【推荐1】It may be the holiday season, but the spirit of peace and goodwill has not infected the streets of Los Angeles. More drivers seem to be rolling through stop signs and running red lights than ever before. Everyone seems to be in a terrible hurry.

Why is everyone in such a hurry? Where are they rushing to?

I think perhaps the answer lies in answering this question: What does that round of parties and meetings and mad rushing from place to place allow all of us to avoid confronting? I think the answer is clear---ourselves.

There is an experiment where subjects had to choose between being alone with themselves and their thoughts for approximately 15 minutes and receiving electric shocks. The majority chose the shocks-- reflection of how painful, frightening, threatening, confusing, boring (!), you name it...we find being alone with just ourselves and our thoughts.

Our desire not to be with our innermost thoughts is so great that we create and find distractions. In the car, we can make phone calls or listen to music. We live in a world of endless opportunities for distraction.

I understand the desire. Life is hard. Growing is a painful slow process. To keep moving requires determination and strength--- and giving up seems So much easier (as do those electric shocks!). We may win some battles, but the war is never over. Sometimes we are just too tired to fight and just need that music or that book to relax. I just instinctively turn on the radio when I get in the car, I don’t even give the quiet a moment to sink in.

But it’s time for a reality check; otherwise, we slip into an avoidance mode. It’s challenging. But let’ s take a change. Instead of rushing from house to car to meeting to groceries to...let’s take a moment to stop and think before each activity. What do I want to achieve now? And what is the best way to do that? Maybe I could think of ways to grow.

1. Why does the author mention drivers on the streets of Los Angeles?

A．To describe a strong holiday atmosphere.

B．To prevent a unique social phenomenon of America.

C．To raise his question on why people are in a terrible hurry.

D．To show that it’ S time to improve road safety in America.

2. What does the underlined word “confronting” in paragraph 3 most probably mean?

A．Facing

B．Passing

C．Winning out

D．Keeping off

3. What does the author think of the people who chose the shocks in the experiment?

A．They should be more courageous.

B．Their attitude to life was unexpected.

C．Their behavior was understandable.

D．They should refuse to take part in the experiment.

4. What can be learned about the author?

A．He has realized the importance of saving time.

B．He often reviews the mistakes he has made.

C．He will spend more time thinking.

D．He thinks life is full of surprises.

【推荐2】Listening to the radio is something that I really like to do. Whether it's to listen to my favorite songs，catch up on the latest news or just listen to something to help me relax，the radio is always there for me！

I'm surprised when talking to my students in school，to find out that many of them hardly ever listen to the radio because they think it's boring. I always listen to the radio when I'm driving my car or doing my housework. The radio can also be very useful for me as it often has the traffic updates（最新消息）which tell me whether the road I want to use has a traffic jam on it.

There is a song by The Buggles called "Video Killed the Radio Star" which I used to listen to a lot and now it makes more sense to me. Have TV and the Internet taken the place of the radio for many people？

Now that I am living in Germany I recently managed to get hold of an old radio for free and so now I like to listen to it when I'm getting ready in the morning and when I'm making my tea. Of course it can be annoying when a song that I don't like comes on the radio but the majority of time I like the music that is played and it is also a good way for me to hear new songs. Listening to my new radio in German is good for my language learning because I can listen to the news，while also hearing new German songs.

I' ve always listened to the radio since I was young and thought that it was a very popular way to listen to music and news, but after talking with my students I have found that might not be the case anymore. Whatever people think, you will still always find me dancing around my room listening to the radio!

1. What made the author surprised is that __________.

A．few people know about listening to the radio

B．few students have stopped listening to the radio

C．many students seldom listen to the radio

D．the radio isn't of great importance as before

2. Which is not the benefit for the author？

A．The radio keeps him informed of news.

B．The radio helps him finish his housework.

C．The radio provides him with a way to relax.

D．The radio helps him to improve German.

3. It can be inferred from the fourth paragraph that __________.

A．Germany offers free radios to its people

B．the author is not a native in Germany

C．some songs make the author tired of the radio

D．the author majors in the German language

4. How does the author describe his hobby of listening to the radio？

A．Coldly.	B．Proudly.
C．Anxiously.	D．Excitedly.

【推荐3】A city in South Korea, which has the world’s largest number of people using smartphones, has placed flashing lights and laser beams at a road crossing to warn “smartphone zombies” to look up and drivers to slow down, in the hope of preventing accidents.

The designers of the system were motivated by growing worry that more pedestrians glued to their phones will become victims in a country that already has some of the highest road death and injury rates among developed countries. State-run Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology (KICT) believes its system of flashing lights at zebra crossings can warn both pedestrians and drivers.

In addition to red, yellow and blue LED lights on the pavement, “smombies” - smartphone zombies - will be warned by laser beam projected from power poles and a warning sent to the phones by an app that they are about to step into traffic.

“Increasing number of smombie accidents have occurred in pedestrian crossings, so these zombie lights are essential to prevent these pedestrian accidents,” said KICT senior researcher Kim Jong-hoon. Drivers are warned by the flashing lights, which have shown to be effective 83.4 percent of the time in the institute’s tests involving about 1,000 vehicles.

In 2017, more than 1,600 pedestrians were killed in auto related accidents, which is about 40 percent of total traffic deaths, according to data from the Traffic Accident Analysis System. For now, the smombie warning system is placed only in Ilsan, a suburban city about 30 km northwest of the capital, Seoul, but is expected to go nationwide, according to the institute.

Kim Dan-hee, a 23-year-old resident of Ilsan, welcomed the system, saying she was often too absorbed in her phone to remember to look at traffic. “This flashing light makes me feel safe as it makes me look around again, and I hope that we can have more of these in town,” she said.

1. What do the underlined words “smartphone zombies” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Drivers driving after drunk.	B．Pedestrians buried in their phones.
C．Passengers crazy about phones.	D．Policemen in charge of traffic.

2. What do we know about the warning system?

A．It has reduced death rate by 83.4%.	B．It has been spread nationwide.
C．It gives a warning to the smartphones.	D．It is being tried out in many places.

3. What was the residents’ attitude to the traffic system?

A．Negative.	B．Unconcerned.
C．Disapproving.	D．Favorable.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．South Korea Warns Smartphone Zombies of Traffic

B．Flashing Lights Are Used to Prevent Accidents

C．Smartphone Zombies Are Causing Traffic Accidents

D．South Korea Uses a New Traffic System