【推荐1】Nobody can live without money.     1     However, money cannot buy everything. You can’t buy the following things only relying on money you have.

Time

Money is a tool for trade. We spend most of our time in getting, spending, worrying and fantasizing（想象） about money.     2     Instead, money takes away your time that could have been spent playing with your children or having a long walk with your friends. When the sun sets, a day goes away from our life forever. No money has power to bring that back to life.

Self-respect

There are a lot of examples to prove that no money can buy self-respect.     3     If you are your worst enemy, gods of money can’t save you from the self-destruction（自毁）you add to yourself.

Health

As I write this, I find that one of my best friends has brain cancer, and it is in the last period.     4     But no money can buy insurance for his life. We buy insurance for just about everything including our life but money can never bring our life back.

Happiness

This is doubtful. Money can buy happiness if it is spent bringing greater financial safety for the family.     5    

Going after money every day can never find its destination（目的地，终点）with great eagerness.

A．Show your respect for others.

B．Self-respect is got from within.

C．Money can buy a lot of things.

D．You can’t buy time or save it in your storeroom.

E．Of course money can give him the best health care.

F．So you should not try your best to earn money without caring about your health.

G．But money can’t buy happiness if the purpose is to make much more money.

【推荐2】English is full of colourful phrases to describe shyness. Someone shy might be called shrinking violet or a wallflower, while for especially nervous types we have the curious expression: they wouldn’t say “boo” to a goose.

None of these are traditionally seen as positive descriptions, even if you like geese. In a culture of go-getting high achievers, shy people don’t come first. Or that’s what the self-help industry would have you believe. Bookshops are filled with vital tomes (大部头书籍) that promise to help beat social fears and find success in life, love and business. That is why one book, Shrinking Violets: A Field Guide to Shyness, bucks the trend. It became a sudden success across English-language media recently for its new take-on shyness.

Author Joe Moran says that despite struggling with shyness and longing for loneliness all his life, being shy can also be “a gift”. Freed from the constant urge to participate and compete in social situations, people are liberated to look at the world in new ways, and gain fresh insights.

Indeed, many of the world’s great thinkers and artists are introverts (内向的人). Scientists Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein preferred their own company; actress Keira Knightley often finds herself tongue-tied at parties; and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling claims she used to be too nervous to even borrow a pen.

Moran told BBC Future, “I think shyness probably does turn you into an amateur anthropologist (人类学家), really — you are more likely to be an observer.”

So, while extroverts make all the noise, they don’t necessarily have the best ideas.

If you’re shy, you’ve probably known this for a long time. You just don’t shout about it.

1. Why did the author mention many famous shy people?

A．To point out the harm shyness brings.

B．To disconnect shyness and success.

C．To show the reasons for shyness.

D．To prove shyness contributes to science.

2. What is the author’s attitude towards shyness?

A．Opposed.	B．Indifferent.
C．Supportive.	D．Critical.

3. When someone is being called a wallflower, he is being 　　　.

A．praised for his grace

B．admired for his character

C．laughed at for his shyness

D．told off for his nervousness

4. What does the underlined phrase “bucks the trend” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Goes against the trend and succeeds.

B．Changes the public idea completely.

C．Becomes unpopular and unaccepted.

D．Becomes the major concern of people.

【推荐3】A young man went to a farm and asked for a job. When the old farmer asked what the young man could do to help the farm, he just said ,“I can sleep when the wind blows.”

This short answer puzzled(迷惑) the farmer. But he liked the young man and said OK anyway. Everything went well until one night when there was a heavy storm. The old farmer and his wife quickly woke up and started checking to see if everything was safe.

The farmer and his wife checked their things. They found that the farm tools had been put away safely in the house. The truck was parked in the garage. They found that the doors of the farmhouse were closed. The barn(谷仓) was properly locked. Even the animals were calm. All was well.

After checking everything, they went to the young man’s room and found that he was sleeping. The farmer and his wife then understood the meaning of the young man’s words — “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

Because the young man finished all of his work while the skies were clear, he was prepared for the storm before it came. So when the wind blew ,he was not afraid. He could sleep in peace.

1. What did we know in the beginning?

A．The farmer had no choice but to choose the young man.

B．The young man was confident in himself.

C．The farmer trusted him very much.

D．The young man was a sound sleeper.

2. Why did the author mention the old couple’s checking everything?

A．To show that they were very rich.

B．To express that they were cautious about everything.

C．To prove the farm depended on the young man.

D．To illustrate the young man’s preparation for everything.

3. How did the farmer feel after his check?

A．Content.	B．Puzzled.
C．Awkward.	D．Unbelievable.

4. How to understand the underlined words in Paragraph 4 according to the passage?

A．All roads lead to Rome.	B．Where there is a will, there is a way.
C．Preparation makes everything go well.	D．Your attitudes determine everything.

【推荐1】Sometimes parents wonder if they should really give their children chores (家务活). After all, isn’t it the parents’ responsibility to manage the household? And don’t children need an opportunity to “just be children” for now because they have the rest of their lives to worry about chores?

Most children have really busy schedules. They rush around from one activity to another with little time to clean the house. Despite those concerns, however, giving your children chores may be one of the most important things you’ll ever do.

While giving your children chores can certainly take some of the stress off you, that’s not the only reason you should expect your children to do the chores. Studies show chores are good for children. Research from a well-known 75-year Harvard study shows that chores can shape children to be more likely to become happy, healthy and independent adults.

Why are chores like sweeping the floor and clearing the table so important to children’s happiness in life? One reason is that children feel a sense of achievement when they do their chores. No matter whether they’re making their beds or they’re sweeping the floor, helping out around the house makes children feel capable. Doing chores also helps children feel like they’re part of the team and learn responsibility. Helping family members is good for them and it encourages them to be good adults.

Children who do chores gain important life skills that will serve them well throughout their lives. Life skills such as meal preparation, mowing the lawn, or doing the laundry will be important after high school, which helps your children live independently.

1. Why does the author raise questions in paragraph 1?

A．To list examples.	B．To make a warning.
C．To lead in the topic.	D．To provide background information.

2. What helps children grow up healthily according to research from the Harvard study?

A．Chores.	B．Less homework.
C．School activities.	D．Learning schedules.

3. What does the underlined word “capable” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Tired.

B．Nervous.

C．Having no time.

D．Having the ability.

4. What does this text focus on?

A．Skills to deal with chores.	B．Advantages of doing chores.
C．The importance of life skills.	D．Way s to balance study and chores.

【推荐2】Cell phones：Is there a cancer link?

Could your cell phone give you cancer? Whether it could or not, some people are worrying about the possibility that phones, power lines and Wi-Fi could be responsible for a range of illnesses, from rashes to brain tumors.

Some say there is evidence to support the growing anxieties. David Carpenter, a professor of environmental health sciences at the university at Albany, in New York, thinks there’s a greater than 95 percent chance that power lines can cause childhood leukemia (白血病). Also there’s a greater than 90 percent chance that cell phones can cause brain tumors. “It’s apparent now that there’s a real risk, ”said Carpenter.

But others believe these concerns are not justified. Dr Martha Linet, head of radiation epidemiology (流行病学) at the US National Cancer Institute, has looked at the same research as Carpenter but has reached a different conclusion. “I don’t support warning labels for cell phones, ”said Linet. “We don’t have the evidence that there’s much danger.”

Studies so far suggest a weak connection between EMFs (电磁场) and illness—so weak that it might not exist at all. A multinational investigation of cell phones and brain cancer, in 13 countries outside the US, has been underway for several years. It’s funded in part by the European Union, in part by a cell phone industry group. The final report should come out later this year, but data so far don’t suggest a strong link between cell phone use and cancer risk.

1. From the passage we can learn that some people are worried because________.

A．they have evidence that the use of cell phones can lead to cancer

B．they feel surprised and alarmed about cell phone use

C．some experts have given a warning

D．cell phones are responsible for brain tumors

2. By saying “I don’t support warning labels for cell phones, ”Dr Martha Linet has the idea that_______.

A．the worrying is unnecessary

B．cancer—warning labels should be on cell phones

C．there is a link between cell phones and cancer

D．cell phones have nothing to do with cancer

3. Which of the following best describes the attitude of the author towards the debate?

A．Optimistic.	B．Objective.
C．Opposite.	D．Casual.

4. The underlined word “justified” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to_____．

A．explained	B．confirmed （证实、确认）
C．classified	D．restricted （限制）

【推荐3】Winslow Homer was a famous American painter. Since Art History class in college，I had always admired his works and I was lucky to see a large exhibition of his works when I was in my early 30s. It was at this event that I bought a print of his painting “Snap the Whip”. It always hung in my classroom until I retired from teaching.

I thought it truly captured the freedom and fun of childhood. In the painting，a group of young boys are playing a game arm in arm on the grass ground in front of a farm house. They are jumping and laughing wildly with great joy. One of the boys is falling down to the ground. They are not even wearing shoes!

During my last year of teaching，there was a young woman in her first year of teaching right next door to me and we got to be good friends. She had been an art student before taking up education. Her eyes were drawn immediately to this print when she entered my room. So on my last day of teaching，after the students had left，I took the painting off the wall and walked next door and gave it to her.

She was really surprised，but very glad to have it. I was delighted that she liked it and all the students she would have would treasure it as much as I had. We found the perfect place for it on one of her walls and hung it together. I was happy that she brought back this wonderful memory for me.

1. Why did the author admire the painting “Snap the Whip”so much？

A．He had a deep love for children and students.

B．It was bought from a famous American painter.

C．He appreciated the freedom and fun in the painting.

D．It had also drawn the attention of the young woman.

2. What is the painting about？

A．Homeless children.	B．The nature of children.
C．Hard-working farmers.	D．The pleasure of working.

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

A．Recognized.	B．Controlled.
C．Caught.	D．Influenced.

4. How did the author feel when seeing the painting hung in the woman’s room？

A．Regretful.	B．Painful.
C．Proud.	D．Pleased.

【推荐2】Rock and roll music developed in the United States in the early nineteen-fifties. It was based on the music called rhythm and blues that was performed by African American musicians.

Early rock and roll singers developed their own kinds of music. Elvis Presley. Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, and Bob Dylan were the most popular rock and roll musicians and band in the early 1960s. All were American. Then, in 1964, a new rock and roll group from England invaded America: The Beatles.

Some people say The Beatles’ music shook America like an earthquake. The Beatles changed rock and roll forever. Their early songs were influenced by American rock and roll musicians, including Chuck Berry. But The Beatles looked different and sounded different from any musical group before them.

The Beatles released their first album in the United States in 1964. when all of the top five records in America were by The Beatles. In 1967, they released an album called Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was one of the first “concept” albums. That is, all the songs were linked by a common story or idea.

The popularity of The Beatles led the way for more rock and roll bands from England to become popular in America. The Rolling Stones was the most important of these bands. The Rolling Stones is one of the few groups from the 1960s that is still performing and recording today. In 1965, the group recorded one of its most famous songs, Satisfaction.

By the 1970s, rock and roll music had become known as rock music. Experts say rock music regained some of the energy of early rock and roll. Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band became popular with their album Born to Run. Springsteen’s music was like the lively rock and roll music of the early nineteen-sixties. Many of his songs were about social issues. He sang about the effects of unemployment and the war in Vietnam

1. Which is the main topic of this passage?

A．The history of American music.

B．The development of rock and roll music.

C．The famous rock and roll groups.

D．The new forms of rock and roll music.

2. What can we infer from Paragraph 3?

A．The Beatles’ music was as violent as an earthquake in America.

B．The Beatles looked different because an earthquake hit America.

C．The Beatles’ music had a great effect on the rock and roll music in America.

D．The Beatles’ music was greatly influenced by American rock and roll music.

3. Whose songs were mainly about social problems like unemployment and war?

A．Elvis Presley’s.	B．Bob Dylan’s.
C．Chuck Berry’s.	D．Springsteen’s.

4. What can we know from the passage?

A．One of the Rolling Stones’ albums was called “concept”.

B．All of the top five records in America were by The Beatles in 1964.

C．The Rolling Stones was the only band that became popular in America

D．All the most popular rock and roll musicians in the 1960s were American.

【推荐3】To learn an instrument(乐器) such as the violin or accordion（手风琴）takes years. The job opportunities for musicians are scarce and competition is fierce. Then why are more people than ever before paying a lot of good cash to get their children the best music teaching they can afford?

The secret lies in the influence of music on the whole person. It has been found that learning a musical instrument actually increases a person’s IQ over time. Different instruments and different trypes of music have varying effect, with classical music and the string（弦乐） family coming out on top, potentially increasing you IQ by up to 12 points!

When is a good time to start learning music? Experts have found that even the fetus（胎儿）can benefit from listening to classical music. Surround yourself and your family with good music from the first. The Suzuki Piano Method teaches children from the age of 3 years piano, with two lessons per week. From preschool, children can learn to read music and play from sheet music. Progress in learning your instrument is directly proportional（成比例的）to the amount of practicing.

Is there such a thing as an unmusical child? Shinichi Suzuki proposes that music is the native home language of all human beings and therefore nobody can be “unmusical”. Of course there are exceptional talents, compared to which others may seem to be slower learners.

Is there any benefit for adults in starting an instrument? Apart from the purely relaxing aspect, yes. Learning an instrument can earn even adults additional IQ points, and as an added benefit in improves your health by reducing your stress levels. Your social life may benefit too, if you are prepared to come out of your box and join occasions such as Ceilidhs (musical get-togethers) or arrange house concerts. It has been established that people who play instruments tend to be more emotionally balanced and more patient with themselves, others and life in general.

So go ahead, sign up for that amateur orchestra, dust off your old trombone（长号）or take your first real six-string down from the attic（阁楼）; get out there and play!

1. Playing which of the following musical instruments can help increase a person’s IQ most?

A．The piano

B．The violin

C．The trombone

D．The accordion

2. According to Shinichi Suzuki,                      .

A．The progress in learning an instrument depends on natural gifts

B．It is too late for an adult to start an instrument

C．Every child has a natural talent for music.

D．All people can understand and read music.

3. What can be inferred from the text?

A．Music can balance our life.

B．Music can improve our living conditions.

C．Playing instruments can make adults keep their IQ points.

D．Playing instruments can help us get along well with others.

4. By writing the text, the author mainly wants to             .

A．persuade us to send our children to music schools

B．express his great interest in musical instruments

C．tell us the importance of Music in Development

D．invite us to attend Ceilidhs

5. There are many benefits for the adult to learn instruments, which of the following is NOT RIGHT?

A．Feeling relaxed.	B．Earn additional IQ points.
C．Improve your health.	D．Show your talents