【推荐1】"Dad," I say one day, "let's take a trip. Why don't you fly out and meet me?"

My father had just retired after 27 years as a manager for IBM. His job filled his day, his thoughts, his life. While he woke up and took a warm shower, I screamed under a freezing waterfall in Peru. While he tied a tie and put on the same Swiss watch, I rowed a boat across Lake of the Ozarks.

My father sees me drifting aimlessly, nothing to show for my 33 years but a passport full of funny stamps. He wants me to settle down, but now I want him to find an adventure.

He agrees to travel with me through the national parks. We meet four weeks later in Rapid City.

"What's our first stop?" asks my father.

"What time is it?"

"Still don’t have a watch?"

Less than an hour away is Mount Rushmore. As he stares up at the four Presidents carved in granite(花岗岩), his mouth and eyes open slowly, like those of a little boy.

"Unbelievable," he says. "How was this done?"

A film in the information center shows sculptor Gutzon Borglum devoted 14 years to the sculpture and then left the final touches to his son.

We stare up and I ask myself, Would I ever devote my life to anything?

No directions, no goals. I always used to hear those words in my father's voice. Now I hear them in my own.

The next day we've at Yellowstone National Park, where we have a picnic.

"Did you ever travel with your dad?" I ask.

"Only once," he says. "I never spoke much with my father. We loved each other—but never said it. Whatever he could give me, he gave."

That last sentence—it’s probably the same thing I’d say about my father. And what I’d want my child to say about me.

In Glacier National Park, my father says, "I've never seen water so blue." I have, in several places of the world. I can keep traveling, I realize—and maybe a regular job won't be as dull as I feared.

Weeks after our trip, I call my father.

"The photos from the trip are wonderful," he says. "We've got to take another trip like that sometime."

I tell him I've decided to settle down, and I'm wearing a watch.

1. We can learn from Paragraphs 2 and 3 that the father______________   .

A．followed the fashion	B．got bored with his job
C．was unhappy with the author’s lifestyle	D．liked the author’s collection of stamps

2. What does the author realize at Mount Rushmore?

A．His father is interested in sculpture.

B．He should pursue a specific aim in life.

C．He should learn sculpture in the future.

D．His father is as innocent as a little boy.

3. From the underlined paragraph, we can see that the author                   .

A．wants his children to learn from their grandfather

B．comes to understand what parental love means

C．learns how to communicate with his father

D．hopes to give whatever he can to his father

4. What could be inferred about the author and his father from the end of the story?

A．The call solves their disagreements.	B．The Swiss watch has drawn them closer.
C．They decide to learn photography together.	D．They begin to change their attitudes to life.

【推荐3】There were once two brothers who lived on the 80th level. On coming home one day, they realized that the lift wasn’t working and that the only choice was the stairway.

By the time they reached the 20th floor, they were breathing quickly and tired, so they decided to abandon their bags and come back for them the next day. When they struggled to the 40th floor, the younger brother started to complain and both of them began to quarrel all the way to the 60th floor. They then realized that they had only 20 more floors to climb, and decided to stop quarreling and continued climbing in peace. They silently climbed on and arrived home at last. Both of them stood calmly in front of the door. After a short rest, they suddenly realized that the key was in their bags which were left on the 20th floor.

This story is a reflection of our lives. Many of us live under the high expectations of our parents, teachers, and friends. We seldom get to the things we really like and love and we are under so much pressure and stress that by the age of 20, we get tired and decide to lighten the load.

Being free of the pressure and stress, we work enthusiastically and have high hopes. But by the time we’re 40 years old, we start to lose our dreams. We begin to feel unsatisfied and start to complain and criticize. Reaching 60, we realize that we have little left for complaining any more and we began to walk the final stage in peace and calmness. We think that there is nothing left to disappoint us, only to realize that we could not rest in peace because we still have unrealized dream—a dream we gave up 60 years ago.

1. What happened to the two brothers that day?

A．They were trapped in the lift.	B．They lost their bags in the lift.
C．They locked their key in the room.	D．They had to climb the stairs home.

2. How did the two men probably feel the moment they stood in front of their door?

A．Upset.

B．Inspired.

C．Pleased.

D．Anxious.

3. According to the passage, our pressure and stress mainly comes from ______.

A．the expectations of people around us

B．the heavy burden of our social responsibility

C．our great desire for success

D．our anxieties about getting older

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．Make careful plans, avoid getting into trouble.

B．Follow your dreams, and never live with regrets.

C．Calm down and live a peaceful life.

D．Be free of stress and pressure, enjoy life.

【推荐1】The best hope for ending the COVID19 pandemic is a vaccine. There is no shortage of candidates. The World Health Organization is tracking 34 in various stages of development. How well they will work though, is another matter. On September 9th Astra Zeneca, a drug firm, announced it was pausing its trials after a participant fell ill. Such pauses are common in vaccine development, a discipline in which effort does not always bring reward. In 1987 the first trial of an HIV vaccine began in Maryland. Three decades later, the cupboard remains bare.

The news about COVID-19 in two new papers is more encouraging. The first written by a team of scientists at deCODE genetics, an Icelandic company, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, reports antibody levels in 1,200 Icelanders who had been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and recovered. More than 90% tested positive for antibodies twice — once immediately post infected and again four months later. People who had suffered more serious disease, such as those who had been hospitalized, developed higher levels of antibodies. So did men and older people, both of whom are at greater risk of more severe illness.

The four-month lifespan is cheering for two reasons. Antibodies that hang around are more likely to offer immunity. That means a vaccine that provokes (驱使；刺激) their production should provide reasonably long-lasting protection. They are also easier to find.

In the second study, scientists led by Tao Dong, an immunologist at the Medical Research Council (MRC), in Britain, went hunting for T-cells. These get less press than antibodies, but play an equally vital role in battling infections and securing long-term protection. Their importance is vividly demonstrated by HIV, which targets and kills them.

Al Edwards, an immunologist turned biochemical engineer at the University of Reading who was not involved with either paper, is cautiously optimistic. The immune response to the disease seems to be working roughly as expected, he says. If that continues, then vaccines developed to trigger long-lasting immunity should work at least in theory.

In practice, it is still too early to celebrate. Dr. Edwards warns that immunology has never been a predictive science. There is no test that can show definitively that a vaccine will work short of actually trying it in the real world.

1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?

A．Scientists have made great achievements in HIV vaccine.

B．The vaccine is the only way of ending the COVID-19 pandemic.

C．The COVID-19 is bound to be developed by a drug firm in no time.

D．While many people work on the vaccine, it is hard to develop a vaccine successfully.

2. Which of the following statements is most probably a logical judgement to the passage?

A．Antibodies that hang around can offer immunity.

B．A vaccine will not work short of actually trying it in the real world.

C．The higher levels of antibodies are, the more serious disease people will suffer.

D．T-cells are less important than antibodies in battling infections and securing protections.

3. What does the underlined word “them” refer to in paragraph 4?

A．T-cells	B．HIV
C．Antibodies	D．Long-term protection

4. What is AI Edwards’ attitude towards he vaccine?

A．Negative	B．Indifferent
C．Disapproval	D．Cautious

【推荐2】For decades, scientists thought of the brain as the most valuable and consequently most closely guarded part of the body. Locked safely behind the blood-brain barrier, it was broadly free of the harm of viruses and the battles started by the immune system (免疫系统). Then, about 20 years ago, some researchers began to wonder: is the brain really so separated from the body? The answer, according to a growing body of evidence, is no.

The list of brain conditions that have been associated with changes elsewhere in the body is long and growing. Changes in the makeup of the microorganisms in the digestive system have been linked to disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. There is also a theory that infection during pregnancy could lead to brain diseases in babies.

The effect is two-way. There is a lengthening list of symptoms not typically viewed as disorders of the nervous system, but the brain plays a large part in them. For example, the development of a fever is influenced by a population of nerve cells that control body temperature and appetite. Evidence is mounting that cancers use nerves to grow and spread.

The interconnection between the brain and body has promising implications for our ability to both understand and treat illnesses. If some brain disorders start outside the brain, then perhaps treatments for them could also reach in from outside. Treatments that take effect through the digestive system, the heart or other organs, would be much easier and less risky than those that must cross the blood-brain barrier.

It also works in the opposite direction. Study shows mice have healthier hearts after receiving stimulation to a brain area involved in positive emotion and motivation. Activation of the brain reward centre — called the ventral tegmental area (VTA) — seems to cause immune changes that contribute to it. Working out how this happens could help to destroy cancers, enhance responses to vaccines and even re-evaluate physical diseases that, for centuries, have not been considered as being psychologically driven.

1. What do the researchers focus on about the brain?

A．Its protecting system.	B．Its exposure to diseases.
C．Its controlling function.	D．Its connection to the body.

2. How does the author support his idea in paragraph 2?

A．By explaining a theory.	B．By providing examples.
C．By making comparisons.	D．By presenting cause and effect.

3. Which best describes treatments that do not cross the blood-brain barrier?

A．Cheaper.	B．More specific.
C．Safer.	D．More direct.

4. What does the study suggest in the last paragraph?

A．Brain health depends on immune changes.

B．Brain stimulation leads to negative emotions.

C．The brain can help enhance psychological health.

D．The brain may be key to treating physical diseases.

【推荐3】It was a red-letter day in the history of medicine — “Target Zero Day”, May 8th, 1980, marking the complete removal of smallpox, a terrifying disease. It was untreatable but, luckily, it turned out that vaccination (接种疫苗) provided good protection — and that mass immunization (免疫) could wipe out the smallpox virus by blocking its spread.

According to legend, vaccination was invented by Dr. Edward Jenner. Jenner showed that healthy children vaccinated with cowpox, a mild infection of cattle, could not catch smallpox. He was supposedly inspired by Comment from a local milkmaid, but there is evidence that the idea came from a medical friend, John Fewster, who had experimented with cowpox. Nevertheless, Jenner deserves credit for introducing vaccination into the medical mainstream with his paper published in 1798.

In 1966,160 years after the prediction that vaccination would clean off the disease, the World Health Organization launched its Smallpox Eradication Programme. This heroic 11-year drive was directed by two American public health doctors, DA Henderson and Bill Foege. Their hardships were enormous. One WHO official even promised to eat a tyre if smallpox was removed; Henderson promised to send him the tyre and wished him good appetite. But Henderson and Foege’s hard work paid off—three years after the last smallpox case was informed (to make sure no outbreaks had been missed) Target Zero Day was declared.

40 years on, why should we remember Target Zero Day? First, to celebrate victory of preventative medicine and freedom from a cruel disease. Then, we must remember the victims of smallpox. It had previously killed one in 12 worldwide. In 1914, a Canadian professor warned against forgetting smallpox, which was fast disappearing from North America. It went on to kill at least another 250 million people — three times more than both world wars combined. Target Zero Day also reminds us of undefeated infections, including polio, measles, malaria, and of course the coronavirus Covid-19. Let’s recognize Target Zero Day for what it is: a milestone in world history and a monument to the art of the possible.

1. What inspired Jenner to invent the vaccination?

A．A medical friend.

B．A local milkmaid.

C．Cattle.

D．Children.

2. What is the writer’s purpose of mentioning the WHO official’s promise?

A．To introduce the support from the WHO.	B．To stress the importance of good appetite.
C．To suggest the difficulty in removing smallpox.	D．To show his determination to carry on the drive.

3. What message does the text convey?

A．A promise made is a debt unpaid.	B．A trouble shared is a trouble halved.
C．Something is better than nothing.	D．Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.

【推荐1】As COVID-19 spreads throughout China and the rest of the world, an important question has yet to be answered: where did the virus come from? The latest study indicated that pangolins(穿山甲)may be an intermediate host of the virus, according to Xinhua. However, bats are suspected to be the original cause.

“We don’t know the source yet, but there’s pretty strong evidence that this is a bat origin coronavirus,” said Peter Dazsak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, an environmental nonprofit(非盈利机构), according to The New York Times. “When you look at the genetic sequence(基因序列)of the virus, and you match it up with every known coronavirus, the closest relatives are from bats,” Dazsak also told CNN.

So why are bats the source of so many deadly kinds of viruses but they don’t suffer from any symptoms? As the only flying mammal(哺乳动物)with a long lifespan, bats’ body temperature is high, similar to a fever. It’s the fact that may contribute to bats’ unique immune system in protecting them from the ill effects of viruses.

But are bats truly to blame for the virus-or should we be blaming ourselves? Whether we destroy the forests where bats live or they end up on our plate, it’s the fault of humans for decreasing the distance between us and virus-carrying bats. Bats are an important animal in our ecosystem when it comes to pollinating(授粉)many fruits such as mangos and bananas. We need to allow them to continue pollination and keep them away from our markets and mouths.

1. What can we learn about the origin of COVID-19?

A．Bats have been confirmed to be its original cause.

B．Pangolins are now considered the most likely source.

C．It’s identified by comparing sources of various viruses.

D．The virus was found to be genetically similar to those seen in bats.

2. Why don’t bats suffer from the coronavirus?

A．Bats have a unique immune system.

B．Their low body temperature protects them.

C．Bats are the only flying mammal to live in groups.

D．Living in caves help bats fight against viruses.

3. What is the main point the author makes in the last paragraph?

A．Virus-carrying bats should be killed.	B．Humans should stay away from bats.
C．Bats benefit but also harm our ecosystem.	D．Bats could spread viruses during pollination.

【推荐2】Like to kick back for an afternoon siesta (休息)? Good news: A new study shows that regular napping may cut your risk of dying of a heart attack of other heart problems.

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of Athens Medical School in Greece, tracked 23，681 apparently healthy men and women, aged from 20 to 86, for more than six years.They found those who took afternoon siestas of 30 minutes or more at least three times a week had a 37 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease than those who did not.

Even more impressive: researchers found that working men who took regular or occasional naps had a 64 percent lower   risk of death from heart attacks or other heart­related ills than their non­napping colleagues.And working women? “The apparent effect was evident mainly among working men，” says lead study author Dimitrios Trichopculos.“There were not enough coronary (冠心病) deaths among the working women (only six) in this group to allow sound inference (结论，推论). (of course, some might consider that a positive thing.)”

Trichopoulos, a cancer prevention and epidemiology (流行病学) professor at HSPH, says researchers decided to look into this issue, because coronary death tends to be low in populations in which the frequency of siestas tends to be high.Trichopoulos says that if further studies net similar results, “then lifestyle changes that would allow afternoon napping might be considered.” Of course, that's easier said than done, especially in the United States, where employers are not exactly known to   encourage workers to nap.“I am fully aware that the lifestyle in the US does not leave   much room for changes of this type，” he says.

Afternoon siestas have long been a part of daily life in Greece, where the study took place, as well as in other Mediterranean and some Latin American countries,   which tend to have low mortality (死亡) rates from coronary disease. The Mediterranean diet, rich in fruit, vegetables, beans and olive oil, has also been   credited for keeping_a_lid_on heart disease.Trichopoulos says the study considered   diet, physical activity and other factors that are predictive of coronary mortality.

His advice: “For those, whose lifestyle allows having a nap, go ahead and have   one.No doubt your boss will be thrilled.”

1. Where are workers least encouraged to take a nap?

A．In the Mediterranean.	B．In Greece.
C．In Latin America.	D．In the US.

2. The underlined phrase “keeping a lid on” probably means “________”．

A．reducing the risk of

B．providing a cure for

C．being closely related to

D．covering up

3. The findings of the new study would be most welcome to ________．

A．bosses	B．researchers
C．working men	D．working women