【推荐2】How to Improve Speed Reading Skills

Speed reading is one of many skills that can improve your reading comprehension and shorten your study time.    1    

Look at groups of words, not single words.    2     However, if you can get into the habit of reading groups or chunks of words at one time, then you can read much faster. Start by trying to look at a group of three or four words at once, then work up to looking at an entire line of works. Focus on words that give the sentence meaning, such as the nouns and verbs and pay less attention to the filler words, such as a, the, and, etc.

Scan for keywords.

Scanning is a highly effective way of extracting answers from a text without really reading it. If you know exactly what you are looking for﹣a name, a date, a statistic, or a specific word-you can find it quickly by skipping over large chunks of the text. To scan, first visualize the word, number, or phrase you would like to find.    3     The information you are looking for should pop out at you.

    4    

You can train yourself to read faster by timing yourself as you go. Start by getting your base time. Set a timer for fifteen minutes, and speed read as you normally do.    5     Do not count the words, just the pages or paragraphs. Record your figures: for instance, you night write "15 min/6.5 pages."

A．Race the clock.

B．Cheek your comprehension.

C．Here are some speed reading techniques.

D．Then, run your eyes rapidly over the text.

E．When the timer goes off, cheek to see bow far you have got.

F．If you read a text one word at a time, then this will slow your reading speed down.

G．One of the reasons is that you have to pause to understand what a passage is saying.

【推荐2】Good health is the most valuable thing a person can have, but one cannot take good health for granted. It is important to remember that the body needs proper care in order to be healthy. There are three things that a person can do to help stay in good shape: Eat right food, get enough sleep, and exercise regularly.

Proper nutrition (营养) is important for good health. Your body cannot work well unless it receives the proper kind of “fuel (燃料)”. Don’t eat too much food with lots of sugar and fat. Eat plenty of foods high in protein,like meat, fish,eggs and nuts. Vegetables and fruit are very important because they provide necessary vitamins and minerals. However, don’t overeat. It is not helpful to be overweight.

Getting the proper amount of sleep is also important. If you don't get enough sleep, you feel tired and easily get angry. You have no energy. Over a long period of time a little amount of sleep may even result in a change of personality (个性). Be sure to allow yourself from seven to nine hours of sleep each night. If you do, your body will feel strong and refreshed, and your mind will be sharp.

Finally, get plenty of exercise. Exercise firms the body, strengthens the muscles, and prevents you from gaining weight. It also improves your heart and lungs. If you follow a regular exercise programme,you will probably increase your lifespan (寿命). Any kind of exercise is good. Most sports are excellent for keeping the body in good shape: Basketball, swimming,bicycling, running and so on are good examples. Sports are not only good for your body,but they are enjoyable and interesting, too.

If everybody were to eat the right Foods, get plenty of sleep and exercise regularly, the world would be a happier and healthier place. We would all live to be much older and wiser.

1. According to the passage, ________.

A．we should always keep fit

B．if we were healthy, we could spend our days in doing things with less sleep

C．one can eat a lot to stay in good wshape

D．one needn't take any exercise if he is healthy

2. In order to keep good health, ________.

A．we should eat a lot of sweets

B．one needs a large amount of fat

C．people should eat according to the food's nutrition

D．we must try to sleep now and then

3. Eating more and sleeping less ________.

A．can make you keep healthy	B．is not good for you
C．gets you more energy	D．will keep your personality

4. According to the passage,the benefits of proper exercise are as follows EXCEPT that ________.

A．exercise can help build up the body	B．exercise may make you live longer
C．exercise may help cure heart diseases	D．exercise can bring happiness to people

【推荐1】A spoonful of pickles(榨菜) can sometimes make a meal taste way better. Recently, a new type of pickle is being discussed: “digital pickled vegetables”. It refers to the videos people watch while eating. Many people think that the videos can make their food more appetizing.

The topic received more than 16 million clicks on Sina Weibo and about 100,000 people participated in the discussion. Instead of having meals with friends and family members, many young people in China are kept company by TV shows or short videos. Many believe that their food is tastier with the “digital pickles”.

Can this habit affect your diet? According to a research paper published in 2019, you may eat more unconsciously. The international research team asked 62 volunteers to follow different eating patterns on four different days. The patterns included eating while looking at the mobile phone, reading magazines and without distraction. After analyzing their diets, the team discovered that eating with a distraction increased caloric ingestion(卡路里摄入) by about 15 percent.

To explore the reason, the team also invited two groups of people: one group ate while listening to an audio clip about another person eating and the other listened to a clip that helped them imagine themselves eating. The results showed that the second group ate less since they were more focused on their meals. When we eat with the “digital pickles”, our attention can be distracted, which leads to eating more than expected.

This works not only for eating meals but other demanding tasks as well. A research project led by the University of Sussex, UK, pointed out that activities which require lots of attention trick many participants into overeating. The team invited 120 participants to do various tasks while providing them with drinks and snacks. “Our study suggests that if you’re eating or drinking while your attention is distracted by a highly engaging task, you’re less likely to be able to tell how full you feel,” one of the authors Martin Yeomans explained.

1. What do “digital pickles” refer to?

A．Anew type of vegetables.	B．Electronic products popular online.
C．Videos people watch while eating.	D．Digital games suitable for families.

2. What do we know about the international research?

A．The research was conducted in 2019.

B．62 people in total participated in the entire research.

C．It showed that eating with a distraction decreased caloric ingestion by 15 percent.

D．The group listening to a clip about another person eating ate more than the other group.

3. Why do people eat more with “digital pickles” according to the text?

A．They are more focused on their meals.

B．They are distracted by “digital pickles”.

C．The food tastes better with “digital pickles”.

D．The “digital pickles” make them feel hungrier.

4. Why does the author mention a different study in the last paragraph?

A．To give another case that causes overeating.

B．To describe the effects of “digital pickles”.

C．To explain how to judge you are full.

D．To present how to avoid being distracted.

【推荐2】When we are young we are taught that it’s wrong to lie and we should always tell the truth. Unfortunately, most children lie even if they’re told not to. Research carried out at the Institute of Child Study at Toronto University has shown that this might not be such a bad thing. Apparently (显然地), children who tell lies when they’re two years old have a good chance of becoming successful adults (成年人).

According to the research, at the age of two, 20 per cent of children lie. At the age of three, 50 per cent lie, and at four almost 90 per cent lie. By the age of twelve almost every child tells lies.

Lying needs much brain work, and the better the lie is, the more work the brain has to do. By training the brain early, researchers believe children will be able to think more clearly when they are adults.

Recent research, carried out by the Science Museum in London, has shown some interesting facts about the way we lie as adults. According to the research, the average British man tells three lies every day; that’s over 1,000 lies a year. However, the average woman apparently only lies twice a day.

Most people think women are better liars (说谎者) than men although in fact they tell fewer lies. Popular women’s lies include ‘Nothing’s wrong, I’m fine’, ‘I don’t know where it is, I haven’t touched it’, and ‘It wasn’t that expensive’.

Some people say you can lie as long as it’s a white lie. A white lie is a lie told to avoid hurting someone’s feelings. One of the most common lies for both men and women is ‘It’s just what I’ve always wanted’, said after opening a present from their partner.

1. What’s the true feeling behind the underlined part in the last paragraph?

A．You know me so well.

B．I don’t like the present.

C．You are good at picking presents.

D．I haven’t received a present I really like.

2. What will happen to young children who lie?

A．They will possibly do wrong later.

B．They’re likely to succeed in the future.

C．They will keep lying when they grow up.

D．They may have a good chance of losing others’ trust.

3. What do the numbers in Para.2 show about children?

A．Older children tell bigger lies than younger ones.

B．As they grow they often lie about their age.

C．The older they are, the more likely they lie.

D．It’s quite natural for them to tell lies.

4. What did the research by the Science Museum find out?

A．Men lie more than women.

B．Women are better liars than men.

C．Women’s lies are usually not serious.

D．Men sometimes have to lie to women.

【推荐3】Can a bowl of chicken soup help fight a cold? Maybe. But will going outside with wet hair make you sick? No.     1     Here are some more.

Feed a cold, starve a fever. Being sick often makes you eat less. But force-feeding won't help. What will help is drinking more water and getting enough calories. A 2008 study found that mice having flu took longer to recover and were more likely to suffer ill effects if they were dieting.     2    

Vicks VapoRub(薄荷膏) in your socks treats coughs. A widely spread post on line once suggested putting Vicks VapoRub on feet at night and covering them with socks to treat coughs.     3    VapoRub is usually used on a child's chest or throat to reduce cough. So it would not work in your socks. Still, some fans stand by this treatment.

    4     Colds and flu are caused by viruses. They do spread during cold-weather seasons, but you're more likely to pick them up inside than out. In fact, going outside and getting more physical activities-and not just during cold and flu season-may help prevent sickness.

A wet head can make you sick. You'll probably feel cold if you don't blow your hair dry on a cold day, but not much else will happen.     5     Unless you are so cold that you get a low temperature, which could make you sensitive to flu, wet hair or clothes won't increase your possibility of catching a cold.

A．It became an internet popularity.

B．You'll get sick if going out without a coat.

C．Again, colds are caused by a virus.

D．That's just an incorrect traditional belief in cold.

E．But you have to actually wear it for the health benefits.

F．Experts suggest adding medicines three times a day to your meal.

G．The researchers' suggestion is to stop dieting until after flu season.