【推荐1】Polar bears are not the only species in danger from global warming, a new report has warned. The US Center for Biological Diversity (CBD)claims 16 Arctic(北极的)animals are at risk from the melting ice as well as the polar bears.The animals have become a symbol of the environmental movement, as their numbers go down with the melting ice caps.

But they are not the only ones.A new report has warned that other animals are in danger of going extinct as well.Sea ice in the Arctic fell to its lowest level after records began in 2007 and scientists predict the area could be largely ice free in summer within 10 years.

Shaye Wolf, the lead author of the report, said Arctic foxes, whales, musk oxen(麝牛), walruses(海象)and four species of seals were all in danger—as well as polar bears.

“The polar bear is the best-known victim(受害者)of rapid melting in the Arctic, but if we don’t reduce greenhouse pollution, many more creatures will follow it down the path to   extinction，” she said. “Some Arctic species have already experienced widespread die-offs and population becomes less after losing key habitats and food sources; others face extreme weather events or suffer new pressures from predators(食肉动物).”

The CBD is also afraid these animals could be in danger if mining for oil goes ahead in this area.It is estimated that eight of the world’s 19 polar bear populations are becoming less as they struggle to raise young and hunt for food on ice.

1. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Polar bears are the only species in danger from global warming.

B．Why all Arctic species are in danger of dying out.

C．We should take measures to protect Arctic animals.

D．Arctic foxes, whales, musk oxen, walruses and four species of seals were all in danger—as well as polar bears.

2. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “extinction”？

A．繁衍	B．灭绝
C．存在	D．兴衰

3. According to the passage, which of the following statements is correct?

A．Nine of the world’s 19 polar bear populations are becoming less now.

B．Polar bears are in danger mainly because their food sources are disappearing.

C．If we don’t take any effective measures to protect these animals in Arctic, more and more creatures will die out in the future.

D．Sea ice in the Arctic fell to its lowest level before records began in 2007.

【推荐2】To be honest, I’ve been missing the online shopping experience in China since I moved to the US four years ago. So when I noticed Shein becoming mainstream in the US over the past few years, I thought, Great! I finally have a Taobao replacement! So I went on my first Shein journey in August 2022.

But somewhere along the way, I started questioning why I enjoy this particular kind of shopping, and also what it means for an e-commerce platform to offer endless deals.

To be fair, there are Shein purchases that I’ve really enjoyed, like a $2 nylon watchband that feels better than my original Apple Watch band. I also think people should be able to choose quantity and price over quality, because the idea of demanding that people only buy premium products feels unrealistic.

But as it turns out, I’ve finally started to see through the illusion (错觉) of Shein-like platforms. To get these occasional incredible deals, you are encouraged to shop much more than is necessary or even reasonable. This illusion has worked for a long time and for a lot of people, including me! But it’s become harder and harder to ignore the environmental consequences of my purchases, and the ways in which platforms trick people into buying more and more.

And I don’t think I’m the only one experiencing that awakening. Broadly speaking, I think society is slowly but surely shifting toward recognizing the climate impact of mass-produced cheap goods. While these conversations have yet to happen as widely and furiously in China, companies like Taobao and Shein will inevitably have to answer the question of whether their business model is sustainable for everyone or only for themselves. So where are they heading from here? There’s certainly a lot of soul-searching for the industry to do.

And I’m doing some soul-searching of my own.

1. Why does the author mention a “$2 nylon watchband”?

A．To compare it with her original band.	B．To persuade readers to buy it.
C．To show her satisfaction with Shein.	D．To show its cheapness.

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

A．High-quantity

B．Expensive.

C．High-quality.

D．Original.

3. What do the customers tend to do with the illusion of Shein-like platforms?

A．They get incredible products on sale.

B．They often buy much more than what they need.

C．They ignore the environmental impacts.

D．They are tricked into buying more and more reasonable products.

4. What is a consequence of endless deals in e-commerce platforms mentioned in the passage?

A．Serious environmental damage.	B．Decline in physical shopping.
C．Severe energy shortage.	D．Disturbing moral dilemma.

【推荐3】A Dutch city will become the first in the world to ban meat adverts from public spaces in an effort to reduce consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (排放). Haarlem, which lies to the west of Amsterdam and has a population of 160,000, will pass the prohibition from 2024 after meat was added to a list of products thought to contribute to the climate crisis.

Adverts will not be allowed on Haarlem’s buses, shelters and screens in public spaces, causing complaints from the meat sector that the city government is “going too far in telling people what’s best for them”.

Recent studies suggest global food production is responsible for one-third of all planet-heating emissions, with the use of animals for meat accounting for twice the pollution of producing plant-based foods. Forests that absorb carbon dioxide are cut down for the grazing (放牧) of animals while fertilizers used for growing their feed are rich in nitrogen (氮), which can contribute to air and water pollution and climate change. Livestock also produces large quantities of methane (甲烷), a powerful greenhouse gas.

Ziggy Klazes, a councilor from the GroenLinks party, who drafted (起草) the law banning meat advertising, said she had not known the city would be the world’s first to enforce (执行) such a policy when she proposed it. She told the Haarlem 105 radio channel, “We are not about what people are baking and roasting in their own kitchen; if people wanted to continue eating meat, fine… Of course, there are a lot of people who find the decision unacceptable, but there are also a lot of people who think it’s fine.”

The ban also covers holiday flights, fossil fuels and cars that run on fossil fuels. The ban is delayed until 2024 due to existing contracts with companies that sell the products.

Research suggests that to meet the EU target of net zero emissions by 2050, meat consumption must be reduced to 24kg per person per year, compared with the current average of 82kg or 75.8kg in the Netherlands, which is the EU’s biggest meat exporter.

1. What does the underlined word prohibition in paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Ban

B．city

C．climate

D．population

2. What’s the attitude of people from meat sectors to the new law?

A．Acceptable

B．Dissatisfied

C．Uncared

D．Supportive

3. What’s the main idea of the third paragraph?

A．The seriousness of air pollution.

B．The benefits of eating plant-based foods.

C．The reasons for banning meat adverts in public.

D．The importance of protecting the environment.

4. What’s the maximum meat consumption for Dutch people annually to meet the EU 2050 target of net zero emissions?

A．24kg per person	B．82kg per person
C．75.8 per person	D．105kg per person

【推荐1】Research has found that storing crucial pieces of information on an electronic device does not rot your memory skills and can actually increase your ability to remember things you would otherwise forget. Storing important information or smartphones may free up our own memory to store a larger amount of less crucial information, allowing us to keep more in total across our internal and electronic memory banks.

Researchers took 158 participants aged between 18 and 71 and showed them up to 12 numbered circles on a screen. Some of the circles would briefly appear pink or blue before all fading to a yellow colour, indicating that they had to be dragged to either the pink side or the blue side of the screen at a later point.

Some of the circles were classed as “high value”, some as “low value” and some as zero value. Users had to remember which side of the screen to drag the circles to in order to earn points. In some of the experiments they had to rely on their own memories. In others, they could set an electronic reminder on a device.

Researchers found subjects tended to use digital devices to store information about which were the highest-value circles. This led to an 1896 increase in accuracy when placing these circles. They also found, to their surprise, using electronic reminders for high-value circles led to a 27% increase in accuracy when differentiating from memory between the low and zero-value circles, even when no electronic reminders had been set for these.

The study said that when people store important information on an external device, their brains tend to delete it from their “internal memory”, reallocating (再分配) that space for “low-value content”.

“The results show that external memory tools work. Far from causing digital dementia, using an external memory device can even improve our memory for information that we never saved. But we need to be careful that we back up the most important information. Otherwise, if a memory tool fails, we could be left with nothing but lower-importance information in our own memory.”

1. What do the underlined words “electronic memory banks” probably refer to?

A．People’s brains.	B．To-do lists.
C．Self-service banks.	D．Cellphones.

2. How do volunteers earn points in the research?

A．By changing the color of the circles.

B．By moving the circles to the right side.

C．By remembering the number of the circles.

D．By classing the circles according to their values.

3. What will happen to important information after it is stored in digital devices?

A．It will be regarded as low-value content.

B．It will be removed from people’s brains.

C．It will be grouped automatically based on importance.

D．It will be well-preserved despite the failure of digital devices.

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

A．Information Age: Phones Are Everywhere

B．Promising Future: Phones Shape the World

C．Note to Self: Phones Don’t Rot Memory

D．Controversial Issue: Phones Act as a Double-edged Sword

【推荐2】There are few things in life that are more irritating(令人愤怒的）：You are mid-conversation with a friend. Suddenly he bursts out laughing,making you think you've made a brilliant joke. But then he says:"Sorry,I wasn't laughing at you,I just saw something really funny on micro blog. "He even begins replying to a text message or checking his e-mails.

The Guardian described the scene that a friend's face buried in a screen"a distinct 21 st-century problem". The phenomenon even coins a new word"phubbing",referring to the act of snubbing(冷落） others in a social setting by looking at your phone instead of paying attention. According to research by advertising agency McCann in the UK,37 percent of people feel it is worse not to answer a message than it is to"phub"your friends.

Phil Reed,a professor of psychology at Swansea University who has studied Internet addiction disorder,said many phubbers show symptoms of addiction to their mobile phone.

Like pointing or picking your nose,phubbing is widely considered rude,which can be seen from the popularity of"Stop Phubbing"campaign,which started in Australia by 23-year-old Alex Haigh who wants to shame people who snub friends and family they are with in favor of checking their mobile phone.

The campaign's website claims that"97 percent of people claim their food tasted worse while being a victim of phubbing"and"92 percent of repeat phubbers go on to become politicians".

According to Katy Steinmetz,reporter with Time,phubbing"has a much greater potential to hamper（阻碍）real-life connections by making people around us feel like we care more about posts than their presence". She believes it is the reason why the campaign can resonate(产生共鸣）with people and is getting press around the world.

In the UK,Glamour magazine even imagined just how Jane Austen would have satirized(讽刺）those in need of social etiquette(礼节）when it comes to using their smartphone. Or,to paraphrase(意译）the novelist,how it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man(or woman)in possession of a good smartphone must be in want of manners.

1. The example in the opening paragraph is used to show

A．how people benefit from modern technology

B．how to reply text messages and e-mails properly

C．how to avoid hurting your friends'feelings

D．how mobile phone addiction damages our social relations

2. The purpose of the"Stop Phubbing"campaign is to_

A．persuade people to stop using mobile phones

B．give professional advice to phubbing victims

C．help people realize the rudeness of phubbing behaviors

D．encourage people to spend more time with their family

3. Which of the following statement is TRUE according to the article?

A．People who often phub are more likely to make a successful politician.

B．Pointing or picking one's nose are common symptoms of phubbers.

C．Phubbing is against human nature in that we do need real-life connections.

D．More than one third British would rather not answer a message than phub their friends.

4. What is the tone of the last paragraph?

A．serious

B．humorous

C．doubtful

D．disagreeing

【推荐3】There has been a debate for some time that food can be addictive (上瘾的). Most   researchers may not agree with it. But this spring, experts on health discovered that for some, obesity (肥胖症) is “an addiction like smoking.” One month earlier, a lecture showed that food and drug addictions have much in common, especially in the way that both damage the parts of the brain involved in pleasure and self-control.

Earlier this year, some scientists carried out brain-scan studies on children who looked at pictures of chocolate milkshakes (奶昔) and later ate the milkshakes. Children who are regular ice-cream eaters may require more and more ice cream for the reward centers (奖励中枢) of their brains to tell that they are satisfied.

However, meditation and exercise can help the brain to overcome food addiction. Food addicts (嗜食者) should look for alternatives that still give pleasure — a fruit smoothie, for example, instead of ice cream.

Food addiction seems to be linked to the types of foods we’re eating. It’s easier for human body to deal with foods found in nature, not processed (加工的) foods. When a highly processed food is eaten, the body may go uncontrollable. Potatoes are not addictive, but when they are processed into chips, what happens? Products like chips are described as super-delicious foods. They were the right combination of something salty, sweet and fatty along with “mouth-feel.”

1. Why may regular ice-cream eaters need more ice-cream over time?

A．To stop being addicted to it.	B．To meet the needs of the brain.
C．To control the centre of the brain.	D．To satisfy the needs of the stomach.

2. What does the underlined word“alternatives”in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Replacements.

B．Fruits.

C．Methods.

D．Drinks.

3. What can we know from the last paragraph?

A．Processed foods are healthier.	B．People are born with food addiction.
C．Processed foods usually have a better taste.	D．Processed foods are usually more expensive.