【推荐1】Recently some American scientists have given a useful sincere piece of advice to people in industrialized nations that they would be much healthier if they ate more of the same kind of food eaten by humans living more than 10,000 years ago.

The scientists say that the human body has changed very little since humans first appeared on the earth, but the way we live has changed greatly. Our body has not been able to deal with these changes in life style and this has led to new kinds of sicknesses. These new sicknesses were not known in ancient times, so they are called “diseases of civilization”. Many cancers and diseases of the blood system, including heart attacks and strokes (中风) are examples of such diseases.

Scientists noted that people in both the Old Stone Age and the New Stone Age enjoyed very little alcohol (酒精) or tobacco (烟草), probably none. Ancient people also got a great deal of physical exercise, but a change in food is one of the main differences between life in ancient times and that of today.

Stone-age people hunted wild animals for their meat, which had much less fat than domestic or tame ones (家畜). They also ate a lot of fresh wild vegetables and fruits. They didn’t have milk or any other dairy products, and they made very little use of grains. But today, we eat a large amount of these. We eat six times more salt than our remote ancestors (祖先). We eat more sugar. We eat twice as much fat but only one third as much protein (蛋白质) and much less vitamin C.

People today probably do not want to live the way people thousands of years ago did, but scientists say that we would be much healthier if we ate much the same way as remote ancestors did, cutting the amount of fatty, salty and sweet food.

1. According to the passage, people in industrialized nations would be much healthier if they ate___________.

A．more food than humans living 10,000 years ago did.

B．as much food as humans living 10,000 years ago did

C．more kinds of food eaten by people living over 10,000 years ago.

D．more of the same kind of food eaten by people over 10,000 years ago.

2. New kinds of sicknesses have been found because __________.

A．the human body has changed compared with humans who first appeared on the earth.

B．the way we live has changed a little.

C．our body can’t deal with the changes in life style.

D．the way we live today is proper for the human body.

3. What is the main cause that people suffer from a lot of new sicknesses?

A．Ancient people did a great deal of physical exercise.

B．People today have a lot of alcohol.

C．People today have more tobacco.

D．Food today is quite different from that of ancient times.

4. According to some scientists , Stone-age people were much healthier than people today because they ate a lot of _____________.

A．milk and other dairy products.	B．wild animals, fresh wild vegetables and fruits.
C．salt and sugar	D．grain foods

【推荐2】Today，we are constantly bombarded with media reports about research on the right diet to follow to help us maintain a healthy lifestyle or lose weight—but it’s hard to know which one to pick and，once chosen，it's harder still to stick to it.And now there’s another choice to get our teeth into.

A flexitarian(弹性素食者)diet involves eating plant—based foods and only occasionally eating meat and fish.This eating style allows you to supplement some ingredients that you wouldn’t get in a stricter vegan(素食主义者)diet—another trend growing in popularity.And like veganism，flexitarianism isn’t about eating carefully to help you lose a few pounds—it’s something people choose for ethical reasons，to help the planet.And a study into the global food system and how it affects the climate，has found that eating mainly plant-based foods is one of three key steps towards a sustainable future for all by 2050.

This research found that food waste will need to be halved and farming practices will also have to improve to achieve this.But without a single solution，a combined approach is needed.Dr Marco Springmann from the University of Oxford was one of the lead authors of the report.He told the BBC“We really found that a combination of measures would be needed to stay within environmental limits and those include changes towards healthier more plant—based diets.”

But whereas vegans think it's wrong for animals to be killed for food，flexitarians believe eating meat once in a while is acceptable.And Dr Springmann agrees—as long as we“treat it as a luxury，it’s probably OK but you shouldn’t have more than one serving of red meat，which includes beef and pork，per week.”And here’s another fact to digest:If we moved to this type of diet，the study found that greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture would be cut by more than half.

1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?

A．To lead to the topic.	B．To entertain the readers.
C．To ask for information.	D．To present an idea.

2. From the text，we can know that a flexitarian diet__________.

A．is the most popular eating style	B．involves eating no meat
C．benefits the environment	D．only balances the nutrition

3. What does Dr Marco Springmann agree with?

A．It’s wrong to kill animals for food.

B．Improving farming practices makes no sense.

C．A plant-based diet has nothing to do with climate change.

D．Combined measures are needed for environmental protection.

4. What can be the suitable title for the text?

A．Methods of keeping fit	B．Choose a flexitarian diet
C．Measures to protect the environment	D．Keep a strict vegan diet

【推荐3】This fall, students at the University of Massachusetts found a new menu at their dining commons: the “diet for a cooler planet” menu. This meant herb-roasted lamb, raised with a carbon-friendly approach. It included sweet potatoes that had been picked from a local farm’s field post-harvest. The options were plant-heavy, locally grown, and involved little to no packaging.

“We wanted to let students participate in climate action by making choices about their food,” says Kathy Wicks, sustainability director for UMass Dining. The university is not alone in this effort. Increasingly, American consumers and institutions are thinking about how their food choices factor into climate change. For many, small choices at the grocery store, dining hall, and restaurant can feel more accessible than big-ticket options like buying a fuel-efficient car or installing home solar panels.

Small changes in dietary habits may make a big difference. Climate activists often target fossil fuels and transportation systems, but studies point to the food system as a significant contributor to global warming. According to Project Drawdown, a research organization that evaluates climate solutions, the way food is grown, transported, and consumed accounts for about a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Beef is a regular target. “If, on average, Americans cut a quarter pound of beef per week from their diet, it’s like taking 10million cars off the road a year,” says Sujatha Bergen, director of health campaigns for the Natural Resources Defense Council. Food waste ranks third among climate solutions. While much waste occurs before consumers are involved—food left on the field or “chucked” because it does not fit appearance standards, Americans also throw out a lot of food they have purchased: about $1, 600 worth a year per family of four.

“People are beginning to understand that their food choices make a big impact on climate,” says Megan Larmer, director of regional food at the Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming in New York. But, she cautions substantial change will need to come from the wholefood system.

1. What is the purpose of the new menu at the University of Massachusetts?

A．To market the cold dishes.	B．To reduce the cost of packaging.
C．To popularize the plant-heavy diet.	D．To promote low carbon awareness.

2. What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?

A．Food is a decisive factor for climate change.

B．Food choices matter much to global warming.

C．Universities are working together in climate action.

D．Fuel-efficient cars are not affordable for consumers.

3. What is the main idea of paragraph 3?

A．Fossil fuels are contributors to global warming.

B．Global warming are directly correlated with transportation.

C．Dietary habits can have a great influence on climate change.

D．Dietary habits have no effect on global warming.

4. What does Sujatha Bergen say about beef?

A．It has great influence on carbon reduction.

B．It is popular among millions of car drivers.

C．It has a close relationship with gas emission.

D．It plays a significant role in American’s diet.

5. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Food System Reform: A Successful Trial

B．Global Warming: An Approaching Danger

C．Carbon Emission: A Killer, or Healer?

D．Low Carbon Diet: A Craze, or More?

【推荐2】Three minutes of looking at red light once a week may help our eyesight, new research suggests. The findings show that red light might be a cheap and easy treatment for declines (衰退) in color vision (视力) as we get older.

Last year, researchers from University College London did a study on red light therapy (疗法). 24 healthy volunteers, aged between 28 and 72, were asked to look at red light for three minutes every day for two weeks. Tests later found that the eyesight of people over the age of 40 improved.

To test the possible weak points of their therapy, they did a new study this year. Instead of using the light every day, they used it once a week. The new study included 20 volunteers, aged between 34 and 70, all with healthy vision. Some received red light therapy in the morning, and others received it in the afternoon. They were then tested on their color vision up to a week later.

On the whole, those who got the treatment in the morning showed a 17% improvement in their color vision, even a week later. Those who got the treatment in the afternoon did not have any improvement.

“We’ve found that one single treatment in the morning can greatly improve declining vision.” said lead author Glen Jeffrey.

The findings do support their earlier work, and they might make the treatment more practicable, since a once-weekly treatment is easier to stick to than a daily one. But the team’s promising results are still drawn on small numbers of healthy volunteers Larger studies would be needed to show the help of red light therapy.

“In the near future, a once-a-week three-minute treatment could be done while making a coffee or listening to a song, and such a simple thing could change eye care and vision around the world,” Jeffrey said.

Given its low cost (as little as $15) per machine, and simplicity, the team is excited about the future of their therapy.

1. What plays a key role in red light treatment?

A．The time of day for treatment	B．The machine used in the treatment.
C．The time that one treatment lasts.	D．The number of treatments received.

2. What makes it necessary to improve the study?

A．The age of the volunteers.	B．The number of the volunteers.
C．The sex of the volunteers.	D．The poor vision of the volunteers.

3. What is Jeffrey’s attitude towards the future of the therapy?

A．Unclear.

B．Doubtful.

C．Serious.

D．Hopeful.

4. What is the purpose of this text?

A．To state the importance of eye care.

B．To explain the value of deep red light.

C．To introduce a way to fight vision decline.

D．To encourage people to protect their eyesight.

【推荐1】The nine women of Bella Mondo win over yet another audience. The group is one of just a handful of all-women ensembles (乐队) in Ivory Coast.

It all started in 2007, Prisca Allou was a music student. A music producer came to see her. He said he wanted to make an all-female ensemble to keep a promise to his late mother.

Allou got on board and was responsible for recruiting (招募) other members. “It wasn’t easy at first. Some parents were against it. You know, in Africa, the place of women is often seen as being either in an office or at home. That was the fixed image.” Allou spread the word and took out advertisements in local papers. Most of the girls she found were not professional players. “I just played some tamtam. I learned to play drums when I joined Bella Mondo.” The girls spent the next four years learning to play their instruments. Many gave up along the way, but eight of them soldiered on with Allou, and Bella Mondo was founded.

The band plays original songs and covers (翻唱版本). Their music spans a wide range of styles: funk, reggae, pop music. They released their first album in 2013... and have performed in Paris, Dakar, Cotonou and, of course, here at home in Abidjan.

You can see them nearly every Thursday at this bar, the same place that gave the band its start years ago. “Oh yes, I was surprised at first. A woman singing, you see that every day, but an entire band, playing all the instruments and everything? It was extraordinary. I was dumb-struck. Bella Mondo is a great band.” The women are now working on their second album.

1. Why did the music producer want to found a female ensemble?

A．To sponsor music students.

B．To comfort his mother.

C．To carry out his promise.

D．To win over an audience.

2. What do the last two Paragraphs mainly talk about?

A．The band has travelled a lot.

B．The band has gained its popularity.

C．The band has released albums.

D．The band seems to be united as one.

3. What does the underlined word “dumb-struck” probably mean in the last paragraph?

A．Satisfied.

B．Determined.

C．Amused.

D．Astonished.

【推荐2】When driving, Clara-Marina Martinez takes down any unusual behaviour she sees on the road. She then feeds these into machine-learning algorithms (算法), a form of AI, which are intended to produce a system reliable enough for a car to drive itself without any disturbance from the driver, and cope with all situations on the road. But this proving hard to achieve, carmakers choose to scale back many attempts to do so. Last year, for instance, Uber, a ride-hailing service, sold off its unit developing self-driving cars at a low price.

Autonomous vehicles are boasted as being not just convenient but potentially safer. However, just as people take time to learn how to drive safely, machines are no exception. The RAND Corporation, an American think-tank, calculates that to develop a system 20% safer than a human driver, a fleet of 100 self-driving cars would have to operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and cover 14 billion kilometres. At average road speeds, that would take about 400 years.

Carmakers such as Porsche therefore accelerate the development process using simulators (模拟器). These teach software about danger only rarely encountered in reality. Dr Martinez and her colleagues employ “game engines”, the programs that generate photo realistic images in computer games, to do this. These are used to create virtual worlds through which the software can drive.

How quickly, if ever, all this will translate into reality remains to be seen. Both regulators and customers will need to overcome doubt that a software driver really can be safer than human. From Porsche’s point of view, though, there is one other relevant question. Given that much of the reason for owning a sports car is for owners to show off what they regard as their driving skills, just how big a market will there be for a version where software takes those boasting rights away?

1. What do the underlined words “scale back” mean in Paragraph 1?

A．Make

B．Overlook.

C．Encourage.

D．Reduce.

2. The learning process of autonomous vehicles’ safe driving can be described as___________.

A．time-consuming

B．fast-paced

C．thought-provoking

D．well-designed

3. What challenge do autonomous vehicles bring to Porsche?

A．Ensuring the pleasure of driving	B．Making their sports cars affordable.
C．Removing public doubts about safety.	D．Integrating game engines into their vehicles.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Porsche: Sports Cars at Risk	B．Self-driving Cars: Still Some Way to Go
C．Simulators: The Core of Autonomous Vehicles	D．Machine Learning Algorithms: The Arrival of Al

【推荐3】We all have stress sometimes. Stress comes from good or bad things that happen to us. For some people, it happens before having to speak in public, while for others, it might be because of a first date. What causes stress for you may not be stressful for someone else.

When you are stressed, you feel as though you are in danger, which speeds up your heart, makes you breathe faster, and gives you a burst (迸发) of energy.

Sometimes stress is useful. It can encourage you to get things done quickly. For example, it helps you finish an important job on time. But if stress happens too often or lasts too long, it can cause diseases and bad feelings. That’s why you need to deal with it immediately when you feel the bad results of stress. The sooner, the better.

The first step to deal with your stress is to try to find out the cause of the stress. It is usually caused by too much work, money worries, or a bad relationship. If you know the cause of your stress, pull yourself out from it or change the situation. Even if you are only able to get away for a few seconds or minutes, the break is important for it can lead to the final disappearance of stress. If you can’t find out the cause of your stress, you need to discuss your situation with your family, friends, or someone who can help. Talking with others can help you find ways to relax and calm down. Listening to music and taking exercise are also of great help.

1. Which of the following is NOT true according to the first three paragraphs?

A．People feel stressed for different reasons.

B．Not all stress is bad for our health.

C．Stress makes the heart beat faster.

D．Stress always makes us feel bad.

2. To get stress under control, what should you do first?

A．Understand the bad results of stress.

B．Look for ways to pull you out of stress.

C．Find out what is making you stressed

D．Have a break for a short time.

3. The last paragraph mainly tells us ________.

A．the cause of stress

B．the ways to control stress

C．the role of music and exercise in reducing stress

D．the importance of discussing your stress with others

4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．What happens when you are under stress?

B．What can you do about stress?

C．What are the causes of stress?

D．How do you work out your stress level?