【推荐1】A murder will occur this weekend in the peaceful seaside town of Langley, Washington. In fact, a murder has occurred there every February for the past 25 years. But don’t panic! It’s all part of the town’s yearly Mystery Weekend.

What began as a local event in 1984 now attracts visitors from over the U.S. and even abroad. Would-be detectives (侦探) arrive and check in at the visitor center on Saturday. There, they receive a packet, including a newspaper with details about the crime and information telling where to find clues (线索). Participants then travel to various shops, restaurants and other downtown locations, picking up clues as they go. Along the way, they encounter and interview suspects played by local townspeople. Most Langley residents participate in some way in the Mystery Weekend, a true community event.

Amateur (业余的) detectives have until Sunday at 4:00 p.m. to solve the crime and turn in their guesses. Then as everyone gathers, the murderer is found and arrested, and prizes are awarded for correct answers. It’s the perfect ending for a murder mystery and enormous fun for those who get to play detectives.

For visitors, Mystery Weekend is not only fun but also a great introduction to the charms of Langley. It’s a very attractive community with historic buildings, exciting ocean views and above all, friendly people. Since Langley is on an island, a fun way to get there is by taking a ferry to the nearby town of Clinton and then driving the rest of the way. Langley has a delightful selection of inns with beds and breakfasts that are open all year round. And activities in Langley aren’t limited to Mystery Weekend. There is also great hiking, biking, golfing and diving to enjoy. And for a special adventure, visitors can book one of the whale–watching ships that leave nearby harbors each day.

1. The second paragraph mainly tells us _______.

A．where participants can pick up the clues

B．why the detectives try to clear up the case

C．when Mystery Weekend came into being

D．what people do during Mystery Weekend

2. How can you get to Clinton according to the passage?

A．By car	B．By train
C．By boat	D．By plane

3. According to the passage, visitors in Langley can _______.

A．book inns open throughout the year to their own taste

B．take a ferry to Clinton for a special adventure

C．enjoy a wide variety of recreation like dancing and singing

D．feel safe to watch whales performing

4. We learn from the text that Mystery Weekend _______.

A．aims to decrease crime rate	B．is an annual local event
C．offers visitors a chance to make money	D．is intended for detectives

【推荐2】Childhood memories of climbing trees or making daisy chains (雏菊花环) are becoming increasingly rare, according to a new survey, as the younger generation are robbed of outdoor experiences.

The survey of 1,000 people found that the current generation of 15 to 34-year-olds have fewer memories of 12 key countryside activities, such as swimming in rivers or digging holes at the beach.

The research found that three quarters of the older generation remember playing games or climbing trees, compared to two thirds of younger adults. The 55-plus generation also have more memories of collecting fossils (化石), visiting farms, or pond dipping. Altogether, two thirds of older people have memories of playing outdoors, compared to just over half of the younger generation.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) carried out the study at the start of the school term to stress the growing concern that children are not getting outdoors enough. The study found that 82% of people think that schools should provide more outdoor education, and most believe nature is still important to children today.

Dr. Mike Clarke, Chief Executive of the RSPB, says children who are kept indoors suffer from “nature deficit disorder (自然缺失症)”. He says public funding (资金) should be used by the government to take children on day trips to nature reserves.

“To many people, it seems obvious that an important part of childhood is exploring the world. Unfortunately, this is far from the case, and the amount of time and contact children are having with nature is on the decrease,” he says. “The RSPB has more than 40 years of history in getting children outdoors, and is committed to continuing to play its part. We now need the government and schools to recognize the important role the public believes they should play, in enabling all children to experience, enjoy and benefit from contact with the natural environment.”

1. Compared with the current generation, the older generation___________.

A．had fewer chances to visit big cities	B．had more homework when they were kids
C．are more willing to live in the countryside	D．have more memories of outdoor activities

2. Why did the RSPB carry out the study?

A．To increase people’s concern about children’s lack of outdoor activities.

B．To increase people’s concern about the protection of wildlife.

C．To call for people to spend more time with their kids.

D．To bring the growth of children to people’s attention.

3. How does Dr. Mike Clarke advise the government to solve this problem?

A．By offering new outdoor sources for kids.

B．By building more nature reserves for kids.

C．By giving money to help kids visit natural reserves.

D．By stressing the importance of kids going outside.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Children have little contact with nature at present.

B．The RSPB is leading the way in getting kids outdoors.

C．Schools are uninterested in spending money getting kids outdoors.

D．Schools have been stressing the importance of nature to children.

【推荐3】Kept inside on a rainy day? Take the kids to your closest children’s museum, where they can learn about their world while having a fantastic time.

Please Touch Museum It can make your children’s life rich and colorful by offering play and hands-on（亲身实践）programs… Address ² 4231 Avenue of the Republic, Philadelphia Hours & Admission ² Tuesday—Sunday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ² CLOSED: Mondays ² Under the age of 2: FREE ² Children and adults: $15 each For more information, visit www.pleasetouchmuseum.org	Madison Children’s Museum In this green museum, kids can get hands-on learning about nature… Address ² 100 N. Hamilton Street, Madison, WI 53703 Hours & Admission ² Tuesday—Sunday: 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ² CLOSED: Mondays ² Under the age of 1: FREE ² Children and adults: $12 each For more information, visit www.madisonchmuseum.org
National Museum of Play It is an exciting, hands-on place to play, learn, dream, wonder, and… Address ² Manhattan Square, Rochester, New York Hours & Admission ² Monday—Thursday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ² Friday & Saturday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. ² Sunday: Noon to 5 p.m. ² Under the age of 2: FREE ² Children and adults: $15 each For more information, visit www.childrensmuseums.org	Children’s Museum of Phoenix It is a fantastic place of imagination, creativity and fun with over 300 hands-on activities and many kinds of classes and programs… Address ² 215 N. 7th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85034 Hours & Admission ² Tuesday—Sunday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. ² CLOSED: Mondays ² Under the age of 1: FREE ² Children and adults: $18 each For more information, visit www.childmusephx.org

1. Which museum opens on Monday afternoon?

A．Please Touch Museum.

B．Madison Children’s Museum.

C．National Museum of Play.

D．Children’s Museum of Phoenix.

2. If Mr. Moor takes his one-year-old son to Please Touch Museum, they will pay       .

A．$12

B．$15

C．$18

D．$30

3. If Adam would like his children to learn more about nature, he can go to        for more information.

A．www.childrensmuseums.org

B．www.childmusephx.org

C．www.pleasetouchmuseum.org

D．www.madisonchmuseum.org

4. Which of the following about the four museums is TRUE?

A．They all offer children hands-on activities.

B．They are all open on weekdays.

C．They are all closed after 5 in the afternoon.

D．They are all in the city of Phoenix.

5. Where does the text probably come from?

A．A science textbook.	B．A news report.
C．A museum guide.	D．A tourist map.

【推荐1】Though Malala Yousafzai is 17, she does not use Facebook or even a mobile phone so that she can’t lose focus on her studies. She spent her summer vacation flying to Nigeria to campaign for the release (释放)of girls caught by the extremist Islamist group Boko Haram, but also worrying about her grades, which recently took a worrisome dip. She faced President Obama about American drone policy (无人机政策) in a meeting last year, but finds it difficult to make friends with her fellow students in Birmingham, England.

“I want to have fun, but I don’t quite know how,” she wrote in the edition of her autobiography for young readers.

On Friday, Ms. Yousafzai became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and she was called out of her chemistry class to hear the news.

Ms. Yousafzai began campaigning for girls’ education at the age of 11, three years before she was shot by the Taliban. The prize she received on Friday accepts what she has taken on, but also shows expectations to her： Can she truly influence the culture of her home country of Pakistan, which she cannot even visit because of threats to her safety, and where many people see her as a tool of the West?

And in an interview last August, Ms. Yousafzai said that she rarely watched television and deleted the Candy Crush game from her iPad to prevent a growing addiction. As a child in Pakistan, she had access to only a handful of books, she said, but one was a biography of Dr. King, giving her an early sense of what one activist could accomplish.

In a brief speech in Birmingham on Friday, she called the prize “an encouragement for me to go forward and believe in myself.”

1. Where is Malala studying now according to the passage?

A．In America.	B．In Pakistan.
C．In the U. K.	D．In Switzerland.

2. Which of the following is RIGHT about Malala according to the passage?

A．She is a good friend of President Obama.

B．She doesn’t have a mobile phone or computer.

C．She was once caught by the extremist Islamist group.

D．She once fought for girls’ education.

3. Which of the following can best describe Malala Yousafzai?

A．Self-disciplined and brave.

B．Brave and boring.

C．Determined and optimistic.

D．Easy-going and humorous.

4. This passage is aimed at telling us ______.

A．Ms. Yousafzai became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize

B．what Ms. Yousafzai has contributed to the world

C．how a girl got the Nobel Peace Prize

D．reading a biography of Dr. King can help a person succeed

【推荐2】Would it surprise you to learn that, like animals, trees communicate with each other and pass on their wealth to the next generation?

UBC Professor Simard explains how trees are much more complex than most of us ever imagined. Although Charles Darwin thought that trees are competing for survival of the fittest, Simard shows just how wrong he was. In fact, the opposite is true: trees survive through their co-operation and support, passing around necessary nutrition（营养）“depending on who needs it”.

Nitrogen（氮）and carbon are shared through miles of underground fungi（真菌）networks, making sure that all trees in the forest ecological system give and receive just the right amount to keep them all healthy. This hidden system works in a very similar way to the networks of neurons（神经元）in our brains, and when one tree is destroyed, it affects all.

Simard talks about “mother trees”, usually the largest and oldest plants on which all other trees depend. She explains how dying trees pass on the wealth to the next generation, transporting important minerals to young trees so they may continue to grow. When humans cut down “mother trees” with no awareness of these highly complex “tree societies” or the networks on which they feed, we are reducing the chances of survival for the entire forest.

“We didn’t take any notice of it” Simard says sadly. “Dying trees move nutrition into the young trees before dying, but we never give them chance.” If we could put across the message to the forestry industry, we could make a huge difference towards our environmental protection efforts for the future.

1. The underlined sentence “the opposite is true” in Paragraph 2 probably means that trees        .

A．compete for survival	B．depend on each other
C．protect their own wealth	D．provide support for dying trees

2. “Mother trees” are extremely important because they        .

A．look the largest in size in the forest

B．know more about the complex "tree societies”

C．seem more likely to be cut down by humans

D．pass on nutrition to young trees

3. The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to        .

A．how forestry industry develops	B．how trees grow old
C．how “tree societies” work	D．how young trees survive

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Old Trees Communicate Like Humans	B．Young Trees Are In Need Of Protection
C．Trees Contribute To Our Society	D．Trees Are More Awesome Than You Think

【推荐3】Grown-ups are often surprised by how well they remember something they learned as children but have never practiced ever since. A man who has not had a chance to go swimming for years can still swim as well as ever when he gets back in the water. He can get on a bicycle after many years and still ride away. He can play catch and hit a ball as well as his son. A mother who has not thought about the words for years can teach her daughter the poem that begins "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" or remember the story of Cinderella or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

One explanation is the law of overlearning, which can be stated as follows: Once we have learned something, additional learning trials increase the length of time we will remember it.

In childhood we usually continue to practice such skills as swimming, bicycle riding, and playing baseball long after we have learned them. We continue to listen to and remind ourselves of words such as "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" and childhood tales such as Cinderella and Goldilocks. We not only learn but overlearn.

The multiplication tables（乘法口诀表）are an exception to the general rule that we forget rather quickly the things that we learn in school, because they are another of the things we overlearn in childhood.

The law of over learning explains why cramming（突击学习）for an examination, though it may result in a passing grade, is not a satisfactory way to learn a college course. By cramming, a student may learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likely soon to forget almost everything he learned. A little overlearning, on the other hand, is really necessary for one's future development.

1. What is the main idea of paragraph 1?

A．People remember well what they learned when they were little.

B．Children have a better memory than grown-ups.

C．Poem reading is a good way to learn words.

D．Stories for children are easy to remember.

2. The author explains the law of overlearning by_________.

A．presenting research findings	B．setting down general rules
C．making a comparison	D．using examples

3. According to the author, being able to use multiplication tables is_______.

A．a result of overlearning	B．a special case of cramming
C．a skill to deal with math problems	D．a basic step towards advanced studies