【推荐1】Some of the greatest moments in human history were fueled by emotional intelligence. When Martin Luther King Jr. presented his dream, he chose language that would stir the hearts of his audience. Delivering this electrifying (展性的) message required emotional intelligence — the ability to recognize, understand, and manage emotions.

Emotional intelligence has been highly recommended by leaders, policymakers, and educators as the solution to a wide range of social problems. If we can teach our children to manage emotions, the argument goes, we’ll have less bullying and more cooperation. If we can cultivate emotional intelligence among leaders and doctors, we’ll have more caring workplaces and more compassionate healthcare.

Emotional intelligence is important, but the uncontrolled enthusiasm has obscured (掩盖) a dark side. New evidence shows that when people sharpen their emotional skills, they become better at manipulating (把持) others. When you`re good at controlling your own emotions, you can hide your true feelings. When you know what others are feeling, you can motivate them to act against their own best interests.

Social scientists have begun to document this dark side of emotional intelligence. In a research led by University of professor Jochen Menges, when a leader gave an inspiring speech filled with emotion, the audience was Jess likely to scrutinize (细察) the message and remembered of the content. Ironically (讽刺的是) audience members were so moved by the speech that they claimed to recall more of it.

The authors call this the awestruck effect, but it might just as easily be described as the dumbstruck effect. One observer reflected that Hitler’s persuasive impact came from his ability to strategically express emotions — he would “ear open his heart — and these emotions affected his followers to the point that they would stop thinking critically and just emote.”

Leaders who master emotions can rob us of our capacities to reason. If their values are out of step with our own, the results can be destructive. New evidence suggests that when people have self-serving motives (动机), emotional intelligence becomes a weapon for manipulating others. In a study led by the University of Toronto psychologist Stephane Cote, university employees filled out a survey about their Machiavellian (不择手段的) tendencies, and took a test measuring their knowledge about effective strategies for managing emotions. Then, Cote’s team assessed how often the employees deliberately undermined (逐渐削弱) their colleagues. The employees involved in the most harmful behaviors were Machiavellians with high emotional intelligence. They used their emotional skills to lower the dignity of their peers for personal gain.

Shining a light on this dark side of emotional intelligence is one mission of a research team led by University College London professor Martin Kilduff. According to these experts, emotional intelligence helps people disguise (伪装) one set of emotions while expressing another for personal Professor Kiiduit’s team writes, “The strategic disguise of one’s own emotions and the manipulation of others’ emotions for strategic ends are behaviors evident not only on Shakespeare’s stage but also in the offices and corridors where power and influence are traded.”

Of course, people aren’t always using emotional intelligence for nefarious ends. More often than not, emotional skills are simply instrumental tools for goal accomplishment. A research team discovered that founder Anita Roddick used emotional intelligence to inspire her employees fundraise for charity. As Roddick explained, “Whenever we wanted to persuade our staff to support a particular project, we always tried to break their hearts.”

There is growing recognition that emotional intelligence-like any skill-can be used for good or evil. So if we’re going to teach emotional intelligence in schools and develop it at work, we need to consider the values that go along with it and here it’s actually useful.

1. Why does the author mention Martin Luther King, Jr?

A．To honor the great leader for his courage.

B．To recommend his speech to other leaders.

C．To impress the readers with a major topic.

D．To advocate a society with fewer problems.

2. Which of the following belongs to a dark side of emotional intelligence?

A．Developing the capability to control one’s own emotion.

B．Inducing people to do what brings disadvantages to them.

C．Appealing to the audience to concentrate and remember more.

D．Encouraging the moved audience to a more of the speech.

3. What is the dumbstruck effect of Hitler’s emotional intelligence?

A．His followers would tear open their hearts to him.

B．His followers would express emotions strategically.

C．His followers would lose the ability to reason properly.

D．His followers would develop the self-serving motives.

4. How do people use their emotional intelligence for personal gain?

A．They disguise their emotions to earn others’ trust.

B．They help their colleagues to build up confidence.

C．They present their strategic behaviors on the stage.

D．They lower their own dignity to gain popularity.

【推荐1】Twenty years ago, the idea of sharing our lives so openly with the world was unheard of. However, for young people today it is considered completely normal to share pictures of their lives and interact online every day. Fans of social media point out that the world has never been so connected as it has allowed people to make friends, learn about the world and celebrate life.

However, many people have concerns about the effects of this new way of living particularly around the amount and type of information that is shared so openly. Now researchers have found that too much time on social media may indeed have some negative effects. They measured people’s attitudes and feelings before and after browsing(浏览) social media sites. They found that the more time people spent on social media, the more unhappy they became.

There are a number of reasons for this. When browsing social media, people often see photographs and stories showing beautiful holidays, fun parties and fashionable clothes. People rarely post negative stories or bad pictures, so it can be misleading. For those looking at these pictures and comparing them to their own lives, they can end up feeling sad and depressed. They might think their lives are worse in comparison. Even for those people who post positive stories and pictures, they too can feel stressed and worried. The number of “likes” and comments on their posts can make them anxious about their popularity. Of course, there is also the problem of “cyber bullying(网络欺凌)” where people become victims of bullying online when others make negative or cruel comments about them.

The reality is that social media is a part of modern life and it is not going to go away. This research shows us that it is important to find a balance between our online and offline lives. We don’t have to disconnect from the Internet to live a happy life, but we should realise that the pictures we see and stories we read are only part of a bigger picture. If we can do that, we can protect ourselves and enjoy our lives.

1. According to Paragraph 1, social media help people to ______.

A．interact off line easily	B．kill time
C．share highlights of life	D．discover that the continents are connected

2. What idea does the writer convey in Paragraph 2?

A．People spend too much time on social media.

B．Browsing social media certainly has negative consequences.

C．Spending too much time on social media can have negative effects.

D．Browsing social media is definitely not fun.

3. Why does browsing social media sometimes make people depressed?

A．Because people get upset after comparing the good lives in other people’s posts.

B．Because they always worry about the number of “likes”.

C．Because of the existence of “cyber bullying”.

D．Because other people always post negative stories.

4. What does the underlined part in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．The pictures we see are only part of the picture.

B．None of the stories we read on the Internet are true.

C．In order to live a happy life, we should browse more pictures.

D．What we see or read on the Internet is not entirely representative of the real world.

5. What is the writer’s purpose in writing this passage?

A．To offer some tips on using social media.

B．To show the highs and lows of social media.

C．To remind us about the “cyber bullying”.

D．To share his experience with social media.

【推荐2】There are around 100 tribes(部落) that live in isolation(隔绝), mostly in South America and India. The Sentinelese lived on one of the Andaman Islands in Eastern India for 60,000 years. They protect their island by fighting against people from outside. Their language is different from any other known language. Another Andaman tribe is the Jarawa. In the past, they were independent and fought against anybody trying to make contact with them. But in 1998, the Indian government built a road across their land, and since then, they’ve had more contact with the outside world.

Some Amazon tribes avoid contact because of unhappy memories. The Mashco-Piro left their vegetable gardens after rubber companies killed most of their tribe at the beginning of the 20th century. Those who survived became nomadic(游牧的) and started hunting animals in the forest.

The Awa live in the Amazon forests of Brazil. Out of 350 members, 100 have no contact with the outside world. They left their villages and adopted a nomadic lifestyle around 1850 to prevent being attacked by Europeans. In the following years, farmers in nearby communities started cutting the trees to expand their farmland. The Awa lost most of their hunting land. The few Amazon tribes that still exist are fighting to keep their traditional way of life.

Survival, an organization that fights for the rights of tribal people, says that uncontracted tribes are the most vulnerable(弱势的) humans on the planet and that’s why their environment should be closed to the rest of us. After years of pressure, the organization got Brazil’s government to clear non-natives from the Awa land. All non-Awa people are leaving, so the tribe can get their forest back.

But some think it’s impossible for tribes to stay isolated forever in a connected world. Contact will be made one day. So the question is: Whose choice should it be, ours or theirs?

1. What can we learn about the Sentinelese from the first paragraph?

A．They refused contact from the outside world.

B．They speak the same language as the Jarawa.

C．They are crazy about fighting with other tribes.

D．They have got help from the Indian government.

2. Why did the Awa choose a nomadic lifestyle?

A．To protect their hunting land.	B．To search for food sources.
C．To avoid threats from Europeans.	D．To keep their original way of life.

3. Which of the following would Survival probably agree with?

A．The tribes should be left unaffected by the outside world.

B．The tribes should fight for more living space.

C．The tribes should live in harmony with nature.

D．The tribes should follow the connected world.

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

A．The Nomadic Tribes in the World.	B．Seeking Survival of Tribes.
C．The Closed Tribal Environment.	D．Protecting the Tribal Forests.

【推荐2】The Hope Diamond is one of the world’s most famous jewels. It was in the possession of a series of people: kings, bankers, rich women and thieves, before its arrival 60 years ago at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

As a rare blue diamond, it has a complex social history, to be sure. But, far more so is its geological history, researchers say in a new report. This is the first time anyone has come up with a fact-based study or model for how blue diamonds form.

The group looked at 42 blue diamonds, including one from South Africa that recently sold for $25 million in 2016. Researchers could tell where the stones were formed based on the very small minerals trapped inside.

Diamonds are a hard, clear form of pure carbon called a crystal (结晶). They form under extreme heat and pressure. Blue diamonds crystallize alongside water-bearing minerals that long ago were part of the floor of the sea. But these minerals were pushed deeper underground during the movement of the Earth’s plates.

Scientists already knew these diamonds received their blue color from the element boron (硼). The study says that boron had once been in ocean water but was eventually pushed into the seafloor rock. Over millions of years, the boron continued to move deep underground.

Many diamonds appear colorless. Often, however, they have some yellow color. Still others have a light brown, pink or green color. About 99 percent of all diamonds form somewhere between 150 to 200 kilometers underground, a far shallower birthplace than their blue relations. “These diamonds are among the deepest ever found,” Carnegie Institution for Science geochemist Steven Shirey said of the blue diamonds.

The public can see the Hope Diamond at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.

1. By saying the underlined part in Paragraph 2, what do the researchers mean?

A．The blue diamond was formed in extreme weather.

B．The blue diamond has a very complex forming history.

C．The blue diamond has a far-reaching influence in society.

D．The blue diamond used to be very popular among rich people.

2. How could researchers know the blue diamonds’ birthplaces?

A．By observing their colors.

B．By studying their structures.

C．By referring to where they were found.

D．By examining tiny substances in them.

3. What is special about blue diamonds compared with diamonds of other colors?

A．They contain several colors.

B．They form in much deeper underground.

C．They come into being in a different way.

D．They are found near the earth’s surface.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The social status of the Hope Diamond.

B．The discovery of the Hope Diamond.

C．The formation of the blue diamond.

D．The diversity of diamonds.

【推荐3】Tiny microbes (微生物) are at the heart of a new agricultural technique to manage harmful greenhouse gas. Scientists have discovered how microbes can be used to turn carbon dioxide into soil-enriching limestone (石灰石), with the help of a type of tree that grows in tropical areas, such as West Africa.

Researchers have found that when the Iroko tree is grown in dry, acidic soil and treated with a combination of natural fungi (霉菌) and other bacteria, not only does the tree grow well, it also produces the mineral limestone in the soil around its root.

The Iroko tree makes a mineral by combining Ca from the earth with CO₂ from the atmosphere. The bacteria then create the conditions under which this mineral turns into limestone. The discovery offers a new way to lock carbon into the soil, keeping it out of the atmosphere. In addition to storing carbon in the trees' leaves and in the form of limestone, the mineral in the soil makes it more suitable for agriculture.

The discovery could lead to reforestation projects in tropical countries, and help reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the developing world. It has already been used in West Africa and is being tested in Bolivia, Haiti and India.

The findings were made in a three-year project involving researchers from the Universities of Edinburgh, Granada, Lausanne and Delft University of Technology. The project examined several microbiological methods of locking CO₂ as limestone, and the Iroko-bacteria way showed best results. Work was funded by the European Commission under the Future&Emerging Technologies(FET)scheme.

Dr Bryne Ngwenya of the University of Edinburgh's School of GeoSciences, who led the research, said："By taking advantage of this natural limestone-producing process, we have a low-tech, safe, readily employed and easily operating way to lock carbon out of the atmosphere, while improving farming conditions in tropical countries."

1. The passage is mainly introducing ______ .

A．some useful natural fungi and bacteria

B．the soil-enriching limestone created by scientists

C．a newly-found tree in West Africa

D．a new way to deal with greenhouse gas

2. Which of the following is True about tiny microbes?

A．Tiny microbes get along well with the Iroko tree in special soil.

B．CO2 can be broken down by natural fungi and bacteria.

C．The more greenhouse gas is, the more active tiny microbes become.

D．Most tiny microbes like living in dry, acidic soil.

3. What does the underlined word "it" in paragraph 3 probably refer to?

A．Carbon dioxide.	B．Soil.
C．Carbon.	D．Limestone.

4. According to the passage, what can we infer?

A．The action of the tiny microbes can increase the oxygen in the earth.

B．Researchers tend to use natural power to solve their problem.

C．Researchers have done the experiment on trees in Africa for three years.

D．West Africa is one of the most polluted areas all over the world.