【推荐1】“Yes, I’ll be ready at nine in the morning. Goodbye, dear, and thanks again.” It had not been an easy telephone call for Mrs. Robson to make. Her daughter had been very kind, of course, and had immediately agreed to pick her up and drive her to the station, but Mrs. Robson hated to admit that she needed help. Since her husband had died ten years before, she had always been proud of her independence. She had continued to live in their little house, alone.
On this evening, however, she was standing at her living-room window, staring out at the SOLD notice in the small front garden. Her feelings were mixed. Of course, she was sad at the thought of leaving the house, as it was full of so many memories. But at the same time she was looking forward to spending her last years near the sea, back in the little seaside town where she had been born. With the money from the sale of the house, she had bought a little apartment there. She turned from the living room window, and looked round at the walls. There was a small fish tank, with two goldfish in it. When asked why, her husband used to say, “It’s nice to have something alive in the room.” Since he had passed away, she had always kept some goldfish, had always had “something alive in the room.”
The next morning, as her train was pulling out of the station, Mrs. Robson called to her daughter, “Kate, you won’t forget to collect the goldfish, will you? The children will love them. It’s …” “I know,” Kate interrupted gently, “It’s nice to have something alive in the room.”
1. According to the passage, we know that Mrs. Robson _________.

A．was tired of living alone

B．was not liked by her daughter

C．did not like asking people for help

D．did not want to be visited by her daughter

2. Mrs. Robson was going to _______.

A．be in hospital	B．live with her daughter
C．travel abroad alone	D．live where she was born

3. The feelings of Mrs. Robson on her last night in the house were________.

A．sad and hopeful	B．regretful and excited
C．sad and regretful	D．excited and hopeful

【推荐2】I still remember my first day at school in London and I was half-excited and half-frightened. On my way to school I wondered what sort of questions the other boys would ask me and practiced all the answers: “I am nine years old. I was born here but I haven’t lived here since I was two. I was living in Farley. It’s about thirty miles away. I came back to London two months ago.” I also wondered if it was the custom for boys to fight strangers like me, but I was tall for my age. I hoped they would decide not to risk it.

No one took any notice of me before school. I stood in the center of the playground, expecting someone to say “hello”, but no one spoke to me. When a teacher called my name and told me where my classroom was, one or two boys looked at me but that was all.

My teacher was called Mr. Jones. There were 42 boys in the class, so I didn’t stand out there, either, until the first lesson of the afternoon. Mr. Jones was very fond of Charles Dickens and he had decided to read aloud to us from David Copperfield, but first he asked several boys if they knew Dickens’ birthplace, but no one guessed right. A boy called Brian, the biggest in the class, said: “Timbuktu”, and Mr. Jones went red in the face. Then he asked me. I said: “Portsmouth”, and everyone stared at me because Mr. Jones said I was right. This didn’t make me very popular, of course.

“He thinks he’s clever,” I heard Brian say.

After that, we went out to the playground to play football. I was in Brian’s team, and he obviously had Dickens in mind because he told me to go in goal. No one ever wanted to be the goalkeeper.

“He’s big enough and useless enough.” Brian said when someone asked him why he had chosen me.

I suppose Mr. Jones, who served as the judge, remembered Dickens, too, because when the game was nearly over, Brian pushed one of the players on the other team, and he gave them a penalty (惩罚). As the boy kicked the ball to my right, I threw myself down instinctively (本能地) and saved it. All my team crowded round me. My bare knees were injured and bleeding. Brian took out a handkerchief and offered it to me.

“Do you want to join my gang (帮派)?” he said.

At the end of the day, I was no longer a stranger.

1. We can learn from the passage that           .

A．boys were usually unfriendly to new students

B．the writer was not greeted as he expected

C．Brian praised the writer for his cleverness

D．the writer was glad to be a goalkeeper

2. The underlined part “I didn’t stand out” in paragraph 3 means that the writer was not       .

A．noticeable	B．welcome
C．important	D．foolish

3. The writer was offered a handkerchief because          .

A．he threw himself down and saved the goal

B．he pushed a player on the other team

C．he was beginning to be accepted

D．he was no longer a newcomer

【推荐3】With the explosion of consumer choices in recent history,the latest must-haves would surely need to be upgraded more often than every 10 years.In 2002 a computer and basic mobile phone would have been enough for most people,but now?The public need a trendy notebook computer and a smart phone with WiFi connection to feel they are up-to-date.So when will we have enough things?When will we finally be happy?Well,it looks like the things we buy today will barely keep us satisfied for a few months.

In the eyes of some psychologists,far from making us happy,greater consumer choice creates many serious psychological problems.A fundamental principle of the society is that more freedom is better and more choice in the marketplace means more freedom.Therefore more choice leads to more happiness.This is not the case,however.

Imagine you go to a cafe offering chocolate and vanilla ice cream.You choose the chocolate and eat it happily.But what if the cafe serves 50 kinds of ice cream?You choose chocolate and then start to worry,"maybe blueberry would have been better,and perhaps the half-fat ice cream would have been healthier.Stupid me,all these choices and I didn't make the best one!"

In China's major cities we have now passed the point where more consumer choice is making us happier.We are annoyed by all the options we have,disappointed because our expectations are so high and angered at ourselves when we don't make a perfect choice every time.

A newspaper reporter tells a story about traveling on a plane with high-speed Internet access.He thought this was amazing--the newest piece of technology he had heard of.Then the service went down.The man next to him was angry and swore.The reporter thought,"How quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only 10 seconds ago!"

1. What may some psychologists think of the consumer demand in the cafe?

A．Variety leads to unhappiness.	B．More choice means more freedom.
C．The consumer has mental problems.	D．The shop provides too many choices.

2. Why was the man next to the reporter quite annoyed?

A．Someone owed him money.	B．The net connection was interrupted.
C．The air hostess offered poor service.	D．The pleasure lasted only 10seconds.

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

A．Fell asleep.	B．Made promises.
C．Said rude words.	D．Became amazed.

4. What is the text mainly talking about?

A．Hi-tech and consumer needs.

B．Computers and smart phones.

C．Wireless products and WiFi connection.

D．Diverse choices and consumer satisfaction.