【推荐1】The 92-year-old, thin, calm and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, even though she is nearly blind, moved to a nursing home today.

Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the hall of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.

As she walked slowly to the elevator, I provided a true description of her tiny room, including the old sheets that had been hung on her window. “I love it,” she said with the happiness of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room…just wait.”

“That doesn’t matter.” she replied. “Happiness is something you decide ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged. It’s how I arranged my mind. I have already decided to love it. It’s a decision I make every morning when I wake up. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I’ll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away.” She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account. You take what you’ve put in. So, my advice to you would be to put in a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank.” And with a smile, she said, “All my memories are happy ones.”

Mrs. Jones was always happy in the nursing home and she died at the age of 108.

1. We can infer from the passage that the author________.

A．is one of Mrs. Jones’ children

B．is a relative of Mrs. Jones

C．works in the nursing home

D．is the owner of the nursing home

2. Mrs. Jones was very happy when told about her room because she________.

A．couldn’t see what her room was like

B．thought the nursing home was her home

C．had already made up her mind to be happy

D．would have to live in the nursing home

3. Which of the following words can best describe Mrs. Jones?

A．Proud.

B．Determined

C．Pleasant.

D．Honest

【推荐2】Every year,billions of kilograms of fresh produce are wasted in the United States.Meanwhile,millions of poor Americans go hungry,without access to healthy and affordable meals.Evan Lutz,CEO and founder of Hungry Harvest,was inspired to act after seeing extreme poverty in areas of Baltimore,Maryland.He wants to reduce the so—called food waste in that area.His work is to make sure no food goes to waste and no person is ever hungry in America.And he combines that goal with a love for business.

Hungry Harvest is a business which collects and sells fruits and vegetables that most food companies will throw away.Everything doesn't grow the same way on a farm.But all that is too big or too small gets thrown out.That is why everything in a grocery store looks similar.Hungry Harvest will box those imperfect ones and deliver them to customers once a week.

For every purchase,Hungry Harvest delivers healthy food to people in need.Hungry Harvest has recovered 300,000 pounds of produce to date and provided 100,000 pounds to those in need.

Lutz established Hungry Harvest in 2014.Its success depends on team work.Every week on Monday or Tuesday they will decide what will go into the next week's box by calling up packing houses and wholesalers to see what they will normally throw away that week.They then place the order.The last step ls to send goods to customers.

In January 2016,Lutz appeared on the American business competition television show "Shark Tank" and got even more than he expected: $100,000.Lutz is using the money to expand.Actually,more than six billion pounds is wasted each year due to "ugly" surface.Hungry Harvest is on the way to saving more food from going to waste and feeding hungry families.

1. Why is Hungry Harvest set up?

A．To reduce poverty and food waste.

B．To collect and sell thrown—away food.

C．To make enough money to expand.

D．To sell deserted food to the poor.

2. The underlined word "recover" in Paragraph 3 means "        ".

A．get over an illness

B．regain a former condition after a financial loss

C．reuse materials from waste products

D．get back the use of one's sense

3. Why do you think Evan Lutz is successful?
a.He combines his goal with a love for business.             
b.He depends on team work.
c.He got $100,000 from a TV show.                           
d.He is kind-hearted and creative.

A．a,b,c	B．b,c,d
C．a,c,d	D．a,b,d

4. Who will not benefit from Evan Lutz's business?

A．Hungry Harvest.	B．Hungry families.
C．Food companies.	D．Fruit farmers.

【推荐3】It was New Year’s night. An aged man was standing at a window. Few more hopeless people than himself now moved towards their certain goal-the tomb. He had already passed sixty of the age leading to it, and he had brought from his journey nothing but errors and regrets.

The days of his youth appeared like dreams before him, and he recalled the serious moment when his father placed him at the entrances of the two roads. One leading to a peaceful, sunny place covered with flowers and fruits; the other leading to a deep dark cave which was endless. He looked towards the sky and cried painfully, “Oh youth, return! Oh, my father, place me once more at the entrance to life”. But both his father and the days of his youth had passed away.

He saw the lights flowing away in the darkness，and these were the days of his wasted life; he saw a star fall from the sky and disappear, and this was the symbol of himself. Then he remembered his friends in his childhood, who entered life together with him. But they had made their way to success and were then honored and happy on that New Year’s night.

The clock in the high church tower struck and the sound made him remember his parents. They had taught him and prayed to God for his good. But he chose the wrong way with shame and grief. He dared no longer to look towards the heaven where his parents lived. He burst out a cry: “Come back, my early days!”And his youth did return, for all this was only a dream on New Year’s night. He was still young though his faults were real. He had not yet entered the deep dark eave, and he was still free to walk on the road which leads to the peaceful and sunny land.

1. Which of the following words can best describe the aged man?

A．Confident.	B．Selfless.
C．Regretful.	D．Fortunate.

2. What can we learn from Para3?

A．The man’s friends missed their youth.

B．The man’s friends suffered failure finally.

C．The man wasted his life at one time.

D．The man was lonely in his childhood.

3. What can be inferred from the text?

A．The old man didn’t take his father’s advice.

B．The old man was enjoying his journey.

C．The old man’s father accompanied him during the journey.

D．The old man was like lights in the darkness.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．A Special New Year’s Night	B．An Old Man’s Hesitation
C．Youth Coming Back	D．Two Roads to Take

【推荐1】If you want to travel from Xi’an to Chengdu by train, it will take about 16 hours. But starting this month, the new Xi’an-Chengdu high-speed railway will shorten this travel time to three hours.

The 643-kilometer line is China’s first high-speed railway to run through the Qinling Mountains, which form a natural boundary (分界线) between China’s north and south. With a speed of 250 km per hour, it’s also the first mountain-heavy train line to provide a 4G network. Along the way, the train passes through two areas for rare (稀有) wild animals — one for pandas and the other for crested ibises (朱鹮).

To reduce the railway’s influence on the animals, workers and experts have designed and built the railway to be environmentally friendly. There were 345 wild pandas living in the Qinling Mountains. China currently has 1,864 wild pandas in total, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

To avoid disturbing the pandas, the railway was designed to run through tunnels (隧道) within the area. Protective shields (防护屏) are placed near the entrance of each tunnel to stop animals from going in.

To protect the thousands of crested ibises that fly near one part of the railway, protective nets have been set up to make sure the birds will not fly into a train.

The nets are about 32 km long and 4 meters high. Experts tested different shapes and materials for building the nets before making their final choice.

1. From this month, it will take ________ to travel from Xi’an to Chengdu by the high speed train.

A．16 hours

B．13 hours

C．3 hours

D．1 hour

2. Which of the following is TRUE about the new Xi’an-Chengdu railway?

A．It is China’s first high-speed railway.

B．It runs through the Qinling Mountains.

C．It is the best mountain-heavy train line.

D．The train passes through many areas for rare wild animals.

3. Why did people build the railway to be environmentally friendly?

A．To save money and energy.

B．To avoid damaging the mountains.

C．To avoid harming wild animals.

D．To help the train run through tunnels quietly.

4. What are experts using to stop birds from flying into the train?

A．Tunnels.	B．Tracks.
C．Protective shields.	D．Protective nets.

5. What is the passage about?

A．Xi’an Chengdu high-speed railway.

B．How to protect pandas and crested ibises.

C．Qinling Mountains.

D．Protective shields and nets.

【推荐1】Finland is the happiest place on Earth, according to the 2018 World Happiness Report of 156 nations.

The report, released Wednesday by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network, ranks the countries of the world based on six different categories of well-being: income, freedom, trust, life expectancy, generosity and social support. This year's report also pays special attention to the happiness of each country’s immigrants.

The U.S. dropped four spots from 2017 and landed in 18th place, and last year’s winner, Norway, came in second place — followed by Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland.Rounding out the top 10 happiest countries was Canada in sixth place, then New Zealand, Sweden and Australia. The order of the top 10 nations changed from the 2017 list but the countries did not, according to the report.

“The most striking finding of the report is the remarkable consistency between the happiness of immigrants and the locally born,” Helliwell said in a statement. “Although immigrants come from countries with very different levels of happiness, their reported life evaluations resemble those of other residents in their new countries. Those who move to happier countries gain, while those who move to less happy countries lose.”

Other major world powers placed in significantly low spots on the list. Germany came in 15th, the UK was 19th — followed by Japan in 54th place, Russia in 59th and China in 86th.

The report, based on surveys completed by citizen volunteers, came just under a week before World Happiness Day on March 20, when the UN declared to recognize “the relevance of happiness and well-being as universal goals and aspirations in the lives of human beings around the world and the importance of their recognition in public policy objectives”.

1. The US ranked in 2017.

A．14	B．10
C．18	D．22

2. What is the most significant finding of the report?

A．That immigrants are different from residents in the country.

B．That immigrants come from countries with different levels of happiness.

C．That immigrants become happy when they leave the country.

D．That immigrants and locals feel the similar level of happiness.

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Happiness is no less important than any other aspect in life.

B．People’s happiness and well-being should be considered when it comes to policy-making.

C．The happiness report came under a week before World Happiness Day.

D．What the UN declared was beneficial to all human beings.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．World Happiness Day.	B．Happiness — forever pursuit.
C．What's your happiness index(指数)?	D．The 2018 World Happiness Report.

【推荐2】When nature is left alone, a balance is reached among the animals and plants living in one area. But when man starts his work in nature, the balance is likely to be destroyed. He grows a crop and takes it away to eat; then there are no dead leaves to fall on the ground, holding water while it sinks into the surface, or decaying(腐烂) and adding humus(腐殖质) to the soil. Unless a farmer acts with knowledge and skill, he is therefore most likely to make the land poorer. To take the place of the useful matter in the crops that he removes, he uses some kind of fertilizer. Chemical fertilizers are of great help, but the waste products of animals and decaying remains of plants should also be put on the land. In some places, it is a habit to burn waste material lying about, but such burning destroys the useful matter in the dead plants. Although the ashes that are left are valuable when put on the land, a better practice is to bury the waste so that it decays and increases the humus in the soil.
In the past, when the world population was much lower than it is now, a man had little difficulty in ordinary times in growing the food that was needed. When a field had been used some years and had become tired, the farmer could move to another place. The tired land then slowly recovered. Gradually grasses and other plants would appear on it and its productive power would slowly return to normal through their decay. But nature, left alone, would take a long time to bring back the land to its former state; the length of time required would depend on local conditions, but it might well be ten years.
It is a bad practice to grow the same crop in a field year after year. If the crop is changed, the land will suffer less because it is treated and used in a different way. Different plants have different effects on the soil. Therefore, a change of crop will do less harm than the growing of the same crop year after year and a regular change to grass will do good to the soil. Much will therefore be gained if different crops are grown one after another, a method known as the rotation(轮作) of crops.
1. According to the passage, the land will become poorer ________.

A．if all the dead leaves are cleared away

B．if the humus is increased after the harvest

C．if dead leaves decay in the soil by themselves

D．if waste plant material lying about is buried

2. We can learn from the passage that the tired land has gradually recovered ________.

A．when grasses and other plants appear again

B．when the treatment is given by nature alone

C．after new grasses and other plants have decayed again

D．after nature has been left alone for several months

3. A modern farmer can hardly move to another place as he did before because ________.

A．the productive power of a new field isn’t higher than that of an old one

B．there are few free fields left for him to do farming

C．it takes a farmer more than ten years to start farming in a new field

D．there will be too many grasses in a new field to grow crops

4. It is most likely that the author will go on to ________ in the paragraph following the passage above.

A．introduce other methods of planting crops

B．deal with how to prevent land getting tired

C．start another topic of how to make use of land

D．explain what the rotation of crops is

【推荐3】An earthquake is one of the most common natural disasters． It may cause great damage． So it is wise to learn some simple safety tips to protect yourself or your family members．

Fragile items， like those made of glass should usually be placed on a lower surface， near the ground instead of placing them on cupboards higher up． Never place them near your bed， sofas and other furniture where you would be sitting or lying down． When there is a strong movement，these pieces will fall on the floor directly and not on you．

There is a strong chance of short circuits （短路） and fire breakouts during an earthquake． Make sure you turn off electrical connections and gas immediately when an earthquake happens．

During an earthquake， lie beneath an object that is not easily damaged． Do not go near objects that could directly fall on you． Never use the elevator to go down． Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside． Research has shown that most injuries happen when people inside buildings try to go out． Use the staircases at all times．

If you are outdoors， do not take shelter under a tree， streetlights， electric poles or tall buildings． If you are driving， stop your car and stay in a safe place． Do not park your car under a tree or any tall object．

If trapped in debris （瓦砾堆）， cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing． Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can find you． Use a whistle （哨子） if one is available． Never shout for help． Shouting can cause you to breathe in dangerous amounts of dust． Do not light a match because you may burn yourself． Do not move about or kick up dust．

1. The purpose of the passage is to tell readers ．

A．the damage caused by earthquakes

B．the rescue work after earthquakes

C．what to do about earthquakes

D．how to prevent earthquakes

2. The underlined word "Fragile" in Paragraph 2 probably means ．

A．easily broken

B．easily found

C．expensive

D．heavy

3. During the earthquake， people are advised to ．

A．go out the building at once

B．turn off power and gas immediately

C．take shelter under a tree

D．drive to a safe place

4. What should people NOT do when they are trapped in debris？

A．Cover their mouth with a handkerchief．

B．Tap on a pipe or wall for help．

C．Use a whistle for help．

D．Light a fire for help．

5. If you are driving， what should you do in the earthquake？

A．take shelter under a tree

B．stop your car and stay in a safe place

C．park your car under a tree

D．park your car under a tall object