【推荐1】America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.

Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.

Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.

For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!

1. The writer of this passage must be ______________.

A．an American	B．a Chinese
C．a professor	D．a student

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families.

B．Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives.

C．Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy.

D．Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break.

3. From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______________.

A．warmly welcomed at the airport	B．offered a ride to his home
C．treated hospitably at his home	D．treated to dinner in a restaurant

4. The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean __.

A．strict with time	B．serious with time
C．careful with time	D．willing to spend time

5. This passage is mainly talking about “______________”.

A．Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendships

B．Americans’ hospitality

C．Friendships between Americans

D．Friendships between Chinese

【推荐2】Develop Better Relationships with Neighbors

Good neighbors are a lot like electricity or running water: We don't know how much we depend on them until we don't have them. They make our lives more pleasant and give us a sense of who we are, both as an individual and as a member of the community.     1    .

Strike up a conversation. Often neighbors don't even know each other’ s names. But it's okay to be the one to break the ice, even if you’ve lived next door for years.     2    . So as you see them at work in their yards, smile, wave, and say hello. Ask how their kids are, whether they could use an extra cucumber from your garden, or what they think of the price at the local supermarket.

Reach out to the newcomers. These days, the old Welcome Wagon is a thing of the past. But your new neighbors may be feeling lonely and unsure, especially if they' re far from home, and might appreciate a friendly face bearing fresh-baked chocolate cakes.     3    . Recommend the best places to eat and sleep. Invite them over for coffee or tea when they get settled, give them your number, and point to your house as you say goodbye. Avoid causing inconveniences.     4    . Replace anything that belongs to your neighbor. Make sure that your car is not blocking their doorway. Such random acts of consideration will have your neighbors talking and the talk will be good.

    5    . In a good relationship, it's really the little things that count. Help to bring in the mail for the elderly neighbor when there is a heavy rain. When your neighbor forgets to take in his rubbish cans, roll them back into his yard. If you' re truly concerned, you' ll know when your neighbor needs some cheering up-a bunch of flowers or a helping hand when it' s needed. All it takes to develop your relationship with neighbors is the respect for their feelings.

A．Care about the details

B．Make time for friendships

C．Return anything that you borrow from a neighbor

D．If they have kids, tell them where the children in the neighborhood live

E．Most neighbors enjoy making small talk with the folks on the other side of the fence

F．Here's how to develop your relationships with these very important people in your life

G．This way, you will know what your neighbors are like so that you can plan for proper food and music

【推荐1】Walk past any Bath & Body Works store and you' ll see a colourful display of popular antibacterial soaps. Sold in thick plastic containers with heavy foam （泡沫）—producing pumps on top and loaded with nice smell, these liquid soaps are seen everywhere. Besides their plastic packaging, they are ' antibacterial, ' as are so many other soaps, body scrubs（磨砂膏）,and lip sticks these days, not to mention household cleaners and even mattresses. The world has gone crazy for antibacterial products-but, unfortunately, antibacterial is bad.

Keep in mind that antibacterial soap is no more effective at killing germs than regular soap. Using antibacterial soap may even lead to the development of bacteria that are resistant to the products antimicrobial agents-making it harder to kill these germs in the future.

The problem is that they leave a surface leftover after being washed or wiped away. This leftover is supposed to continue killing afterwards, but it can also promote the growth of resistant bacteria, which are stronger than the original bacteria. Triclosan （三氯生），a common mixed material in antibacterial soaps and hand washing liquids, is a probable human carcinogen （致癌物）.Triclosan, also known as Microban, has been found in breast milk and exists in 60 percent of American waterways, which opens a pathway for potential pollution of food. In 2009, the Canadian Medical Association called on its government to ban all antibacterial products but was unsuccessful.

As unexciting as it is, plain old bar soap is the way to go. Regular soap works by loosening dirt, oil, and microbes so they can be washed away. Effective hand washing requires vigorous washing of all surfaces and should last at least 20 seconds. A bar of soap requires little to no packaging, and the greenest option is one with a vegetable glycerine base, free from chemical smell and harmful materials.

1. What does using antibacterial soap result in?

A．Making things cleaner.	B．Killing more germs.
C．Keeping things more healthy.	D．Promoting the development of bacteria.

2. What' s the author '   s attitude towards the antibacterial soaps?

A．supportive

B．anxious

C．opposed

D．uninterested

3. What does the underlined "they"in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Original bacteria.	B．Antibacterial soaps.
C．Household cleaners.	D．Antimicrobial agents.

4. What does the author suggest in the last paragraph?

A．Using regular soaps is the best option.

B．Washing hands needs longer time than ever.

C．Buying soaps with no packing and chemicals.

D．Keeping antibacterial soap is beneficial to health.

【推荐2】Our hate for being alone can be quite fierce: A quarter of the women and two-thirds of the men in a study chose to experience an electric shock rather than do nothing and spend time alone with their thoughts.

"Historically, solitude(独处)has been considered to be a pretty bad rap because it is sometimes used as a form of punishment." said Robert Coplan, a professor of psychology at Carleton University.

The problem is that we forget solitude can also be a choice—and it does not have to be full time. Because there is so much research demonstrating that humans are social creatures who benefit from communicating with others. "People will try to refuse to consider that it's also important to spend time alone," said Coplan. "It's hard for them to imagine that you can have both."

People often feel inhibited(拘谨的)from enjoying activities alone, especially when they think others are watching them. Overestimating(高估)how much other people are paying attention to us, and worrying that we are being judged, can stop us from doing things that would otherwise bring us joy.

Indeed, loneliness hurts—it can even negatively influence your health. But the act of being alone with oneself is not bad.

An online survey called "The Rest Test" showed that the majority of activities people defined as most relaxing are things that are done alone. Despite the social anxiety about spending time alone, it is actually something our bodies long for. The time alone is all we need to make ourselves feel better.

The freedom of not having to follow the lead of others, with no pressure to do anything, to talk to anyone, is a great way to relax, even for highly social individuals. It also helps us discover new interests and ideas without having to worry about the opinions of others.

Developing this sense of being alone can help you develop your sense of self. Knowing oneself makes it easier to find other people who share your passions, and can improve your ability to understand other people's feelings. It can also help you re-evaluate the friendship: relationships you maintain even at the cost of spending time with people whose company you do not enjoy.

Don't confuse loneliness with time by yourself. The latter can improve your creativity and confidence, and help you control your emotions so that you can deal with serious situations. Getting started is easy—all you need is yourself.

1. The underlined words "a pretty bad rap" in Paragraph 2 probably mean "________".

A．an undesirable effect	B．an unfair treatment
C．a strong reaction	D．a frequent repetition

2. According to the article, it is hard for people to spend time alone because________.
a. solitude is regarded as an unpleasant experience
b. we believe that humans get no benefit from solitude
c. solitude tends to make people feel increasingly lonely
d. we care too much about what other people may think of us

A．a b c

B．a c d

C．c b d

D．a b d

3. According to the article, which of the following is NOT a benefit of spending time alone?

A．It can improve our efficiency.	B．It can relieve our stress.
C．It can develop our potential.	D．It can improve our social relationship.

4. Which of the following shows the structure of the article?

A．

B．

C．

D．

【推荐2】In order to increase their job chances after college, Chinese students are turning to a special practice—Eiffel Tower nose jobs (鼻子整形手术). The latest trend in plastic surgery promises to create a nose that is classic, slim and sloping similar to the sweeping curve of the Eiffel Tower.

Surgeon Wang Xuming said, “We are influenced by the beauty of the Eiffel Tower; we are not content to just add something to the nose; we reconstruct it.99The surgery costs about US $ 10,000 and involves the enlarging of the nose using tissue from the forehead.

Hundreds of posters advertising the procedure are put up all over Chongqing City, where surgeon Xuming runs his practice. They show a Western-looking woman with an almost-too-perfect nose, against an outline of the Eiffel Tower.

Interestingly, many young women in China are eager to achieve a western appearance, as they believe it will give them an advantage in the highly competitive job market. “Some students face a lot of employment pressure after graduation. If their facial features are good, they’ll have more chances of finding a job,” said surgeon Xuming. “We’ve had students getting the Eiffel Tower nose; it’s helped them a lot.”

Apparently, Chinese employers are quite particular about appearances and prefer attractive candidates. Some of them even go as far as putting height and weight requirements in their employment ads. Plastic surgeons across the country are reporting an increase in the number of students choosing beauty “enhancement”.

According to a Mr. Li, hospital manager at surgeon Xuming’s clinic, most of their customers are female and the bill is taken care of by the family. “They usually come in with their mothers, and tend to be from well-off backgrounds,” he said.

1. Chinese college students choose to have a nose operation to ______.

A．marry well	B．look cool
C．have a good job	D．look like westerners

2. What is mainly talked about in Paragraph 3?

A．The posters.

B．A nose job.

C．The Eiffel Tower.

D．A plastic surgery procedure.

3. What’s the author’s attitude towards Eiffel Tower nose jobs?

A．Skeptical.	B．Objective.
C．Critical.	D．Worried

【推荐3】Fitness junkies (上瘾者) locked out of gyms, commuters (上班族) fearful of public transport, and families going crazy inside their homes during the coronavirus pandemic (冠状病毒大流行) have created a boom (繁荣) in bicycle sales unseen in decades.

Bicycle sales over the past two months saw their biggest spike in the U.S. since the oil crisis of the 1970s, said Jay Townley, who analyzes cycling industry trends at Human Powered Solutions. “People quite frankly have panicked, and they’re buying bikes like toilet paper,” Townley said, referring to the rush to buy essentials like toilet paper and hand sanitizer (杀菌剂) that stores saw at the beginning of the pandemic.

The trend is mirrored around the globe, as cities like Manila and Rome, set up bike lanes (车道) to accommodate growing interest in cycling while public transport remains reduced. In London, authorities plan to go further by banning cars from some central highways.

There are multiple reasons for the pandemic bicycle boom. Around the world, many workers were looking for an alternative to buses and subways. People unable to go to their gyms looked for another way to exercise. And shut-in families tried to find a way to keep kids active during stay-at-home orders.

The pandemic is also driving a boom in electric-assist bikes, called e-bikes, which were a minor part of the overall market until now. Sales at Cowboy, a Belgian e-bike maker, tripled (三倍增长) in the January-April period from last year. Notably, they spiked in Britain and France at around the same time in May that those countries started easing lockdown restrictions, said Chief Marketing Officer Benoit Simeray.

Joe Minutolo, co-owner of Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop, said he hopes the sales growth translates into long-term change. “People are having a chance to rethink things,” he said. “Maybe we'll all learn something out of this, and something really good will happen.”

1. What does the underlined word “spike” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Decline.	B．Restriction.
C．Increase.	D．Disappearance.

2. What can be known about Manila and Rome?

A．Bike Lanes are set up for cyclists.

B．Locals still rush to buy toilet paper.

C．Cars are banned from some main roads.

D．E-bikes sell much better than other categories.

3. What does Paragraph 4 mainly talk about?

A．The appearance of e-bikes.

B．The reasons for the bicycle boom.

C．The daily activities of shut-in families.

D．The traffic conditions around the world.

4. What is the main purpose of the text?

A．To encourage readers to buy bicycles.

B．To inform readers of the bicycle boom.

C．To present attitudes towards the bicycle boom.

D．To introduce the new development of bicycles.

【推荐3】Hospitals employ many therapeutic (治疗的) methods, such as medication, massage therapy and music therapy. And music therapy is growing in popularity.

Sandra Siedliecki is a Senior Scientist at the Nursing Institute of Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. She says music is a low-cost treatment. And she says scientists have done a lot of research on music’s effect on pain. Dr. Marian Good did a lot of studies looking at surgery patients and the use of music. In her studies, patients just listened to relaxing music. Dr. Good found that her surgery patients took fewer painkillers after they listened to music. Music had a good effect on short-term pain. However, chronic pain, the kind that recurs (复发) continually, changed little under the effect of music.

Dr. Linda Chian was studying something different. She was not interested in patients’ pain, but instead, their anxiety. She spent a lot of time with people who were in the hospital because their anxiety was so great that they couldn’t breathe. People with this condition often have to use breathing machines. Dr. Chian said that the machines sometimes did little to improve their condition. Sometimes they even made things worse. The patients would become more anxious. Dr. Chian let nurses tell patients that music was a good choice to make them feel better. They also placed signs near the patients’ beds—Listen to your music at least twice a day. The people who listened to music had a reduction in the amount of medication they received. In addition, their anxiety reduced by about 36 percent.

Both doctors had similar explanations why music was so helpful. Music can be a very powerful distracter in the brain when we’re listening to music that is pleasing and then it interrupts stressful thoughts.

1. After lot of studies Dr. Marian Good found that music therapy________.

A．was the best method to reduce the pain	B．could take the place of medication
C．was cheaper than massage therapy and medication	D．didn’t work well on all patients

2. From the third paragraph we can learn that___________.

A．Dr. Chian didn’t agree with Dr. Good on music’s effect

B．music makes patients forget their anxiety completely

C．listening to enjoyable music is a good way to relieve anxiety

D．using breathing machines made things worse when patients were anxious in most cases

3. What is the meaning of the underlined word in the last paragraph?

A．connection

B．disturbance

C．guidance

D．protection

4. What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?

A．To encourage all patients to listen to music.	B．To show that music therapy is useful.
C．To tell how to reduce pain and anxiety.	D．To explain how music reduces pain and anxiety.