【推荐2】Japan’s biggest airline is betting that the future of travel isn’t traveling at all. For the last month, a married couple has been interacting with a robot—called an Avatar—that’s controlled by their daughter hundreds of miles away. Made by ANA Holdings Inc., it looks like a vacuum cleaner with an iPad attached. But the screen displays the daughter’s face as they chat, and its wheels let her move about the house as though she’s really there.

“Virtual travel” is nothing new, of course. Story-tellers, travel writers and artists have been stimulating the senses of armchair tourists for centuries. It’s only in recent decades that frequent, safe travel has become available to the non-wealthy. Yet even as the world’s middle classes climb out of the armchair and into economy-class seat, there are signs of a post-travel society emerging. Concerns about environmental sustainability cause loss to airlines which release much carbon. And the aging of abundant societies is both restricting physical travel and creating demand for alternative ways to experience the world. For the travel industry, virtual reality offers an attractive response to these trends.

Of course, new technologies encourage far-out claims. ANA doesn’t plan to start selling Avatars until next year. Profits, too, will probably be difficult to make: By one estimate, the global market for this kind of technology will be worth only about $300 million by 2023. By contrast, ANA’s traditional travel business brought in more than $19 billion last year.

But if the business value for virtual vacations is still weak, the market for technologies that bridge physical distances between families and coworkers seems likely to only expand. ANA’s robots may not replace its airplanes any time soon, but they’ll almost certainly be a part of travel’s high-tech future.

1. What is the function of Para. 1?

A．To show that Japanese are crazy about travel.

B．To suggest the couple are very satisfied with the robot.

C．To indicate virtual travel begins to enter people’s real life.

D．To express the close relationship between the couple and their daughter.

2. What is the reason for the appearance of the post-travel society?

A．More and more people lose interest in travel.

B．People are worried about the air pollution caused by airlines.

C．Frequent and safe travel has become available to the ordinary people.

D．Storytellers, travel writers and artists have been using it for centuries.

3. According to the passage, what is the possible future of Avatars?

A．They will be put on the market soon.

B．They will bring ANA a lot of money.

C．They will replace ANA’s airplanes soon.

D．They are almost unavoidable in travel’s future.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Easy travel is on the way.	B．Your next travel may be virtual.
C．Benefits of virtual travel.	D．Disappearance of air travel.

【推荐1】The tough challenge of a six-month, 3,200-kilometer walk across the South Pole, in the long darkness of the Antarctic winter when temperatures can fall to -90℃, proved irresistible to the experienced British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

Fiennes’s hero, Captain Robert Falcon Scott, wrote “great God, this is an awful place” when he reached the South Pole a century ago, before freezing and starving to death with his team on the return journey.

That journey was made in summer. Nobody before has attempted to cross the pole in winter. In a statement, Fiennes said, “This will be my greatest challenge to date. We will stretch the limits of human endurance.”

However, Fiennes could not explain why anyone should consider such a venture, still less a man aged 68 who has survived cancer, heart surgery and the loss of most of the frozen fingertips on one hand. “It’s what I do,” he said, looking slightly puzzled at the question.

Fiennes, the world’s greatest living explorer, according to the Guinness Book of Records — was the first to cross the Antarctic continent unsupported; the first to cross both polar ice caps; and the first to travel across the globe from pole to pole.

Fiennes admitted his wife, Louise, and their six-year-old daughter were not thrilled. “But I’ve never done anything else; it’s how I earn my living. And you’re much more likely, statistically, to die on the roads than on the polar ice,” he said.

After training in the Swedish Arctic in a relatively balmy -40℃, Fiennes’ team will set sail from London on Dec. 6 on a South African research ship. The ice trek will begin on Mar. 21, the spring equinox (春分) that marks the official start of the polar winter, from the Russian base of Novolazareskaya. Fiennes and his five team members must then climb more than 3,000 meters on to the inland plateau, walk for several hundred kilometers using an ice tractor to pull all the supplies and equipment they need, descend another 3,000 meters and finally reach the Ross Sea. If they reach Captain Scott’s old base at McMurdo Sound by the spring equinox six months later, they will still have to wait for months until the sea ice backs off enough for their ship to collect them.

1. Fiennes is going on this expedition because__________.

A．it is something he always does as a career

B．he wishes to inspire his family

C．he wants to travel with his wife and daughter

D．he hopes to improve his health

2. The underlined word in Paragraph 7 probably means “__________.”

A．warm and pleasant	B．cold and harsh
C．tough and unbearable	D．agreeable and relaxing

3. According to the article, Fiennes’ expedition will__________.

A．begin at an Antarctic base of Sweden

B．involve climbing and going down a high plateau

C．start and finish exactly at the two spring equinoxes

D．finish in a few weeks after the ship arrives

4. Fiennes is attempting to cross the South Pole__________.

A．on the same route as Captain Scott’s

B．by himself during the winter months

C．by ice tractor for most of the trip

D．on foot during the worst trip

【推荐1】When I was young I wanted to be a model, so when a national contest was staged, I convinced my parents to take me for an audition (试演). I was selected and told I had potential. They said that for only $900 I could attend a weekend event which dozens of the most prestigious (有声望的) modeling agencies from around the world would attend. At 13, my hopes of fame and fortune clouded all judgment and I begged my parents to let me go. We have never been rich, but they saw my enthusiasm and agreed.

I imagined being signed by some famous model companies. For months, any boredom or disappointment was pushed aside because I knew I would soon have the chance to be a real model. I thought I would grace the covers of famous magazines!

Of course, I wasn’t signed, but what hurt me most was being told that if I grew to 5’9” (about 1.75 metres) I could be a success. I prayed for a growth spurt (冲刺) because I could not imagine giving up my dream. I made an appointment with a local modeling agency and the agent demanded $ 500 for classes, $500 for a photo shoot, and $ 300 for other expenses. My parents only agreed after hours and hours of me begging.

The agency sent me out on a few auditions, but with every day I didn’t receive a call I grew more depressed. The final straw came in July after I had decided to focus on commercial (广告) modeling. There was an open call in New York City. We spent hours driving and another few hours waiting, only to be told that I was too short I was devastated (感到难以承受的).

Years later Ire zed that the trip to New York was good as it made me notice I didn’t actually love modeling, just the idea of it. I wanted to be special and I was innocently determined to reach an impossible goal. The experience has made me stronger and that will help me in the future.

1. What’s the main reason why the author wanted to be a model?

A．She won a national contest.

B．She wanted to get reputation and wealth.

C．She was urged by some modeling agencies.

D．She had full potential to be a successful model.

2. What’s the author’s parents’ attitude toward her dream?

A．Encouraging.

B．Critical.

C．Doubtful.

D．Enthusiastic.

3. What was that made the author end her attempt to become a model?

A．Her parents were strongly against it.

B．She realized that it was impossible for her.

C．Even a local modeling agency turned her down.

D．She realized that she didn’t actually love the idea of modeling.

4. The underlined phrase “The final straw” probably means          

A．the last in a series of bad things that happen to make someone very upset angry, etc

B．the final result that she was admitted by the model company

C．the final audition given by the agency

D．the decision that she made at last not to be a model anymore

5. What did the author learn from her experience of struggling to be a model?

A．Where there’s a will there’s away.

B．Being a model is not that easy.

C．We should have our own judgment and should not just follow others.

D．We might set unpractical goals but the experiences can help us grow.

【推荐2】Madagascar was not turning out to be the heaven I expected. I was on assignment here to report on drought relief and the prevention of starvation. A reporter and I were here to find out who was helping.

After a three-plus-hour ride in a van, we arrived in Ambovombe, a small town. Peter immediately headed over to the hospital to speak with a local doctor on our topics of interest. Since I didn’t need to photograph the background interview with the doctor, I decided to wander cut to the road and tried to look ordinary.

l raised my camera tentatively to get some images before the sun went down. These would be my first photos in the country. Would they duck and cover? Hiss and yell? Would they be pleased? Upset?

I photographed a handsome man who leaned against a wall in the golden light of dusk. No reaction. Ok. I took a breath. After a while, everyone within a 20-yard away had noticed me.

Soon a mother standing at the street, encouraged me to photograph her two young children. I hesitated a moment. They were dressed in dirty clothes. One of them might not even have any pants on-not because their parents were too careless, but because they could not afford them. Shoes were far beyond the means of money.

Their mother really wanted me to photograph them. This happens everywhere I go. I’ve taken this kind of photo of cute smiling children staring into my lens over and over. I don’t usually save the image for my photo files.

But I saved this one.

Why? The children’s mother. It’s something so powerful yet so common that we sometimes miss it. This mom despite all the disadvantages so obvious to an outsider’s eyes, found in her children something she wanted a photograph to remember. That was because she saw a different picture: She saw it with a mother’s heart As should we all.

1. Why did the writer go to Madagascar?

A．To report on people’s living in the country.

B．To look into why people suffered starvation.

C．To take photos of people suffering from drought.

D．To investigate who was offering aid to the area.

2. What does the underlined word “tentatively” mean in paragraph 3?

A．Cautiously.

B．Excitedly.

C．Casually.

D．Skillfully.

3. When asked to photograph the kids, the writer hesitated because ________.

A．they were dressed in dirty clothes

B．he found they wore worn-out pants

C．they didn’t look good enough for a picture

D．he had taken too many photos of this kind

4. Why did the writer keep the photo of the kids?

A．It recorded a touching moment.

B．It was a reminder of visiting Madagascar.

C．It reflected a mom’s love for her children.

D．It showed the miserable life in Madagascar.

【推荐3】David Rees runs a truly distinctive business. He charges customers $15 to sharpen their pencils to perfections, using a variety of tools.

I know what you're thinking — is this a joke? The 39-year-old gets asked that question a lot. To clarify everything, he even created a special section on his website telling everyone he's actually providing a real service.

You can supply your own pencil or you can have Rees sharpen one of his own favorite 2B pencils. After that, he mails it to you in a display tube with the shavings in a separate bag, and an authentic certificate which just happens to mention the pencil is so sharp as to be a dangerous object.

To achieve the desired result, the master sharpener uses all kinds of tools, including general sandpapers, pocket knives and even a special $450 sharpening machine. "It depends on what the customer wants to use his/her pencil for," he says. "That determines the most appropriate pencil-sharpening technique.

Some customers buy pencils as inspirational symbols while others buy them because of their special memories of classic 2B pencils.

$15 to have a pencil sharpened is a bit expensive though, right? You're not the only one who feels that way, and David's unique business has really angered lots of people, who talk of inequality in America, saying it is so insane for the wealthy to pay $15 to sharpen a pencil. But others will say, "This is just our urge to put an end to the welfare state because new ideas arise along with the business."

David admits his trade is sort of unusual. But there are those who actually value his service, as proven by the over 500 orders he has gotten.

1. How could David make money by sharpening pencils?

A．He invented new tools for the job.

B．He promoted his skill on his website.

C．He saved lots of time for other people.

D．He provided quality service to his customers.

2. From his words, we can infer that David Bees                   .

A．knows all kinds of pencil users	B．provides personalized services
C．values ideas behind the pencils	D．always write with pencils

3. What does the underlined word "insane" (in Paragraph 5) mean?

A．Deliberate.	B．Rewarding.
C．Unreasonable.	D．Irresponsible.

4. What seems to be the author's attitude to David Bees' trade?

A．It's a fancy service.	B．It has a good reputation.
C．It's awfully expensive.	D．It wastes time and money.