【推荐3】We don’t know how different our future will be in the future. We can only try to imagine it.
At first we think about human relationship. In the year 2050, we will use computers almost every day. We will be making new friends through the Internet----even our husbands or wives will be met in this way. It will be much faster and easier for us. On the other hand, our relationships with people won’t be as important as they are today----we will feel a little lonely.
Computers will also help us in many other activities in 2050. For example, they will be used by the children at school to make their learning easier. In addition, there will be much more other machines which will play a similar role as computers, like robots which will do the housework for us.
Spending holidays will also be completely different. Traveling to other planets or to the moon will be available for everyone. Means of transport will, of course, change, too. We will be using solar-powered cars, which will be much more environmentally friendly.
We could expect that the faster technological progress would lead to a more polluted environment. But it isn’t true. We will pay more attention to protecting the environment. And, scientists will probably find cures for many dangerous diseases, like cancer or AIDS. Therefore, our surroundings as well as our health will be in a better condition.
Although we can’t predict the exact changes which will be made in the world, we often think about them. We worry about our and our children’s future; we have expectations, hopes as well as fears. But I think we should be rather sanguine about our future. We should be happy and believe good things will happen.
1. Why will people probably feel a little lonely in 2050?

A．Because the number of people will become much smaller.

B．Because people won’t communicate with each other much often.

C．Because people won’t like making friends with each other.

D．Because there will be less face-to-face communication.

2. According to the passage, which of the following will happen in 2050?

A．It won’t be difficult for people to travel to other planets.

B．The way of spending holidays will be the same as that of today.

C．The relationship between people will be more important than today.

D．Our environment will be much more polluted with a growing number of cars.

3. The underlined word “sanguine” in the last paragraph most probably means ______.

A．disappointed	B．optimistic
C．curious	D．surprised

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．How people will communicate in the year 2050.

B．What high technology will appear in the year 2050.

C．How people will travel and spend their holiday in the year 2050.

D．What our life will be like in the year 2050.

【推荐1】How many times have you got upset because someone wasn't doing his job，because your child isn't behaving？How many times have you been irritated (恼怒的) when you've planned something carefully and things didn't go as you'd hoped?
This kind of anger and irritation happens to all of us—it’s part of the human experiences.
One thing that irritates me is when people talk during a movie，or cut me off in traffic. Actually, I have a lot of these little annoyances—don't we all？And it isn’t always easy to find peace when you’ve become upset or irritated.
Let me tell you a little secret to finding peace of mind: _______________ .
See, the cause of our stress, anger and irritation is that things don't go the way we like, the way we expect them to. Think of how many times this has been true for you. And so the solution is simple：expect things to go wrong, expect things to be different than we hoped or planned，expect the unexpected to happen. And accept it.
One quick example: on our recent trip to Japan, I told my kids to expect things to go wrong—they always do on a trip. I told them, “See it as part of the adventure.”
And this worked like a charm. When we inevitably(不可避免地) took the wrong train on a foreign­language subway system, or when it rained on the day we went to Disney Sea, or when we took three trains and walked 10 blocks only to find the National Children's Castle closed on Mondays...they said, “It's part of the adventure！” And it was all OK—we didn't get too bothered.
So when the nice glass you bought inevitably falls and breaks some day, you might get upset. But things will be different, if you see the glass as already broken, from the day you get it. You know it'll break some day, so from the beginning, see it as already broken. Be a time­traveler, or someone with time­traveling vision, and see the future of this glass, from this moment until it inevitably breaks. And when it breaks, you won't be upset or sad—because it was already broken, from the day you got it. And you’ll realize that every moment you have with it is precious.
1. The author would probably agree that________.

A．we should control our anger and irritation

B．we must get well prepared for the future

C．optimism can help us overcome our anger and irritation

D．anger and irritation is a natural part of our life

2. The purpose of the author is to________.

A．tell us his own experience in life

B．advise us how to find peace of mind

C．tell us a happy trip he took with his children

D．ask us to see things from both sides

3. By the underlined part (in Para.3), the author tells us to________.

A．get ready for the worst result of things

B．enjoy the process of things

C．expect little from life

D．find the relationship between cause and effect

4. The author’s children could enjoy their trip to Japan because________.

A．everything went smoothly

B．they had a lot of adventures

C．they had expected things to go wrong

D．they could soon get used to the customs there

5. We can learn from the passage that the author________.

A．often gets angry in his life

B．can adjust his state of mind accordingly

C．always expects others to act in his way

D．always suffers from his anger and irritation

【推荐2】After mom died, I began visiting my father every morning before I went to work. He was weak and moved slowly, but he always had a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice on the kitchen table for me, along with an unsigned note, reading, ‘Drink your juice.” Such a gesture, I knew, was as far as my father had ever been able to do in expressing his love. In fact, I remember, as a kid I had questioned mom, “Why doesn’t father love me?” Mom frowned, “Who said he doesn’t love you?” “Well , he never tells me,” I complained. “He never tells me either.” She said, smiling. “But look how hard he works to take care of us, to buy us food and clothes, and to pay for this house. That’s how your father tells us he loves us.”
I nodded slowly. I understood in my head, but not in my heart. I still wanted my father to put his arms around me and tell me he loved me. He owned and operated a small scrap metal (废旧金属) business, and after school I often hung around while he worked. He fed scrap steel into a device that chopped it as cleanly as a butcher chops a rack of ribs. The machine looked like a giant pair of scissors, with blades thicker than my father’s body. If he didn’t feed those terrifying blades just right, he risked serious injury. “Why don’t you hire someone to do that for you?” mom asked him one night as she bent over him and rubbed his aching shoulders with a strong smelling liniment. “Why don’t you hire a cook?” my father asked, giving her one of his rare smiles.
Many years later, during my first daily visit, after drinking the juice my father had squeezed for me, I walked over, hugged him and said, “I love you, father.” From then on I did this every morning. My father never told me how he felt about my hugs, and there was never any expression on his face when I gave them.
1. The author’s father always prepared a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice for him because .

A．that was the author’s favorite

B．he was sure the author would be thirsty

C．the author was always complaining

D．that was a gesture of love

2. The author’s fathe didn’t hire a helper because      .

A．his job was too dangero

B．his job required high skills

C．he wanted to save money

D．he was not good at working with others

3. We can infer from the passage that .

A．the author’s father lacked a sense of humor

B．the author quite understood his father as time went on

C．the author’s father didn’t love him very much

D．the author’s father was too strict with him

4. What’s the passage about?

A．The proper attitude towards life.

B．The importance of education.

C．Silent fatherly love.

D．Ways to live happily.

【推荐3】I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood and year - round sun．You may think People ,n such an attractive, fun - filled place are happier than others．If so you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness．
Many intelligent people still think fun equals happiness．The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common．Fun is what we experience during an act．Happiness is what we experience after an act．It is a deep, long-lasting emotion．
Going to an amusement park or a ball game, watching a movie or television are fun activities that help us relax, temporally forget our problems and maybe even laugh．But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends．
I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun．They have constant access to exciting parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells "happiness" But in memoir（回忆录） after memoir, they expose Ac unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages and loneliness．
Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying．If he is honest, he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment．For commitment is in fact quite painful．The single life is filled with fun, adventure and excitement．Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features．
Similarly, couples that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over painful happiness．They can dine out whenever they want and sleep as late as they want．Couples with babies are lucky to get a whole night' s sleep．I don't know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children．
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations we can ever come to．It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can truly increase our happiness．It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless．And it frees us from envy: we now understand that all those rich and famous people we were so sure are happy because they are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all．
1. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Fun and happiness．

B．Success and satisfaction．

C．Marriage and commitment．

D．Entertainment and responsibility．

2. The author probably agrees that ____．

A．fun creates long - lasting satisfaction

B．long - standing fun may lead to happiness

C．fun is short-lived while happiness is long-lasting

D．fun provides enjoyment while pain leads to happiness

3. What does the author think of marriage?

A．It ends in pain．

B．It means commitment．

C．It affords greater fun．

D．It leads to raising children．

4. If one gets the real meaning of happiness, he ____．

A．will start a business

B．won' t place too much value on money

C．will seek for freedom

D．won't devote himself to his family

【推荐1】Kathy Fletcher and David Simpson have a son named Santi. He has a friend who sometimes goes to school hungry. So Santi invites him to occasionally eat and sleep at his house.

That friend has a friend and that friend has a friend, and now when you go to dinner at Kathy and David's house on Thursday night there might be 15 to 20 teenagers gathering around the table, and later there will be groups of them crashing in the basement or in the small bedrooms upstairs. The kids who show up at Kathy and David's have suffered the pains of modern poverty: homelessness, hunger and abuse.

And yet by some miracle, hostile soil has produced beautiful flowers. Kids come from around the city. Spicy chicken and black rice are served. Cellphones are banned. The kids who call Kathy and David“Momma”and “Dad”, are polite and do the dishes. Birthdays and graduations are celebrated. Songs are performed. At each meal they go around the table and everybody has to say something nobody else knows about him. At each meal the kids show their promise to care for one another.

The adults in this community give the kids the chance to present their gifts.“At my first dinner, Edd read a poem that I first thought was from Langston Hughes, but it turned out to be his own. Kesari has a voice that somehow appears from New Orleans jazz in the 1920s. Madeline and Thalya form a friendship as if it were the highest art form,”George said.

“They give us a gift—complete intolerance of social distance. When I first met Edd,I held out myhand to shake his. He looked at it and said, ‘We hug here', and we' ve been hugging since,”Kesari said.

Bill Milliken, a veteran youth activist, is often asked which programs turn around kids' lives. “I still haven't seen one program change one kid's life,”he says.“What changes people is the relationship. Somebody is willing to walk through the shadow of the valley of adolescence.”Souls are not saved in bundles. Love is the necessary force.

1. Why do kids come to Kathy and David's house on Thursdays?

A．To help the homeless at first hand.

B．To experience the feeling of home.

C．To learn about the modern poverty

D．To plant beautiful flowers in poor soil.

2. Why isn't the use of cellphones allowed at Thursday dinners?

A．Kids need to tell stories about themselves.

B．Kids are expected to care more for each other.

C．Kids have to share housework around the home.

D．Kids prepare songs for birthdays and graduations.

3. What gift did Kesari get at a Thursday dinner？

A．The practice of the art form.

B．The pleasure of enjoying jazz.

C．The chance to listen to poems.

D．The zero distance between souls.

4. What does Bill mean in his words？

A．Love has the power to change a kid's life.

B．Money is needed to start programs for kids.

C．A program can change a group of kids' lives.

D．Kids change their relationships in a program.

【推荐2】Therapeutic (治疗性的) writing involves participating in writing activities to deal with emotional issues. People work under the direction of a therapist (治疗学家) for most of the time.         1     In both cases, participants adopt expressive writing to put down thoughts, emotions, and other experiences.

Therapeutic writing can be useful in cases where people have difficulty communicating by other means. A client who is having trouble with a situation, for example, might write a letter to the people involved as part of therapy.     2     Besides, it works on how to approach the people in real life to settle the issue.

Exercises in therapeutic writing typically encourage people to write for a block of time, such as 15 minutes. They may be asked to write about their days or issues coming up in their lives. In guided therapy, the therapist may review the writing and discuss it with the patient.     3    

Some people keep writing regular journals to share with their therapists and others.     4         Therapists can also use electronic journals to help patients between sessions, looking at what they’re writing about and identifying specific issues to discuss in therapy.

    5     People may keep personal journals or diaries intended for their private use, where they can describe events and explore emotions. Some add a self-directed group therapy aspect as well by sharing their writing with friends who can provide advice.

A．Some of us think that writing is only for writers.

B．There are informal approaches to writing as therapy.

C．Participants can benefit from therapeutic writing exercises.

D．Sometimes they can start a writing program independently.

E．Of course, patients can talk about the emotions that come up while writing.

F．This writing can help him or her express goals and a desired result clearly.

G．Others may keep an online writing journal and only allow his or her therapist to read.

【推荐3】Have you ever been afraid to talk back when you were treated unfairly? Have you ever bought something just because the salesman talked you into it?   Many people are afraid to support themselves. Dr. Robert Albert， author of Stand Up， Speak Out， and Talk Back，thinks it’s because their self-respect is low. “There s always a ‘superior’ (长辈) around ˉa parent， a teacher， a boss—— who knows better.” But Albert and other scientists are doing something to help people help themselves. They offer “assertiveness(维护) training” courses——A.T. for short. In the A. T. Course people learn that they have a right to be themselves. They learn to speak out and feel good about doing so. They learn to be aggressive (进攻的) without hurting other people. In one way， learning to speak out is to get rid of fear. A group taking an A. T. Course will help the timid (懦弱的) person to lose his fear. But A. T. uses an even stronger motive (动机)——the need to share. The timid person speaks out in the group because he wants to tell how he feels. Whether or not you speak up for yourself depends on your self-respect. If someone you face is more “important” than you， you may feel less of a person. You start to doubt your answers to problems. You can get to feel good about yourself. And once you do you can learn to speak out.
1. The problem the writer talks about is that…

A．some people buy things they don t want

B．some people are afraid to speak out for their rights

C．there are too many superiors

D．some people don t think enough of themselves

2. The cause of the problem talked about in this passage is that .

A．some people have a low self-respect

B．there is always someone around who “knows better”

C．salesmen talk people into buying things they don’t want

D．people don t share enough

3. The A.T. Course often

A．make people distrust their own answers

B．make things more favorable for “superiors”

C．help people know as much as their “superiors”

D．help people become more important

4. One thing the A . T. Course don t do is to .

A．share the need of people

B．show they have a right to be themselves

C．help people overcome fear

D．help people to help themselves even if others suffer

5. A good title for this passage could be .

A．The Need to Share

B．Talk Back When Necessary

C．One Way to Build Self-Respect

D．One Way to Train Speaking Ability

【推荐1】Ask most people anywhere in the world what they want out of life and the reply will probably be: “to be happy.” Ed Deiner, an American psychology professor, has spent his whole professional life studying what makes people happy, comparing levels of happiness between cultures and trying to find out exactly why we enjoy ourselves.
Many people would say that this question does not need an answer. But Professor Deiner has one anyway. “If you’re a cheerful, happy person, your marriage is more likely to last, and you’re more likely to make money and be successful at your job. On average, happy people have stronger immune systems, and there is some evidence that they live longer.”
So who are the world’s happiest people? It depends on how the word is defined. There is individual happiness, the sense of joy we get when we do something we like. But there is also the feeling of satisfaction we get when we know that others respect us and approve of how we behave. According to Professor Deiner, the Western world pursues individual happiness while Asia prefers mutual satisfaction.
“In the West, the individualistic culture means that your mood matters much more than it does in the East. People ask themselves if they are doing what is fun or interesting. They become unhappy when they can’t do any of these things. If you ask people from Japan or China if they are happy, they tend to look at what has gone wrong in their lives. If not much has gone wrong, then they are satisfied.”
People from Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries had the happiest culture, Professor Deiner found. “The biggest cultural difference is to do with pride and shame. Hispanic (西班牙语言的) cultures report much more pride and much less shame than others.”
Income also made a big difference to people’s happiness, but only at the lowest levels. Average income earners in the US were much happier than people in poverty. But millionaires were only a little bit happier than people on average incomes. It seems that money makes us happy when we have enough to feel secure.
1. According to the passage, happy people enjoy the following benefits EXCEPT ______.

A．a long marriage

B．better health

C．profession success

D．respect from others

2. In Professor Deiner’s opinion, ______.

A．Asians focus more on others’ respect and approval than westerners

B．Westerners care more about mutual satisfaction than Asians

C．Asians have a culture to enjoy individual happiness

D．Westerners value individual happiness as much as mutual satisfaction

3. What can be inferred from the fifth paragraph?

A．Hispanic cultures lay stress on pride and shame.

B．Spanish people take too much pride in themselves.

C．Attitude towards pride and shame results in Spanish happiness.

D．If you are from Spain, you are the happiest.

4. In the last paragraph, the author seems to tell us ______.

A．poor people enjoy the same happiness as millionaires.

B．the higher income one gets, the happier life he lives

C．enough money can make us feel safe and happy

D．average income earners live the happiest life

5. The passage mainly discusses______.

A．Hispanic cultures

B．reasons for happiness

C．the happiest culture

D．benefits of happiness

【推荐2】Silk production has a long and colourful history unknown to most people. Scientific discoveries have shown that silk production existed in China from around 2500 B.C., although it could be much older. For hundreds of years, China kept the secret of silk to itself as one for the most closely protected secrets in history. Anyone revealing the secret of silkworms or trying to take silkworm eggs out of ancient China was punished by death.
At one time silk was reserved only for the Chinese emperor. Gradually, others began wearing silk. In addition to being used for clothing, silk came to have industrial uses in ancient China, something that happened in the West only in modern times. Silk was used to make musical instruments, fishing lines, weapons, ropes and even paper. During the Han Dynasty silk became a form of money. Farmers paid taxes in both rice and silk. The prices of goods were calculated in lengths of silk just as they had once been calculated in gold. The importance of silk is even reflected in the Chinese language. For example, of the 5000 most common Chinese characters, around 500 have silk as their “key”.
In spite of their secrecy, the Chinese eventually lost their monopoly on silk production. It reached Korea in around 200 B.C. when immigrants from China arrived there. Silk production came to India in 300 A.D.. It was not until 500 A.D. that silk production came to Europe when travellers ______ silkworms in hollow tubes of bamboo. These were used to establish silk industry in Rome (modern-day Italy), although Chinese silk was still considered to be the best.
Silk was brought to Rome from China by means of the Silk Road. There were actually two Silk Roads, one over land and one on the sea. The land route in particular had a huge effect in history. All sorts of trade goods — silver, gold, jade, porcelain — passed along this road. Ideas travelled the Silk Road too. For example the religion of Buddhism was carried to China from India by traders on the Silk Road. The Silk Road created the first international culture, exposing many people to the ideas and treasures of both Western and Chinese cultures.
1. How was China able to keep the secret of silk production?

A．It refused to sell its silk to other countries.

B．Foreigners were not permitted to enter China.

C．The silkworms needed were not able to survive outside China.

D．Chinese passing on the secret to foreigners were seriously punished.

2. Which of the following uses of silk is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．A way of purchasing goods people sold.

B．A material used for making different products.

C．A method of paying money to the government.

D．A valuable gift given to foreigners travelling in China.

3. In what order did silk production spread throughout the world according to the passage?

A．Europe àIndia àKorea àChina.	B．China àKorea àIndia àEurope.
C．China àIndia àKorea àEurope.	D．China àEurope àIndia àKorea.

4. The underlined phrase “smuggled out” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ________.

A．quietly traded	B．openly removed
C．illegally transported	D．violently stole

5. Which of the following is true about the Silk Road?

A．It allowed for economic and cultural exchanges between countries.

B．It made China the most powerful country in the ancient world.

C．It could only be completed by travellers with access to a boat.

D．It was first developed for transferring religious ideas.

【推荐3】Wild weather, unexpected coral reefs and dangerous sea creatures… these are the nightmares (噩梦) you can imagine a teenager on a solo voyage (独自旅行) around the world might suffer from. But for Laura Dekker, sailing around the globe seems less a price to be paid than a prize to be treasured.
As the 19-year-old Dutch sailor said in Maidentrip, a documentary（纪录影片） released last year about her experience of becoming the youngest person to sail around the world alone in 2012, “I was born on a boat. I lived my first five years at sea. And ever since, all I have wanted is to return to that life.”
With her yacht(游艇) Guppy, Dekker began her journey at 14 and sailed 50,004 kilometers in 519 days.
The flying fish keeping her company, the dolphins following in her wake and the warm days spent on deck playing the flute (长笛) as she watched another unforgettable sunset were enough to make others jealous.
But these didn’t always go well. There were terrible moments in which Dekker feared death. On one occasion, a whale almost turned Guppy over. Another time, she battled extreme winds and Guppy surfed down 8-meter-high waves.
Out on the open sea alone, she also got used to living without a fridge, a flushing（用水冲洗） toilet, and a hot shower.
“As a human being you don’t need much,” she told Stuff.co.nz. “ They might make life more comfortable, but you really don’t need them to be happy.”
In fact, her outlook on life was shaped by the trip. “I wanted the storms. I wanted the calms. I wanted to feel loneliness,” she told The New York Times. “And now I know all these things. It’s the end of the dream I had as a child, and it’s the beginning of my life as a sailor.”
1. According to the text, in which year did Dekker begin her journey of 50,004 kilometers at sea?

A．In 2012

B．In 2010

C．In 2009

D．In 2011

2. The method the author uses to develop Paragraph 5 is ________.

A．offering analyses	B．providing explanations
C．giving examples	D．making comparisons

3. Which of the following can best describe the girl Laura Dekker? _________.

A．Modest and optimistic

B．Patient and hospitable

C．Brave and generous

D．Brave and determined

4. How did Laura Dekker think of her life on the sea?

A．It was so dangerous and almost ruined her.

B．It brought her great happiness and much comfort.

C．It is the sailing on the sea that made her well known.

D．Full of danger and challenge, it made her experience happiness and better understand life as well.