【推荐3】Have you ever wondered why people drive on a different side of the road? It might seem bizarre that U. K. Drivers stay on the left, but they’re not the only ones. Around 35 percent of the world population do the same, including people in Ireland, Japan, and some Caribbean islands.

Originally, almost everybody traveled on the left side of the road. However their way of transport was quite different from today: Think about four legs instead of four wheels. For Medieval swordsmen on horseback, it made sense to keep to the left to have their right arms closer to their enemies. Getting on or off was also easier from the left side of the horse, and safer done by the side of the road than in the center.

So why did people stop traveling on the left? Things changed in the late 1700s when large wagons (货车) pulled by several pairs of horses were used to transport farm products in France and the United States. The wagon driver sat behind the left horse, with his right arm free to use his whip to keep the horses moving. Since he was sitting on the left position, he wanted other wagons to pass on his left, so he kept to the right side of the road.

The British Government refused to give up their left-hand driving ways, and in 1773 introduced the General Highways Act, which encouraged driving on the left. This was later made law thanks to The Highway Act of 1835.

When Henry Ford showed his Model T in 1908, the driver’s seat was on the left, meaning that cars would have to drive on the right hand side of the road to allow front and back passengers to exit the car onto the roadside. However, British drivers remain on the left, and this is highly unlikely to change.

1. What does the underlined word “bizarre” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Funny.	B．Strange.
C．Wrong.	D．Difficult

2. Why did people riding the horse travel on the left in history?

A．It was safer to keep on the left

B．It was easier to carry goods.

C．It was easier for them to fight.

D．It was necessary to control the horse.

3. What made drivers of large wagons travel on the right?

A．Their sitting position.

B．The road conditions.

C．The number of horses.

D．The products in the wagons.

4. Which of the following may be the best title for the text?

A．UK Drivers Still Go On The Left

B．Why People Like Sitting On The Left Side

C．The History Of Transportation Means

D．The Reasons For Different Driving Sides

【推荐1】A heartless thief is believed to have crashed a fund-raiser and made off with a bag of cash meant to help a New York City firefighter pay for life-changing surgery for his 9-year-old son. But little Aidan Sullivan -- who was born with a facial defect and no right ear -- yesterday put up a brave front, with a message for the crook(thief): “I'm going to kick your butt!”
“I want to look normal,”said Aidan, whose father, Tim, is a firefighter in the Bronx. The third-grader has hemi facial micro soma, in which one half of the face doesn't develop correctly.
Last weekend, family friend Peter Drake, a Ridgefield, Conn., firefighter, hosted a fund-raiser, collecting between $8,000 and $9,000. But when the party at a Danbury, Conn., Irish cultural center was over, the money had disappeared.
“At the end of the night, all the money that was donated was put in a zippered bag,” said Tim Sullivan. “A bartender gave the bag to Pete... He had it in his hands. He put it down to go do something, and when he came back, he saw that it was missing.”
Sullivan said his longtime friend -- who has had fund-raisers to pay for Aidan's 10 previous surgeries -- is “devastated.”
“Pete was so upset. He kept saying, I let Aidan down, I let Aidan down,” Colleen Sullivan, 40, recalled.
“We even went Dumpster diving, in case it was thrown out.”
The Sullivans plan to go ahead with the March 1 surgery led by specialists at NYU's Langone Medical Center in Manhattan. The money would have offset the $10,000 to $15,000 that insurance doesn't cover. Yesterday, Aidan said he's not a fan of hospitals and doesn't like to be away from his sister, Kaylee, 4. But he's willing to do it. “I'm excited,” he said. “Finally, an ear.”
1. Where do you probably read this text from?

A．A magazine.

B．A newspaper.

C．A book.

D．An advertisement.

2. How did little Aidan Sullivan feel when he knew the money was missing.

A．He felt excited.	B．He felt surprised.
C．He felt upset.	D．He felt annoyed.

3. What is the money used for according to this text?

A．To help Aidan Sullivan to have another operation.

B．To help pay for Aidan Sullivan’s life insurance.

C．To return the money the Sullivans owed to the hospital.

D．To help a firefighter who got hurt in the ear.

4. What is true of little Aidan Sullivan?

A．He hates going to hospital.

B．He will go to New York for the surgery.

C．He didn’t care too much about the lost money.

D．He has received 10 surgeries before.

5. What can we infer about Pete from the text?

A．He was heartless.	B．He was kind.
C．He was caress.	D．He was a firefighter.

【推荐2】Disney has adapted a series of beloved animated films into its live-action（真人） movies, and that trend has not even begun to slow.
On Monday, the company announced that the newest movie to get the live-action treatment would be Mulan.
Based on the same Chinese legend as the 1998 animated movie, Mulan will follow in the footsteps of Cinderella, Maleficent, and several already-announced upcoming movies.
Since 2010, Disney has released three live-action adaptations of formerly animated movies: Alice In Wonderland, Maleficent, and Cinderella.
All three have proven to be financial successes, with Alice In Wonderland earning over $1 billion and Maleficent bringing in $758 million.
Even the most recent offering, Cinderella, has managed to earn over $330 million in its first three weeks of wide release.
Fans of live-action remakes will not have to wait for Mulan, since Disney has already planned four other adaptations to hit theatres first.
The Jungle Book is the next movie to get a live-action revival, planned for 2016。
A retelling of Beauty And The Beast - starring Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, and Audra McDonald - will begin production in May, with an expected release date of March 17, 2017.
Surprisingly, the other Disney cartoon getting an adaptation is 1941's Dumbo, the story of a flying elephant.
Tim Burton signed on to direct that tricky movie on March 10.
1. Mulan will get the live action treatment because__________

A．it’s a famous Chinese legend.

B．it’s a trend to remake beloved animated films into live action ones

C．it earned over $330 million at the box office.

D．it’s better than Cinderella.

2. Which of the following film has not been adapted into a live action movie?

A．Dumbo	B．Cinderella
C．Alice In Wonderland	D．Maleficent

3. Which of the following is the right order of time when the live action remakes come out?
a. Cinderella            b. Beauty And The Beast
c. The Jungle Book     d. Alice In Wonderland

A．abcd

B．cdba

C．dacb

D．bdca

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．The present situation of the film market.

B．The introduction of some famous animated films.

C．The live action remakes of some animated films.

D．An advertisement of an animated film Mulan.

【推荐3】I vividly remember walking back to my house after collecting the afternoon mails. I saw a credit card statement, another credit card statement and our bank statements. It was in that moment that I felt a deep tension.
I realized that even though I had married a man who I absolutely loved and adored, I really didn’t have a clear sense of how he handled money and how the two of us were going to combine our different approaches to handling money in our marriage. I was more organized and detailed, but he was more of a _____type. I knew that getting on the same financial page was a key factor in creating a successful marriage and financial future.
I asked my husband if he would be willing to set up a time each week to talk about our finances and develop a plan for getting rid of our credit card debt. My husband said he would be willing to do this. Admittedly, he was skeptical — but willing.
We came to refer to our weekly meetings as our Financial Dates. We didn’t really have a clue as to what we were doing. All we knew was that we needed to give our finances serious attention. Some Dates were filled with tense conversations. Other Dates were filled with laughter, joy and creativity. However, we kept showing up for our Dates and we never gave up. What started out as a means for survival became a powerful connecting thread in our relationship. Something shifted within us.
Instead of our finances becoming a source of divisive tension that pulled us apart, they became
the glue that held us together as we became a unified team.
I still recall the day that we excitedly crossed off our last credit card payment on the chart we had created. We had finally arrived. We were free. We had been given wings to fly.
Now, whenever I feel huge stress I ask myself, “How am I contributing to what is happening right now?” This gives me the ultimate power to take action. Even though my husband and I don’t have any guarantee against future challenges, I am left with something deep within that is unshakable and that can never be taken away — the memory of our past successes and the power to integrate (整合) these lessons in my day-to-day life.
1. Why did the author feel nervous when collecting the afternoon mails? _______

A．She was not sure about her marriage.

B．She didn’t know how to handle money.

C．She could feel the pressure of the huge debt.

D．She was reminded of the quarrels in the family.

2. Which word can replace the underlined word “laid-back” in the second paragraph?_____

A．relaxed.	B．skeptical.
C．lazy.	D．confident.

3. What can we learn from the Financial Dates? ______

A．They showed the couple clear direction at first.

B．They left the couple nothing but deep sadness.

C．They were once interrupted but quickly continued.

D．They strengthened the couple’s relationship at last.

4. We can infer that when faced with stress the author will _______.

A．try to change the situation

B．focus on what contributes to it

C．get power from the memory

D．feel free to do what she likes

【推荐1】200,000 miles from Earth, the crew of the third manned mission to the Moon faced an astronaut’s worst nightmare: an explosion on the spacecraft. It’s what happened in the Oscar-winning film Apollo 13, but it’s also a true story.

The lift-off of Apollo 13 took place on 11th April 1970. Two days into the mission, the three-man crew were in big trouble. They had been carrying out routine checks when there was a loud bang. Warning lights were starting to flash. Looking out into space, they could see a trail of gas — the spacecraft was leaking oxygen. They sent out a short message to the scientists back on Earth: “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” At first, they thought that a meteor (流星) had hit them, but they later found out that a short circuit had caused an oxygen container to explode. Whatever the cause, they knew there was no time to lose. Their electricity supply in the command module (指令舱) depended on that oxygen and pretty soon they would run out of both.

The only solution was to move into the lunar module — the section of the spacecraft that would have landed on the Moon. Now though, they were using it as a kind of lifeboat. With its own power supply, oxygen and water, the three men could survive in the lunar module and return to Earth. There was another problem though. In an enclosed space like a lunar module, the carbon dioxide the crew was breathing out was dangerous. The equipment to clear the air of carbon dioxide was only built for two people. Now it had to deal with three. Amazingly, the crew managed to build an adapter out of materials onboard to reduce the carbon dioxide to a safe level.

There was one final hindrance. The lunar module wasn’t strong enough to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere so the crew had to go back into the damaged command module. To everyone’s relief, the crew of Apollo 13 arrived safely in the South Pacific Ocean on April 17th. Although the crew didn’t land on the Moon, NASA still considered the mission a success.

1. What was the astronauts’ first reaction to the explosion?

A．They went out to land on the Moon.	B．They informed scientists on Earth.
C．They moved into the lunar module.	D．They looked into the cause of the explosion.

2. How did the astronauts solve their air situation in the lunar module?

A．By moving back to the command module.	B．By lowering the carbon dioxide level.
C．By creating a new oxygen supply.	D．By limiting the oxygen use.

3. What does the underlined word in the last paragraph mean?

A．Surprise.

B．Mission.

C．Obstacle.

D．Circumstance.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．A Successful Mission	B．An Amazing Adventure
C．Deep Space Exploration	D．Life-and-Death Drama in Space

【推荐2】The world's first hamburger doesn't come from where you think it comes from. It wasn't invented in the United States, and it didn't originate in Germany. No, the world's first hamburger comes from China.
If you're scratching your head right now, you're not alone. But Chinese hamburgers are very real and they definitely predate the hamburgers we call our own in the U.S. Known as rou jia mo, which translates to "meat burger" or "meat sandwich", they consist of chopped meat inside a pita-like bun, and they've been around since the Qin Dynasty, from about 221 BC to 207 BC. Despite the differences between this Chinese street food and our American-style burgers, the rou jia mo has been called the world's first hamburger.
The rou jia mo originated in the Shanxi Province of China, and is now eaten all over the country. It's typically prepared and eaten on the street. The dough for the bun, or mo, consists of a simple mixture of wheat flour, water and maybe yeast. Of course recipes may vary, but this basic equation makes for a chewy and subtle pillow for the delicious filling. While the mo is traditionally baked in a clay oven, today it's often fried in a pan. They may look a little like Chinese steamed buns or baozi, but the dough for those are, of course, steamed, not baked or fried.
The meat filling might consist of chopped pork, beef, lamb or chicken that has been stewed with a variety of spices, like ginger, cloves, coriander and star anise. You might also find herbs like cilantro or greens like lettuce garnishing the sandwich.
1. What does the underlined word mean?

A．noodle

B．food

C．bread

D．beverage

2. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．The mo people eat today is baked in a clay oven.

B．The world's first hamburger which was originated in the Shanxi Province of China is popular around the world.

C．The rou jia mo has a history of more than 2200 years.

D．The rou jia mo and American-style burgers share a similar cooking process.

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

A．Delicious hamburger

B．How to cook hamburger

C．Chinese invented hamburger

D．History of hamburger

【推荐3】In its early history，Chicago had floods frequently，especially in the spring，making the streets so muddy that people，horses, and carts got stuck．An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this：A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street．Asked if he needs help，he replies，"No，thanks．I've got a good horse under me．"

The city planner decided to build an underground drainage （排水） system，but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city．

An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12 feet．

This of course created a new problem：dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago．Building owners were faced with a choice：either change the first floors of their buildings into basements，and the second stories into main floors，or hoist the entire buildings to meet the new street level．Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily．But what about large，heavy structures like Tremont Hotel，which was a six-story brick building？

That's where George Pullman came in．He had developed some house-moving skills successfully．To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel，Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews （螺旋千斤顶） beneath the building's foundation．One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10 jackscrews．At Pullman's signal each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time，thereby raising the building slowly and evenly．Astonishingly，the Tremont Hotel stay open during the entire operation，and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening．Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago's early history，every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem．Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River，the city's next step was to clean the polluted river．

1. The author mentions the joke to show________．

A．horses were fairly useful in Chicago	B．Chicago was very dangerous in the spring
C．Chicago's streets were extremely muddy	D．the Chicago people were particularly humorous

2. The underlined word "hoist" in Paragraph 4 means________．

A．change

B．lift

C．repair

D．decorate

3. What can we conclude about the moving operation of the Tremont Hotel？

A．It went on smoothly as intended．	B．It interrupted the business of the hotel．
C．It involved Pullman turning ten jackscrews．	D．It separated the building from its foundation．

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．The early Chicago's popular life styles and their influences

B．The early Chicago's environmental disasters and their causes.

C．The early Chicago's engineering problems and their solutions.

D．The early Chicago's successful businessmen and their achievements．