【推荐1】阅读表达

To err is human. To blame the other guy is even more human.

Common sense is not all that common.

Why tell the truth when you can come up with a good excuse?

These three popular misquotes (戏谑的引语) are meant to be jokes, and yet they tell us a lot about human nature. To err, or to make mistakes, is indeed a part of being human, but it seems that most people don't want to accept the responsibility for the problem. Perhaps it is the natural thing to do. The original quote about human nature went like this, "To err is human, to forgive, divine (神圣的).” This saying mirrors an ideal people should be forgiving of others'; mistakes. Instead, we tend to do the opposite - find someone else to pass the blame on to. However, taking responsibility for something that went wrong is a making of great maturity.

Common sense is what we call clear thought. Having common sense means having a good general plan that will make things work well, and it also means staying with the plan. Common sense tells you that you take an umbrella out into a rainstorm, but you leave the umbrella home when you hear a weather forecast for sunshine. Common sense does not seem to be common for large organizations, because there are so many things going on that one person cannot be in charge of everything. People say that in a large company, "the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing."

And what is wrong with a society that thinks that making up a good excuse is like creating a work of art? One of the common problems with making excuses is that people, especially young people, get the idea that it's okay not to be totally honest all the time. There is a corollary (直接推论) to that: if a good excuse is "good" even if it isn't honest, then where is the place of the truth?

1. According to the author, what is a sign of a man's maturity?
2. What is the author's opinion about a good excuse?

3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why?

Using three misquotes at the beginning, the author leads us to the topic of the passage-jokes.
4. Please explain whether you have common sense in your study or not (about 40words).

【推荐2】It all started with a simple question: “Can I paint your portrait?”

This summer, Brian Peterson and his wife, Vanessa, had just moved to California. Outside the couple’s fourth-floor apartment, an untidy homeless man was often yelling on the street corner, sometimes keeping them awake at night.

One day, Peterson was relaxing in his living room, reading the book Love Does, about the power of love in action, when his quiet was disturbed by the homeless man. Inspired by the book’s compassionate message, Peterson made an unexpected decision: He was going to go outside and introduce himself.

In that first unexpected, Peterson learned that the man’s name was Matt Faris. He’d moved to California to pursue a career in music, but he soon fell on hard times and ended up living on the street for more than a decade. “It was the weirdest thing to me,” Peterson recalled later. “I saw beauty on the face of a man who hadn’t shaved in probably a year. But his story, the life inside of him, inspired me.” And even though Peterson hadn’t picked up a brush in about eight years, he found himself asking if he could paint Faris’s portrait. Faris said yes.

Peterson’s connection with Faris led him to form Faces of Santa Ana, a nonprofit organization focused on befriending and painting portraits of members of the community who are unhoused. Peterson sells the impressive 30-by-40-inch canvas-signed by both subject and artist-for a few thousand dollars, splitting the proceeds and putting half into what he calls a “love account” for his model. He then helps people use the money to get back on their feet.

Peterson has painted 41 of these portraits himself. But there’s more to the finished products than the money they bring to someone down-and-out. He’s discovered that the buyers tend to connect to the story of the person in the painting, finding similarities with someone they might have otherwise overlooked or misunderstood.

“People often tell me, ‘I was the one that would cross the street. But I see homeless people differently now,’” Peterson says. “I didn’t know that would happen.”

1. What inspired Brian Peterson to approach the homeless man?

A．The loud yell from the street comer.

B．The beauty he saw on the homeless’ face.

C．The desire to donate money to the homeless.

D．The positive impact from Love Does.

2. What does Peterson do with the proceeds from selling the portraits?

A．Donates them to local homeless shelters and relief centers.

B．Invests them in his nonprofit organization, Faces of Santa Ana.

C．Gives money to the portrait subject and helps people regain stability.

D．Uses them to fund the local disadvantaged communities.

3. What impact have the portraits had on buyers?

A．They have become friends with the homeless individuals.

B．They have overcome their misconceptions about the homeless.

C．They have stopped crossing the street to avoid the homeless.

D．They have gained profits from those who are down-and-out.

4. What is the main purpose of Faces of Santa Ana?

A．To raise awareness about the homeless through art.

B．To provide resources and housing for the homeless.

C．To boost connection between artists and their subjects.

D．To discover the root cause of homelessness.

【推荐3】I was sitting at my desk when another graduate student in my lab approached me. “Can you help?” he asked. His experiment wasn’t working and he desperately needed help. I was then a fifth year PhD student, and I took pride in being the senior member of the lab, whom everyone looked up to. But that also meant I was the one everyone turned to for help - which ate away hours, days, and sometimes weeks that I could have spent on my own research.

There were many reasons I had a hard time saying no to such pleas(恳求). I was new to the United States for graduate school. I found it difficult to make new friends and discover activities I enjoyed. So I spent a huge chunk of my time in the lab, with my lab-mates serving as my primary source of social connection. I feared that if I brushed them off, I’d lose their favor.

But the extra responsibilities came at a cost. I had to work extra hours to catch up with my own work, and I often made sacrifices to my personal life.

It wasn’t until my wife gave birth to our first child that I realized how thin I had stretched myself, and how misguided my priorities were. While she lay in a hospital bed in the early stages of labor, I sat nearby hunched(伏首前倾的)over my laptop finishing up a work report hours later, after hearing my daughter’s first cry and watching her tiny fingers grab tightly onto mine, it dawned on me: I should have been fully present during my daughter’s birth. I was clearly spending too much time working if my job had intruded(侵入)into one of the most precious moments of my life.

From then on, I decided to spend more time with my family by paring down my work tasks and carefully considering each request for help. I still enjoyed collaborating with others, but I prioritized mutually beneficial tasks or those my manager asked me to take on, rather than accepting everything that came my way.

I noticed many benefits: no longer working overtime, more family time, and improved work performance. I was also pleased to discover that “Sorry, I’d love to help but I have a deadline coming up” is an acceptable response to a request for assistance.

It’s hard to say “no” to those you work with. But I’ve learned that sometimes that’s the best course of action to avoid an excessive workload and lead a freer and happier life.

1. Why did the author find it difficult to refuse the requests of his lab-mates?

A．He was afraid to be left out by them.	B．He wanted to earn their respect.
C．He was the senior member of the lab.	D．He had once received help from them.

2. What did the author realize after his daughter’s birth?

A．He was guilty for his absence when she was born.

B．His wife had sacrificed a lot for the family.

C．He should have balanced work and life better.

D．He should work harder due to the increased responsibilities.

3. What did the author decide to do after his daughter’s birth?

A．To put his work tasks aside.

B．To cut his work tasks down.

C．To stop his work tasks.

D．To get familiar with his work tasks.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Enjoying family life.	B．Giving priority to family.
C．Giving and taking.	D．Learning to say “no”.

【推荐1】An 80-year-old man was sitting on the sofa in his house along with his 45-year-old highly educated son.

Suddenly a crow (乌鸦) perched on the tree near their window.

The father asked his son, “What is this?”

The son replied, “It is a crow.”

After a few minutes, the father asked his son the 2nd time, “What is this?”

The son said, “Father, I have just now told you ‘It’s a crow.’”

After a little while, the old father again asked his son the 3rd time, “What is this?”

“It’s a crow, a crow, a crow,” said the son loudly.

A little after, the father again asked his son the 4th time, “What is this?”

This time the son shouted at his father, “Why do you keep asking me the same question again and again? ‘IT IS A CROW’. Are you not able to understand this?”

A little later, the father went to his room and came back with an old diary, which he had kept since his son was born. Opening a page, he asked his son to read that page. When the son read it, the following words were written in the diary: “Today my little son aged three was sitting with me on the sofa, when a crow was sitting on the window. My son asked me 23 times what it was, and I replied to him all 23 times that it was a crow. I hugged him lovingly each time he asked me the same question a- gain and again for 23 times. I did not at all feel annoyed. I rather felt affection for my innocent child. ”

1. In what tone did the son say to his father “It’s a crow, a crow, a crow”?

A．Hurried.	B．Impatient.
C．Excited.	D．Surprised.

2. Why did the father ask the same question again and again?

A．Because he couldn’t understand what his son said.

B．Because he was too old to remember anything.

C．Because he wanted to make his son angry.

D．Because he wanted to see how patient his son would be.

3. How old was the old man when his son asked him 23 times “What is this”?

A．80 years old.	B．45 years old.
C．38 years old.	D．35 years old.

4. What is the most suitable title for the passage?

A．A Crow	B．An Old man
C．An Old Dairy	D．Father’s Love

【推荐2】If you have lived in New York City for many years, like me, the skyline becomes part of you and your daily life.

When I was invited to visit the Summit One Vanderbilt—New York’s fourth-highest tower, I wasn’t expecting much. I felt like I’d seen it all and I thought that this observation deck (观测台) would be another space for a view of the city, but nothing else.

Let me tell you something: I have never seen one like this before. It sits on top of a building on 42nd street and Vanderbilt is next to Grand Central Station. Once you have ascended to the top floor, you step into air. It makes you feel like being at 1,000 feet above ground level with its mirrored floors. Once you make your way throughout the space, you feel like New York is part of a body, and your sense of space challenged by the reflections (反射) of the light. The reflections create endless possibilities for photos and videos, and the light changes throughout the day. I took out my camera and began to take photos feeling a connection with the city that no other observatory has been able to give me.

Summit is something unique, an art work with architecture. It will be an observatory (天文台) that will change with the city. I personally can’t wait to take photos at sunset, or when winter arrives.

1. How did the author feel when invited to visit Summit One Vanderbilt?

A．Curious.

B．Happy.

C．Amazed.

D．Uninterested.

2. What does the underlined word “ascended” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Risen.

B．Turned.

C．Applied.

D．Adapted.

3. What can be learned about Summit One Vanderbilt?

A．I t is the only tower in New York.	B．It lies far from Grand Central Station.
C．It provides a good place for taking photos.	D．It is exactly 1,000 feet high from the ground.

4. What’s the purpose of the text?

A．To tell a story.

B．To introduce a site.

C．To raise awareness.

D．To encourage tourism.