【推荐1】Our plan was to drive into Cambridge, catch the 7:34 train to Liverpool Street Station, then to separate and meet again for lunch. We should have arrived at Liverpool at 9:19, but due to a typical London fog, the train had to move along so slowly that it was not until 10:30 that it got there. In spite of our late arrival, Joan, my wife’s sister, decided that she would go to see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London while we went shopping. It was only after her sister had disappeared into the fog that my wife realized that we hadn’t decided where we should meet for lunch. Since I had our three tickets for the concert in my pocket, this was indeed a problem. There seemed to be nothing we could do except taking a taxi to the Tower of London, and try to find her there. Needless to say, we didn’t find her.
It was now one o'clock, and the concert began at 2:30. “Perhaps she will think of waiting outside the concert hall,” suggested my wife hopefully. By this time the fog was so thick that road traffic had to stop, and the only way to get there was by underground railway. Hand in hand we felt our way along the road to where we thought the nearest station should be. An hour later we were still trying to find it. Just as I was about to lose my temper completely when we met a blind man tapping his way confidently through the fog. With his help we found Tower Hill tube station just fifty yards down the road.
By now it was far too late even to try to get to the concert hall before the performance began at 2:30, so we decided to return to Cambridge. It took seven long hours instead of the usual two to make that journey. Nor were we able to get any food and drink on the train. Tired and hungry we finally reached home at ten, opening the door to the sound of the telephone bell. It was Joan; she had seen the Crown Jewels, had managed to get another ticket for concert, and had had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant near the hotel where she decided to stay for the night. Now she was ringing to discover whether we had had an equally successful day.
1. Why was Joan separated from her sister and her brother-in-law?

A．they could not see each other because of the fog.

B．Joan had not seen Crown Jewels.

C．They planned to do different things until lunch time.

D．The writer didn’t want to go to the concert.

2. What did the writer plan to do in the afternoon?

A．Go to the concert.	B．See the Crown Jewels.
C．Return to Cambridge.	D．Go shopping.

3. The reason why they didn’t all meet for lunch was that _______.

A．They lost their way in the fog

B．they forgot to make necessary arrangement

C．they waited at different places and didn’t meet each other

D．the couple couldn’t find the underground station

4. It’s quite clear that for Joan the trip to London had been ________.

A．spilt by the fog	B．quite tiring
C．rather disappointing	D．very enjoyable

【推荐2】What would life be like if you were a rocker, a soccer player, a professor at Stanford University, and a Nobel Prize winner? Carolyn Bertozzi from the US lives such a cool life!

Bertozzi, 56, shares this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry with Barry Sharpless (US) and Morten Meldal (Denmark). She became this year’s only woman winner in science and the eighth woman to receive the chemistry prize in history.

Bertozzi won the prize for studying the sugar coats of cells. She has found a smart way to connect cells by connecting their sugar coats. The cells then have a green color so that scientists can see clearly where they are and how they move. According to the University of California, Berkeley, this finding “offered a springboard(跳板) for a wide range of applications”, such as developing better tests for infectious diseases and new treatments for cancer.

Despite her great achievements, Bertozzi said she was not very interested in chemistry until her second year at Harvard University. “The professors intentionally made the class very difficult,” she told Chemistry World magazine. “My classmates complained a lot, but I like it.”

Apart from doing science studies, Bertozzi has lived a colorful life. She was a keyboarder in a rock band. “I even used to think about majoring in music,” she said. She also played soccer, and won an athletic scholarship from Harvard.

As a female scientist, Bertozzi tries to promote gender equality. In 2022, Bertozzi won an award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science for her work to increase diversity in science.

1. Why did Bertozzi win this year’s Nobel Prize?

A．Because she invented a new treatment for cancer.

B．Because she found a new type of cells with a green color.

C．Because she is the eighth female professor at Stanford University.

D．Because she found a way to link cells by connecting their sugar coats.

2. How might Bertozzi describe her chemistry class in her second year at Harvard University?

A．Interesting and not too hard.	B．Boring and simple.
C．Difficult and boring.	D．Useless and difficult.

3. What is the passage mainly about?

A．How Bertozzi worked to win a Nobel Prize.

B．Nobel Prize winner’s life experience.

C．What female scientists are good at.

D．The development of women’s rights.

【推荐3】

Canadian singer and song writer, Alanis Morissette, is used to being in the public eye. Her most famous album(专辑)Jagged Little Pill, came out in 1995 when she was only twenty-one years old. It sold 15 million copies and made her world famous. Since then she has made several more albums and she has continued giving great performances on stage.

Last Thursday night, hundreds of fans went to the Corn Exchange in Cambridge, England to see Alanis Morissette performing in concert. It was Morissette's first performance in England since her song "Uninvited" won this year's Grammy Award for the best rock song. The 30-year-old singer has a strong fan base in England. There was not an empty seat anywhere in the concert hall at last Thursday's event, although it was an extremely cold night. “Sure it's cold outside, but I hope we'll warm it up in here for you”, Morissette said to the large crowd before she started to play.

During the 3-hour concert, Morissette used a lot of material from her award-winning album "Jagged Little Pill". She also played a few songs from her new album, such as "Everything But…”, which tells the story of someone looking for love in the wrong places. Morissette gave a creative and powerful performance in another song “Utopia”. Her singing was full of feelings; the first part of the song was filled with anger, while the last part expressed love and joy.

Although the concert hall was cold and the sound system caused a few problems, the audience could still enjoy the concert. Many people in the crowd were obviously long-time fans and they knew the words and sang along to nearly every song throughout the concert. The atmosphere inside the concert hall was extremely exciting. Everyone agreed that they were greatly impressed by Morissette's brilliant music and sing.

At the end of the three hours, Morissette showed that she was a true performer, singing a well-known song “Heartache”. She finished the evening with a new song about the life of a superstar. While I watched and listened, I knew that I was seeing the performance of a real superstar.

1. Which of the following facts CAN’T prove that the performance was successful?

A．There wasn’t an empty seat in the concert hall at the event.

B．The fans sang along to nearly every song throughout the concert.

C．The song "Uninvited" won this year's Grammy Award for the best rock song.

D．Although it was cold in the concert hall, the atmosphere inside was exciting.

2. How many albums of Alanis’ are mentioned in the passage?

A．5.

B．4.

C．3.

D．2.

3. What do we know about Alanis Morissette?

A．Her album Jagged Little Pill made her world famous.

B．Alanis Morissette came to perform in London for the first time.

C．Her well-known song “Heartache” is about the life of a superstar.

D．Morissette has got two awards in her life.

4. Which of the following word might have the closest meaning to “brilliant” in Paragraph 4?

A．fast

B．excellent

C．popular

D．strong

5. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Alanis—a True Performer	B．A Successful Concert
C．My Superstar	D．Alanis and her Fans

【推荐1】When I started teaching in school, I was sure I would change the world and touch children who needed love.

Although most of my students seemed to respond pretty well to my teaching, there was a small group of teenage girls who became more and more hostile (敌对的) toward me.

One day a fight happened in my classroom. Attempting to end it, I stepped in to face one of these hostile young women, who started hitting me in the face. Two boys jumped up to control the girl, but the damage was done.

While the girl was suspended for a few days, I was determined that she would not return to my classroom. But I also prayed. I wanted to see all the students right there in my daily work at school.

On the top of my daily lesson-plan book, I wrote this statement, “To see all the children in my classroom is always beautiful.” It was the first thing I saw each day when I started teaching. With this view I could expect healing in my heart of any anger toward the girl.

After her suspension, she returned to my classroom. The student’s young mother was trying to raise six children while her husband was away in the war overseas. The mother and I agreed to work together to help her eldest daughter.

There were no more incidents of anger the rest of the year. In fact, in the seven years I remained at that school, I taught all six of this family’s children. When the youngest was in my class, the mother told me, “Our family loves you. Every year one of my kids says, ‘I hope I’m in her classroom!’”

The standard of seeing each of my students as perfect was the best teaching tool I had, which led to success in the classroom.

1. At the beginning of teaching, the author ________.

A．was full of confidence in herself

B．doubted if she could be a good teacher

C．was sure to win love from her students

D．decided to change her students’ life

2. What happened in the author’s class one day?

A．A girl fought with two boys.	B．She was hit by a girl.
C．She hit a girl in the face.	D．She fought with several girls.

3. How was the girl punished?

A．She was sent to another class.

B．She was driven out of school at once.

C．She had to stay at home for a few days.

D．She was beaten heavily by her mother.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A．the author got along better with boys

B．the author tried to let the girl come to her class

C．the girl’s mother was very thankful to the author

D．all the six kids of the woman are hard to teach

【推荐2】Since I was born and brought up in a rural (乡村的) town, I have a great interest in nature. Using the chance of studying abroad in my second year at college, I decided to go to Canada just because I wanted to see the beautiful phenomena there. So after I finished the study abroad program, I went to Yellowknife in the North West Territories.

I clearly remember the sixth night in the Yellowknife. Suddenly my host mother came to my room around 8 p. m. and told me to change clothes and go outside quickly carrying her camera.

The “northern lights” were flickering in the sky! I was astonished and just stood there with my mouth open. I forgot to take pictures of the mysterious lights.

I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep at all that night. Since that night, whenever it was sunny, I went outside at night and looked at the sky. It was so cold that I lost all feelings in my hands and feet. Actually, the time of my being able to be out was limited. I had to bring her camera back to house in one hour at the most, for the camera was going to be broken because of the cold temperature.

As I took the pictures of the northern lights, I came to find a characteristic movement of the lights. They first appear in the north part of the sky and then they gradually come down to the south part of the sky. After that, suddenly, they come in the middle of the north and south only for a while, which is the time when the best northern lights can be seen. Since it is only a few seconds for the northern lights to come down to the middle of the sky, it is very hard to get good pictures.

The stronger the sun acts, the better and stronger the northern lights flicker in the sky. That’s because they occur from the collisions between atmospheric gases and solar wind. Much more solar wind comes to the earth when the sun is active, which leads to the best northern lights. And the colours of the northern lights depend on the height of the collisions and kinds of gases.

1. Why did the author forget to take pictures?

A．It was very cold outside.

B．He was shocked by the wonderful sights.

C．The lights were flickering in the sky.

D．He lost all feelings in his hands and feet.

2. From the passage we can see that ________.

A．the author could stay as long as he liked outside

B．the “northern lights” came out every night

C．the author took a lot of pictures with his camera

D．cameras will be damaged if exposed too long in very cold weather

3. When is the best time to see the “northern lights”?

A．They appear in the north part of the sky.

B．They come down to the south part of the sky.

C．They are in the middle of the north and south.

D．They rise in the east part of the sky.

4. The author found it hard to take good pictures because ________.

A．the lights stayed in the middle for a very short time

B．the lights of the sun affected the “northern lights”

C．the lights were caused by the collisions of gases

D．the colours of the lights are determined by the height

【推荐3】From McDonald’s to Sonic, fast food had a bad effect on my waistline and my budget (预算). It was so easy to use my card for a small purchase (购买). For me, I got a lot of satisfaction from fast food.

One day I realized that I was spending a surprising $40 a week on fast food. This was a lot of iced coffee and hamburgers! I decided to give myself a tight budget to reduce my consumption. Every Monday I placed an envelope with $20 in my purse. That was my fast food budget for the whole week. If there was anything left over at the end of the week, it would be mine to save or spend. If I spent all of the money during the week, there would be no more fast food that week.

The budget made me more mindful of my purchases. Instead of purchasing a large drink from Sonic, I would purchase a small one. It was still satisfying but not nearly as expensive. Instead of eating a whole meal, I would pick the part that I actually wanted. I never really felt unhappy because it was a wise choice to spend or save with each purchase.

The envelope budget kept me honest. I had a clear idea how much money was spent each week on fast food purchases. I started to bring my lunches more often to save more money for the week. It was a fun challenge to see how much I could save every week.

Changing the way I spent on fast food not only helped my budget, but watched my weight. Now I am more likely to bring my lunch than to buy it. I am not upset, but allowed to make positive choices to improve my life.

1. What do we know about the author according to Paragraph 1?

A．She had no time to cook for herself.

B．She was fond of fast food very much.

C．She lived with a small amount of money.

D．She got some benefits from using her card.

2. Why did the author set her envelope budget?

A．To buy fast food at a good price.

B．To save money to buy fast food.

C．To get rid of the habit of eating fast food.

D．To make fast food spending under control.

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．It is unusual to make some changes.

B．It is hard to enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

C．The budget means the pressures of life.

D．The envelope budget is good for health.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Why the author became addicted to fast food.

B．How fast food controlled the author’s behavior.

C．How the envelope budget changed the author’s life.

D．Why the author took the envelope budget seriously.

【推荐2】I never knew anyone who’d grown up in Jackson without being afraid of Mrs. Calloway, our librarian. She ran Jackson’s Carnegie Library absolutely by herself. SILENCE in big black letters was on signs hung everywhere. If she thought you were dressed improperly, she sent you straight back home to change your clothes. I was willing; I would do anything to read.

My mother was not afraid of Mrs. Calloway. She wished me to have my own library card to check out books for myself. She took me in to introduce me. “Eudora is nine years old and has my permission to read any book she wants from the shelves, children or adults,” Mother said.

Mrs. Calloway made her own rules about books. You could not take back a book to the library on the same day you’d taken it out; it made no difference to her that you’d read every word in it and needed another to start. You could take out two books at a time and two only. So two by two, I read library books as fast as I could go, rushing them home in the basket of my bicycle. From the minute I reached our house, I started to read. I knew this was extreme happiness, knew it at the time.

My mother shared this feeling of mine. Now, I think of her as reading so much of the time while doing something else. I remember her reading a magazine while taking the part of the Wolf in a game of “Little Red Riding Hood” with my brother’s two daughters. She’d just look up at the right time, long enough to answer — in character — “The better to eat you with, my dear,” and go back to her place in the magazine article.

1. Which of the following best describes Mrs. Calloway?

A．Quiet.

B．Strict.

C．Humorous.

D．Considerate.

2. What do the underlined words “this feeling” refer to in the last paragraph?

A．Desire to read.	B．Love for Mrs. Calloway.
C．Interest in games.	D．Fear of the library rules.

3. Where is the text probably from?

A．A guidebook.	B．An autobiography.
C．A news report.	D．A book review.

【推荐3】A man named Randy liked to look for big trees and old trees. He made maps to show where these trees were. He did not want to cut them down. He wanted people to take care of them.

Randy was told that there was a very tall tree on Vancouver Island. The tree was said to be 314 feet tall. That would make it the tallest tree in Canada. Randy started to find the tree.

But someone else found it first. It was found by a logger (伐木工). Loggers wanted to cut down Canada’s tallest tree and all the trees around it.

Randy made a path in the forest so people could see the tallest tree. The tree was so big and beautiful that it would bring them enjoyment. More and more people wanted to save that forest. Thanks to these people, that forest is now a park. Canada’s tallest tree is still there.

1. Why did Randy make maps of big trees and old trees?

A．To carry out his duty carefully.	B．To avoid getting lost in forests.
C．To show where these trees were.	D．To get information for selling them.

2. What did the loggers want to do to Canada’s tallest tree?

A．Take care of it.	B．Cut it down.
C．Take pictures of it.	D．Make it famous.

3. Why did Randy make a path to the tallest tree in Canada?

A．To help people cut it.	B．To help people see it.
C．To help people water it.	D．To help people move it.

4. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．The path.

B．The forest.

C．The tallest tree.

D．The park.