【推荐1】My oldest child, Emma, just returned to campus after a long holiday break to finish up her last period of college. These days, friends and family have begun flooding me with one question: What is she going to do after graduation?
The job market is, after all, awfully tough. Just this month the Federal Reserve Bank published a study showing that “recent graduates are increasingly working in low-paid jobs or working part-time.” The bright spot, according to the study, is for students who majored(主修) in STEM— science, technology, engineering and mathematics — areas in which recent graduates “have tended to do relatively well”.
But Emma is a student of the humanities(人文) at a small college. She’s an American Studies major with a focus on the politics and culture of food. For quite a while, I think her field of study is so fashionable right now that I’m not the least bit worried she will find a good job. Yet the more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve decided to be honest. “I’m not sure what Emma is going to do,” I now say. “But she’s gotten a great education and has really found her interest. — and I know those things will serve her well over the course of her life.”
Nowadays, more and more universities and colleges are being measured by the salaries of their recent graduates. In this climate, encouraging your kid to study the humanities, seems, at best, unwise or, at worst, unconcerned with earning a living. But a college is not a vocational(职业) school. And promoting STEM subjects should not be society’s only answer to helping the next generation grow in a competitive world.
From the beginning, we never urged Emma to pick a college or a major with an eye on its expected return on money, as more and more families are doing. To Emma, what really matters will be something that we may not be able to measure for quite a long time: Emma’s contribution to the world and how happy she is in it.
1. The author’s friends and family_________.

A．are worried about Emma’s safety

B．have been worrying about the flood

C．are concerned about Emma’s future

D．are worried about the job market

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?

A．The number of the graduates is increasing.

B．STEM graduates can be better employees.

C．STEM graduates are in relatively greater demand.

D．More and more graduates like to do a part-time job.

3. Why did Emma choose a major in the humanities?

A．Because she is interested in it.

B．Because her mother told her to.

C．Because it is increasingly popular.

D．Because she wants further education.

4. According to the author, what matters most in choosing a major is that_________.

A．it should be among the STEM

B．it should be fashionable and interesting

C．it should allow a good job and a high salary

D．it should bring achievements and happiness

【推荐2】Remember to study for knowledge and not study for getting good grades! This helped me a lot, and might help you too.

●Keep your study area organized and comfortable.

This helps you to concentrate better while studying by reducing unwanted distractions. Keeping all the required books, pens, and other instruments within reach helps. you to stayfocused on studying. You don’t have to look around for any book you need.

●Discover ways to enhance your concentration.

Concentration is unquestionably the most important attribute necessary to enjoy studying. Staying focused on what you are reading helps you to understand and absorb it. Therefore, it is absolutely essential for you to find out all the essentials that enhance your concentration.

●To enjoy studying, prepare in advance for tests.

If you intend Lo truly enjoy studying, you must make it a habit to prepare well in advance for all your tests. You cannot enjoy studying when you are preparing on the last day prior to your test. This will make studying a painful experience for you.

●Ensure that your study area is free from disturbances.

Ensure that outside noise and disturbances do not affect your studies. Your study table must be located in a silent area free from all external disturbances.

●Mark all important dates on a wall calendar.

●Remember to take short breaks.

Taking short breaks during studying helps you in retaining more of what you have studied. Hence, short breaks are helpful during a long study session.

●Manage your time in a wise way.

●Stay positive.

Staying positive is necessary to enjoy studying. Think of all the benefits you can obtain from scoring high grades. This will motivate you 10 strive harder in your studies.

●Be prepared; remove fear of exams.

1. What helps you to stay focused according to the text?

A．Enjoying studying.

B．Preparing well in advance for you tests.

C．Taking short breaks during studying.

D．Keeping unnecessary distractions away.

2. If you want to keep in your memory as much as possible of what you have learned, what should you try to avoid?

A．A long study session without taking short breaks.

B．The essentials that enhance your concentration.

C．The painful experience of taking exams.

D．Preparation for your Lest on the last day.

3. What could be the best title of this text?

A．How to score the best grades?

B．How to get rid of disturbances?

C．How to improve your ability to study?

D．How to make the best of your time?

【推荐1】New Year’s resolutions(决心) usually are like some of those promises that are meant to be broken. The word “New” in the new year, puts a lot of pressure on starting over and turning a new leaf. But you must remember you cannot just become a different person overnight when the clock strikes 12.     1    . Instead of making resolutions that cause you stress, anxiety or more pain, set out this year by. Making resolutions that will encourage self-care.

To start fresh this New Year’s Day, here are a few tips setting realistic new years’ resolutions in order to avoid the burden of disappointment next year.

Choose a very specific goal

Unclear plans like “lose weight” “exercise more” or “write more” are goals with no teeth.

They are unclear plans and desires, and are very easy to explain away due to how unclear they are.     2    . Such goals with a certain task, are much more doable than unclear goals.

    3    

Once you have chosen your goals, make a very detailed plan of how you will reach that goal. Having a plan and a pathway can help you imagine your progress and won’t make you impatient for immediate results. That way you will have already imagined what progress would look like for you in say, 3 months, 5 months, 7 months or every day depending on your goals.

Get yourself a social group

In today’s social media world, it is easy to find a group of like-minded individuals interested in sharing your goal. Get yourself a social group like this. However, just as there is this bright side to having a social group, the problem is the pressure. Don’t get consumed by social media and what others are doing.     4    

Accept failure and forgive yourself.

    5    . Accept this failure; own it and forgive yourself. Being hard on yourself will only do you more harm, so instead learn from, what went wrong and instead of quitting the resolution at the end of next year, see it through until you reach your goal.

A．Make a plan to reach that goal

B．Be patient with your progress

C．Instead, set goals like “exercise 20 minutes every day“ or “lose 15 pounds”

D．Despite all your efforts, it is possible that you might fail or make a mistake.

E．Therefore, new year’s resolutions usually end up in failure

F．Change is a difficult process-the key words being “difficult“ and “process”

G．Remember you have this group only for support, not for comparison

【推荐2】In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and preparing for the worst, Australian adventurer Peter Seiter wrote a farewell note to his family, put it in a bottle and threw it overboard. With a sense of bad feeling he wrote: “The ocean has a personality of its own. The place can be such a peaceful environment to be in, yet it can be frightfully violent. I’ve experienced both.” Fearing he wouldn’t make it home, he placed the note -- dated June 11, 1998 -- in a wine bottle and covered the bottle.
“I included my geographical coordinates, so if anything happened to me, they’d know my last place when I threw the bottle into the ocean,” says Peter, who was then sailing from the Azores in Portugal to New York and knew the Atlantic could be dangerous. He also included some money with his message, asking whoever found it to use the money to post the letter to his family.
Seventeen days later he reached his destination, having survived the dangerous seas, but he assumed his message in the bottle had not -- until it was found on shore, 11 years later!
Recently, American woman Katherine Ginn and her friend came across the bottle on a deserted beach in the Bahamas. “Alongside it they’d found a life jacket and, assuming the worst, opened the bottle and spent 24 hours drying it out so they could read my story and write to my family as I requested,” says Peter, 44. “I couldn’t believe it -- that after all these years my bottle had turned up with its contents, still undamaged.”
Overjoyed, he wrote to the pair, saying he was alive and living in Australia with his family.
Katherine posted him his letter, money and some broken glass of his bottle placed in a tiny box as a special souvenir. These special items now share pride of place among photos of Peter’s Atlantic voyage. “I can’t express what this old letter means to me,” Peter says. “It gives me a sense of hope and belief. It’s something special to share with my children as they grow up.”
1. Why did Peter have the idea of a message bottle?

A．He missed his family very much then.

B．He hoped to share his experience with his family.

C．He regretted taking a risk on the ocean.

D．He thought he might lose his life on the voyage.

2. As for the survival of the message bottle, Peter ________.

A．felt very certain about it

B．thought it had little chance of reaching land

C．took a long time to search for it

D．wrote a letter to Katherine

3. What can be inferred about the message bottle according to Paragraph 3 and 4?

A．Katherine found it by chance on a crowded beach.

B．It was 11 years before they came across it at sea.

C．Perhaps there was water in it when Katherine found it.

D．Peter couldn’t believe more that it was not damaged.

4. From the passage, we can learn that ________.

A．this was Peter’s first voyage in the Atlantic

B．Peter spent eleven days in the Atlantic

C．without the life jacket, the bottle wouldn’t have survived

D．Katherine was a caring and careful person

【推荐3】September 30, 2014
Greetings shareholders(股东) ,
GLA Electronics of America Inc. is placed to show a summary of its yearly income report for the year 2014. Thanks to our recently-enlarged international markets, the total earnings reached US$160 million in 2014, with a net profit of US$ 40 million
CarPhone Quarterly Sales
GLA Electronics sold l.6 million CarPhones the whole year, with half of these being sold during the fourth quarter, which ended September 24, 2014. In addition, the first quarter saw sales of 400,000 units, with the remaining units sales divided equally between the second and third quarters.
CarPhone Sales Have Improved Greatly since 2011.
We are excited to announce that we sold more CarPhones in 2014 than in the year of 2011 to 2013 combined. In 2011, only 150,000 units were sold. Thanks to strong advertising afterwards, sales increased by 50% in 2012, and then double in 2013.
Distribution of CarPhone Sales by Region
Sales onside of North America made up nearly 50% of the total sales volume in 2014. Half of the units sold internationally were in Asian markers, with 300,000 units sold in Europe. The remaining units were sold in South America.
A Vision of the Future
GLA Electronics will continue to invest(投资) in the growth of our company. In 2015, we expect sales to increase by up to 300% , partly due to the upcoming opening of three large factories in China, Taiwan, and Malaysia. In addition, the demand for CarPhones continues to increase worldwide and shows no sign of slowing down. We are grateful for the success of 2014. Hopefully, the coming year will see continued growth.
Sincerely,
Brian Fisher
CEO
GLA Electronics of America Inc.
1. Based on the report, which of the following is true about GLA Electronics' earnings in 2014?

A．The first half of山e year saw the most earnings.

B．All four quarters showed similar earnings.

C．The least successful quarter was the first.

D．The most successful quarter was the fourth.

2. Which of these best describes CLA Electronics' sales since it started?

A．Sales growth has continued year after year.

B．Sales growth slowed down in 2013.

C．All the units were sold in North America.

D．Sales will increase thanks to strong advertising in China.

3. What does the underlined word "units" refer to?

A．Quarters.

B．CarPhones.

C．Dollar amounts.

D．Store locations.

4. The last paragraph suggests that the writer is ________about the future of the company.

A．cautious

B．modest

C．confident

D．worried

【推荐2】Matt Doogue, a 34-year-old nature photographer, had been suffering from depression when he first found his passion for taking pictures of insects and his work is now featured in National Geographic. He says that he tried to take his own life nine years ago after hitting rock bottom. “In the beginning, I was so paranoid (多疑的) and angry that I couldn’t leave the house,” says Doogue. “When I attempted to end my life, I knew I needed to see someone. I went to the doctors and got treatment, but I know that I needed something more and that’s when I started photography.”

Now a dad of two, Doogue found that looking at insects through a camera helped him in ways he could never have imagined and it proved to be the lifeline he needed. It had a calming effect that helped him to disconnect from stress. And his astonishing images, showing insects and spiders in amazing detail against brightly colored backgrounds, caught the eye of publishers at National Geographic. “I ended up as one of their featured photographers,” recalled Doogue. “It was the peak of my career. It was incredible.”

Originally from Salford, Greater Manchester, he now lives in Armadale, West Lothian, Scotland. Though he fears that Scotland is in the middle of an epidemic of male suicide, he believes that sharing his love of nature photography can help others to cope with their mental health issues as well. “I think the problem is this man-up approach; the idea that men need to be strong puts so much pressure on young males to be fine all the time,” says Doogue. “This is why I try and be so open about my own experience. Whenever I am out with my camera, I don’t think about my other worries. It is just me and the environment around me. You can lose yourself in a spider making its web.”

1. What does the underlined phrase “hit rock bottom” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Be in the worst possible situation.	B．Reach the bottom of a valley.
C．Crash into the lowest part of a rock.	D．Launch an attack on the rock bottom.

2. How did photography benefit Doogue?

A．It gave him a new way to express himself.	B．It helped him to escape from pressure.
C．It provided him with life-saving skills.	D．It offered him an opportunity to explore nature.

3. What caused Scottish men to develop mental health problems?

A．The way men employ to solve problems.	B．The lack of love for men’s life and work.
C．The worry that men get separated from people.	D．The belief that men are expected to be strong.

4. What is the main purpose of the author in writing the text?

A．To warn the severity of mental problems.	B．To show the benefits of nature photography.
C．To advise readers to get close to nature.	D．To introduce Doogue’s fighting against depression.

【推荐3】“Well, I made it,” says Greg Daniels with a smile.

Recently there have been news reports and television shows reporting on the quality of school lunches. According to federal guidelines, French fries count as a serving of vegetables. Many parents and others are upset that a salty, deep-fired food is replacing healthier options like carrot sticks. As a result, the potato — what French fries are made of — has been getting a bad rap.

“The problem is not the potato,” insists Greg. “Potatoes are very healthy. But any food, even carrots or lettuce (生菜), will be less healthy if it’s cooked in grease(油脂).”

Two months ago, Greg decided to eat nothing but potatoes for 60 days. As a high school science teacher and son of a potato farmer, he wanted to do something to draw attention to potatoes as a healthy food and a good choice as part of anyone’s regular meals.

“It’s been an interesting experience,” Greg said. “For a while, I wasn’t sure I would make it. I was pretty tired of eating potatoes after a few weeks.”

But for Greg there were some benefits that he hadn’t expected. He’s lost 15 pounds and he feels better than he has in years. “I have so much more energy,” he says. “I’ve been running and playing on a local basketball team, and I feel like I’m playing as well as I did when I was in high school.”

And Greg has gotten a lot of attention, much more than he expected. “It’s been fantastic. Thousands of people have read my blog. I’ve been sharing recipes and talking about the experience. Every day I get to tell people what a great idea it is to eat potatoes.”

Greg is glad to be back to a normal diet, but he still eats potatoes at least 5 or 6 times a week. “Everyone should!” he says with a smile. “Potatoes are healthy and taste great!”

1. What does the underlined part “getting a bad rap” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Receiving little attention.

B．Obtaining an unfair judgement.

C．Getting more and more popular.

D．Becoming good for people’s health.

2. Why did Greg decide to eat potatoes only?

A．Because potatoes are cheap.

B．To draw attention to himself.

C．To prove that potatoes are healthy.

D．Because he loves potatoes very much.

3. After eating potatoes for a few weeks, Greg________.

A．gave up his plan.

B．put on some weight.

C．became less healthy.

D．was sick of potatoes.

4. After eating potatoes for 60 days. Greg________.

A．became a little weak.

B．became much healthier.

C．could not eat potatoes any more.

D．decided to keep eating potatoes only.

5. Which word can best describe Greg?

A．Intelligent.	B．Humorous.
C．Determined.	D．Courageous.