【推荐2】According to new health guidelines, even a minute or two of physical exercise better than nothing: just walking upstairs and down again, before continuing your sofa-based afternoon of crisps and television, makes for a healthier life than if you hadn’t bothered. The previous recommendation was for a 10-minute minimum, but for years, the general direction of research has been toward the conclusion that there is no minimum at all. This doesn’t just go for exercise, either. Five minutes in nature can boost your mental health; and while one daily serving of vegetables may be too few, it’s definitely preferable to zero. If you are wondering whether or not some tiny but healthful activity is worth it, the answer, almost always, is yes.

It’s a little strange, actually that this is even a topic of debate. Of course anything is better than nothing. For one thing, it’s a good start for building habits. For another, tiny actions are valuable in themselves. Human bodies aren’t digital devices, and health generally isn’t a matter of reaching fixed thresholds(门槛); what is good for the organism in large quantities is usually good in smaller ones, too.

The real reason for the debate is not that the facts are in dispute(争议). It’s that information is dangerous. When public bodies recommend, say, a 10-minute minimum, it’s because they worry that if they don’t people who might otherwise have exercised for 10 minutes will stop after two.

Even this column risks making things worse. If you had truly been planning to spend all day on the sofa, perhaps I have inspired you to take a five-minute walk; but if there is a chance that you would have gone to the gym for an hour, reading these words might persuade you to settle for the stroll(散步)instead.

Ideally, we would stop thinking about healthy behaviors in terms of minimums: within reason, you should be doing as much exercise as you can not as little as you can get away with—while remembering that nothing is too minor to be not worth the bother. This is a sensible approach to much of life, I would say, from being a good friend or paying attention to your kids, to saving money or reducing your environmental impact. However much you do, it will never be enough. But that is not a reason to do nothing on the contrary, it’s a reason to do something.

1. Tiny health actions are worthwhile because                  .

A．they contribute to good habits and health

B．they provide abundant choices for fitness

C．they add a new dimension to people’s lives

D．they are easily conducted in people’s daily lives

2. Why don’t public bodies recommend a minimum time for exercise?

A．People have their own concept of time.

B．It is against new health guidelines.

C．There is a lack of scientific research on it.

D．People may misunderstand its real intentions.

3. What does the writer want to stress in the passage?

A．Life lies in movement.

B．All roads lead to Rome.

C．Actions speak louder than words.

D．Anything is better than nothing

【推荐3】Nowadays the U.S. students are sleepy in school because they spend too much time texting, playing video games, watching TV and using the media in other ways.
“Heavy media use interferes with sleep by reducing sleep duration, making it harder to fall asleep, and lowering sleep quality,” Meilan Zhang, an assistant professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, wrote in her research review in the journal, Sleep Medicine.
But the relationship between youth’s media use and sleep is not so simple, said Michael Gradisar, who authored both that review and the Sleep Medicine meta-analysis. “Technology use is the new evidence when we are trying to answer ‘Why are school-age children sleeping less?’” said Mr. Gradisar, an associate professor of psychology at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.
There may be safe limits to technology use, Mr. Gradisar stated. For instance, recent research results indicate that using a bright screen for an hour before bed or even playing violent video games for less than that will not necessarily interfere with teenagers’ sleep, he wrote.
But longer periods of usage can be harmful to sleep, Mr. Gradisar added. Rather than delaying school start times, he said, the first step should be educating parents about limiting the hours that their children are using technology before bed, and enforcing a consistent bedtime.
Early school start times are also commonly blamed for students’ sleepiness, especially for adolescents. Secondary schools around the nation and the world have been delaying start times, often with positive results.
Mr. Minnich of the TIMSS and PIRLS International Study Center hesitated to put blame to any particular factor. But he did think that cost-saving measures to consolidate（合并）bus routes might help explain U.S. students’ sleepiness.
“For those children who board the bus first, they must get up earlier, may end up sleeping on the way to school, and may end up arriving at school sleepy.” he said.
1. Which of the following may be the best title for the text?

A．Kids benefit a lot from technology.

B．Several sleep troubles appear at school.

C．Some tips can help kids sleep well.

D．Several factors affect kids’ sleep.

2. Which of the following may be the good way to help kids sleep better?

A．Parents should be well educated.

B．Technology is forbidden at home.

C．Their playing time must be limited.

D．They are allowed to go to school early.

3. Who are most likely to be interested in the text?

A．The teachers.	B．The parents.
C．The officials.	D．The researchers.

【推荐1】If you think that running marathons (马拉松) will help you live a long and healthy life, new research may come as a shock. According to a recent scientific study, people who do a very strenuous workout are as likely to die as people who do no exercise at all.

Scientists in Denmark have been studying over 1,000 joggers (慢跑者) and non-joggers for 12 years. The death rates from the sample group indicate that people who jog at a moderate (适度的) pace two or three times a week for less than two and a half hours in total are least likely to die. The best speed to jog at was found to be about 5 miles per hour. The research suggests that people who jog more than three times a week or at higher speeds of over 7 mph die at the same rate as non-joggers. The scientists think that this is because strenuous exercise causes structural changes to the heart and arteries (动脉). Over time, this can cause serious injuries.

Peter Schnohr, a researcher in Copenhagen, said,” If your goal is to decrease risk of death and improve life expectancy, jogging a few times a week at a moderate pace is a good polity. Anything more is not just unnecessary, and it may be harmful.”

The implications (暗示) of this are that moderate forms of exercise such as tai chi, yoga and brisk walking may be better for us than “iron man” events, triathlons and long-distance running and cycling. According to Jacob Louis Marott, another researcher involved in the study, “You don’t actually have to do that much to have a good impact on your health. And perhaps you shouldn’t actually do too much”.

1. The underlined word “strenuous” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to “______________”.

A．hard	B．regular
C．practical	D．enjoyable

2. A series of numbers are presented in Paragraph 2 to _________________.

A．suggest giving up jogging	B．show risks of doing sports
C．provide supportive evidence	D．introduce the research process

3. According to the scientists, why is too much exercise harmful?

A．It may injure the heart and arteries	B．It can exhaust the body and soul
C．It will bring too much pressure	D．It might cause worse exercise performance

4. What can be learned from the passage?

A．No exercise at all is the best choice.	B．More exercise means a healthier life.
C．Marathon runners are least likely to die.	D．Proper exercise results in good health.

【推荐2】Following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), also named COVID -19 by WHO, there is a general fear of the unknown virus as its full effects remain to be seen. Fever, coughing, sore throat, difficulty breathing – the NCP’s symptoms are similar to the common cold or the flu, but it’s potentially more dangerous.

Viruses could be deadly, like HIV and Ebola.     1     How can they cause so much trouble?

Viruses are non-living organisms approximately one-millionth of an inch long. Unlike human cells or bacteria, they can’t reproduce on their own. Instead, they invade the cells of living organisms to reproduce, spread and take over.

Viruses can infect every living thing – from plants and animals down to the smallest bacteria.     2     Sometimes a virus can cause a disease so serious that it is fatal. Other viral infections bring about no noticeable reaction.

Viruses lie around our environment all of the time, waiting for a host cell to come along. They can enter our bodies by the nose, mouth, eyes or breaks in the skin.     3     For example, HIV, which causes AIDS, attacks the T-cells of the immune system.

But the basic question is, where did viruses first come from?     4     “Tracing the origins of viruses is difficult,” Ed Rybicki, a virologist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, told Scientific American, “because viruses don’t leave fossils (化石) and because of the tricks they use to make copies of themselves within the cells they’ve invaded.”

However, there are three main theories to explain the origin of viruses. First, viruses started as independent organisms, then became parasites (寄生者). Second, viruses evolved from pieces of DNA or RNA that “escaped” from larger organisms. Third, viruses co-evolved with their host cells, which means they existed alongside these cells.

    5     The technology and evidence we have today cannot be used to test these theories and identify the most plausible explanation. Continuing studies may provide us with clearer answers.

A．But what are viruses?

B．For the time being, these are only theories.

C．Once inside, they try to find a host cell to infect.

D．The answer may be even less satisfactory than it now appears.

E．Until now, no clear explanation for their origin exists.

F．Experts are concerned about the bad effect that it had on people’s health.

G．For this reason, they always have the potential to be dangerous to human life.

【推荐3】The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Major Snow, the 21st solar term of the year, begins this year on Dec 7 and ends on Dec 20.     1    . Here are five things you should know.

Snowy winter

    2    , breaking tree branches and blocking the road. In the south, snowflakes fall and the world turns white. A proverb about the snow says, “A timely snow promises a good harvest”. As the snow covers the ground, the low winter temperature kills pests.

Appreciating plum blossoms

Plum blossoms usually flower in mid-to-late December in some southern cities of China, and sometimes bloom even earlier. The plum blossom is admired in Chinese culture for its toughness during severe winters.

Eating lamb

Lamb is a favorite food for Chinese people during Major Snow.     3    . People in Chongqing like to have potted lamb soup or stewed lamb soup with their families and friends.

Eating porridge

Hot porridge could help warm you and nourish (滋养) your body in cold weather. In China, it’s customary to eat red bean porridge on the first day of Major Snow.     4    , such as wheat porridge, sesame porridge, radish porridge, walnut porridge and tuckahoe porridge.

Preventing lung illness

During this period, Chinese people watch for outbreaks of lung illness, which can be prevented by properly drinking water. During Major Snow, it’s drier and colder, so people should drink more water. But you should not drink too much water at once.     5    .

A．In addition, there are other varieties

B．People in southern China make sausages

C．The snow falls at night and melts in the day

D．Don’t drink cold water after exercise, either

E．The snow in North China may last a whole day

F．It’s excellent for protecting the body against the cold

G．During this period, the temperature drops significantly

【推荐1】From early times, man has been interested in art. People have often worked together to collect and save the world’s art treasures.

Fine art treasures from many countries are kept in an art museum called the Louvre (卢浮宫) in Paris, France. The works of art have been collected by the people of France over many centuries. It is the biggest art museum in the world.

The Louvre has not always been a museum.The first building was a fort (堡垒) with high walls and a round tower.It had a moat (护城河) to keep out the enemies.

Over the years, the number of buildings around the castle grew. By 1350, the castle no longer needed a fort. The Louvre became a palace home for French kings and queens.

During times of peace, new treasures were brought in. During the days of war, many treasures were stolen, and the buildings were damaged.

When Francis Ⅰ became King of France in 1515, he brought in many artists from other countries. One of the artists was Leonardo da Vinci from Italy. Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” (蒙娜丽莎) is the best-known painting in the museum today.

In 1793, the Louvre became a public museum, just as it is now. It is a place where art treasures are kept for everyone to enjoy. Every year millions of people from all over the world come to the Louvre to see the masterpieces.

1. When did the French king begin to live in the Louvre?

A．By 1350.	B．Before 1350.
C．In 1515.	D．In 1190.

2. How long has the Louvre been a museum?

A．Since 1350.	B．Since 1515.
C．For over 800 years.	D．For over 200 years.

3. Most of the works of art in the Louvre have been collected 　　　.

A．by Leonardo da Vinci

B．by Francis Ⅰ

C．by the French people

D．by people of the world

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

A．Da Vinci once stayed in France.

B．“Mona Lisa” is now kept in the Louvre.

C．The Louvre was once a church.

D．The Louvre is a place of interest to different people from all over the world.

【推荐2】Imagine living on the edge of a vast desert, which is moving quietly closer to your village every day and covering your fields. The desert is on the move. This is called desertification (沙漠化).

Desertification occurs in regions close to an already existing desert. It generally arises from two related causes. The first is over-use of water in the area. There is not enough water in any case, and if it is not carefully used, disaster can follow. As time goes on, water shortages make farming more and more difficult. In some places, locals can remember local lakes and marshes which were once the homes for all kinds of fish and birds. They have been completely buried by the sand now. Farmers leave the land, and fields are replaced by deserts.

The second cause is misuse or over-use of the land. This means that the wrong crops are planted, and need more water than is available (可获得的). Ploughing (耕种) large fields and removing bushes and trees means that the wind will blow away the soil. Once the soil is lost, it is hard to replace, and if there is rain, it has nowhere to go, and brings no benefit.

It is not only the farmers and villagers who suffer. Every spring, the skies over some of cities, thousands of kilometers away from the deserts, can be darkened by sandstorms. Dust from deserts can have a great effect on weather systems. While desertification is perhaps being partly caused by global warming, these sandstorms can make global warming worse by adding to what is known as the greenhouse effect.

What can be done to slow down or stop the process of desertification? A great deal of work is already under way. Obviously the first step is to find new water sources. Tree planting can also help, by providing barriers (屏障) between desert and rich field. Some types of grass also hold the soil together, and stop the wind taking it. Without these efforts, it will be harder and harder to stop the world’s deserts in their tracks, and more and more farmers will give up and head for cities. The lesson to be learnt lies beneath (在……下面) the sand.

1. What does the underlined word “marshes” in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．A cold place.	B．A narrow field.
C．A wet area.	D．A dry land.

2. What may not cause desertification?

A．Growing wrong crops.	B．Planting enough trees.
C．Enlarging the fields.	D．Using too much water.

3. What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?

A．Desertification makes global warming worse.

B．Only farmers and villagers suffer a lot from desertification.

C．Finding new water sources is the only way to stop desertification.

D．We should dig the sand to solve the problem caused by desertification.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Influence of the Desertification	B．Importance of Water
C．A Global Environmental Issue	D．Necessity of War against Desertification

【推荐3】The good news is that more people bought electric vehicles (EVs) in 2020. The bad news is that sport utility (多用途的) vehicles (SUVs) continued to grow in popularity, too. “The fall in oil consumption due to the first trend was completely canceled out by the second,” said Laura Cozzi, an officer at the International Energy Agency (JEA).

Between 2010 and 2020, global carbon dioxide emissions (排放) from conventional cars fell by nearly 35 billion tons, due to reasons such as fuel efficiency improvements as well as the switch to electric cars. Emissions from SUVs rose by more than 50 billion tons. “While the growth in EVs is encouraging, the boom in SUVs is heart-breaking,” says Peters at the Cicero Climate Research Centre in Norway.

There are many reasons for the growing popularity of SUVs. For example, rising economic boom in many countries means more people are able to afford them. Some people see them as status symbols. Also, SUVs are heavily advertised by car-makers, whose profit is higher on these vehicles. Some countries, including France, have introduced plans under which more taxes are paid on heavier cars. But Peters thinks that people who are rich enough to afford SUVs won’t be deterred by slightly higher taxes. “There are now some electric SUVs available, but I hope one day you will see more electric vehicles brought to the SUV market,” says Peters.

Even if it happens, switching to electric SUVs isn’t a good solution. Due to their size and bigger batteries, it takes more resources to build electric SUVs, and they consume around 15 percent more electricity. That means higher emissions unless the electricity comes entirely from renewable sources, and higher electricity demand makes it harder to green the electricity supply.

1. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

A．Scientists should devote themselves to improving fuel efficiency.

B．Electric vehicles will certainly take the place of sport utility vehicles.

C．The popularity of SUVs destroys some efforts at environmental protection.

D．The emission of carbon dioxide of motor vehicles has hit a new low.

2. What does the underlined word “deterred” probably mean?

A．Encouraged.	B．Blocked.
C．Removed.	D．Connected.

3. What is one of the reasons that SUVs are popular with consumers?

A．SUVs are discounted heavily.

B．SUVs are often advertised by car producers.

C．SUVs are taxed at a lower rate in some countries.

D．SUVs consume fewer resources than other vehicles.

4. What point does the author try to make in the last paragraph?

A．The electric SUVs should be made smaller and lighter.

B．The electric SUVs are a good guarantee for less pollution.

C．More electric SUVs don’t necessarily mean “environment-friendly”.

D．Future electric SUVs will be powered with completely green energy.