered me one. I refused it. I felt it crucial that my father sell his bananas, not give them away. He thought I was shy, and coaxed and joked with me, and made me eat the banana. It smelled of wet straw and snow.

"You haven’t sold many bananas today, pop, "I said anxiously.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"What can I do No one seems to want them."

It was true. The work crowds pushed home morosely（愁眉苦脸的）over the pavements. The rusty sky darkened over New York buildings, the tall street lamps were lit, innumerable trucks, street cars and elevated trains clattered by. Nobody and nothing in the great city stopped for my father’s bananas.

"I ought to yell," said my father dolefully. "I ought to make a big noise like other peddlers, but it makes my throat sore. Anyway, I’m ashamed of yelling, it makes me feel like a fool. "

I had eaten one of his bananas. My sick conscience told me that I ought to pay for it somehow. I must remain here and help my father.

"I’ll yell for you, pop," I volunteered.

"Arch, no," he said," go home; you have worked enough today. Just tell momma I’ll be late. "

But I yelled and yelled. My father, standing by, spoke occasional words of praise, and said I was a wonderful yeller. Nobody else paid attention. The workers drifted past us wearily, endlessly; a defeated army wrapped in dreams of home. Elevated trains crashed; the Cooper Union clock burned above us; the sky grew black, the wind poured, the slush burned through our shoes. There were thousands of strange, silent figures pouring over the sidewalks in snow. None of them stopped to buy bananas. I yelled and yelled, nobody listened.

My father tried to stop me at last. " Nu," he said smiling to console me," that was wonderful yelling, Mikey. But it’s plain we are unlucky today! Let’s go home."

I was frantic, and almost in tears. I insisted on keeping up my desperate yells. But at last my father persuaded me to leave with him.

1. “Unyoked”in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.

A．sent	B．released
C．poured	D．removed

2. What is the theme of the story?

A．The miserable life of factory workers.

B．How to survive in a bitter environment.

C．Generation gap between the father and the son.

D．Love between the father and the son.

3. What is the author’s attitude towards the father and the son?

A．Indifferent	B．Sympathetic
C．Appreciative	D．Difficult to tell

【推荐3】The Hunan Satellite TV(HNTV) show “Where are we going, Dad?” is a big hit. Many famous stars brought their children to a strange village alone, and they had to spend 72 hours with their children there. The program fully showed us a modern version of the “how to be a good father”. As the young parents today are too busy to take care of their children, this new form of “Lost on the way” played by nanny Daddy and cute kids triggered（触发）a lot of people’s emotional resonance（共鸣）. Both the kids and their parents will find that their hearts are being drawn closer. But this kind of feeling has just proved that there is a big spiritual barrier between the modern parents and children.
The TV shows like “Children are hard to support!”, “Where are we going, Dad?”, “hot mom” and “cute kids” are becoming more and more popular. All of these show the new parents’ confusion in children’s education and the appeal for the balance between career and family.
In real life, on the one hand the young parents feel helpless because they are too busy to accompany their children under the pressures of work and life; on the other hand they continue to do so. The data collected by HNTV shows that nearly two-thirds of their audience are female, among whom 36% are aged from 25 to 34.We can imagine such a scene that one evening a young mother is watching the show with her young children, while her husband is still at work or trapped in socializing, or maybe is just playing computer games in the bedroom. The story of a child without the company of father is still going on. In fact, it is sometimes the same to mothers. In a modern family, it is often the old who take the responsibility of raising a child. The participation of mother in the children’s education is also very low.
It is just this kind of confusion where the parents have gone in the modern family education, and where the parents will guide their children to go that “Where are we going，Dad?” shows us. If a child wants to grow up healthily and safely into a modern citizen with independent personality and free spirit, it is very important for him or her to follow the parents who serve as their first teacher. Maybe this is the real reason why such kind of TV programs could get hot. The truth is that children will go where their parents go; and society will go where the children go.
1. In raising a child in modern society, parents should ________.

A．play computer games with their children

B．keep their children at home to avoid socializing

C．balance well between family and career

D．break down the barrier between children and teachers

2. Which of the following can be inferred in the passage?

A．Parents shouldn’t entirely leave the education of children to the old.

B．36% of the audience of the program are female aged from 25-34.

C．The program shows us the confusion where the parents and children will go to play.

D．In a modern family it is often mothers who are responsible for raising a child.

3. Which one is the best title of the passage?

A．Confusion Behind “Where are we going, dad?”

B．Modern Education is Important

C．Nanny Daddy and Cute Kids

D．New problems in Modern Children’s Education

4. What attitude towards modern family education does the author express in the second paragraph?

A．Proud.	B．Worried.
C．Optimistic.	D．Indifferent.

【推荐1】阅读短文，按照题目要求用英语回答问题。

An American woman, Missy Armstrong, has made a life changing decision to make her dying best friend’s last wish come true by adopting (收养) her three young children.

Sara is 36 years old. Her husband died and now she is in the final stages of a serious illness and is not expected to make it to Christmas. “She said she can deal with the fact that she’s dying, but she can’t deal with the fact that her kids will be separated,” her best friend, Missy Armstrong, said. The two women have been friends for over a decade after first meeting in 1999 while at the same school. Taking their friendship a step further, Missy, 42, who is already a mother to two of her own children, adopted Sara’s three young children, 11-year-old Cayden, nine-year-old Micah and eight-year-old Amara.

As Missy prepared to take on the huge task, one of her longtime friends, Rhonda DeBruyn, lent her a helping hand. Rhonda posted a message on a Facebook page asking for gifts to be donated so the growing family can have a great holiday. Since posting the message, donations have been pouring in for the family. “Missy is a kind friend and person. I’ve known her for 11 years and she has never been anything less than what you see. This doesn’t surprise me that she stepped in. Missy and Sara’s friendship is one of a kind. A friend in need is a friend indeed.” said Rhonda.

“Missy now lives in a three bedroom home, which is not large enough for the growing family. She needs to gain more support to buy a five bedroom house,” Rhonda said in a Facebook post. “Once we get her into the new house, then everything left over that we raised will go to future financial expenses.”

To donate, an account has been created at the Southeast National Bank under the name of Missy Armstrong.

1. Why did Missy adopt Sara’s three children?
2. What did Rhonda do to help Missy in the third paragraph?
3. How do you understand the underlined sentence “A friend in need is a friend indeed.”？
4. Do you support Missy’s action of helping Sara and explain why? (about 40 words)

【推荐2】Growth is painful. It’s like clearing out your drawers by pulling out every little thing inside of you, examining it, and deciding whether to throw it out or not. It can be scary. Therefore, if you have the following feelings, that's the beginning of growing.

Uncertainty

During the process of growth, you should feel uncertain.     1     Let it run its course and enjoy the aimlessness as much as you can.

Self-doubt

    2     Everything you’ve come to know about yourself and your life is now being examined. If you’re not feeling self-doubt, you’re not going deep enough. Keep digging. The moment that you feel self-doubt is the dark night before the dawn.

Insecurity (不安全感)

Many people believe that insecurity is shameful. However, it means that you are moving from one stage to the next. You are stepping into a completely unknown part of yourself.     3    

Fear

Do you know why you’ve been kept away from your chances to grow?     4     Keep moving forward and pushing beyond it.

Anxiety

Where there is insecurity, fear, and uncertainty, there is surely anxiety. Anxiety is part of growth. You have very little control over what happens to you. However, you can control how you react to it. You can choose to stick your head in the sand and stay the same, or you can grow and be free.     5    

A．The choice is yours.

B．You don’t know where to go yet.

C．Be grateful for these scary feelings.

D．You must experience it in your childhood.

E．That’s the fear that has kept you from moving on.

F．Of course you will feel doubtful about what you’re doing.

G．It’s only natural that you wouldn’t feel wholly sure of yourself.

【推荐1】Your Garden Escape

Even in the big city you can find oases (绿洲) of calm and beauty. From a royal palace to a classical garden, we recommend great green spaces to escape the hustle and bustle(喧嚣繁忙) of London.

Horniman Gardens

Homiman Gardens cover 16 acres with breathtaking views of London. Visitors can enjoy the Sound Garden, Meadow Field, and even a Prehistoric Garden, which features a display of “living fossils”. The gardens are very popular with families, and dogs can be let off their leads in the Meadow Field.

Chiswick Garden

As a classical garden landscape in London, it was here that the English Landscape Movement was born with William Kent’s designs. Enjoy fresh bread, seasonal food, and natural wines in the award-winning cafe, while admiring the beauty of the natural scenery, spotted with impressive art and statues.

Buckingham Palace Garden

The 39-acre garden boasts more than 350 types of wildflowers, over 200 trees and a three-acre lake. The garden also provides a habitat for native birds rarely seen in London. A tour of the garden can be completed by having a cream tea in the cafe overlooking the Palace’s famous grassland and lake.

Kew Garden

The Royal Botanic Garden at Kew is one of the world’s most famous gardens and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Have a walk through the vast garden, spot local wildlife at the lake, or get your hands dirty by trying a gardening lesson. Be sure to visit the Temperate House, which contains some of the rarest and most threatened plants.

1. What can visitors do in both Homiman Gardens and Chiswick Garden?

A．Study living fossils.	B．Enjoy fine views.
C．Appreciate impressive art.	D．Taste delicious food.

2. Where should visitors go if they want to join in hands-on activities?

A．Homiman Gardens.	B．Chiswick Garden.
C．Buckingham Palace Garden.	D．Kew Garden.

3. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To stress the necessity of garden escape.

B．To entertain interested garden visitors.

C．To introduce famous gardens to visitors.

D．To show the benefits of touring gardens.

【推荐2】Just Cycle And Fold Away

There’s no excuse not to get on your bike this spring. Get your indoor cycling fix and feel the benefits.

Great for general cardio (有氧的) fitness, exercise bikes can be a brilliant way of training at home. However, choosing the right bike is incredibly important, which is something that Roger Black and his team recognized when creating the Roger Black Folding Bike.

“Excellent value for money. Especially the ability to fold the exercise bike into a vertical (直立的) position and wheel it away for storage. This can also prevent you from throwing your clothes on it at the end of the day! Even if we are limited on space at home and work, we can continue physical activity with a Roger Black folding bike. This bike is helping me achieve my fitness goals following a recent running injury.”

——Brian Smith

“Best Present EVER are the words from my 77-year-old father who received his Roger Black fitness bike for his birthday. He said it is so simple and easy to use. The seat is VERY comfortable, so using it every day is a pleasure. It folds away nearly so it can be stored behind a door when necessary.”

——Anna Farnham

Roger Black is offering a 10% discount on the full www.rogerblackfitness.com range of home fitness equipment for all Reader’s Digest readers. Please use discount code DIGEST10 at checkout.

1. What can people do with a Roger Black Folding Bike?

A．Cycle in the mountains.	B．Work out at home.
C．Hang their clothes.	D．Get a discount.

2. What is the advantage of this bike that both Brian and Anna mention?

A．Easy storage.	B．Reasonable price.
C．Comfortable seats.	D．Excellent quality.

3. Where is this text probably taken from?

A．A textbook.	B．A scientific report.
C．A magazine.	D．An academic article.

【推荐3】Paris

Paris, the heaven of fashion, culture and entertainment, is the most visited city in the world. It is also held as a numerous tourist destination due to the presence of the Eiffel Tower and several other historic buildings, museums and churches.

Rome

A talk about Europe is incomplete without a mention of Rome. Held as a place where one of the oldest civilizations of the world prospered(繁荣), Rome is where you'd get to see numerous castles, palaces, ancient buildings, fountains, squares and beautiful parks. Several tourists come here especially to have a look at the Renaissance architecture that the buildings of this city boast.

Barcelona

Barcelona, a major city in Spain, is regarded among the 10 best beach cities in the world. The city's coastline has clear waters and a mild climate which makes it favorite destination among sunbathers. Besides that, Barcelona has a glorious past to show off. You must wander through its busy streets and take a look at the historic buildings, castles, churches, parks and museums.

Vienna

If you are a music lover and a steady devotee of Beethoven or Mozart, then a visit to Vienna is like going on a pilgrimage(朝圣). This is because Vienna is the birthplace of these artists. You'd find their houses there and also find their memorial graves. Besides that, Vienna is known for castles, palaces, museums and historic monuments. If you are a devoted art lover, Vienna is the place for you. It has nearly a hundred museums devoted to art!

1. Which place has the most tourists in the world according to the text?

A．Vienna.

B．Barcelona.

C．Rome.

D．Paris.

2. What can you enjoy in Rome and Barcelona?

A．The birthplace of artists.	B．Fountains.
C．Castles.	D．The Eiffel Tower.

3. In which part can you read this text in a magazine?

A．Art.

B．Sports.

C．Customs.

D．Tours.