【推荐1】Sophie became friends with the gray squirrels during her first week at Penn State, after spotting them running around and wondering what they would look like with tiny hats on their heads. Today, everyone at the university knows her as the “Squirrel Girl”.

Sophie tried bringing them food, and gradually they began to trust her. She managed to put a hat on a squirrel and take a picture. Thinking that her colleagues could do something to lift their spirits, she started posting similar photos on Facebook. The response was greatly positive, and before long Sophie and her squirrels became an Internet sensation (轰动).

Growing up in a neighborhood outside of State College, Sophie was always fond of birds and animals around her home, but she didn’t interact with people very much. She was later diagnosed (诊断) with Asperger's syndrome, but the squirrels changed that. “The squirrels help me break the ice, because I’ll be sitting here patting a squirrel and other people will come over and well just start like feeding the squirrels together and chatting about them,” she said, “I am a lot more outgoing.”

And in case you’re wondering how Sophie is able to get the squirrels to do what she wants for her photos, it has a lot to do with food. For example, whenever she wants them to hold or play with something, she puts peanut butter on the prop (道具), and they’ll grab it. In the beginning, she would throw peanuts up the trees on campus and invite the squirrels to come down and get them, but they hesitated to approach her. She had the patience to earn their trust, though.

This year, Sophie is graduating with a degree in English and wildlife sciences. She wants to be a science writer and educate people on how to preserve the environment. As for her furry friends, Sophie plans to stay in the area and visit them as often as she can.

1. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Sophie was fonder of squirrels than any other animals.

B．Sophie is known as the “Squirrel Girl” in the community.

C．Sophie and squirrels received great attention on the Internet.

D．Sophie wishes to educate people on how to protect the animals.

2. What can we learn about Sophie according to paragraph 3?

A．She was more outgoing than before.

B．She got lots of friends due to squirrels.

C．She lived in the far countryside when young.

D．She used to be a popular girl in her childhood.

3. How did Sophie manage to take photos of squirrels wearing hats?

A．By dressing like squirrels.	B．By putting them in cages.
C．By playing music to them.	D．By attracting them with food.

4. What do you think of Sophie?

A．Patient and caring.	B．Tolerant and strong.
C．Sociable and healthy.	D．Traditional and hard-working.

【推荐2】Stephen Hawking was both one of the world's most famous scientists and most famous disabled people. His life was a juxtaposition of sparkling intellect and failing body. Prof Hawking was diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone(运动神经元) diseases when he was 21.

The nerves that controlled his muscles were failing and he became trapped in his body, but his mind was still free. He reached the height of his field while being a wheelchair user.

Professor Hawking certainly raised awareness of motor neurone diseases. One of his major contributions to disability in general was simply being visible---often at a time when disabled voices were missing from popular culture. He made small-screen appearances on The Simpsons, Star Trek and The Big Bang Theory. His life was dramatised (将…改成剧本)by the BBC and in the film The Theory of Everything.

Steve Bell, from the MND association, said: "He was probably the most famous person with a physical disability and it almost normalises it to see his absolute genius. I think it affected a lot of people, seeing he's more than a trapped body. The public's view of disability has changed.

But Prof Hawking’s life was exceptional. He lived five decades longer than doctors expected. Many others with motor neurone diseases die in the years after diagnosis. He was a theoretical physicist. His laboratory was in the mind; his scientific equipment was mathematics.

Prof Hawking was able to continue to pursue his career in a way that would have been much harder in other scientific disciplines and impossible in many other professions. It remains an open question how much he would have achieved if he was disabled from birth rather than after graduating with a first at Oxford. Today, disabled people are more than twice as likely to be unemployed than people without disability. Prof Hawking 's only advice on disability was to focus on what could be achieved. "My advice to other disabled people would be, concentrate on things your disability doesn’t prevent you doing well, and don 't regret the things it interferes with. Don't be disabled in spirit, as well as physically,” he said in an interview with the New York Times.

1. What does the underlined word juxtaposition in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Combination.	B．Trouble.
C．Difficulty.	D．Mess.

2. How did Hawking raise awareness of motor neurone diseases?

A．By trying not to get trapped by the disease.

B．By making the voice of the disabled heard.

C．By making people be used to the small screen.

D．By working for the BBC and film companies.

3. What did Steve Bell think of Hawking?

A．He was the most well-known person.

B．He was affected greatly by many people.

C．He changed people's view of disabled people.

D．His physical disability affected his mind.

4. What's Hawking’ s tip to disabled people?

A．Try to find a job and don't be unemployed.

B．Don't ignore your health.

C．Stick to the goals that you can reach.

D．Don’t think you are physically disabled.

【推荐3】When I lived in France last year, my friends and I, decided to have a “friendsgiving” in November because we were so far away from our families. We decided to have the dinner at my friend Brigitte’s apartment in Paris. There was only one problem. It was difficult to get a turkey because French people don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. The day before our “friendsgiving” dinner, Brigitte and I went to four different markets to look for a turkey. It took us five hours, but we finally found one. We were so excited!

The next day, everyone brought different foods from their home country to share. There was Moroccan (摩洛哥的) food, Italian food, German food, and of course French food. While we waited for the turkey to cook, we played cards and told stories. That’s when we heard a loud BANG! We all ran to the kitchen. There was water everywhere. The water pipes under Brigitte’s kitchen sink were broken. The kitchen was filling with water very fast.

“Jack, you all grab the food and run to the roof (屋顶)!” Brigitte yelled. We took all the food, plates, drinks and silverware and ran to the roof. Brigitte ran outside to turn off the water. That’s when we realized the turkey was still in the oven. We ran to the flooded kitchen, grabbed some gloves, and pulled the turkey out of the oven.

In the end, we all had an amazing “friendsgiving” dinner on a Parisian rooftop with all of our good friends. The turkey was a little darker and “crispy” but still delicious.

1. Jack decided to have_____in France in November last year.

A．a party

B．a picnic

C．a friendsgiving

D．a Thanksgiving

2. In order to find a turkey, it took them_____to look for it in four different markets.

A．five hours

B．forty minutes

C．two days

D．a week

3. What happened when they heard a loud BANG?

A．The friends shared different foods.

B．They played cars and told stories happily.

C．Jack and Brigitte cooked the turkey.

D．The water pipes were suddenly broken.

4. What did they do to save the turkey in the oven?

A．Run to the roof with all the food.	B．Run outside with all of the things.
C．Turn off the water with the gloves.	D．Pull the turkey out with the gloves.

5. How did Jack and his friends feel in the end?

A．Amazing turkey, delicious dinner.	B．A little afraid, pretty amazed.
C．A little darker but still delicious.	D．Just amazed, totally afraid.

【推荐1】阅读下面短文，并按照题目要求用英语回答问题。

Whenever I heard strangers singing out loud, whether it was in the supermarket or on the street, I used to think how annoying it was. That was until a few months ago.

Recently, my daughter Zoe started her second year of middle school with a new sense of awareness, asking me to fix the “little girl” pattern on her wheel-chair seat. Not wanting her to stand out at school, I spent hours filling in pale yellow stars with a black marker, eager to erase whatever childish signs I could.

Shortly after, Zoe got really sick and had to miss 20 days of school. This meant our days were filled with rushing between hospital appointments and meetings with the school, as we tried to make sure she didn’t fall behind on her schoolwork.

I felt pulled back to a time when she was little and her sickness was a huge part of her life. Back then, it seemed like Zoe lived in hospitals, as she spent so much time in them. No matter how sick she got, however, she always had a positive attitude.

But this was different: Zoe was no longer singing like she normally did. Zoe usually sang all the time, whether she was playing, riding in the car, or just doing her homework. There was no need for a radio in our house; Zoe provided the music for us.

Consumed (被折磨) with my motherly worries, it was more concerning to me than her sickness.

One day, however, I heard her beautiful voice as I was cooking dinner. I stopped what I was doing and just smiled. “Pure delight,” I thought to myself. Her voice slowly grew stronger, and soon, both the car and the house were filled with her music once more.

How had I not noticed her singing had completely stopped, weeks and weeks ago? Now, thankfully, she’s back in school, smiling and singing, and I’m thankful for each and every song she sings.

These days, whenever I hear a stranger singing a song to themselves, I don’t get mad. Instead, I smile, as I know that by singing out loud, they’re simply sharing their happiness with the world.

1. How did the author use to feel when she heard strangers singing? (no more than 5 words)
2. What do you think Zoe was like? (no more than 10 words)
3. What does “it” in Paragraph 6 refer to? (no more than 10 words)
4. Why did the author say “There was no need for a radio in our house”? (no more than 15 words)
5. What does singing mean to people, according to the author? (no more than 15 words)

【推荐2】Traveling through time

As children, we dream of growing older; when we are older, we dream of being children. We let our lives pass us by because we have yet to learn that the harder you yearn for time, the faster it passes. This is how my story begins.

In October of my freshman year, I took an accidental trip down memory lane. One day after school, I decided to take the long way home, I needed time to think. So off I went, walking through the grass. That was how I came to find a gap in the fence lining the school property. I passed through this gap and followed the treeline until I found myself in the far fields behind the neighborhood.

Suddenly, I remembered it was here through the fence between the school and the fields that I watched older kids having their high school graduation ceremony. In cap and gown (长袍), they stood in the middle of the field. They looked like they were having the most fun I had ever seen anyone have; they looked free.

Years later, I walked through that field on my way home from that same high school. The soccer nets were long gone, and the paint lines had washed away with the rain, but there it was, just as I remembered it. The old field felt like a moment trapped in time, a long-forgotten memory. Here I was, standing in between my past and my present and trying so hard to figure out just how all of those years had passed me by so quickly. The gap in the fence seemed like a distinct line between my years. A doorway between 5 and 15.

I’ve since given this place a name, Tempus Illud, a place between places. I try to take the long way home at least once a month now. Sometimes, when I cross that bridge, I see that younger version of myself. She is so young and so desperate to speed up time. I see her peering through the fence at those graduates in the cap and gown, and she’s wishing she could be just like them. She, too, could feel so free that she might just grow wings and fly away. Now I’m preparing to wear the cap and gown in a few short months. But this time, I wish to leave time to its own devices.

The harder you yearn for time, the faster it passes you by. So I no longer yearn. The passage of time is inevitable, and you can’t avoid it, but you can appreciate it. James Taylor sings, “The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time… Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill, but since we’re on our way down, we might as well enjoy the ride.”

1. How did the author feel when she saw the older kids’ graduation ceremony?

A．Jealous.	B．Curious.
C．Admiring.	D．Unconcerned.

2. What is the significance of Tempus Illud to the author?

A．It honors her best childhood memory.

B．It bridges her past, present and future.

C．It shows the miracle of frozen time.

D．It symbolizes high school graduation.

3. Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined expression “leave time to its own devices” in paragraph 5?

A．Keep calm, and carry on.	B．Whatever will be, will be.
C．Seize the day.	D．The best is yet to come.

4. What is the author’s main purpose in writing the article?

A．To suggest that time brings the truth to light.

B．To show that tough times never last.

C．To explain how time changes everything.

D．To share her changing attitude toward time.