【推荐1】On the last Monday in May, people in the United States celebrate Memorial Day. This federal holiday honors members of the American military who died at war. Schools and government offices close. Most people in the US have this day off from work. People celebrate Memorial Day with outdoor parades.

Most Americans consider it the start of summer though the season really begins in June. With so many people off work, Memorial Day has also become a popular shopping day. However, on most occasions Memorial Day is a serious and even sorrowful holiday. Those who have lost family members at war visit burial sites to decorate the graves. They place flowers, wreaths and US flags on the graves.

Memorial Day comes from a tradition that began after the US Civil War called Decoration Day. The Civil War was a very dark time in the US history. Historians have long thought that about 620,000 soldiers died in the fighting. However, new research suggests that the dead numbered about 750,000.

In 1868, about 5,000 people gathered at Arlington National Cemetery on the edge of Washington, D. C. They decorated more than 10,000 graves of Union and Confederate soldiers. They called it Decoration Day. bone

The tradition spread to other areas of the country. In 1873, New York State called it Memorial Day and was the first to make it a legal-holiday. Other States allowed, but not all. Some southern states had (and-still have) separate celebrations that honor only dead Confederate soldiers.

After World War I ended in 1918, Memorial Day became a day to honor all American soldiers killed at war. In 1971, Congress passed a law making it an official federal holiday all over America.

1. What's the purpose of Memorial Day in America?

A．To mark the start of summer.	B．To let people enjoy themselves.
C．To show respect to dead soldiers.	D．To set a holiday to encourage soldiers.

2. What's the atmosphere of American Memorial Day like on most occasions?

A．Sad.	B．Casual.
C．Pleasant.	D．Relaxing.

3. When did Memorial Casual, become a legal holiday throughout the US?

A．In 1971.	B．In 1873.
C．In 1918.	D．In 1868.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Celebration Activities of Memorial Day in the US

B．The Prospect of American Memorial Day

C．Members Honored on American Memorial Day

D．The Evolution on Memorial Day in the US

【推荐3】You may have heard of the word “pub”. It is short for public house. There are around 60,000 pubs in the U.K. One of the oldest pubs, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, is located in a building that dates back to the eleventh century.

    1     People talk, eat, drink, meet their friends and relax there. Pubs often have two bars, one usually quieter than the other, and many have a garden where people can sit in summer. Children can go into pub gardens with their parents.

Groups of friends normally buy “rounds” of drinks.     2     It is sometimes difficult to get served when pubs are busy: The bar staff will usually serve those who have been waiting the longest at the bar first.

Most pubs offer a complete range of beers, local and imported, with German, Belgian and French beers being in demand.     3     As a matter of fact, pubs sell soft drinks, too.

The legal age to purchase alcohol is 18 in the UK. People aged 16 and 17, with the license’s permission, may have only one glass of wine during a meal.     4     It is illegal to sell alcohol to someone who already appears drunk. A fourteen-year-old may enter a pub unaccompanied by an adult if he orders a meal. Children may enter a pub with their parents until 9 p.m., which lets families enjoy reasonably priced pub meals together.     5     Customs in British pubs differ from those in American bars. In most pubs in the U.K., you must go to the bar to order drinks and food and pay for your purchases immediately.

A．Pubs are an important part of British life.

B．British people like drinking beers in pubs.

C．And it also allows pubs to play their traditional roles as community centers.

D．In the salon bar the atmosphere is quieter and there are fewer people.

E．But they must be with an adult and the adult orders it.

F．Most people might think pubs are places where people simply drink alcohol.

G．The person whose turn it is will buy drinks for all the members of the group.

【推荐1】Much meaning can be conveyed, clearly, with our eyes, so it is often said that eyes can speak.

Do you have such kind of experience? In a bus you may look at a stranger, but not too long. And if he is sensing that he is being stared at, he may feel uncomfortable.

The same in daily life. If you are looked at for more than necessary, you will look at yourself up and down, to see if there is anything wrong with you. If nothing goes wrong, you will feel angry toward others’ stare at you that way. Eyes do speak, right?

Looking too long at someone may seem to be rude and aggressive. But things are different when it comes to stare at the opposite sex. If a man glances at a woman for more than 10 seconds and refuses to move his gaze, his intentions are obvious, that is, he wishes to attract her attention, to make her understand that he is admiring her.

However, the normal eye contact for two people engaged in conversation is that the speaker will only look at the listener from time to time, in order to make sure that the listener does pay attention to what the former is speaking, to tell him that he is attentive.

If a speaker looks at you continuously when speaking, as if he tries to dominate you, you will feel uncomfortable. A poor liar usually exposes himself by looking too long at the victim, since he believes in the false idea that to look straight in the eye is a sign of honest communication. Quite the contrary.

In fact, continuous eye contact is confined to lovers only, who will enjoy looking at each other tenderly for a long time, to show affection that words cannot express.

Evidently, eye contact should be done according to the relationship between two people and the specific situation.

1. Which of the following behaviors is proper according to the passage?

A．To the opposite sex, stare at him or her.

B．To a stranger, avoid looking at him or her.

C．In a conversation, look at the listener all the time.

D．Make eye contact depending on the relationship and different situations.

2. If two persons exchange eye contact gently for long, what is probably their relationship?

A．Boss and employee.	B．Lovers.
C．Teacher and student.	D．Strangers

3. What’s the best title of the passage?

A．Don’t stare at others	B．Body language is important
C．Eyes can speak	D．Eye contact benefits you

【推荐2】Parents are a child’s first teachers. But some parents never learned from good examples. In New York City, a nonprofit agency called Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents.
The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week. The class is called Mommy and Me. Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother. She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby depending on the season.
She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby. The mother said that would only make the child needy and overly demanding. Delores Clemens says, “that's not true. You have to hold your baby! He is crying for a reason. If you never pick him up, he's going to keep crying. Pick your baby up. Cuddle your baby. Hug him! And she started to do that. They just want a little cuddling and a little love. And it works!”
Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered. Around three hundred fifty teenage mothers graduate from Covenant House's Mommy and Me class every year.
In class, with her baby son is Natasha. She lived on the streets. She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House. As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in seeking a more secure life.
The World Health Organization says the United States has forty-one births for every one thousand girls age fifteen to nineteen. That is higher than other developed countries, as well as some developing ones. By comparison, northern neighbor Canada has fourteen births and southern neighbor Mexico has eighty-two.
1. What is the text mainly about?

A．Parents who are a child’s first teachers.

B．A class where teens learn mothering and are mothered.

C．A nonprofit agency that offers a more secure life.

D．A kind teacher who help homeless young mothers.

2. Covenant Houses’ Mommy and Me class is intended to _____.

A．help homeless young mothers become good parents

B．provide homeless young mothers with a warm shelter

C．help mothers in New York be good parents

D．teach some parents how to love their children

3. What can we know about Delores Clemens from the text?

A．She has a mother of five and a grandmother.

B．She thinks a crying baby should be picked up and hugged.

C．She teaches advanced skills on how to be good mothers.

D．She is very glad for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House.

4. According to the World Health Organization, which country has the highest births for girls age fifteen to nineteen?

A．Canada	B．the United States of America
C．Mexico	D．Britain