【推荐1】It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel. It is all right to have a tiger in a cage, but to have one in the driver’s seat is another matter.
Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense too. It takes the most cool-headed drivers great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarreling and fighting. A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and calm and becomes so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough. Many drivers nowadays don’t even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it．
However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. Typical examples are the driver who waves to a child crossing the street at a wrong place into the path of oncoming cars that may be not able to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to.
An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately, modern drivers can’t even learn to drive, let alone master good skills. Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users. It is time for all of us to take this message to heart．
1. The passage mainly talks about ______.

A．road politeness	B．traffic jams
C．good manners	D．modern drivers

2. According to the writer, a good driver should ______.

A．beat back when forced to face rude driving

B．be able to recognize politeness when he sees it

C．encourage old ladies to cross the roads whenever they want to

D．join in traffic stream quickly however other people feel

3. The following statements are right EXCEPT that ______.

A．some modern drivers are not good at driving

B．road politeness is good sense as well as good manners

C．it is also right to have a tiger in the driver’s seat

D．a friendly driver should nod or wave thanks in answer to an act of politeness

【推荐2】Researchers at North Carolina State University are proposing an additional white traffic light that will act as a sign to human drivers and passengers that they should follow the lead of self-driving vehicles moving through crossroads.

Driving is fundamentally changing. In the future, human drivers will be sharing the road with autonomous vehicles. The transition (转变) to autonomous vehicles is progressing with each passing year and humans are no longer the only ones driving cars. This makes it urgent for traffic lights with a fourth color to become a reality.

The white traffic light would be equipped with wireless Bluetooth technology and would engage when the number of autonomous vehicles driving on the road at any given time exceeds a certain threshold (阈值). Autonomous vehicles would be in communication with each other and with the traffic lights at crossroads, within a certain range. Any human drivers in the mix would be informed to follow the lead of the vehicle in front of them via the white light: stop if it stops; continue if it continues.

In simulation models, autonomous vehicles were shown to improve traffic flow on their own. The higher the percentage of autonomous vehicles at a crossroads, the faster the traffic moved. “The white light can be used to coordinate (协调) traffic in any situation involving autonomous vehicles and tells human drivers what's going on, so that they know what they are supposed to do as they approach the crosswords,” says civil engineer Ali Hajbabaie.

As an example, most recently, Tesla’s problematic full-self-driving vehicles have been criticized after a car crashed into a fire truck. Consequently, the potential risks make researchers suggest adding a fourth color to traffic lights in the coming years.

1. What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Driving along the roads.

B．Driving through crossroads.

C．The transition to many human drivers.

D．The transition to autonomous vehicles.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．How drivers react to the traffic.

B．How the white traffic light works.

C．How Bluetooth technology changes.

D．How autonomous vehicles communicate with each other.

3. Why is the white light used according to Ali Hajbabaie?

A．To coordinate traffic.	B．To slow traffic flow.
C．To stop human drivers,	D．To Control traffic lights.

4. What is researchers’ attitude towards adding a fourth color to traffic lights?

A．Indifferent.

B．Negative.

C．Doubtful.

D．Favorable.

【推荐1】How do you get a man to do his share of the housework? If you are like most women, you’ve faced this question the hard way.

A man will enjoy a clean, orderly house, but he usually won’t make the effort to clean or organize it. This doesn’t mean that a woman has to do all the housework; she may have to manage many of the household duties, and request her partner’s participation. A woman can often say that men and women should take equal responsibility for housework.

Very few men are raised to be fully responsible for housework, and many men look on housework as women’s work. On the other hand, most men will readily work around the yard, make repairs and complete projects on weekends or evenings, and it’s important that you give your man appreciation for those things, too. Most men will take on a little housework around the house if asked politely. They are even more likely to do housework if they can choose what they want to do, and do it without being monitored.

Here’s the key: men want to feel that they are doing housework either because they want to do a task, or because they simply want to please their women. Men are much less likely to take on household tasks they consider uninteresting and unimportant. In other words, men are likely to do a household task just for the good of the house.

1. According to the passage, a man __________.

A．is willing to do housework

B．likes to be told to do housework

C．is taught to be responsible for housework from childhood

D．likes a clean house but doesn’t make efforts to clean it

2. In order to get men to do some housework, women should often __________.

A．order them to do their share	B．ask them to do some housework politely
C．blame men’s laziness	D．monitor men’s work

3. According to the passage, which of the following would a husband most probably like to do?

A．Cleaning the table.	B．Doing some washing.
C．Painting the fence.	D．Asking his wife to work on the yard.

4. According to the passage, the underlined sentence in the last paragraph means that men won’t __________.

A．work without any payment	B．do unimportant household tasks
C．do housework without women’s praise	D．please their wives

【推荐2】We have two daughters Kristen is seven years old and Kelly is four. Last Sunday evening, we invited some people home for dinner. I dressed them nicely for the party, and told them that their job was to join Mommy in answering the door when the bell rang. Mommy would introduce them to the guests, and then they would take the guests’ coats upstairs and put them on the bed in the second bedroom.
The guests arrived. I introduced my two daughters to each of them. The adults were nice and kind and said how lucky we were to have such good kids.
Each of the guests made a particular fuss over Kelly, the younger one, admiring her dress, her hair and her smile. They said she was a remarkable girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.
I thought to myself that we adults usually make a big "to do" over the younger one because she’s the one who seems more easily hurt. We do it with the best of intentions.
But we seldom think of how it might affect the other child. I was a little worried that Kristen would feel she was being outshined. I was about to serve dinner when I realized that she had been missing for twenty minutes. I ran upstairs and found her in the bedroom, crying.
I said, “What are you doing, my dear?”
She turned to me with a sad expression and said, “Mommy, why don’t people like me the way they like my sister? Is it because I’m not pretty? Is that why they don’t say nice things about me as much?”
I tried to explain to her, kissing and hugging her to make her feel better.
Now, whenever I visit a friend’s home, I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.
1. The underlined expression “make a big ‘to do’ over” (Paragraph 4) means __________.

A．show much concern about	B．have a special effect on
C．list jobs to be done for	D．do good things for

2. The guests praised Kelly for carrying coats upstairs because of her __________.

A．beautiful hair	B．pretty clothes
C．lovely smile	D．young age

3. Kristen felt sad and cried because __________.

A．the guest gave her more coats to carry

B．she didn’t look as pretty as Kelly

C．the guests praised her sister more than her

D．her mother didn’t introduce her to the guests

4. We can conclude from the passage that __________.

A．parents should pay more attention to the elder children

B．the younger children are usually more easily hurt

C．people usually like the younger children more

D．adults should treat children equally

【推荐3】Teens don’t understand the big fuss (小题大做). As the first generation are to grow up in a wired world, they hardly know a time when computers weren’t around, and they eagerly catch the chance to spend hours online, chatting with friends. So what?

But researchers nationwide are increasingly worried that teens are becoming isolated, less skillful at person-to-person relationships, and perhaps numb to the cheating that is so much a part of the e-mail world. “And a teen’s sense of self and values may be changed in a world where personal connections can be limitless,” said Shetty Turkle.

Another researcher, Robert Kraut, said he’s worried about the “opportunity costs” of so much online time for youths. He found that teens who used computers, even just a few hours a week, showed increased signs of loneliness and social isolation. “Chatting online may be better than watching television, but it’s worse than hanging out with real friends,” he said.

Today’s teens, however, don’t see anything strange in the fact that the computer takes up a central place in their social lives. “School is busy and full of pressure. There’s almost no time to just hang out,” said Parker Rice, 17, “Talking online is just to catch time.”

Teens say they feel good about what they say online or taking the time to think about a reply. Some teens admit that asking someone for a date, or breaking up, can be easier in the form of a message, though they don’t want to do so. But they insist there’s no harm.

1. The researchers argue that ________.

A．teens develop a different sense of values

B．nothing is wrong with teens’ chatting online

C．teens can manage their social connections

D．spending hours online does much good to teens

2. The text mainly deals with ________.

A．teens’ pleasant online experience

B．teens’ computer skills and schoolwork

C．the effects of the computer world on teens

D．different opinions on teens’ chatting online

3. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Teens are more skillful at person-to-person relationships.

B．Teens showed decreasing signs of loneliness and social isolation.

C．Chatting online is worse than hanging out with real friends.

D．Asking someone for a date, or breaking up can be more difficult in the message form.

4. The purpose of the text is to ______.

A．describe computer research results.

B．draw attention to teens' computer habits.

C．suggest ways to deal with teens' problems.

D．discuss problems teens have at school.