【推荐1】I promised to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.

The idea had occurred to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was reading a passage about husbands being thoughtful of their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.

And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the doctor and said, “That new yellow sweater looks good on you.”

“Oh, Tom, you noticed,” she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled.

After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I changed my mind. We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.

So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed.

There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. On the last night at our cottage, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.

“What’s the matter?” I asked her.

“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress, “do you know something I don’t?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… that checkup I had several weeks ago… our doctor… did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me… am I dying?”

It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.

“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”

1. What do”No ifs, ands or buts”in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Unnecessarily.	B．Unexpectedly.
C．Impossibly.	D．Unconditionally.

2. Why did Tom try to be a loving husband and father?

A．Evelyn looked lovely in her sweater.

B．Evelyn suffered a deadly disease.

C．He regretted about his past behaviors.

D．He had made lots of money in Wall Street.

3. What does the underlined sentence probably mean?

A．Tom thought Evelyn’s words were funny.

B．It took Tom a while to understand Evelyn’s words.

C．Tom’s heart sank suddenly on hearing Evelyn’s words.

D．Tom tried to prevent Evelyn knowing the truth about her illness.

4. What can we infer about Evelyn’s feeling towards her husband’s change?

A．Relaxed and happy.	B．Pleased and grateful.
C．Pleased but sorrowful.	D．Surprised but pleased.

【推荐3】Feel exhausted after a party? Rather see one close friend than a group of acquaintances? Enjoy your own company? In our world, that makes you an introvert (内向的人). However, there’s another possible explanation — vertical attachment. If you are closer to your parents and family members than to your peers, you are vertically attached, which means you rely more on family for comfort.

If you are closer to your peers, then you are peer attached. We live in a peer-oriented world. We believe that having lots of friends means that we are well-adjusted. We put our kids in playgroups and daycare for peer interaction. We expect teenagers to want to hang out with their friends, thinking it is the natural way of things.

Result? Generations often feel worlds apart. We use different language, dress, and technology apps. Even if multiple generations are invited to the same party, the kids go to the basement playroom while the parents stay upstairs.

Vertically-attached individuals can feel out of place in this context, demonstrating the traces of introversion. Will they be exhausted after a party with same-aged acquaintances? Absolutely. Would they rather spend time with one close friend? Sure. Do they enjoy alone time? Yes, more than they enjoy time fitting in with peers.

It’s normal that many people need alone time to recharge. However, vertically-attached people often label themselves as introverted. They feel insecure that others have more friends and live richer lives. They claim that their family attachments arise from their loved ones being stuck with them.

If you feel these insecurities, know that there is nothing wrong with you, and you are not missing out on anything. Your attachment style is just different from the culture where you live. Have confidence in the strength of the relationships you have, whether it is with a mom who feels more like a best friend, or a grandmother with whom you can share anything. They are meaningful, enriching relationships, even if they look different from the cultural norm.

1. Who is vertically attached according to the text?

A．Mike, who feels at ease with his teachers.

B．Maggie, who enjoys film time alone at weekends.

C．Tom, who feels burnt out after a family get-together.

D．Lisa, who often turns to her dad when things are hard.

2. What is the popular belief among parents?

A．Younger generations should be self-disciplined.

B．Being sociable is a desired quality for their children.

C．Their children need more friends than they themselves do.

D．Different generations should have different circles of acquaintances.

3. What advice is given to vertically-attached people?

A．Be that as it may, just leave it as it is.

B．Never underestimate your inner power.

C．Hang out more with friends and adjust to it.

D．Treat others the way you want to be treated.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards vertically-attached people?

A．Prejudiced.

B．Cautious.

C．Unconcerned.

D．Favorable

【推荐1】What is the first thing you notice when you walk into a shop? The products displayed at the entrance? Or the soft background music?

But have you ever noticed the smell? Unless it is bad，the answer is likely to be no. But while a shop’s scent may not be outstanding compared with sights and sounds, it is certainly there. And it is providing to be an increasing powerful tool in encouraging people to purchase.

A brand store has become famous for its distinctive scent which floats through the fairly dark hall and out to the entrance via scent machines. A smell may be attractive but it may not just be used for freshening air. One sports goods company once reported that when it first introduced scent into its stores, customers’ intention to purchase increased by 80 percent.

When it comes to the best shopping streets in Pairs, scent is just as important to a brand’s success as the quality of its window displays and goods on sales. That is mainly because shopping is a very different experience to what it used to be.

Some years ago, the focus for brand name shopping was on a few people with sales assistants’ disproving attitude and don’t-touch-what-you-can’t-afford displays. Now the rise of electronic commerce (e-commerce) has opened up famous brands to a wider audience. But while e-shops can use sights and sounds, only bricks-and-mortar stores can offer a full experience from the minute customers step through the door to the moment they leave. Another brand store seeks to be much more than a shop, but rather a destination. And scent is just one way to achieve this.

Now a famous store uses complex man-made smell to make sure that the soft scent of baby powder floats through the kid department, and coconut scent in the swimsuit section. A department store has even opened a new lab, inviting customers on a journey into the store’s windows to smell books, pots and drawers, in search of their perfect scent.

1. The main purpose of the passage is to ________.

A．argue and discuss	B．examine and assess
C．inform and explain	D．compare and evaluate

2. According to the passage, what is an increasingly powerful tool in the success of some brand store?

A．Friendly assistant.	B．Unique scents.
C．Soft background music.	D．Attractive window display.

3. E-shops are mentioned in the passage to ________.

A．introduce the rise of e-commerce	B．push stores to use sights and sounds
C．urge shop assistants to change their attitude	D．show the advantages of brick-and-mortar stores

4. The underlined word “destination” in Paragraph 5 means ________.

A．a platform that exhibits goods	B．a spot where travelers like to stay
C．a place where customers love to go	D．a target that a store expects to meet

【推荐2】A young musician carrying a violin case in Paraguay makes her way to rehearsal(彩排)．What's inside the case, however, is no ordinary violin. It's made from a salad bowl, a CD, and large pieces of wood.

The violinist, Ada Rios, 13, is a member of the Orchestra of Instruments Recycled from Cateura, a group of teen musicians whose instruments are made from the trash near their village. Cateura, just outside Paraguay's capital, Asuncion, is a poor area built on a very large landfill (垃圾填埋地)．Cateura is home to 2, 500 families, with 20 teens in the orchestra. They play everything from the classical works of Beethoven to Beatles' songs.

Now the orchestra is attracting world－wide attention.The musicians are being filmed for a documentary, Land－fill Harmonic.The film will show how people in Cateura turn trash into instruments, and the effect that being part of an orchestra can have on kids.

In Paraguay, nearly 35 percent of the population lives in poverty (贫穷)．In Cateura, a real musical instrument costs more than a house, says Favio Chavez, the orchestra's founder. About 1, 500 tons of waste are left at the landfill each day, and the people there earn a living searching through the garbage for things they can recycle and sell.

Chavez started teaching music in Cateura five years ago as a way to keep kids out of trouble. When he needed more instruments, he asked the landfill workers if they could build some from the trash. First, the men repaired a broken drum. Next, they built a guitar . The orchestra took_off_from there.

The group has already performed in Brazil and Colombia.The teens will travel to Arizona this year to play at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. Ada says music has already changed her life.“When I listen to the sound of a violin, I feel excited, ”she says.

1. What do we know about Ada's violin?

A．It's of big size.	B．It cost a lot of money.
C．It has a beautiful case.	D．It's made from waste.

2. The teens in the orchestra ________．

A．are mostly homeless	B．are from different cities
C．play music of different types	D．search through the garbage each day

3. Why did Chavez ask the landfill workers to make instruments from the trash?

A．To recycle the trash.	B．To save some money.
C．To produce special sounds	D．To make the instruments more attractive.

4. The underlined phrase“took off” in Paragraph 5 probably means“________”．

A．became popular	B．got into trouble
C．stayed unchanged	D．got a lot of money

【推荐2】An allowance is an important tool for teaching kids how to budget, save and make their own decisions. Children remember and learn from mistakes when their own dollars are lost or spent foolishly.

How large an allowance is appropriate? Experts say there is no fixed amount. Actual amounts differ from region to region and from family to family.

To set an appropriate allowance for your child, work up a weekly budget. Allow for entertainment expenditures such as movies and snacks. Next, include everyday expenses such as lunch money, bus fare, school supplies. “If you make the child responsible for these bills,” says Josephine Swanson, a consumer specialist, “he or she will learn to budget for necessary expenditures.”

Finally, add some extra money to make saving possible. If you can, keep your child's allowance in line with that of his friends. A child whose purchasing power falls away below his peers' can feel left out.

It can be tough, but avoid excusing your children when they make a mistake with their allowance. When Brooke Stephens was ten and growing up in Jacksonville, her mother gave her $5 a week, $1.75 of which was for bus fare and lunch. “If you lose your money,” Brook's mother told her, “you walk home.”

One week the girl spent all her allowance in a candy store; then she called home for a fare. “Mom made me walk home, ” recalls Stephens, now a financial planner in Brooklyn. “At first I was angry. But I finally realized that she was trying to teach me an important lesson.”

Experts advise that an allowance should not be tied directly to a child's daily chores. Kids should help around the house not because they get paid for it but because they share responsibilities as members of a family. You might, however, pay a child for doing extra jobs at home that can develop his or her initiative.

1. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A．How to work up an amount of pocket money.

B．How to teach a child to save money.

C．How to teach a child about money.

D．How to develop a child’s initiative.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that if a child is given an allowance he or she may ________.

A．lose the money and can not return home	B．feel responsible and care about money
C．spend all the money very soon	D．be spoiled and finally ruined

3. In paragraph 4 the words “his peers” refer to ________.

A．his teachers

B．his parents

C．his financial experts

D．his friends

4. The author implies in the passage that ________.

A．children may learn to put aside some money if they are given a great amount of pocket money

B．a child’s initiative can be developed if he or she is paid for the housework

C．children may feel lost and lonely if they have no pocket money

D．paying children for their housework is no good

【推荐3】Nickname: Hawaii’s Island of Adventure
Size: 4,028 square miles
Population: 148,677. The most heavily populated areas are Hilo on the east side and Kailua-Kona on the west.
Temperature: Averages between 71℉and 77℉year around and expect the mercury(水银柱) to drop at higher heights.
Beaches: 47 Golf Courts: 20 Highest Peak: Mauna Kea, 13,796 feet.
Agriculture: The bulk of Hawaii’s farming products are grown and processed on the Big Island, including coffee, macadamia nuts and papaya.
Lodging: 9,655 rooms total; nightly rates range from $35—$5,000.
Airports: Hilo International Airport on the east side and Kona International Airport on the west side.
Rental Cars: All of the nationally known rental car companies have locations at Hilo International and Kona International Airports as well as many resorts. In addition, Hilo, Kona and the major resort areas are serviced by taxis.
Resources: Call (800) 648-2441 to order a video, poster, brochures and maps from the Big Island Visitors Bureau. See www.bigisland.org for updated information.
Shopping: The largest shopping centers are in Hilo, Kona, Waimea and the Kona Coast.
1. _________ are mostly interested in reading the passage.

A．Students

B．Businessmen

C．Tourists

D．Immigrants

2. The average population per square mile on the island is about _________.

A．28

B．32

C．37

D．44

3. The underlined part “expect the mercury(水银柱) to drop at higher heights” means _________.

A．Things are easy to lose weight at higher places

B．Dropping things from higher places is expected

C．Temperature is expected to be lower at higher places

D．Temperature is expected to be higher at higher places

4. __________ are not mentioned as a traffic means to get around the Big Island.

A．Trains

B．Planes

C．Rental cars

D．Taxis

5. What can we infer from the passage?

A．You can see www.bigisland.org for updated information.

B．You can call (800) 648-2441 to order some food.

C．You can find some courts to play tennis on the island.

D．You may pay a high price for spending one night on the island.