【推荐1】The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. A few days ago, my car was not running well. I pulled it into a garage and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine. I was amazed. The sad truth is, great talent is not enough.
I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100, 000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in the medical trade was telling me how many doctors and dentists struggle financially. It was this business consultant who gave me the phrase, “They are one skill away from great wealth.”
There is an old saying that goes, “Job means‘ just over broke (破产)' ”. And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions of people. Because school does not think financial intelligence is intelligence, most workers“ ___________”. They work and they pay the bills. Instead I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn.
When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald's?” almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald's makes more money than you?” The answer is obvious: McDonald's is excellent at business systems. The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on bui1ding a better hamburger and know little or nothing about business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.
1. The author mentions the mechanic in the first paragraph to show that     .

A．he is just one of the talented people

B．he is ready to help others

C．he has a sharp sense of hearing

D．he knows little about car repairing

2. The underlined part in the third paragraph can be best replaced by       .

A．spend more than they can afford

B．do in their own way

C．live in their own circle

D．live within what they earn

3. Why do talented people earn so little according to the author?

A．They don't work hard enough.

B．They lack financial intelligence.

C．They don't make full use of their talents.

D．They have no specialized skills.

4. The success of McDonald's lies in its       .

A．skills at making hamburgers.	B．good business systems
C．talented workers	D．excellent service

5. The main purpose of the author is to tell us       .

A．how young people can find a satisfactory job

B．what schools should teach students

C．why so many talented people are poor

D．how McDonald's makes much money

【推荐1】On Wednesday, two things happened. In Syria, 80 people were killed by government airstrikes. Meanwhile, in Florida, Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully launched and fired a sports car into space. Guess which story has dominated mainstream news sites?

The launch of Musk’s Falcon Heavy rocket, the most powerful ever launched by a private company, went off successfully. Musk sent his cherry-red Tesla roadster running toward Mars, launching “a new space age”. The event attracted phenomenal publicity and made the rocket launch a masterstroke of advertising for Tesla.

Meanwhile, in Syria, where hundreds of thousands of refugees(难民) may be forced to return to unsafe homes, a UN human rights coordinator for Syria said despondently(沮丧地) that he was no longer sure why he bothers to videotape the effects of bombing, since nobody ever pays attention. He wondered what level of violence it would take to make the world care.

There is, perhaps, no better way to appreciate the tragedy of 21st-century global inequality than by watching a billionaire spend $90m launching a $100,000 car into space.

Musk said he wanted to participate in a space race because “races are exciting” and that while strapping his car to a rocket may be “silly and fun … silly and fun things are important”. Thus, anyone who mentions the huge waste the project involves, or the various social uses to which these resources could be put, can be dismissed as a killjoy.

But one doesn’t have to hate fun to question the justification for pursuing a costly new space race at exactly this moment. If we examine the situation honestly, it becomes hard to defend a project like this.

A mission to Mars does indeed sound exciting, but it’s important to have our priorities straight. First, perhaps we could make it so that a child no longer dies of malaria every two minutes. Or we could try to address the level of poverty in Alabama which has become so extreme that the UN investigator did not believe it could occur in a first-world country. Perhaps when violence, poverty and disease are solved, then we can head for the stars.

Many might think that what Elon Musk chooses to do with his billions is Elon Musk’s business alone. If he wanted to spend all his money on medicine for children, that would be nice, but if he’d like to spend it making big explosions and sending his convertible on a million-mile space voyage, that’s his right.

But Musk is only rich enough to afford these money-consuming projects because we have allowed social inequalities to arise in the first place. If wealth were actually distributed fairly in this country, nobody would be in a position to fund his own private space program.

Elon Musk is right: silly and fun things are important. But some of them are an indefensible waste of resources. While there are still humanitarian crises such as that in Syria, nobody can justify vast spending on rocketry experiments.

1. Why does the writer mention the two pieces of news at the beginning of the passage?

A．To illustrate the inequality of wealth distribution and the consequent inequality of attention distribution.

B．To highlight the significance of SpaceX’s successful launch of a rocket and a car into space.

C．To appeal to the government for more attention to the air strikes and refugee crisis in Syria.

D．To find out which news dominated the mainstream news sites.

2. Why did the UN human rights coordinator for Syria feel disappointed?

A．Because nobody appreciated his work and all the efforts he made.

B．Because the violence in Syria is not serious enough to make the world care.

C．Because however hard he tried, nobody seemed to care about the situation in Syria.

D．Because he had great difficulty videotaping the effects of bombing.

3. What is implied in Paragraph 6 and 7?

A．The space project of SpaceX cost the government too much money.

B．It kills the fun to question the justification of the pursuit of space programs.

C．Space programs are a waste of money that cannot be justified.

D．Addressing problems of violence, poverty and diseases should be our top priority.

4. What does the writer mainly want to tell us?

A．We should pay equal attention to space projects and solving social problems.

B．No private companies should be allowed to spend money in rocketry experiments.

C．The money and resources used in space projects could have been used to deal with various social problems.

D．Elon Musk should be blamed for misleading the public.

【推荐2】Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.

The Podcast (播客) Boom

Do you prefer to watch TV or listen to the radio? There was a time when some people thought moving pictures would spell the end of tuning in to the radio for entertainment and information. But radio survived and boomed.     1    

Perhaps the growth in podcasting is not surprising-it offers a digital audio file that can be downloaded and stored for listening at any time. It can also be streamed from the internet and played on a computer or MP3 player. And it’s not just broadcasters, like the BBC, who are producing podcasts: now commercial broadcasters, individuals and companies with no connection to broadcasting are making them. In fact, anyone with something to say, and a few pounds to spend on the equipment, can get involved.

The digital audio files are cheap to produce and, thanks to the internet, easy to distribute.     2     Journalist Ben Hammersley told the BBC that “two changes transformed the market-one cultural and one technical.” A technical breakthrough came in 2012 when Apple produced the iPhone podcast app, which proved a popular library system for listeners. This was followed by a dramatic improvement in inexpensive recording production and editing equipment. Finally, the development of 4G mobile phone connections and widespread wi-fi meant listeners could browse, download or stream shows whenever they wanted.

    3     It was a piece of investigative journalism hosted by Sarah Koenig, telling a non-fiction story over multiple episodes (集). To date, the first and second seasons of the show have had more than 340 million downloads. Advertisers soon realized the money-making potential of this and other successful podcasts. And where the audience goes, the money follows. From 2017 to 2018 advertising spending on podcasts in the UK went from $10.6m(£8.5m) to $19.7m, an 85% increase, according to Ovum.

    4     In fact, as Ben Hammersley explains, podcasting has brought people into broadcasting who would normally never have seen the inside of a recording studio. “There are of course professional podcasters, but there are many more people who create quality content and do it for nothing,” he says. “And that is changing not just the way we listen to audio but the way the broadcasting industry works.”

A．The cultural breakthrough came in 2014 with a very specific podcast-Serial.

B．But if you are a celebrity, podcasts can provide a new branch of business.

C．And now, despite the growth in smartphones offering high-definition pictures, the popularity of podcasts is booming.

D．Now the boom in podcasting embraces a huge range of talent, from professional broadcasters to enthusiasts offering insights on anything and everything.

E．Podcasts offer a chance to speak to a very precise selection of people.

F．But where did this trend for making portable audio programmes begin?

【推荐3】The practice of students endlessly copying letters and sentences from a blackboard is a thing of the past. With the coming of new technologies like computers and smartphone, writing by hand has become something of nostalgic (怀旧的）skill. However，while today’s educators are using more and more technology in their teaching, many believe basic handwriting skills are still necessary for students to be successful---both in school and in life.

Virginia Berninger, professor of educational psychology at the University of Washington, says it’s important to continue teaching handwriting and help children acquire the skill of writing by hand.

Berninger and her colleagues conducted a study that looked at the ability of students to complete various writing tasks---both on a computer and by hand. The study, published in 2009, found that when writing with a pen and paper, participants wrote longer essays and more complete sentences and had a faster word production rate.

In a more recent study, Berninger looked at what role spelling plays in a student’s writing skills and found that how well children spell is tied to know well they can write. “Spelling makes some of the thinking parts of the brain active which helps us access our vocabulary, word meaning and concepts. It is allowing our written language to connect with ideas.” Berninger said.

Spelling helps students translate ideas into words in their mind first and then to transcribe(转换）“those words in the mind written symbols on paper or keyboard and screen,” the study said. Seeing the words in the “mind’s eye” helps children not only to turn their ideas into words, says Berninger, but also to spot spelling mistakes when they write the words down and to correct then over time.

“In our computer age, some people believe that we don’t have to teach spelling because we have spell checks,” she said. “But until a child functional spelling ability of about a fifth grade level, they won't have knowledge to choose the correct spelling among the options given by the computer.”

1. What makes writing by hand a thing of the past?

A．The absence of blackboard in classroom.

B．The use of new technologies in teaching.

C．The lack of practice in handwriting.

D．The popular use of smartphones.

2. Berninger’s study published in 2009 .

A．focused on the difference between writing by hand and on a computer.

B．indicated that students prefer to write with a pen and paper.

C．found that good essays are made up of long sentences.

D．discussed the importance of writing speed.

3. Which of the following best shows the role of spelling?

A．Spelling improves one’s memory of words.

B．Spelling ability is closely related to writing ability.

C．Spelling benefits the translation from words into ideas.

D．Spelling slows down finding exact words to express ideas.

4. What does “mind’s eye” in paragraph 5 mean?

A．Window.	B．Soul
C．Picture.	D．Imagination.

5. What conclusion could be drawn from the passage?

A．Computers can help people with their choice of words.

B．Spell checks can take the place of spelling teaching.

C．Handwriting still has a place in today’s classrooms.

D．Functional spelling ability develops fast in the fifth grade.

【推荐1】Harry, the first camel to arrive in Australia in 1840, was an unlucky beast. He was imported from the Canary Islands by explorer John Horrocks. On an expedition（探险），Horrocks picked up his gun in order to shoot "a beautiful bird to be added to the collection.” Perhaps Harry was an ecologist—he lurched（突然倾斜）, and the gun discharged, shooting Horrocks in the face.

Horrocks not surprisingly died of his injuries, and his teammates ordered Harry to be shot. The first importation of a camel into Australia came to naught.

At the beginning of 1860, 24 camels arrived in Australia to be part of an expedition by explorers Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills. It was an unlucky expedition. The pair made one mistake after another, and ended up eating most of their camels within several months, before starving to death.

Six years later, more than 100 camels and their Afghan minders arrived in Australia. This time it succeeded and thousands more camels followed.

Sir Thomas Elder set up the first camel studs（种畜场）in South Australia, while others were set up in Western Australia. This time the camels bred（繁殖）like wildfire. They were used for working, rather than exploring expeditions.

The imported Afghan cameleers（骆驼夫）were just as hardy and vital, leading camel trains across the cruel interior（腹地）of Australia, where few dared Io go. The camels carried heavy packs of wool and supplies and opened up the desert areas as none had managed to do before. The train that does this crossing today is called The Ghan, in their honor.

Motorization put these camel trains out of business, and many camels were turned loose. The camels loved Australia, and multiplied in amazing numbers. What is to be done with them?

Not surprisingly they have become quite a tourist attraction and you can take a camel ride in the desert as the Afghan cameleers once did. But the fact is that camels create quite a problem in areas where they have taken over, as they damage local vegetation, muscle out native animals competing for food, and create chaos when they wander into settled area.

1. What do we know about Harry?

A．He caused the death of an explorer.	B．He was shot by his owner.
C．He was interested in ecology.	D．He was mistaken for a bird.

2. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Hara Burke and William John Wills killed their camels by mistake.

B．In 1860. most of the 24 camels arriving in Australia starved to death.

C．In 1866, more than 100 camels arrived in Australia accompanied by their caretakers.

D．The first camel studs was set up in Western Australia.

3. What's the sixth paragraph mainly about?

A．Camels' character.	B．The importation of camels in Australia.
C．Camels' contribution to Australia.	D．The train that carried camels in Australia.

4. Which is the best title of the passage?

A．The origin and development of camels in Australia

B．The increase and decrease of camels in Australia.

C．The breeding and training of camels in Australia.

D．The trading and hunting of camels in Australia.

【推荐3】The outstanding biography portrays the life of the complicated Renaissance artist with details. We come to see da Vinci as not only an inventor of musical instruments and early flying machines, but also a notebook keeper and vegetarian, who had trouble finishing many of the projects and paintings he started.

Yet what is most thrilling is getting to know da Vinci the scientist. Isaacson explains how loving science and applying the scientific method to observing the world was really what made da Vinci a great artist and, Isaacson argues, a genius. Da Vinci was fascinated with observing and understanding phenomena in nature. He wanted to know about everything around him, in minute detail, Isaacson writes. He wondered about questions “most people over the age of ten no longer puzzle about”—for instance, how the tongue of a woodpecker works.

To learn about the world, da Vinci combined his own observations with experimentation. Never formally schooled, “he preferred to induce from experiments rather than deduce from theoretical principles,” Isaacson explains. He recorded his observations, looked for patterns among them, and then tested those patterns through additional observation and experimentation.

When he became fascinated with the idea that he could invent flying machines, he observed various birds and filled notebooks with the function and speed at which their wings flapped. That’s why Isaacson calls da Vinci an exemplar of this scientific method. He goes on: “Galileo, born 112 years after Leonardo, is usually credited with being the first to develop this kind of approach and is often regarded as the father of modern science.” There can be no doubt that this honor would have been bestowed on Leonardo da Vinci had he published his scientific writings during his lifetime.

Da Vinci’s emphasis on empirical observation also helped him improve his art. First, he was able to use what he learned from looking at nature to paint and draw. His studies of the body, animals, motion, shadow and light, perspective and proportion helped him better understand what he was seeing in front of him, and render it in art more accurately and finely than anyone else of his time. Most importantly, his ability to connect art and science, helped him innovate in his work. Da Vinci made surprisingly diverse series of discoveries, including conceptualizing the helicopter and solar power and advancing knowledge about everything from the reproductive organs to botany. This genius is also what drew Isaacson to Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs as subjects: They’re all innovators who were inspired by and drew connections between art and science.

“Leonardo da Vinci is the ultimate example of the main theme of my previous biographies: how the ability to make connections across disciplines-arts and sciences, humanities and technology—is a key to innovation, imagination, and genius,” Isaacson writes. And this wonderful book is a reminder, in a time of increasingly narrow specialization and focus, that the methods of Renaissance men like da Vinci are as relevant as ever.

1. What made da Vinci a great artist?

A．Viewing the world from the perspective of science.

B．Combining experimentation with theoretical principles.

C．Attempting to know about the world like a child.

D．Being filled with ambition to become an artist and inventor.

2. Why does Isaacson mention Galileo in the book?

A．To introduce his important findings.

B．To memorize the father of modern science.

C．To show the prejudice faced by da Vinci during his lifetime.

D．To illustrate the significance of da Vinci’s research method.

3. Which of the following statements is true?

A．Da Vinci improved his art and drew more accurately by painting mostly in the natural world.

B．The methods of Renaissance men like da Vinci can still apply to contemporary scientific research.

C．Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs are as famous as da Vinci because they all have a talent for combining art with science.

D．Da Vinci failed to publish his scientific writing because the scientific method kept in it was too complicated to understand at that time.

4. What might be the best title for the passage?

A．How a Genius Changed the World

B．The Features of Renaissance Art

C．How Science Shaped His Art

D．The Comparison between Induction and Deduction