【推荐1】You're riding in the car on this family vacation. Suddenly your dad slows down. And you may see the following：

1. Bubblegum Alley

San Luis Obispo, California

Some call it art; others call it just plain gross. Bubblegum Alley is covered from top to bottom with wads of chewed gum, a tradition that was started mysteriously by locals in the 1950s. Some artists even created images of funny faces and the American flag.

2. Blue Whale

Catoosa, Oklahoma

Not ready to dive the depths of the ocean to see a blue whale? No problem. Just visit this 80-foot-long cement beast, which even has a slide and diving board so visitors can take a dip in the pond. When the artist died, the whale fell into disrepair. Neighbors couldn't stand to see the grinning whale fall apart, so they fixed it and now keep it bright with gallons of blue paint.

3. Lonesome Legs

Amarillo, Texas

Just what are these large legs doing in a cow pasture? According to artist Lightnin' McDuff,   they   represent a poem   about a traveler who finds a bodiless statue of an Egyptian pharaoh (法老) called Ozymandias. Using concrete over a steel frame, McDuff constructed the legs to appear as if they were   made of weathered sandstone. And the socks? A prankster (恶作剧的人) keeps adding them—even though McDuff always removes   the unwanted addition.

4. Giant Penguin

Cut Bank, Montana

Bundle up (使……穿暖)when you visit   this statue, because temperatures here can get   as low as 47 degrees below zero. As a nod to the frosty conditions, a local businessman built the 27-foot-tall penguin out of 10,000 pounds of concrete. The creator left for warmer weather, but the statue—7 times the height of a real emperor penguin—still stands, welcoming visitors to its chilly home.

1. What led to the formation of the Bubblegum Alley?

A．Artists made it by creating images of funny faces and the American flag.

B．It’s covered with pieces of chewed gum.

C．It spread for some unknown reason.

D．Artists guided this trend.

2. The following are descriptions about these sites, which is TRUE?

①The Blue Whale has been ruined.

②Visitors can entertain in the whale.

③The socks were added by the designer.

④The legs were made of weathered sandstone.

⑤The penguin is located in a very cold area.

⑥The statue of penguin is 6 times higher than a real emperor penguin.

A．①②③

B．④⑤⑥

C．①④⑤

D．②⑤⑥

3. What impression of these sites does the author give you?

A．Funny.

B．Strange.

C．Amazing.

D．Usual.

【推荐3】Building the thinking habit is important because it helps you live with a purpose. How can we build the thinking habit? Here are some tips.

※ Be curious.

Curiosity is powerful.     1     It also helps you recognize the ideas when they come. Curiosity is an important attitude to have in building the thinking habit.

※ Read widely.

If you want to come up with good ideas, you need to feed your mind with good ideas.    2     This will give you fresh, new ideas. Don’t just read from the fields you are familiar with. Read from other fields as well.

※ Read actively.

Not only should you read widely, but also you should read actively. Find some ideas and think about how you can use them. My favorite way to do this is by highlighting the book I read. I will then put the actionable ideas in my idea journal.    3    

※ Keep an idea journal.

When you find a good idea, don’t just keep it in your mind. Instead, write it down to catch the idea.    4     Keeping an idea journal makes you more alert to new ideas. You will quickly recognize them because you already have the habit of catching ideas.

※     5    

Of course, it doesn’t do you much good if you just write down ideas. Take time to read these ideas every now and then. In my case, I mark the ideas that I consider important and review them regularly. This often opens the way to new ideas.

A．Go over your ideas.

B．Design your own ideas.

C．One way to do that is to read.

D．It makes you like finding new ideas.

E．Otherwise, the idea might be gone forever.

F．This helps me get the most out of the book.

G．In this way, others ran also benefit from your ideas.

【推荐1】Every day, life is made and lost. Every day, life goes on. Every day we experience some of the most important parts of life and may not even realize it: love, generosity, and perseverance. These values aren't just important to us; they make the world what it is.
Scientists say that gravitational(重力的)force makes the world turn, but some people say that love makes____go round. Love can be found anywhere: in families, friends, even complete strangers. Even if you can’t see it, you know it's there.
Love may connect people all over the world, but what would the world be without generosity? Whether after a national disaster, or a school fund-raiser, one thing is certain--it is better to give than to receive. Generosity is found everywhere and whether it's a large or small act, it makes a difference. Most of all, being generous is not something you need any qualifications for, but no matter what you do, it can make a difference, Sometimes, though, it takes effort to be generous, which leads us to perseverance.
Founding a country, riding a bike, or finishing an essay, these are all finished with perseverance. Perseverance is the one thing that can help us achieve whatever we want. It is what helps scientists to discover cures for diseases, and athletes to become champions. You may fail, but every time you make a mistake, that's one less to make the next time.
There is an infinite(无穷的)number of things we value, but without love, generosity and perseverance, we just don't think that our life or the world would be the way it is.
1. The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to “ ______ ”.

A．the world	B．gravitational force
C．value	D．experience

2. To be generous, the author thinks _____.

A．you needn't make efforts

B．you should be qualified

C．you should give all you have

D．you will find it good to give

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Perseverance is the only thing that can help us to achieve success.

B．People don't understand the life they are experiencing at all.

C．We can find love in complete strangers sometimes,

D．What the world is like depends on gravity and love.

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

A．Success and Failure.	B．Three Values.
C．Endless Love.	D．Life full of Hope.

【推荐3】Not long ago, I tried convincing my three daughters that the world’s secrets are hidden inside silence. The girls looked at me skeptically. Surely silence is nothing?

Sitting there at the dinner table, I suddenly remembered their curiosity as children, their wondering about what might be hiding behind a door and their amazement as they stared at a light switch and asked me to “open the light”. But now they are 13, 16 and 19 and wonder less and less. If they still wonder at anything, they quickly pull out their smart phones to find the answer. None of them have any interest in discussing with me. To attract their attention, I told them about two friends of mine who had decided to climb Mount Qomolangma.

Early one morning they left base camp to climb the south-west wall of the mountain. It was going well. Both reached the summit, but then came the storm. They soon realized they would not make it down alive. The first got hold of his pregnant wife by satellite phone. Together they decided on the name of the child that she was carrying. Then he quietly passed away just below the summit. My other friend was not able to contact anyone before he died. No one knows exactly what happened on the mountain in those hours. Thanks to the dry, cool climate 8km above sea level, they have both been freeze-dried. They lie there in silence, looking no different.

The girls remained quiet, listening. It seemed as though they had got something.

It is easy to assume that the essence (本质) of technology is technology itself, but that is wrong. The essence is the time we spend with our family and how much freedom we have by technology.

1. What’s the real purpose of the author’s telling the story?

A．To entertain the girls.

B．To attract the girls’ attention to technology.

C．To encourage the girls to explore the world’s secret.

D．To share a viewpoint about the essence of technology.

2. Why are the girls unwilling to discuss problems with the author when they are puzzled?

A．Because they don’t want to solve them.

B．Because they can turn to the smart phone.

C．Because they feel ashamed for their problems.

D．Because they think it difficult to talk with others.

3. How would the author think of the outcome of the storytelling?

A．It’s effective.

B．It’s unacceptable.

C．It’s embarrassing

D．It’s discouraging

4. What does technology really bring us according to the text?

A．The time with our family and freedom.

B．The answers to the puzzling problems.

C．The information of learning the outside world.

D．The choice of communicating with our friends.