【推荐1】This year some twenty-three hundred teenagers (young people aged from 13 to 19) from all over the world will spend about ten months in US homes. They will attend US schools, meet US teenagers, and form impressions of the real America. At the same time, about thirteen hundred American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new language and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world.

Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George’s family. In turn, George’s son Mike spent a year in Fred’s home in America.

Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months’ study, the language began to come to him. Schools were completely different from what he had expected—much harder. Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.

Family life, too, was different. The father’s word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual. Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car.

“Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it.”

At the same time, In America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea. “I suppose I should criticize American schools,” he says, “It is far too easy by our level. But I have to say that I like it very much. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens. There ought to be some middle ground between the two countries”.

1. The world exchange programme is mainly to ______.

A．help teenagers in other countries know the real America

B．send students in America to travel in Germany

C．let students learn something about other countries

D．have teenagers learn new languages

2. Fred and Mike agreed that ______.

A．American food tastes better than German food

B．German schools were harder than American schools

C．Americans and Germans were both friendly

D．There were more cars on the streets in America

3. What is particular in American schools is that ______.

A．there is some middle ground between the two teaching buildings

B．there are a lot of after-school activities

C．students usually take fourteen subjects in all

D．students walk outside to enjoy themselves

4. After experiencing the German school life, Fred thought ______.

A．The life in Germany schools was easier for students

B．German schools had a lot of outside activities

C．American schools were not as good as German schools

D．The life in American schools was easier for students

5. After experiencing the American school life, Mike thought ______.

A．a better education should include something good from both America and Germany

B．German schools trained students to be better citizens

C．American schools were as good as German schools

D．the easy life in the American schools was more helpful to students

【推荐3】The Faroe Islands, located between Norway and Iceland, is a country made up of 18 tiny islands.   It doesn’t even appear on some world maps. But now its roads are on Google Street View, part of Google Maps.

When the islands’ tourism board decided that it wanted to get the company’s attention, it knew it would need an unusual plan. It also knew that its rough land would not be easily travelled by those cars Google used to take photos. So it put solar-powered, 360-degree cameras onto the backs of a few Faroese sheep and began sending very breathtaking images to Street View itself.

Durita Dahl Andreassen worked for the tourism board. “My crazy idea was to use sheep as my very own camera operators,” she said. The board called Andreassen’s plan “Sheepview 360”.

Sheep are a big deal in the Faroe Islands. And although all the sheep are owned, they walk freely - usually. “It’s not very easy putting cameras on sheep,” Levi Hanssen, the manager for visitfaroeislands.com, said. “We would just stand there, and they would stand there and look at us. You have to, in some way, get them to move.”

The sheep did move after a while. Hanssen put videos and maps on the website. It didn’t take long for the story to make its way to Google. In 2017, the company visited the islands and lent out some 360-degree cameras for human use. Locals and tourists attached the cameras to sheep, bikes, backpacks and ships.

“We, obviously, couldn’t map the whole country with sheep,” Hanssen said. Street View now shows the Faroe Islands. Most images ended up being shot by humans, and they included all public roads. But Hanssen said the tourism board decided to leave some spots out to preserve a bit of the islands’ mystery.

Sheepview was charming, and it had a value we could never have bought ourselves. Hotel reservation rates are up at least 10 percent this year. Visitors tend to be outdoorsy types, but the islands are also increasingly attracting food lovers who come for really good, locally sourced food.

As for the sheep that made Street View happen? They retired from filming, Hanssen said. He wasn’t sure, however, whether any ended up as someone’s dinner. “Their job,” he said, “was done.”

1. What is the purpose of Sheepview 360?

A．To guide foreign tourists.

B．To attract Google’s attention.

C．To promote the life in the Faroe Islands.

D．To raise awareness about sheep protection.

2. Why was it difficult to carry out Sheepview 360?

A．The land in the islands was rough.

B．There were few sheep in the islands.

C．Cars were not allowed in small islands.

D．Sheep with cameras on them tended not to move.

3. What can we infer about the plan?

A．It was fairly effective.

B．It benefited the Faroese sheep.

C．It was mostly completed by the sheep.

D．It covered the whole area of the Faroe Islands.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．How sheep got the Faroe Islands onto Google Street View.

B．How Google Street View mapped some small islands.

C．Google helped the Faroe Islands solve a mystery.

D．Sheep with cameras drew global attention.

【推荐2】It often happens that problems blow into our lives. For some of us it may be a temporary period, but for others, it’s a lifetime change. Here are stories of ordinary people who had to face unpleasant events and managed to overcome them with dignity.

Bill Porter

Even though Bill Porter had a damaged brain, he wanted to work in sales. He achieved his goal, and later he became one of the best salesmen in America. The movie Door to Door is about him, and it’s recommended to those who think something will hold them back from achieving a desired career.

Evgeny Smirnov

There’s nothing worse for a dancer than losing the ability to dance. But Evgeny Smirnov, Russian break dance champion, went on dancing, despite the fact that he had to learn to dance again. His performance became a great example of the fact that someone can dance incredibly cool even without a leg.

Olesya Vladykina

Even though she’s only 20, Olesya Vladykina has suffered a lot; an accident in Thailand took not only her left hand, but also her close friend. The moment changed the girl’s life, but she didn’t give up. After the accident, she took part in the Paralympic Games twice, having won first place and having set a world record.

Andrea Bocelli

Blindness takes away the ability to see the world, but not to feel it. Perhaps this helps Italian Andrea Bocelli, a popular blind classical singer, to share fascinating and inspiring energy with the audience through his songs.

1. Whose story is the movie Door to Door about？

A．A singer’s.	B．A dancer’s.
C．A sportsman’s.	D．A salesman’s

2. What disadvantage does Evgeny Smirnov have？

A．He has one arm.	B．He has only one leg.
C．He has no ability to see.	D．He has a damaged brain.

3. Whose performance will you enjoy if you like classical music？

A．Bill Porter’s.	B．Andrea Bocelli’s
C．Evgeny Smirnov’s.	D．Olesya Vladykina’s

【推荐3】I prided myself on being unattached to any device (装置). Then, I got a smart phone. It's not a very fancy smart phone, but I was lost. It was used during commercial breaks, the line at the bank, the three minutes it takes for popcorn to be ready. I even checked my phone while on the phone with someone else.

I broke the most sacred (不得违背的) technology rule I have with my kids — no devices in the bedroom. I didn't just take my smart phone in the bedroom. I charged it there. Soon that device was the first thing I caught after waking.

I used to keep a book with me in my spare time; now I kept the smart phone. I opened some apps without conscious thought; remembering to look up on a sports field became a challenge.

Recently, I was waiting for my youngest child's soccer game to start, trying to answer emails, text my husband, and update a website. The phone lost its signal before my updating the website.

I drove home and rushed to the laptop. Coat still on, I started troubleshooting (检修故障). My oldest sat across from me.

I asked the standard Mom-questions half-heartedly, half-listening as she responded. She was talking about some music opportunity, something she was excited about...

I glanced up from my screen and saw her looking right at me. My fingers froze and I had an awful feeling. I realized it was the first time I had looked at her.

I started apologizing, but she just laughed.

“My friends are much better at multitasking online.”

The next morning, I did something that was more painful than I'd like to admit. I deleted (删除) my apps. When I finished, my smart phone was just a phone again — something I could forget in the car.

1. What happened to the author since she got a smart phone?

A．She paid more attention to her kids.

B．She set technology rules with her kids.

C．She was more interested in reading books.

D．She became more and more dependent on it.

2. How did the oldest daughter feel about her mother's half-heartedness?

A．She felt quite angry.

B．She didn't take it to heart.

C．She was very surprised.

D．She was worried about her mother.

3. What decision did the author make at last?

A．Never use a phone again.

B．Only do one thing at a time.

C．Never surf on the Net again.

D．Use her phone only when necessary.

【推荐1】In university I had a part-time job at a shop that sold doughnuts and coffee. Situated on a block where several buses stopped, it served the people who had a few minutes to wait for their bus.

Every afternoon around four o’clock, a group of schoolchildren would burst into the shop, and business would come to a stop. Adults would glance in, see the crowd and pass on. But I didn’t mind if the children waited for their bus inside. Sometimes I would hand out a bus fare when a ticket went missing — always repaid the next day. On snowy days I would give away some doughnuts. I would lock the door at closing time, and we waited in the warm shop until their bus finally arrived.

I enjoyed my young friends, but it never occurred to me that I played an important role in their lives — until one afternoon when a man came and asked if l was the girl working on weekends around four o’clock. He identified himself as the father of two of my favorites.

“I want you to know I appreciate what you do for my children. I worry about them taking two buses to get home. It means a lot that they can wait here and you keep an eye on them. When they are with the doughnut lady, I know they are safe,” I told him it wasn’t a big deal, and that I enjoyed the kids.

So I was the Doughnut Lady. I not only received a title, but became a landmark.

Now I think about all the people who keep an eye on my own children. They become, well, Doughnut Ladies. Like the men at the skating rink (滑冰场) who let my boys ring home. Or the bus driver who drove my daughter to her stop at the end of the route at night but wouldn’t leave until I arrived to pick her up. Or that nice police officer who took pity on my boys walking home in the rain when I was at work — even though the phone rang all the next day with calls from curious neighbors. “Was that a police car I saw at your house last night?”

That wasn’t a police car. That was a Doughnut Lady.

1. According to the passage, the author sometimes ________ .

A．Sold bus tickets to the children.	B．Did business with the children’s help.
C．Provided schoolchildren with warm shelters.	D．Called the children’s parents to pick them up.

2. By saying “... it wasn’t a big deal,” (in paragraph 4) the author meant that________.

A．She hadn’t done anything very significant.

B．She hadn’t made a lot of money from the children.

C．She hadn’t spent plenty of time with the children.

D．She hadn’t found it hard to get along with the children.

3. According to the author, those who________ are Doughnut Ladies.

A．work in the doughnut store for a while	B．are always ready to extend a helping hand
C．provide free doughnut store for the door	D．are curious about the happenings around

4. What does the passage suggest?

A．Taking responsibility is a virtue.	B．Devotion co-exists with reward.
C．Running a business requires skills.	D．Acts of kindness are never too small.

【推荐2】Brian Hamilton's life changed in a prison when he went there with his friend, Reverend Robert J. Harris, who often went to local prisons to do ministry work. During the visit, Hamilton started talking to one of the prisoners and asked what he was going to do when he got out. “He said he was going to get a job,” Hamilton recalls. “I thought to myself, wow, that’s going to be difficult with a criminal background.”

The conversation made Hamilton consider how to help those who came out from prison. Finally in 2008, 16 years after that initial conversation, Hamilton created Inmates to Entrepreneurs, a nonprofit organization that helps people with criminal backgrounds start their own small businesses.

At the time, Hamilton was building his own company, a software technology company for the banking industry. As his company grew, so did Hamilton’s time devoted to giving lessons to prisoners. He averaged three to four courses a month at prisons throughout North Carolina.

Eventually, Hamilton decided to shift his focus to his true passion. In May 2019, he sold his company and focused on helping those who were imprisoned. His online courses will be set next year. “By March 1, 2022, anyone will be able to access the courses, either to become a certificated instructor or to access it for themselves as a prisoner or part of the general population,” Hamilton explained. In addition, he visits middle schools and presents the course to at-risk students as a preventative measure against crime.

The free course is funded by the recently established Brian Hamilton Foundation, which offers assistance to military members as they return to civilian life and provides loans o small businesses. “Starting up a business isn't for everyone, but if we make opportunities available, and let people know that other people care about them, it makes a difference.” Hamilton said.

1. Why did Brian Hamilton went to a prison?

A．He accompanied his friend.	B．He took lessons in the prison.
C．He wanted to get a job in the prison.	D．He had a friend who was in prison.

2. What can be inferred about Inmates to Entrepreneurs?

A．It often assists military members.

B．It provides loans to small businesses.

C．Its course has been largely broadened.

D．It is an organization intended for business men.

3. According to the author, which of the following best describes Hamilton?

A．He is a man who always changes his mind.	B．He has a sense of social responsibility.
C．He is good at running a big company.	D．He makes money by giving lessons.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．A man made a fruitless visit to the prison.

B．A man sold his business to teach prisoners.

C．A man realized his dream of being a teacher.

D．A man successfully created two organizations.