【推荐1】The beach may seem like an inviting place to run on a cool summer morning, but is running on the sand good for your body? It can be, but it’s important to be aware of the challenges that some beach runners experience before you get ready.

Running on the beach can be a good thing. It’s certainly different from running on a track or a pavement. For starters, sand can be a challenge because it has an uneven(不平坦的) surface. As you push off, you’re going to lose some of your push as the sand moves. So, you’re not going to be able to push yourself forward as you would on a track or a pavement. But this unevenness has an upside: It gives your body an extra workout, forcing you to exercise muscles that don’t get as much use during runs on firm surfaces. For example, your feet, ankles and lower back might feel sorer and more tired than usual after a beach run just because the surface is constantly moving and changing step to step.

You also might feel sore afterward because beaches tend to slope (倾斜) down to the water. If you’re going for a long run on the beach, you might notice that one side of your body might feel sorer because you’re putting more pressure on it due to the slope.

Some beach runners prefer to run barefoot-- not wearing anything on feet. However, if you’re not used to barefoot running, start slowly and don’t run long distances at first. That’s because running barefoot uses more different muscles than running with shoes does, and it’s important to strengthen these muscles and adapt your feet. If you want to run barefoot and as long as you run carefully enough into it, go for it!

Running on the sand can be a smart choice for you, because running on softer ground surfaces can reduce muscle damage.

1. Why is it difficult to run on the beach for starters? ________

A．The soft surface makes people fall over easily.

B．It’s hard to keep one’s balance on its hard surface.

C．People need to run carefully on its smooth surface.

D．Running on its uneven surface takes much effort.

2. Which of the following best explains “upside” underlined in Paragraph 2? ________

A．Challenge.

B．Advantage.

C．Reason.

D．Character.

3. What’s the author’s attitude to barefoot running? ________

A．Positive.

B．Critical.

C．Doubtful.

D．Uncaring.

4. The passage can probably be found in ________.

A．a primary school textbook	B．a tourist guide
C．a sports magazine	D．a scientific report

【推荐3】The beach may seem like an inviting place to run on a cool summer morning, but is running on the sand good for your body? It can be, but it's important to know the challenges that some beach runners experience.

Running on the beach can be a good thing. It's certainly different from running on the pavement or a track. For starters, sand can be a challenge because it has an uneven (不平坦的）surface. As you push off, you're going to lose some of your push as the sand moves. So, you're not going to be able to push your-self forward as you would on a track or a pavement. But this unevenness has an upside: It gives your body an extra workout, forcing you to exercise muscles that don't get as much use during run on firm surfaces. For instance, your feet, ankles and lower back might feel sorer and more tired than usual after a beach run just because that surface is constantly moving and changing step to step.

You also might feel sore afterward because beaches tend to slope (倾斜) down to the water. If you're going for a long run on the beach, you might notice that one side of your body might feel sorer because you're putting more pressure on it due to the slope.

Some beach runners prefer to run barefoot. However, if you're not used to barefoot running, start slowly and don't run long distances at first. That's because running barefoot uses different muscles than running with shoes does, and it's important to strengthen these muscles and adapt (使适应) your feet. If you want to run barefoot, it's great, but ease into it.

In spite of these challenges, running on the sand can be a smart choice for you, because running on softer ground surfaces can reduce muscle damage.

1. Why is it difficult to run on the beach?

A．The soft surface makes people fall over easily.

B．It takes much effort to run on its moving surface.

C．People need to run carefully on its uneven surface.

D．It's hard to keep one's balance on its sloping surface.

2. Which of the following best explains “upside” underlined in Paragraph 2?

A．Advantage.

B．Reason.

C．Character.

D．Challenge.

3. What's the author's attitude to barefoot running?

A．Disapproving.

B．Supportive.

C．Doubtful.

D．Impersonal.

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

A．Is running on the beach good for your body?	B．Do you need to adapt yourself to beach running?
C．What are the challenges of running on the sand?	D．Why do you feel sore after running on the beach?

【推荐1】Very few animals except dolphins, chimpanzees (黑猩猩)，and elephants have ever passed the mirror test for self-recognition. Scientists believe they have found a fish able recognize itself in a mirror. The result is surprising because this ability is usually only found in animals with bigger brains. Even humans don't usually pass the mirror test until they are about a year and a half old.

To test the wrasse (隆头鱼), a small fish in the sea, scientists put each wrasse in a tank with a mirror. They gave the fish a chance to get used to the mirror and watched their reactions. At first, the wrasses challenged the "other fish" by swimming up to the mirror and "fighting" them with the mouth. But soon the wrasses seemed to understand that something funny was happening. They began to swim toward the mirror upside down or in other unusual ways. It was like they were testing whether the fish in the mirror were really themselves.

Once the wrasses seemed used to the mirror, the scientists gave the wrasses a mark by putting the fish to sleep and injecting something under their skin. Some of the fish got a brown mark. Other fish got a clear "mark" that didn't have a color and couldn't be seen in a mirror.

After looking in the mirror, the wrasses with the brown marks would rub the area with the mark against the sand in the bottom of the tank. Then they would go back and look in the mirror again, as if checking if the mark was still there. But when wrasses with brown marks were put in tanks without mirrors, they didn't try to rub their marks away. And wrasses with clear "marks" didn't either, even when they could see themselves in the mirror.

The unexpected results are making some people look hard for other ways to explain how the wrasses reacted. So even though the wrasses seem to have passed the mirror test, the scientists will need some time to reflect on exactly what that means.

1. Why do the scientists feel surprised about the result?

A．The fish has a big brain.

B．Elephants failed to pass the mirror test.

C．Chimpanzees are as clever as dolphins.

D．The fish succeeded in passing the mirror test.

2. What did the scientists take notice of about the wrasses at first?

A．They swam in unusual ways.

B．They were unaware of themselves in the mirror.

C．They thought the mirror interesting.

D．They wanted to challenge themselves.

3. How did the fish with brown marks react in the mirror test?

A．They would rub the area with the mark against sand.

B．They would pay no attention to marks.

C．They would rest in the bottom of the tank.

D．They would swim upside down to the mirror.

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

A．Why Are Fish Smarter than Expected?

B．Do Colors Affect the Experiment?

C．How Is the Mirror Test Conducted?

D．Can Fish Recognize Themselves in the Mirror?

【推荐2】What does it mean to live a good life? This question has been debated for centuries. In the field of psychology, two main concepts of the good life have been quite popular: A happy life full of pleasure and positive emotions, and a meaningful life full of purpose and sacrifice. But what if these aren’t the only options?

In recent years, a long-neglected version of the good life has been receiving greater attention: the psychologically rich life. It is full of complex mental engagement, a wide range of intense and deep emotions, and diverse, novel, surprising and interesting experiences. Sometimes they are neither pleasant nor meaningful. However, they are rarely boring or monotonous.

After all, both happy and meaningful lives can become monotonous and repetitive. A person with a steady office job, married with children, may be satisfied and find his or her life meaningful and still be bored. Also, the psychologically rich life doesn’t necessarily involve economic richness. For instance, consider Hesse’s character Goldmund, who has no money but pursues the life of a free spirit.

Research has found psychological richness is related to, but partially distinct from, both happy and meaningful lives. Psychological richness is related with openness to experience and experiencing both positive and negative emotions more intensely. But is the psychologically rich life one that people actually want?

In a new study, Oishi and his colleagues asked people in nine countries the degree to which they value a psychologically rich life, a happy life and a meaningful life. They found many people’s self-described ideal lives involve psychological richness. When forced to choose a life, however, the majority chose a happy life and a meaningful life. Even so, a minority of people still favored the psychologically rich life, ranging from 6.7% in Singapore to 16.8% in Germany.

These numbers went up when the desire for a psychologically rich life was measured indirectly. To understand what a person wishes their lives might have been, it is important to explore what people wish they had avoided in their lives. When asked what they regret most and whether undoing this event would have made their lives happier, more meaningful or psychologically richer, about 28% of Americans said undoing the regrettable event would have made their lives psychologically richer.

These findings suggest that while most people strive to be happy and have meaning in their lives, a sizable number of people are content merely living a psychologically rich existence.

As Oishi and his colleagues conclude, “We believe that taking the psychologically rich life seriously will deepen and enrich our understanding of well-being.” At the end of the day, there is no one singularly acceptable path to the good life. You have to find a path that works best for you.

1. According to the passage, the psychologically rich life _______.

A．means living a luxurious life

B．involves various intense emotions

C．combines pleasure with purpose

D．emphasizes openness and repetition

2. What does Oishi’s research indicate?

A．The Germans prefer psychological richness to a happy life.

B．Undoing regrettable events has enriched many people’s lives.

C．A hidden desire for psychological richness exists among some people.

D．People with psychological richness tend to describe their lives as ideal.

3. We can learn from the passage that _______.

A．purpose outweighs pleasure in terms of significance

B．the choice of a good life differs from person to person

C．a positive mindset helps us understand our well-being

D．we should never be content and always strive for the best

4. What is the main purpose of the article?

A．To compare different concepts of a good life.

B．To explain how to live a psychologically rich life.

C．To persuade people to attain psychological richness.

D．To draw attention to a less familiar version of a good life.

【推荐3】A woman in the US is able to speak for the first time in 11 years after a pioneering voice box transplant.

Brenda Jensen said the operation was a great success which had saved her life. Thirteen days after the surgery she said her first words： “Good morning, I want to go ” home. ”It is the first time a voice box and windpipe have been transplanted at the same time and only the second time a voice box has ever been transplanted.

Ms. Jensen，52，had been unable to speak on her own since her voice box was damaged during surgery (手术) in 1999. Since then，she has been unable to taste or smell food，could breathe only through a hole in her windpipe and could talk only with the help of an electronic voice box.

In October，doctors at the University of California Davis Medical Centre removed the voice box and 6cm of the windpipe from a donor body. In an 18一hour surgery，this was transplanted into Ms. Jensen's throat and the team connected it to her blood supply and nerves(神经).

Professor Martin Birchall from University College London，who was part of the surgery team，said：”We've learned that we can repair nerves to make even very complex organs function again. It'll open the door to better facial transplants and will be extremely important as tissue (组织) engineering develops. ”

A voice box transplant might be life changing，but it is not life saving. Everyone who receives a transplant must take drugs to control the immune system (免疫系统) for the rest of their lives. These drugs can reduce life expectancy，so they are normally set aside for life saving procedures.

One of the reasons Ms. Jensen was a suitable person for this transplant was that she was already taking immune controlling drugs after a kidney-pancreas transplant four years ago. Professor Peter Belafsky，part of the surgical team，said：“Brenda was an exceptional candidate for the transplant because she was highly motivated. Anyone who's met Brenda knows that she is a strong and determined person with a great attitude towards life in spite of the many physical challenges she's faced over her lifetime. ”

1. The voice transplant surgery is of great importance because it proves that _______.

A．facial transplants are now easier to perform

B．new medical technology is always possible to discover

C．nerve repairing is a breakthrough in tissue engineering

D．the drugs taken after the surgery help the patient live longer

2. Ms. Jensen was a suitable person for this transplant because she was ________.

A．strong—willed and prepared	B．experienced and brave
C．seriously ill and motivated	D．determined and realistic

3. Which of the following is the fight time order of the event?
a. Ms. Jensen received a voice box transplant operation.
b. Ms. Jensen began to take immune controlling drugs.
c. Doctors removed the voice box from a donor body.
d. Ms. Jensen had a kidney—pancreas transplant surgery.

A．acdb	B．dbca
C．bdca	D．cabd

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．First Words from New Voice Box

B．Transplant Saves A Woman’s Life

C．Courageous Woman Defeating Fears

D．Overcoming Obstacles to Speak Again

【推荐2】If you’re a runner who secretly hates running, here’s some good news: settling into a leisurely jog rather than an all-out run may actually be better for your health in the long term.

A team from Denmark followed over 5, 000 people taking part in the Copenhagen City Heart Study, and tracked whether they were non-joggers, or joggers who kept a slow, moderate (中等的), or fast pace. The participants’ health was tracked over the next 12 years, and so was their mortality (死亡率): 28 of the joggers and 128 of the non-joggers died.

The connection was this: Joggers of mild and moderate intensity had a lower risk of death than the fast joggers. In fact, the lowest mortality risk was that of the mild intensity joggers. The fast-paced joggers had about the same mortality rate as sedentary (久坐的) people. This suggests that there may be an upper limit to hard exercise, after which the benefits fall off.

“The U-shaped association between jogging and mortality suggests there may be an upper limit for exercise amount that is best for health benefits,” said study author Peter Schnohr. “Anything more is not just unnecessary; it may be harmful.” From the current study, jogging just three times per week, for less than 2.5 hours per week was associated with the lowest overall mortality risk.

There have been a lot of mixed messages about the “right” amount of exercise and what intensity is best. The World Health Organization has suggested that the current 150 minutes per week recommendations are strenuous for most people to tackle, and that expectations should be lowered, since, after all, anything is better than nothing. Everyone probably has a level of activity that feels best to him or her. But at least the growing consensus seems to be that more — if you’re pushing yourself very hard— is not necessarily better. And it may even be worse.

1. What was the study designed to find out?

A．The relation between exercise amount and health.

B．The difference between non-joggers and joggers.

C．The advantages of jogging over running.

D．The common causes of death from exercise.

2. Who will face the highest mortality risk according to the study?

A．Those jogging just three times per week.	B．Those jogging 150 minutes per week.
C．Those fast-paced joggers.	D．Those slow-paced joggers.

3. What might Peter Schnohr agree with?

A．The early bird catches the worm.	B．Wealth is nothing without health.
C．To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short.	D．Enough exercise brings about happiness.

4. What does the underlined word “strenuous” in the last paragraph mean?

A．Intense.	B．Wide-ranging.
C．Necessary.	D．Far-reaching.

5. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Why Jogging May Be Better For Your Health Than Running?

B．Can Jogging Increase Your Weight?

C．How Does Jogging Affect Your Health?

D．How Often Should Beginners Run?