【推荐2】For four years, as a coordinator (协调员) for the Harvard First Generation Program, I have been sharing bits and pieces of my college experience on this blog.     1    

The most important lesson I learned in college is that you have to give yourself space and time to grow. When I arrived at Harvard, I thought all my college experiences were just the means to the larger end of stability, success, and happiness.     2     Keep your goals in mind and allow them to grow as you push beyond your comfort zone.

Be willing to change your mind. It feels great to win, but you’ll always learn more from your mistakes than you’ll learn from the things you got right the first time.     3     It can be hard in the moment, but it’s valuable in the long run.

    4     I was used to handling life without much external guidance. I thought asking for help was equal to admitting defeat, but that wasn’t true. Once I realized that, it became easier to allow myself to rely on friends for support when I really needed it.

As graduation approaches, I often think about a quote by Morrison: “When you get jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else.     5     I don’t know what I’ll be doing in five or ten years, but I will be using the resources at my command to live happily with others.

A．Don’t hesitate to turn to others when necessary.

B．Learn to absorb new ideas while remaining true to yourself.

C．It’s OK to care about those things, but don’t box yourself in.

D．If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.

E．Here are some suggestions for those who are to start or finish college.

F．So I’d like to share some unforgettable moments about my college life.

G．Over time, I learned to make space to be a better listener, and to admit when I’m wrong.

【推荐1】In 1970, before he became a blues legend, Stevie Ray Vaughan was working as a dishwasher in Dallas. One of his jobs was cleaning out the trash bin. To do it, Vaughan had to stand on some large wooden barrels, which were for the kitchen crew to dump hot grease(油脂). One day, while he was cleaning, the top of a barrel suddenly gave and he fell in.

Luckily for Vaughan, it had been a while since the last grease was dumped, so the stuff had cooled and he was able to safely climb out of the barrel. However, the next day, Vaughan’s boss fired him for breaking the barrel. The young man could have been severely injured, and he lost his job for his trouble.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. National surveys suggest that burns, cuts, falls and other injuries are extremely common in the fast food industry, where underpaid people are placed under intense pressure to work quickly.

Then there’s wage theft — employers trying to avoid paying workers what they’re legally entitled to. According to the Economic Policy Institute, federal and state agencies recovered $933 million for victims of wage theft in 2012 alone and that was just for the workers who successfully pursued their cases.

People with power — employers, managers and owners of big and small businesses — quite often do mistreat their workers. And they do it because there are no consequences to fear and workers often can’t leave a job without putting their livelihood at risk. So they dare not speak out against the unfair treatment.

So we also need social institutions — a universal basic income, a wage allowance, a job guarantee, truly universal health care and more — that give workers an alternative to depend on in the market for income. And we need a strong labor movement that can credibly punish employers if they don’t give workers a fair share and press the government to enforce the law.

1. Why was Vaughan able to escape serious injury?

A．The barrel had a cover.

B．His colleagues rescued him in time.

C．The temperature of grease was low.

D．He quickly jumped off the barrel.

2. What does the underlined word “iceberg” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Employers treat their employees badly.

B．Employees may easily get injured at work.

C．Competition is fiercer in the fast food industry.

D．Employees fail to defend their rights through laws.

3. What is Paragraph 5 mainly about?

A．The potential consequences of wage theft.

B．The reasons for the phenomenon of wage theft.

C．The conflict between employers and employees.

D．The complaints from employees about wage theft.

4. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Employees should work harder to improve income.

B．Vaughan was fired owing to his negative attitude to work.

C．It’s unnecessary for employees to be in conflict with employers.

D．Measures should be taken to protect employees’ rights.

【推荐3】African countries have retrieved some historic heritage (遗产), which directly reflects the important development of human society, from European countries. Recently, Germany signed a deal for the return of hundreds of valuable artworks from the Kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century, in what is today Benin.

But many artifacts (手工艺品) are still unluckily missing and some are on their way back. One such object is an eight-legged seat from the old kingdom in Uganda. The important artifact now sits at a museum thousands of kilometers away in Britain. The wooden seat is housed at the University of Oxford. It is one of at least 279 objects there taken from the Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom.

Apollo John Rwamparo is a deputy prime minister of Uganda. He really values the country’s cultural heritage. He requested the British to return the artifacts. Ugandan officials are preparing to meet with the University of Cambridge in Britain about the return of such historical artifacts. The school has an unknown number of artifacts from Africa. Through many efforts, an artifact was returned to its home.

The British Museum holds a large collection of artifacts from Africa. Rose Mwanja said Uganda’s commission had been trying hard on it and believed it could have some good effects. She is Uganda’s commissioner for museums. She added she could start with those that are more willing to cooperate.

Many of the artifacts from Africa cannot even be found. That led to an organization started by late Congolese art collector Sindika Dokolo. The organization offers to buy African art from collections in foreign countries. By 2020, when Dokolo died, his group had successfully recovered 15 items. However, for African governments, the recovery of artifacts remains a struggle and will take much time.

1. What does the underlined word “retrieved” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Attacked.	B．Recognised.
C．Given up.	D．Taken back.

2. Where is the artifact of the eight-legged seat at present?

A．In Benin.	B．In Uganda.
C．In Germany.	D．In Britain.

3. What is Ugandan officials’ attitude to their country’s cultural heritage?

A．Concerned.	B．Curious.
C．Uncaring.	D．Confused.

4. Which word best describes the recovery of artifacts?

A．Frightening.	B．Doubtful.
C．Effortless.	D．Challenging.

【推荐1】Nowadays more and more people are trapped in too busy work to relax themselves. We have no time to tell a bed-time story to our children, or enjoy a nice dinner with our family, or take a break to think about how we live the precious life, or even meet friends. All we notice is that the distinctions that used to guide and steady us ------ between Sunday and Monday, public and private, here and there ------ are gone. We have more ways to communicate, but less and less to say. Partly because we’re so busy communicating.
Maybe that’s why more and more people I know, even if they have no religious commitment, seem to be turning to yoga, or meditation, or tai chi. Some friends of mine try to go on long walks every Sunday, or to “forget” their cellphones at home. A series of tests in recent years has shown that after spending time in quiet rural settings, subjects “exhibit greater attentiveness, stronger memory and generally improved cognition. Their brains become both calmer and sharper.” More than that, empathy, as well as deep thought, depends on neural processes that are “inherently slow. ” The very ones our high-speed lives have little time for.
In my own case, I turn to eccentric and often extreme measures to try to keep my sanity and ensure that I have time to do nothing at all. I’ve not yet used a cellphone and I’ve never Tweeted or entered Facebook. I try not to go online till my day’s writing is finished, and I moved from Manhattan to rural Japan.
None of this is a matter of principle or asceticism (苦行主义): it’s just pure selfishness. Nothing makes me feel better-----calmer, clearer and happier----than being in one place, absorbed in a book, a conversation, a piece of music. It’s actually something deeper than mere happiness: it’s joy, which the monk David Steindl-Rast describes as “that kind of happiness that doesn’t depend on what happens.” That is the highest of the highest we have been longing for----The Joy of Quiet.
1. The writer sometimes doesn’t do anything because ________.

A．he is out of work .

B．whatever he does make no sense

C．he is worried about his writing.

D．he can enjoy himself in his leisure time.

2. When the writer uses the word “forget” , his real meaning is _______.

A．Somebody really forgets his cellphone at home.

B．Somebody thinks cellphone is not a suitable means of communication.

C．Somebody hates modern techniques such as the cellphone.

D．Somebody leaves his cellphone at home on purpose.

3. Which of the following is right?

A．It is better to go back to the ancient times since we are so busy now.

B．The writer is unwilling to help others since he is selfish.

C．Slowing down to find time and space to think and enjoy oneself is urgent.

D．We have more to say because we have more ways to communicate.

4. What does the underlined word mean?

A．difference

B．sameness

C．simplicity

D．complication

5. What is the main idea of the article?

A．The importance of spending time in quiet.

B．We can do some sports such as yoga to relax.

C．Principle or asceticism is important in one’s life.

D．The more we communicate, the more we will be closer.

【推荐2】It is an uncomfortable fact that civilized society is almost completely dependent upon fossil fuels in nearly every aspect. Whether you believe there are hundreds of years or just a few decades left of this resource, the fact remains that it is a limited resource. At some point, fossil fuels are going to either be gone or become too expensive to realistically use. That is, when fossil fuels become too expensive to use, people will just start using something else. Though this may work well in theory, actually shifting from fossil fuels is not the same as shifting from one brand of shampoo to another.

This is entirely due to the fact that humans rely so much on the infrastructure (基础设施) they have developed, which is entirely dependent upon this resource, accounting for 85% of the United State's energy use. If the world were entirely dependent upon solar energy, that would be fine because sunlight is a continuing resource. However, at the current state of things, humans are in a dangerous position owing to its complete dependence upon one single limited input.

Fossil fuels are also responsible for a significant amount of land, water, and air pollution beyond their carbon dioxide (二氧化碳) production. For example, coal mining brings solid wastes to the surface that would normally remain underground and the areas around a mine can remain barren (贫瘠的) for generations due to the lack of proper topsoil. The burning of coal for energy also produces many different types of particulate (微粒的) matter that pollutes the air. Compared with fossil fuels, renewable energy is far more environmentally friendly.

There exists an argument that renewable energy options are not as efficient as fossil fuels because the deployment (部署) of renewable energy equipment like the wind turbine (风力涡轮机) costs a lot of money. However, when factors such as pollution and climate change are considered, renewable energy is actually far more efficient than fossil fuels. And fossil fuels will be surely replaced by renewable energy whether it is your generation or your grandchildren's.

1. According to paragraph 1, we know fossil fuels ____.

A．are heavily depended on by humans

B．are a symbol of civilized society

C．are becoming more and more expensive

D．can be replaced by other resources soon

2. What does ''This'' in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．That it is necessary to use solar energy.

B．That it is hard to stop using fossil fuels.

C．That people have overconsumed fossil fuels.

D．That people have developed so many infrastructures.

3. What is the purpose of paragraph 3?

A．To show the relationship between greenhouse gases and fossil fuels.

B．To present negative consequences brought by fossil fuels.

C．To introduce how carbon dioxide affects the environment.

D．To explain why fossil fuels should be used.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Renewable energy equipment is economically-beneficial.

B．Renewable energy produces less energy than fossil fuels.

C．It is very urgent for people to shift to renewable energy.

D．It is an unstoppable trend to use renewable energy.

【推荐3】As a rule, a child who has once been happy with a tale likes to have it retold in almost the same words, but this should not lead parents to treat printed fairy stories as formal texts. It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book, and, if a parent can produce what, in the actual situation of the time and the child, is an improvement on the printed text, so much the better.

A charge made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or making him sad thinking. To prove the latter, one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often sorry for cruelty than those who had not. As to fears, there are, I think, some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered.

There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches, two-headed dragons, magic carpets, etc. do not exist; and that, instead of being fond of the strange side in fairy tales, the child should be taught to learn the reality by studying history. I find such people, I must say, so peculiar(奇怪的) that I do not know how to argue with them. If their case were sound, the world should be full of mad men attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a stick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their beloved girlfriend.

No fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world and no clever child has ever believed that it was.

1. The author considers that a fairy story is more effective when         .

A．it is repeated without any change	B．it is treated as a joke
C．some changes are made to it by a parent	D．it is set in the present

2. According to the passage, great fear can take place in a child when the story is       .

A．in a realistic setting	B．told in a different way
C．repeated too often	D．heard for the first time

3. The advantage claimed for repeating fairy stories to young children is that it       .

A．develops their power of memory	B．makes them less fearful
C．makes them believe there is more to be afraid of	D．encourages them not to have strange beliefs

4. One of the reasons why some people are not in favor of fairy tales is that       .

A．they are full of history	B．they make teachers of history difficult to teach
C．they are not interesting	D．they are just made up of unreal stories