【推荐1】An icon (偶像) from my childhood, Linda Ronstadt announced this week that she has Parkinson’s disease and has lost her ability to sing. One of her songs that I was singing for a long time without realizing it was, “Poor, poor, poor, me, poor, poor, pitiful me.” However, she is doing anything but saying, poor me. She is embracing (欣然接受) her accomplishments and bringing enlightenment (启迪) to the world by sharing her journey. It is wonderful that they are recording her voice via interviews for the generations to come, as she will more than likely lose her ability to speak clearly. I have enjoyed listening to these interviews.

As a young girl, I had dreams about being a journalist one day. I put those dreams away with reality, along with my writing. I was singing poor, poor, poor me for a long, long time. Once I changed my song, opened myself up to the world and allowed things to flow my way... I continue to be constantly amazed.

People actually notice what I have to say. Yes, I have found my voice...and I like it! I am overjoyed each week when over 700 followers of The Year of the Cicadas blog read what I have floating around in my head. If you are reading this blog, thank you. It really does matter to me.

Last week I was asked to submit a blog for consideration to the Huffington Post. Do you know they have over 43,240,000 readers every month?! I have no idea if it will be accepted or not, that is not the point. The point is that I was asked and they wrote me back and said,“Perfect. Thank you so much for doing the work. It was worth it.”Wow, this is a big moment for me, and for that young girl who one day long ago dreamed about writing an article that would be published.

1. How does the author begin the text?

A．By providing an example.	B．By conveying an opinion.
C．By introducing a conclusion.	D．By describing a saying.

2. What can be inferred about the author from the second paragraph?

A．Her dream changed.	B．She had many readers.
C．Her mental state changed.	D．She began to learn singing.

3. Why did the Huffington Post send the request to the author?

A．Her article got recognized.	B．Her blog was extremely popular.
C．Her opinion received support.	D．Her work was published.

4. What message does the passage mainly convey?

A．It is the first step that costs.

B．Failure is the mother of success.

C．Things come true to those who dream.

D．The grass is always greener on the other side of the hill.

【推荐1】Just one in five workers use their lunch break to actually eat every day-with most using the time to catch up on personal things and play social media instead. A study of 2,000 UK professionals found 79% will have their food as they work, so they can use their “lunch” to do other things. Watching YouTube videos, walking the dog and playing with apps on their phones are also among some of the ways people spend their lunch break.

The study, conducted by Samsung KX, is designed to inspire people to reclaim their lunch breaks. “We all need to make time for ourselves and our research has shown how few really are,”said Tanya Weller, director of Samsung Showcase KX. “It’s easy to get caught up in a piece of work, but people aren’t even giving themselves a moment to eat—let alone do anything else.”

According to the study, approximately 40% of respondents would like more time to pursue hobbies and interests during their lunch break, as they feel work has completely taken over. But 67% will frequently skip their meal altogether, with the average person only managing to take a proper break from their work three days a week.

But 37% said they don’t know what to do with their time, so they just don’t bother to take a lunch break. It also showed that 43% will usually spend their allocated break time at their desk, with just a fifth stepping away to rest on the sofa. As a result, around 70% confessed to checking work emails or taking calls during their lunch time, rather than enjoying themselves. Participants said they would prefer to spend their downtime watching episodes of their favourite TV shows, playing computer games or even getting creative by painting, drawing or making music on a device.

1. What will most of people during their work do ?

A．Eat food.	B．Watch videos.
C．Check the email.	D．Download some apps.

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

A．Make fun of.	B．Make use of.
C．Come up with.	D．Keep up with.

3. Why do some people develop their hobbies during their lunch break?

A．They feel their life is fully occupied.

B．They find their good jobs in their free time.

C．They expect to have no more time to have lunch.

D．They think their work is too tiring to go out to play.

4. Why are some people unwilling to take a lunch break?

A．They have fun.	B．They’re fond of working.
C．They send emails.	D．They don’t know what to do.

【推荐3】Sasha saves the day

Though I can’t recall who the gift was from, what I do remember about the gift is my initial reaction to it. When our toddler (学步的小孩) opened the box and pulled out the soft toy, my mind immediately went to the existing mountain of stuffed animals in our house. I knew that this orange knit cat, named Sasha, according to the box, was straight into that pile.

We had no idea what we were up against. When the gift box containing Sasha arrived two years into our time as parents, most surfaces in our house were covered in kid stuff. We had discovered that we could live with pretty much anything if it kept the peace and kept our kid safe.

As I expected, Sasha went into the mountain of stuffed animals. Less predictably, however, the knit cat didn’t stay in the pile. I’m not sure why. Sasha is sweet but looks unremarkable. Picture a medium-sized knit orange cat with an angled smile and a purple sweater.

No doubt part of Sasha’s appeal came from its involvement in mealtimes. We were desperate for distractions, particularly when our son was in the highchair. Without entertainment, our toddler would fight the injustice of being required to stay seated while eating. My husband started to use Sasha in the distraction games with success. We knew we were onto something when our son started asking to go into his highchair to play the “Sasha game”.

In time, Sasha’s powers grew beyond distraction. If we were having a hard time talking our son into doing something, sometimes the knit cat could bring him around.

This comfort was particularly critical when it was bedtime. Sleep was challenging for our son for a long time and, as a result, for us. We discovered that our child liked to cuddle (依偎) the knit cat at night and was able to settle down more easily if Sasha was there. This made the knit cat priceless in our household.

Remarkably, our son is now a teenager and, if all goes as planned, he will leave home to attend university later this year. Sasha no longer has a prominent role in our day-to-day lives, but I know that I will never throw Sasha out. We all love that knit cat.

Come fall, when I am an empty nester, I might just pull Sasha out again to provide comfort to me.

1. When the author first saw the gift, she thought that ______.

A．it would add happy hours to the family	B．it would not be appreciated
C．it was unique among other toys	D．her kid would find it fascinating

2. What do we know about the author’s kid?

A．He was restless when eating.	B．He preferred to be left alone.
C．He liked to collect knit toys.	D．He talked a lot with the toy.

3. The sentence “the knit cat could bring him around” probably means that ______.

A．the knit cat sometimes drove away the kid’s attention

B．the knit cat was always playing around the boy

C．the knit cat could persuade the boy to do something

D．the knit cat had hard time talking with the kid

4. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A．At first sight, the knit cat was appealing to the family.

B．The knit cat helped the kid to behave better when eating.

C．The boy was able to sleep well with the knit cat around him.

D．The author also enjoys the company of the knit cate.

【推荐1】We’ve all been told that different types of fruits and vegetables have different benefits that help us maintain our health. A new international study has found that eating one fruit regularly can help reduce the risk of cancer, among those people who have a high risk of developing certain cancers.

The research which followed almost 1000 patients with Lynch syndrome-a genetic condition that makes people predisposed to orange of cancers found that a regular intake of resistant starch(抗酶解淀粉)could have a major preventative effect on the risk of cancer. Here’s what you need to know about how eating bananas can help reduce risk of cancer.

Resistant starch is a type of carbohydrate(碳水化合物)which feeds beneficial gut bacteria. It is found in green bananas. By eating green bananas your body gets a regular dose of resistant starch, which has been found to reduce risk of cancers in some parts of the body by more than half, according to the new research. The study, which was published in Cancer Prevention Research, was led by experts at the Universities of Newcastle and Leeds. It found that resistant starch, if taken regularly for an average of two years, had a positive effect on some cancers, which can be difficult to detect.

John Mather, a professor at Newcastle University explained:“Resistant starch acts in effect, like dietary fibre in your digestive system. This type of starch has several health benefits and fewer calories than regular starch.”

Besides green bananas, resistant starch is also found in foods such as peas, oats, cereal, beans and other starchy foods. You can also take resistant starch as a powder supplement.

In terms of bananas, experts recommend that eating one banana daily is the equivalent of one dose of resistant starch. The trick is to eat the bananas before they become too ripe or soft.

1. Which of the following can prevent the risk of cancer?

A．Carbohydrate.	B．resistant starch.
C．dietary fibre.	D．gut bacteria.

2. What did the new research find?

A．Eating green bananas regularly could serve as a power supplement.

B．Eating green bananas regularly could reduce risk of cancers.

C．Eating bananas regularly could improve life expectancy.

D．Green bananas would have fewer calories.

3. What aspect does John Mather’ s research probably focus on?

A．human nutrition.	B．plants formation.
C．herbal medicine.	D．weight control.

4. According to the text what would the experts suggest people do?

A．Take more green bananas.

B．Reduce calories and dietary fibre.

C．Keep regular intake of resistant starch.

D．Detect hidden cancers earlier.

【推荐2】Some hearing loss is a common — and nearly unavoidable — effect of aging. A third of people aged 60 and older have lost some of their ability to hear.

But some research suggests a habit that might help offset the effect of aging on hearing. A study found that among middle-aged adults, being a lifelong musician was connected with better hearing later in life.

“The instrument you play does not seem to be important here,” says Nina Kraus, a biologist. “It is really the act of engagement playing the instrument that matters.”

Participants in the study were between ages 45 and 65. Researchers tested 18 musicians who had been playing an instrument since age nine or younger, and 19 non-musicians who had less than three years of music training.

The musicians had statistically better auditory memory scores and tested better at hearing speech in noisy environments. They also showed better auditory processing abilities, which relate to how people interpret speech sounds.

However, the two groups tied when researchers tested visual working memory skills. “It isn’t as though musical training has a volume knob effect that makes all kinds of sensory processing enhanced in the same manner,” Kraus says. “It focuses on auditory skill.”

The latest findings follow earlier research from Kraus that showed musician in a younger age group had better hearing skills. At the same time, some research has shown that musicians who play in large ensembles (合奏) may face an occupational risk when it comes to their hearing.

Does this effect apply to the guy who plays in a community band one night a week? Kraus says no. To be included in the study, musicians were required to have engaged in musical activities-practicing, teaching or performing-at least three times a week.

“What we do with our time and how we engage our senses and our thinking seems to really shape the people we become in very basic ways — in ways that affect how our series work,” she says.

And, Kraus says, a person doesn’t need to be an Itzhak Perlman or a Yo-Yo Ma to experience the effects. Talent, she says, isn’t a factor.

Kraus says that more research needs to be done to see whether receiving music instruction later in life might have the same benefits.

1. Your hearing will be improved by ________.

A．what kind of instrument you play

B．what sort of music you play

C．whether you involve yourself with playing the instrument

D．how long you have learned music playing

2. A musician is not better than others in ________.

A．getting better auditory memory scored

B．hearing speech in noisy environments

C．interpreting speech sounds

D．processing visual work memory

3. The under lined phrase “an occupational risk” may refer to ________.

A．the danger of hearing loss

B．the possibility of losing a job

C．the trouble of playing music

D．the harm of hearing skills

4. It can be inferred Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma are the names of ________.

A．instruments

B．musicians

C．songs

D．music

5. The main idea of the text is about ________.

A．enjoying music will do good to your health

B．learning music may promote your hearing skills

C．playing an instrument may help preserve hearing

D．listening to music can prevent you from aging

【推荐3】You probably love—or once loved—a playground But if you had been born more than 150 years ago, the playground wouldn’t have existed. Children back then could only play in the streets. That started to change in the late nineteenth century. Cities were starting to get super-crowded, and they could be dangerous. Kids could get sick inside dark, dirty apartments. Outside, they had to dodge horses.

Marie Warsh, a landscape historian, says that crowded cites were a real crisis. “People said, let’s create spaces where kids can be safe and grow strong and healthy.” Those spaces were the first playgrounds. They started in Europe. American cities soon built their own. A sandbox was the main feature at most of these playground s. Playing in the sand, kids could exercise and learn social skills.

Cities added slides and merry-go-rounds to playgrounds in the 1900s. But were kids left alone to have fun on their own? No way! Adults watched over the spaces. They managed kids’ fun. In this way, people believed, grownups were training kids to be good citizens and good future workers. After 1945, a lot changed in the United States. “Suddenly,” says Warsh, “people had leisure time. And we got this idea that playing can be a source of pleasure.” Often, parents left kids alone to swing and seesaw and spin without anyone telling them how. But another big shift happened in the 1960s.Many families left cities. They moved to the suburbs. Warsh says, “City officials tried to find ways to get families is to stay. They thought, let’s give kids creative play spaces.” Then, playground designers added art to spark imaginations.

There was only one problem. People started to notice that accidents happened on playgrounds. Lots of kids fell as they played. Keeping kids safe became a key design goal Therefore, soft mats covered hard ground. Plastic equipment with rounded comers replaced metal and concrete jungle gyms.

Little by little, playground designers got more creative. They value spaces where kids can play in lots of ways. “We want to give kids more control over their environment and the ability to make decisions.” says Warsh.

1. What does the underlined word “dodge” in Paragraph 1mean?

A．Ride.

B．Feed.

C．Catch.

D．Avoid.

2. What happened to the playgrounds in the 1960s?

A．artistic elements could be found in the playgrounds.

B．More and more playgrounds were built in the suburbs.

C．The number of equipment in the playgrounds decreased.

D．Kids had the freedom to play independently on playgrounds.

3. What led to the decline of metal and concrete structures?

A．Lack of materials.	B．Safety concern.
C．Artistic preference.	D．Environmental protection.

4. What is the main idea of this passage?

A．The evolution of playground equipment over time.

B．The historical development of playgrounds in cities.

C．The outdoor activities which are suitable for children.

D．The importance of outdoor play for kids’ development.