【推荐1】Tall people are seen as life’s winners, the ones you want to be, the ones who get everything their own way. But it just isn’t the case. Rosamund Beattie (6ft 4in), a member of the Tall Persons Club—not a joke, they really do find life difficult—says it’s like being famous but without the money.

I’m not actually that tall—6ft 1in—but even I meet problems. Hotel beds are too short, train seats don’t have enough leg room, and I regularly have to bend at the knees to use mirrors. Clothing can be troublesome too. “Most shirts expose my navel(肚脐) when I stretch(伸展).” Trousers are a nightmare. “You’re desperately hoping you’ll find a pair of trousers that go all the way down to your shoes.” Then there’s the matter of relationships. How often do you see a woman with a man shorter than her? There’s exception but for most people it seems to be a no-no. Some tall women bend their shoulders in an attempt to hide their height. The habit never goes away, no matter how successful they become.

Yes, I know all this is going to sound admirable to someone of below average height. “I’ll swap places with you,” they’ll be saying. Fair enough. On balance I’d rather be 6ft 1 than 5ft 5. But it’s still true that, as so often, a supposedly desirable outcome in life is slightly less desirable than you might think. Before you look at a tall person and say you wish you were them, walk a mile in their shoes.

(Notes: 1ft≈0.3m; 1in ≈ 0.25m)

1. According to the text, what is tall people’s life like?

A．A life which is not always easy.

B．A fancy but less wealthy life.

C．A life of personal accomplishments.

D．A life suffering prejudice by short people.

2. It can be learned from the text that ________.

A．short people may buy clothing as they like.

B．short people may find train seats not enjoyable.

C．tall men usually feel comfortable sleeping in a hotel.

D．tall women usually prefer taller men to be their boyfriends.

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

A．To compare the life of tall people with that of short people.

B．To reveal that being tall is not always seemingly desirable.

C．To convey his wish to swap places with a short person.

D．To urge other people to stand in tall people’s shoes.

【推荐2】It was New Year's night. An aged man was standing at a window. He raised his sad eyes towards the deep blue sky, where the stars were floating like white lilies (百合花) on the surface of a clear calm lake. Then he cast them on the earth, where few more hopeless people than himself moved towards their certain goal—the tomb. He had already passed sixty of the stages leading to it, and he had brought from his journey nothing but errors and regrets.

The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him, and he remembered the serious moment when his father placed him at the entrance of the two roads—one leading to a peaceful, sunny place, covered with flowers, fruits and resounding with soft, sweet songs; the other leading to a deep, dark cave, which was endless, where poisonous snakes hissed and crawled.

He saw a star fall from the sky and disappear, and this was the symbol of himself. His regret, which was like a sharp arrow, struck deeply into his heart. Then he remembered his friends in his childhood, who entered on life together with him. But they had made their way to success and were honored and happy on this New Year's night. With shame and grief he dared no longer look towards that heaven where his father lived. His darkened eyes were full of tears, and with a despairing effort, he let out a cry, “Come back, my early days! Come back！”

And his youth did return, for all this was only a dream which he had on New Year's night. He was still young though his faults were real; he had not yet entered the deep, dark cave, and he was still free to walk on the road which leads to the peaceful and sunny land.

As for those who still remain at the entrance of life, hesitating to choose the bright road, remember that when years have passed and your feet fall on the dark mountains, you will cry bitterly, but in vain, “Oh youth, return! Oh give me back my early days！”

1. What does the underlined word “them” in the first paragraph refer to?

A．The lilies.	B．The stars.
C．The people.	D．The eyes.

2. What do we know about his friends from Paragraph 3?

A．They had also made many mistakes.

B．They kept in close touch with him.

C．They had made major achievements.

D．They looked down on him.

3. What can we say for sure about the young man's father from the passage?

A．His father died.

B．His father lived far away.

C．His father returned home.

D．His father gave him two choices.

4. What does the writer want to remind the readers in the last paragraph?

A．It's no use crying for help.

B．It's vital to value your childhood.

C．They should not wait to choose the right way.

D．They should be careful at the entrance of life.

【推荐3】The idea of changing the world seems very crazy, but there are a number of small everyday things we can do to make the world better. Community centers, parks, libraries, homeless shelters (避难所), hospitals and schools are all places where students can make a difference through service.

Alisia Orosco, 10, wanted to show her love and care to the sick kids at University Children’s Hospital in Texas, where her brother had been a patient. She earned money by doing part-time jobs and used it to buy different toys for the children in hospital. Now she visits three hospitals every year with bags of toys. "I hope to help as many kids as I can," Alisia says. "It makes me happy to make them smile."

High school students in a town of Washington made a difference in the lives of some needy children by building a playground at a workers’ camp. They got a lot of help from a building supply store which provided free building materials for the project.

Teens in New Jersey decided to offer their help at the local soup kitchen where people with no homes can get free food. But there wasn’t one. They created a one-day soup kitchen and were able to feed 60 needy people and allowed them to take the rest home. Their efforts got more people to understand the great need of the poor in their community. Because of their efforts and success, a permanent soup kitchen was created with the $10,000 National Award they received from Newman’s Own Inc.

High school students in Las Vegas helped 30 homeless adults prepare resumes during a job fair they held at the area’s largest homeless shelter. At least nine of the adults later found jobs.

1. The underlined part "the project" in Paragraph 3 refers to the work of ________.

A．taking part in a camp	B．building a playground
C．making a workers’ camp	D．opening a building supply store

2. Which of the following can best describe the students mentioned in the text?

A．Kind.	B．Brave.
C．Proud.	D．Honest.

3. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Students can make a difference only through community centers.

B．Alisia Orosco earned money by doing part-time jobs.

C．High school students made a difference by building libraries for the homeless.

D．Teens decided to buy some expensive food for the patients.

【推荐1】Guangdong Province is set to make swimming lessons compulsory (必修的) in primary schools starting from 2020, and suggesting the courses be given from the fourth grade. Do we need to make swimming compulsory in schools? Forum readers share their opinions.

White Bear (Poland)

In Poland swimming lessons are not compulsory, but most of the schools have them. I think that when it is only possible -- there should be the swimming lessons for kids. It is a lifesaving skill.

Mister Panda (France)

I come from France where swimming lessons in school are compulsory. I even got my lifesaving certificate (证书) in school.

Jet. feng (China)

As a boy born in a rural area, I learnt swimming in a river near my home when I was 7 or 8 years old. I just learnt how to dog paddle (breaststroke) because no one taught me. Until I entered university, I got a chance to improve my swimming skills in PE lessons. Compared with my classmates, I felt lucky because most of them couldn't swim. I think it’s a good idea for schools to teach students to swim.

Boilermaker21 (Unknown)

There are swimming lessons in my city, but I felt upset about how they were taught. The kids spent 45 minutes of the one hour lesson practicing strokes ON DRY LAND. They only spent 15 minutes in the water. All of the children panicked (惊恐) and sank immediately to the bottom. Then all of the parents scolded the children, telling them that they weren't paying attention to the teacher and that they were failures.

Cecilia Zhang (China)

It is a pity that many Chinese athletes won world championships in swimming while most schools don't have the swimming facilities. Swimming is an essential lifesaving skill that everyone should access to. The earlier, the better. The government needs to put money into the popularity of the sport.

1. What do we know about Jet. feng?

A．He suggests children in China learning swimming in rivers.

B．He had a good command of swimming skills when he was a child.

C．He can swim as well as most of his classmates in university.

D．He considers it necessary for schools to give swimming lessons.

2. What does Boilermaker21 think of the swimmin lessons in his city?

A．Amazing.

B．Disappointing.

C．Impressive.

D．Effective.

3. What’s the best title for the text?

A．Swimming is a lifesaving skill.

B．How students in different countries learn swimming?

C．Should swimming lessons be compulsory in schools?

D．Countries show different attitudes towards swimming lessons.

【推荐2】A teenager needs to have a sense of independence in their life to feel secure (安全的). To some teenagers independence means a lot to them and I think that some parents don’t allow their teenagers enough independence.

Independence has something to do with freedom. Some kids are not allowed to go anywhere alone, and the only thing their schedule includes is going to school, coming home, going to sleep, and repeating the process the next day. Parents tend to be afraid that their kids can get hurt if they go outside into the world. But if parents control their kids too much, they may never learn to live on their own. The best way for a teenager to lean lesson is through experience. I think it is good for teenagers to have freedom.

Teenagers’ lack of freedom can also stop them from having good friendship at school. Some might say this is a good thing, because it helps them focus more on their school work. I argue that this can only discourage them not to do their school work. Some parents do not allow their children to be around their friends outside the school, thinking that this will get them into trouble. But I don’t think so. Instead, isn’t this a good reason for parents to get their children a cellphone? Cellphones allow teenagers to stay in touch with their parents, and communicate with friends.

Privacy (隐私) is another issue between parents and their teenagers. Teenagers tend to enjoy relaxation by themselves in their own room. This also gives them a sense of independence. It often annoys teenagers when their parents enter their room when they are not home. I know that my mom always goes in my room when I’m not home, and this has brought me to the point where I have asked many times to get a lock on my door.

1. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?

A．Kids have a dull schedule every day.	B．Parents allow their kids no freedom.
C．Kids know how to live independently.	D．It helps teenagers a lot to have freedom.

2. Which of the following statements is true in the opinion of the author?

A．It is unnecessary for a kid to have a cellphone.

B．Good friendships between kids harm their school work.

C．Parents should make it easy for kids to communicate with their friends.

D．Kids should center on the school work without friends outside the school.

3. How do teenagers usually feel when their parents enter their rooms in their absence?

A．Disappointed.

B．Frightened.

C．Angry.

D．Calm.

4. Why does the author hope to have her door locked?

A．To keep her father from reading her dairy.	B．To prevent her mother entering her room.
C．To protect herself from any harm.	D．To stop thieves from going in.

【推荐3】Waste can be seen everywhere in the school. Some students ask for more food than they can eat and others often forget to turn off the lights when they leave the classroom. They say they can afford these things. But I don’t agree with them.

Waste can bring a lot of problems. Although China is rich in some resources, we are short of others, for example, fresh water. It is reported that we will have no coal or oil to use in 100 years. So if we go on wasting our resources, what can we use in the future and where can we move? Think about it. I think we should say no to the students who waste things every day. Everybody should stop wasting as soon as possible.

In our everyday life, we can do many things to prevent waste from happening, for example, turn off the water taps when we finish washing, turn off the lights when we leave the classroom, try not to order more food than we need, and so on. Little by little, everything will be changed. Waste can be stopped one day if we do our best.

1. What may happen in 100 years?

A．We may still have enough oil.

B．We may still have enough coal.

C．We may have a little oil.

D．We may have no coal or oil to use.

2. Which of the following is right?

A．Waste brings problems.

B．Waste can bring no problem.

C．China is rich in fresh water.

D．Students never waste things.

3. Which is the best title of this passage?

A．Stop Wasting

B．School Life

C．Waste in the School

D．Rich Resources in China