【推荐1】Habiba keeps a record of new words and expressions in English. He usually writes them in a notebook. Then, one day, she asks her teacher about them. “Mrs Thomas, these expressions are new to me — She is blue today. What’s the matter? You are yellow. A little white lie. After looking at the notebook, Mrs Thomas says, “In everyday English, Habiba, blue sometimes means sad. Yellow means afraid. A person with a green thumb grows plants successfully and a white lie is not a bad lie.” “I don’t understand. Please give me an example.” “For example, I offer you some cake. The truth is, you don’t like my cake. You don’t say that. Instead, you say, ‘No, thanks. I’m not hungry.’ That’s a white lie.” “I see. Thanks for the explanation.”

1. I don’t have a green thumb. All my plants _______.

A．are green	B．have died
C．are yellow	D．are growing well

2. “You are yellow to fight” means _______.

A．you are able to fight	B．you are happy to fight
C．you are in a hurry	D．you dare not fight

3. If you say “It’s a white lie.” it means that someone _______.

A．is telling a lie	B．is unfriendly
C．is telling the truth	D．doesn’t want to tell the truth in a polite way

4. “The weather is bad, and _______.”

A．I’m blue today	B．I’m yellow today
C．I’m green	D．I’m white today

【推荐2】If English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language? According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information, It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.

Scans (扫描) showed that grey matter density (密度) in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language.

“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,” said the scientists. It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.

Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible,” he said, “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”

The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of two and thirty-four. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested, The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better, “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world, ”explained the scientists.

1. If you are learning a second language, how will you be?

A．Lazier.

B．Happier.

C．Smarter.

2. What does grey matter process?

A．Diseases.

B．Emotion.

C．Information.

3. What is the meaning of the underlined word “bilingualism”?

A．The ability to speak one language.

B．The ability to speak two languages.

C．The ability to speak three languages

4. According to the last paragraph, what were tested in a study?

A．Writing, listening, and reading.

B．Reading, writing, and translating.

C．Writing, comprehension, and reading.

【推荐3】Nickname is a shortened form of a person's name. A nickname also can be a descriptive name for a person, place or thing. Many American cities have nicknames. These can help establish an identity, spread pride among citizens and build unity.

A few years ago, some marketing and advertising experts were asked to name the best nickname for an American city. The winner was the nation's largest city, New York. The top nickname was The Big Apple.

You might wonder how New York got this nickname. In the early nineteen seventies, the city had many problems. The number of visitors was falling. So a campaign was launched to give the city a new image. The head of the New York Conventions and Visitors Bureau decided to call the city, The Big Apple.

There are several explanations for where this name came from. Language expert Barry Popik studied the question and wrote about it on his Web site. He says John Fitz Gerald, a writer for a New York newspaper, used the name The Big Apple to mean New York in the nineteen twenties. Mister Fitz Gerald wrote about horse races. He heard the name used by men who worked at a racetrack in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Mister Fitz Gerald wrote: "The Big Apple. The dream of every lad that ever threw a leg over a thoroughbred and the goal of all horsemen. There's only one Big Apple. That's New York."

In horse racing, the expression meant "the big time," the place where large amounts of money could be won. The Big Apple became the name of a night club in the Harlem area of New York City in nineteen thirty-four. It also was the name of a popular dance and a hit song in the nineteen thirties.

But it is not the only nickname for America's largest city. Barry Popik's web site lists almost one hundred nicknames that describe New York. The best known are The Capital of the World. Empire City. Gotham. The City So Nice They Named it Twice. And, The City That Never Sleeps. You can hear about the city in the song, "New York, New York," by Frank Sinatra.

1. Why do many American cities have nicknames?（回答词数不超过15个）
_______________
2. What did John Fitz Gerald write about for the New York newspaper?（回答词数不超过5个）
_______________
3. Besides “The Big Apple”, how many best known nicknames that describe New York are listed according to Barry Popik's web site?（回答词数不超过2个）
_______________