【推荐1】In recent decades, social isolation has been recognized as a major risk to our health and long life. It’s twice as bad for you as being overweight and nearly as bad as smoking. The rising number of people who say they are affected, across a wide range of ages, is shocking. In reality, you can suffer the ill effects of loneliness even if you are not socially isolated.

Comedian Robin Williams made a striking observation in 2014: “I used to think the worst thing in life was to end up all alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone.” Tracking large groups over time indicates that perceived（感知的）social isolation carries its own risk for morbidity（发病率）and mortality.

The perception of isolation—from others of being in the social aspect-is not only a cause of unhappiness, it also signals danger. Fish have evolved to swim to the middle of their group when predators（捕食者）approach, mice housed in social isolation show sleep disruptions and reduced slow-wave sleep and prairie voles（田鼠）isolated from their partners then placed in an open field explore their surroundings less and concentrate on avoiding predators.

These behaviours reflect an increased emphasis on self-preservation in the social aspect. For instance, fish on the edge of a school are more likely to be attacked by predators because they are easier to isolate and prey upon. Such observations reflect a more general principle that perceived social isolation in social animals activates neural（神经系统的）, neuroendocrine（神经内分泌的）and behavioural responses that promote short-term self-preservation. However, these responses bring a cost for long-term health and well-being.

The range of harmful neural and behavioural effects of perceived isolation documented in adults include increased anxiety, hostility and social withdrawal; fragmented sleep and daytime tiredness; increased vascular resistance and changed gene expression and immunity; decreased impulse control; increased negativity and depressive symptoms; and increased age-related cognitive decline.

Sadly, to date, attempts to reduce loneliness have met with limited success. A series of randomized controlled trials showed that they had only a small effect. Among the four types of interventions（介入）examined, talking therapy that focused on inappropriate thought processes had the largest impact. Social skills training, social support and increased opportunities for social contact were much less effective.

1. What can we learn about social isolation from the first paragraph?

A．It exists mainly among adults.

B．It’s the worst risk to our health and long life.

C．Its effect is more serious than smoking.

D．More and more people are suffering it.

2. During perceived social isolation, animals will suffer bad health for ________.

A．focusing more on their own safety	B．being separated from their partners
C．adapting to the new surroundings	D．worrying about their lack of food

3. The fifth paragraph is mainly about ________.

A．causes of perceived isolation.	B．treatments for perceived isolation
C．bad effects of perceived isolation	D．the definition of perceived isolation

4. What is the most effective in helping suffers of perceived social isolation?

A．Giving them strong social support.

B．Communicate more and better with them.

C．Get them to attend some training courses.

D．Enlarge their circles of social network.

【推荐3】That children are the hopes of our tomorrow is statement that is repeated time and again. And it is an axiom(格言); they are our pillars of the coming time. But then do we train them into becoming healthy human beings?

Healthy human beings here are not meant the physical well being, but the good human being, that is, one with virtues and values keeps them in the state of working towards the benefit of humanity.

How can children absorb within themselves the virtues and values? Well, this is the primary responsibility of parents and other immediate family members, followed by school authorities. The values and virtues of an individual is sown in their childhood and as they grow up.

Depending on the way we bring up our children, we decide our own future. It is vital that in the formative years we give them quality time and attention. We teach them to discriminate between the good, bad and the ugly. We have to teach them use positive emotive like love and compassion and teach them actions of kindness and generosity. At the same time we have to help them do away with the negatives of hatred, anger, jealousy, selfishness, etc.

Your child is like a plant. You sow the seeds and also reap the benefits of its growth and development. First and foremost you as a parent have to realize your responsibility in nurturing a child to grow into a good human being. And it is just not up to anyone of the parents, but both together to inculcate(谆谆教诲)the values and virtues into your child.

1. What should a good human being have?

A．A good physical state	B．A good virtue or value
C．A good career in society	D．A powerful relationship net

2. What sense is the most important for kids to learn?

A．Safety sense	B．Lifestyle sense
C．Transportation sense	D．Responsibility sense

3. Whom is the passage most probably written for?

A．Family parents	B．Child experts
C．Health researchers	D．Primary school teachers

4. What does the passage mainly want to tell us?

A．Children are parents’ hope

B．Educating children is a tough thing

C．Parents take responsibilities for educating children

D．Parents have trouble in educating children

【推荐2】The Olympic Games are well known and always receive the world’s attention, but there has been another little-known Olympic event in the UK for hundreds of years. And it’s an event which some say helped start the Olympic movement in this country. The Cotswold Olimpicks take place every year on a Friday in spring. They are held in a village in England known as the Cotswolds. It isn’t clear when the first event took place but some say it was as early as 1612.

The Cotswold Olimpicks were the idea of a lawyer called Robert Dover but no one knows exactly why he organized the games. Some people say he wanted to encourage people to support their king and country. Another explanation is that Dover was keen (渴望的) to bring people together, in particular the rich and poor from the local community. Whatever the reason was, the early games quickly became popular. People competed in familiar activities such as horse-racing running, jumping, and wrestling; famous people of the time attended them and poets wrote about the celebrations. It is even said that Shakespeare mentioned the Cotswold Olimpicks in The Merry Wives of Windsor, though the play may have been written some time before the first games.

As the Cotswold Olimpicks grew in popularity, a group of people known as the Puritans (清教徒) started to object to them for religious reasons, saying they encouraged bad behaviour. The games came to an end at the start of the English Civil War but in 1660 they were re-introduced. Over time they became more and more popular and there are records of 30,000 people attending in one year. However, the games also attracted people who were more interested in the celebrations than the sporting events. Finally, they came to an end once again in 1852. However, this was not the end of the Cotswold Olimpicks. They were re-introduced again in 1966 and have since been recognized by the British Olympic Committee. Out of respect to their history, the modern games are watched over by a man dressed as Sir Robert Dover, riding on horseback an accompanied by a representative of King James I, Unlike the real Olympic Games, the Cotswold Olimpicks have only about two hours and they are followed by celebrations in the village.

1. What can we learn about the Cotswold Olimpicks?

A．They last as long as the Olympic Games.

B．They are held in different seasons in different years

C．They are closely connected with celebrations

D．They are held at the same place as the Olympic Games.

2. The author mentioned Shakespeare and his play in Paragraph 2 to show__________.

A．celebrities of the time liked Shakespeare’s plays

B．the Cotswold Olimpicks were well received at the time

C．the Cotswold Olimpicks were as famous as Shakespeare’s plays

D．poets of the time liked to take part in the Cotswold Olimpicks games

3. The Cotswold Olimpicks were most influenced by______.

A．Robert Dover

B．King James

C．the British Olympic Committee

D．the English Civil War

【推荐3】A build-it-yourself solar still(蒸馏器) is one of the best ways to obtain drinking water in areas where the liquid is not readily available. Developed by two doctors in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it’s an excellent water collector. Unfortunately, you must carry the necessary equipment with you, since it’s all but impossible to find natural substitutes. The only components required, though, are a 5＇×5＇ sheet of clear or slightly milky plastic, six feet of plastic tube, and a container— perhaps just a drinking cup — to catch the water. These pieces can be folded into a neat little pack and fastened on your belt.

To construct a working still, use a sharp stick or rock to dig a hole four feet across and three feet deep. Try to make the hole in a damp area to increase the water catcher’s productivity. Place your cup in the deepest part of the hole. Then lay the tube in place so that one end rests all the way in the cup and the rest of the line runs up — and out — the side of the hole.

Next, cover the hole with the plastic sheet, securing the edges of the plastic with dirt and weighting the sheet’s center down with a rock. The plastic should now form a cone(圆锥体) with 45-degree-angled sides. The low point of the sheet must be centered directly over, and no more than three inches above, the cup.

The solar still works by creating a greenhouse under the plastic. Ground water evaporates (蒸发) and collects on the sheet until small drops of water form, run down the material and fall off into the cup. When the container is full, you can suck the refreshment out through the tube, and won’t have to break down the still every time you need a drink.

1. What do we know about the solar still equipment from the first paragraph?

A．It’s delicate.	B．It’s expensive.
C．It’s complex.	D．It’s portable.

2. What does the underlined phrase “the water catcher” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．The tube.	B．The still.
C．The hole.	D．The cup.

3. What’s the last step of constructing a working solar still?

A．Dig a hole of a certain size.	B．Put the cup in place.
C．Weight the sheet’s center down.	D．Cover the hole with the plastic sheet.

4. When a solar still works, drops of water come into the cup from ________.

A．the plastic tube	B．outside the hole
C．the open air	D．beneath the sheet

【推荐1】When American soldiers return home from war with disabilities, they often suffer twice—first from their combat injuries, next from the humiliation（羞辱）of government dependency.

Wounded veterans（老兵）learn they have two basic choices: They can receive almost $ 3 ,000 a month in disability benefits along with medical care and access to other various welfare programs, or they can try to find a job. Especially in this economy, it’s no wonder that many find that first option hard to turn down.

Mark Duggan, an economics professor at Stanford University, reports that enrollment in the U. S. veterans’ disability programs rose from 2.3 million in 2001 to 3.9 million in 2014. The percentage of veterans receiving benefits doubled, from 8.9% in 2001 to 18% in 2014. Disability services for veterans now consume $59 billion.

In the 1980s and 1990s, male veterans were more likely to be in the labor force than nonveterans. But since 2000, that has changed dramatically. Now there is a 4% gap between veteran and non-veteran labor participation, with veteran participation lower.

Navy SEAL Eric Greitens, the founder of The Mission Continues, explains how soldiers who served their country are transformed into welfare receivers who live off their country.

“When veterans come home from war they are going through a tremendous change in identity, ” he says. “Then the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, and others, encourage them to view themselves as disabled.” By the time they come to Greitens’ non-profit organization, “We meet a number of veterans who see themselves as charity cases and are not sure anymore what they have to contribute.”

There are also more practical factors driving the disability boom. One is the expansion of qualification criteria. In 2000, for instance, type 2 diabetes was added as a disability because of evidence linking exposure to Agent Orange with the onset of the disease. Heart disease has also been added to the list.

Another possible factor is that younger veterans seem less against welfare than their parents’ generation. Veterans who have served since the 1990s are much more likely to sign up for disability than their older counterparts; 1 in 4 younger veterans is on disability, versus just 1 in 7 of those over age 54.

We shouldn’t go back to the bad old days when veterans were afraid to admit weakness. But Lt. Col. Daniel Gade is one of many veterans who think our disability system is harmful, psychologically, to former soldiers. Gade lost his leg in combat in 2005 and now teaches at West Point. He recently gave a talk to disabled veterans at Ft. Carson, in which he urged them to rejoin the workforce.

“People who stay home because they are getting paid enough to get by on disability are worse off,” he warned. “They are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. They are more likely to live alone.”

What a waste of human potential, especially since most veterans on disability still have their prime working years ahead of them when they’re discharged（遣退）.

We could solve this problem by changing the way we view-and label-veterans with disabilities. As Gade noted in a recent article, “Veterans should be viewed as resources, not as damaged goods.” He recommended that “efforts to help veterans should begin by recognizing their abilities rather than focusing only on then disabilities, and should serve the ultimate aim of moving wounded soldiers to real self-sufficiency.”

On a more practical note, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs could reallocate（再分配）resources to spend more on job training and less on disability. Current placement programs are sadly inadequate.

We are good at sending soldiers off to war. Yet when these young men and women return home, they are essentially told, “We’ll give you enough for a reasonably comfortable life, but we won’t help you find a job.”

It is unreasonable that we are condemning thousands of young veterans who served their country to life on the dole（失业救济金）rather than enabling them to re-enter the workforce with the necessary accommodations.

1. What do more and more wounded veterans appear to do nowadays?

A．Depend on the government for a living.

B．Be treated badly in most workplaces.

C．Ask the government for more dole.

D．Spend more time on job hunting.

2. How does Mark Duggan prove his opinion in the passage?

A．By listing figures.	B．By giving examples.
C．By performing experiments.	D．By analyzing cause and effect.

3. What did veterans use to do in the 1980s and 1990s?

A．Refuse to find jobs.	B．Be a main labor resource.
C．Have much trouble finding jobs.	D．Receive many disability benefits.

4. One of the reasons why there are more disabled veterans is that       .

A．damage from the war is greater than ever

B．veterans have suffered much more than ever

C．the scale of disabilities has been broadened

D．older veterans aren’t afraid to admit their disability

5. In Cade’s opinion, the veterans who receive welfare from the government tend to _______.

A．save more trouble for the government

B．lead a miserable and unhappy life

C．increasingly depend on the government

D．suffer the humiliation of their combat injuries

【推荐2】Revenge is one of those things that everyone enjoys. People don’t like to talk about it, though. Just the same, there is nothing more satisfying or more rewarding than revenge. The purpose is not to harm your victims but to let them know that you are upset about something that they are doing to you. Careful planning can provide you with relief from annoying coworkers, gossiping friends or talkative family members.
Coworkers who make comments about the fact that you are always fifteen minutes late for work can be taken care of very simply. All you have to do is get up extra one day. Before the sun comes up, drive to each coworker’s house. Reach under the cover of your coworker’s car and disconnect the center wire that leads to the distributor（配电盘）cap, the car will be unharmed, but it will not start, and your friends at work will all be late for work on the same day. If you’re lucky, your boss might notice that you are the only one there and will give you a raise.
Gossiping friends at school are also perfect targets for a simple act of revenge. A way to trap either male or female friends is to leave false messages on their lockers(柜子). If the friend that you want to get is male, leave a message that a certain girl would like him to stop by her house later that day. With any luck，her boyfriend will be there. The girl won’t know what’s going on, and the victim will be so embarrassed that he probably won’t leave his home for a month.
When Mom and Dad and your sisters and brothers really begin to annoy you, harmless revenge may be just the way it makes them quiet down for a while. The dinner table is a likely place. Just before the meal begins, throw a handful of raisins (葡萄干) into the food. Wait about five minutes and, after everyone has begun to eat, cover your mouth with your hand and begin to make strange noises. When they ask you what the matter is, point to a raisin and yell. “Bugs!” They’ll throw their food in the dustbin, jump into the car, and head for McDonald’s. That night you’ll have your first quiet, peaceful meal in a long time.
A well-planned revenge does not have it hurt anyone. The object is simply to let other people know that they are beginning to bother you.
1. According to the passage, a harmless revenge is ________.

A．to amuse the victim

B．to hurt nobody emotionally

C．to react to those who bother you

D．to prevent one from disturbing others

2. As a harmless revenge, you might come first and get a raise by ________.

A．pleasing your boss

B．destroying your colleagues’ cars

C．making your colleagues come late

D．getting up earlier than your colleagues

3. The family members threw their food in the dustbin because ________.

A．they wanted to eat out

B．they didn’t like the food with raisins

C．they wanted to have a peaceful meal

D．they thought their food had been ruined

4. The topic of the passage is how to ________.

A．make a harmless revenge

B．silence gossiping friends

C．avoid talkative family members

D．deal with annoying coworkers

【推荐3】A supermarket checkout operator was praised for striking a blow for modern manners and a return to the age of politeness after refusing to serve a shopper who was talking on her mobile phone.

The supermarket manager was forced to apologize to the customer who complained she was told her goods would not be scanned unless she hung up her phone. Jo Clark, 46, said, “I don't know what she was playing at. I couldn’t believe how rude she was. When did she have the right to give me a lecture on checkout manners? I won’t be shopping there again!”

But users of social media sites and Internet forums (论坛) were very angry that store gave in and the public appeared to be supporting the angry checkout worker. “Perhaps this is a turning point for mobile phone users everywhere. When chatting, keep your eyes on people around you. That includes people trying to serve you, other road users and especially people behind you in the stairs,” said a typical post.

“It’s time checkout staff fought back against these people constantly chatting on their phones. They can drive anyone crazy. It’s rude and annoying. I often want to grab someone’s phone and throw it as far as I can, even though I am not a checkout girl, just a passer-by,” said another.

Siobhan Freegard, founder of parenting site www. Netmums.com said, “While this checkout operator doesn’t have the authority to order customers to switch off their phones, you can see clearly how frustrated and angry she felt. No matter how busy you are, life is nicer when you and those around you have good manners.”

1. According to Jo Clark, the checkout operator_____________.

A．lacked the knowledge of checkout manners

B．played with a mobile phone while at work

C．had no right to forbid her from using her mobile phone

D．deserved praise for her modern manners

2. The third and fourth paragraphs imply that the public_________.

A．are used to chatting on their mobile phones

B．are driven crazy by constant mobile calls

C．ignore the existence of mobile phone users

D．seem to support the checkout operator

3. The attitude of Siobhan Freegard towards the checkout operator was________.

A．disapproving	B．supportive
C．neutral(中立的)	D．indifferent

4. The passage is mainly about _________.

A．whether we should talk on our phones while being served

B．why we can talk on mobile phones while shopping

C．what good manners checkout operators should have

D．how we can develop good manners for mobile phone users