【推荐1】Try to picture the world before refrigerators. That may be difficult!     1     They may also help store leftovers there after dinner. Yes, life today would be quite different without refrigerators. How did people keep their food fresh before these machines were around?

    2     In cold areas, ancient people could freeze their food. They could then store it in ice and snow. Warmer places allowed for drying food in sunlight. Experts say these early practices gave people the option to settle and form communities.

One advanced method of food storage arose in Persia around 400 BC. People there stored food in structures called Yakhchal, which were buildings made from mud brick to keep ice frozen during even the warmest summer months. During the Middle Ages, people stored meat by salting or smoking it.     3     These foods could then be stored in cool places, like caves, allowing people to save food for difficult times.

Later, buildings called ice houses or ice pits were built upon the idea of the Yakhchal. Such ice houses were very common by the 1800s. At the end of the 19th century, many people kept their food fresh in iceboxes made of wood.     4     Ice delivery businesses grew with more homes requiring ice to store food.

By the 1930s, many people were using electric refrigerators to keep food fresh.     5     Many refrigerators today come with built-in ice makers. Some people even choose smart refrigerators that can help them with meal plans and grocery shopping.

A．They would also dry many foods, including grains.

B．These containers held large blocks of ice to keep food cool.

C．No one knows for sure how people first learned to store food.

D．After all, kids today are used to grabbing a snack from the fridge after school.

E．Since then, growth in technology has led these machines to become more advanced.

F．With no means to store food, ancient people often went hungry or even died.

G．Actually, people found different ways to keep their food fresh thousands of years ago.

【推荐3】We all know the grandmotherly wisdom of serving chicken soup to someone with a cold, but does this particular meal really have the same effect as the medicine? Could the chicken soup save people a trip to the local hospital?

You won’t find studies in humans that prove chicken soup can fight off a cold, but there’s enough evidence to make it worth trying. One study published in the medical journal Chest suggested that chicken soup might have anti-inflammatory (消炎的) effects, which could possibly cure symptoms of upper respiratory (上呼吸道) tract infections (感染). Researchers studied the movement of neutrophils-a type of white blood cell-when combined with soup. They found that the movement of neutrophils was reduced in the presence of soup, suggesting a possible anti-inflammatory effect that could at least reduce cold symptoms (症状).

“There are substances in chicken soup that could affect cells in the body, which could potentially have medicinal effects, but whether they are good or bad for you, we didn’t test,” said study author Dr. Stephen Rennard, Larson Professor of Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Because the study was done in a laboratory and not in humans, Rennard cautions that it remains to be seen whether one would even absorb the substances (物质) that appeared to have beneficial effects in the lab. The researchers did not actually separate specific substances in soup that might be beneficial, “nor did we show what it would do in a living person, let alone a living person with a cold,” he added.

“Chicken soup might be useful, but lots of more research is required,“ Rennard said. “There is some possibility that there is a medicinal basis to it, but ‘some,’ ‘suggests’ and ‘possible’ are the key words.”

1. Why did people believe chicken soup could help with a cold?

A．They had enough scientific evidence.	B．They got the idea from old experience.
C．They were fond of the special soup.	D．They learnt it in the medical journal.

2. How did the chicken soup fight a cold?

A．By making neutrophils much less active.	B．By speeding the movement of neutrophils.
C．By producing a type of white blood cell.	D．By making cold symptoms worse.

3. What do we know about the substances in chicken soup?

A．They could affect cells in the body.	B．They are useless for curing a cold.
C．They can’t be absorbed by humans.	D．They can only be found in chicken soup.

4. Why did Rennard use “possible” as the key word?

A．He never caught a bad cold.	B．He didn’t like chicken soup.
C．He didn’t know medicinal basis.	D．He would do some more research.

【推荐1】A new research finds that these beloved pets might hurt the pet-owners’ sleeping. According to the study, though pets have many positive effects on health, pet ownership was linked with poorer sleep.

The researchers adjusted for factors that could affect sleep, including race and income, as well as age, gender and BMI, and focused on whether a person had a sleep disorder and whether a person had a cat or a dog. The findings showed that having a dog was associated with a greater chance of having a sleep disorder and overall having trouble sleeping, while having a cat was associated with having a higher chance of leg jerks(抽搐) at night.

“One of the factors is the age of the pet. It has a big influence on whether or not they keep you up at night,” Van Egmond, a researcher said. “If you have multiple pets, they can egg each other on.” So more pets, more noise, more difficult to fall asleep.

So, what should we do to guarantee the sleep quality with pets hanging around?

With dogs, it depends a lot on the breed and the activity level it needs. Making sure a pet dog gets plenty of physical activities and mental stimulation during the day can help animals — and their owners — get a better rest.

Unlike dogs, cats tend to have bursts of energy at night. To deal with this, such suggestions are worth considering. If you play with your cat before it was ready for bed, you would activate the cat’s hunting instinct(本能). By being fed after that, your cat would feel that it has successfully hunted its food and was rewarded with a nice meal in return. Its natural instinct after that was to groom(梳洗) itself and go to sleep.

The new study indicates that pets can influence your sleep, but we have to really take into account that pets are much more than a facilitator or inhibitor of sleep, they are part of our family.

1. The study shows ____.

A．pets have no positive effect.

B．pets might affect owners’ sleep.

C．dog owners have no sleeping disorder.

D．cat’s legs are easily hurt at night.

2. The underlined phrase “egg each other on” means____.

A．living on eggs only

B．sleeping on eggs with each other

C．making each other more excited

D．breaking eggs on purpose

3. In paragraph 5 and 6, the author mainly discusses_____.

A．physical activities suitable for dogs.

B．reasons why cats have bursts of energy at night.

C．ways to feed pets food.

D．suggestions for pet owners to get a better sleep.

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

A．Pets and Sleep

B．Pets Prefer Nights

C．Good Pets or Evil Pets

D．Healthy Pets, Healthy Owners

【推荐3】We all know reading can teach you facts, and knowing the right thing at the right time helps you be more successful. But is that the whole reason just about every smart, great person you can think of, from Bill Gates to Yu Minhong, credits much of their success to their reading? Of course not.

In fact, beyond simply educating us, books have more benefits (好处). They provide inspiration, guide our decisions, and sometimes even change our lives. Reading a good book can be so amazing that you forget about your troubles for a while. On top of that, reading helps us understand people from different walks of life. It gives us a window into their minds and hearts. Reading has many positive effects on your body as well. Research shows that people who read are less likely to suffer from anxiety. Regular readers also have lower rates of heart disease than those who do not read at all or only watch television. It works better and faster than other methods of relaxation, such as listening to music or drinking hot tea.

Of course, you are reading right now, but sorry, it doesn’t count. The most important benefits come from devoting the time and attention to longer, deeper content. What type of reading is best for the brain? They believe that reading a novel closely to study literature and thinking about its value is an effective exercise in the brain, more effective than just reading for pleasure. Don’t go fooling yourself into considering a look through Facebook as a brain workout.

I use Goodreads to track how many books I read, and try to increase the number every year. If you are inspired to get through more novels this year too, keep an eye on your brain’s performance too, to see if it’s making a difference. I can safely say that you’ll be amazed at the result!

But seriously, have you read any good books lately? Let me know in the comments.

1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?

A．Great persons like reading.

B．Reading enriches people’s life.

C．Reading has far more benefits than listed.

D．Bill Gates and Yu Minhong have good credit.

2. What do we know about reading according to paragraph 2?

A．It frees us from trouble.

B．It helps us better understand others.

C．It is a useful way to treat heart disease.

D．It can take the place of physical exercise.

3. Which of the following reading activities benefits you most?

A．Turning to books for fun.

B．Looking through articles online.

C．Going through newspapers every morning.

D．Thinking about its value while reading a novel.

4. Which may be the best title for the text?

A．It’s never too late to read.	B．Deep reading works better.
C．A good book is a good friend.	D．There is no easy road to reading.

【推荐2】Directions: Read the following passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements with no more than 8 words.

Culture Shock

Culture shock is the emotional and mental reaction to being in a completely new cultural environment. This is often a very difficult experience for many people and it consist of several stages of feelings until someone successfully adapts to being in the new culture.

The “honeymoon” stage of culture shock is usually the first stage that people go through when surrounded by different cultural values and lifestyles. During this stage, people often have very positive images of their new cultural surroundings. They tend to view these in an idealistic way and ignore or minimize problems. This stage quickly gives way to the second stage, called “the frustration phase”.

During the “frustration stage”, the newcomer begins to experience a more negative view of their cultural surroundings. There is a definite frustration that things that should be easy are still difficult. For example, people who may have been enjoyed learning the basics of a language during the honeymoon phase would now find it a chore to try and communicate with locals in the frustration phase.

After the frustration stage ends, the adjustment phase begins. This marks the time when newcomers begin to adjust themselves to the new culture. They begin to accept the differences around them and the challenges of everyday life. This opens the door to two possible outcomes— mastery and rejection.

Those newcomers who enter the “mastery stage” have completely accepted the values and beliefs of the new culture. Those who choose the “rejection phase” have decided not to accept it. They usually choose to permanently withdraw from the culture through isolation or returning home.

Culture shock is a very emotional experience for most people and there are many symptoms. It is important to recognize these symptoms in newcomers and understand the reasons for these feelings.

1. Culture shock refers to how people ________________ being in a new culture environment emotionally and mentally.
2. People usually take a(n) ________________ attitude towards a new culture environment when they first arrive.
3. In which of the four stages do people feel worst, according to the passage?
___________________________________________________________
4. The following paragraph is a short summary of the passage. Fill in each blank with no more than 8 words.

People experience ________________ after arriving in a new cultural environment. It usually consists of four stages. First, people find everything is ________________. Then, they start to find things harder and ________________. Next, they learn to ________________. After that, some people will feel completed integrated into the new culture, while some will choose ________________.