【推荐1】Getting into the right focus for serious studying can be difficult. With roommates or family, incoming messages, the internet, and so on, it’s easy to focus on other things, which can leave you unprepared for your tests.     1    . Use these tips to make a quiet place that allows for concentration.

If you are on campus, roommates and dormitory can be loud, and if you are studying online from home, you might have to deal with your family’s comings and goings.     2    . If you don’t care to study in silence, you could drown out the background noise of people talking around you. You could use earplugs when you need to concentrate deeply or download a white noise app on your phone.

Another easy way to get focused on your study plan is realizing you need something that you forgot outside your study space. For example, be sure to have all the pens, notebooks and textbooks you will need to complete your work.     3    . So having all the necessary things on hand will keep you focused. Besides, if you are doing work or reading on a laptop, make sure to bring your charger, as a failing battery may force you to stop studying.

    4    . Students with worksheets and practice problems would probably do better with a desk or a large table. Students with lots of reading may be more comfortable on a sofa or chair where they can get comfortable while they study.

These simple steps can create quiet and calm space for you to get to work. Putting time and effort into your studies is the most important part of attending college. So set yourself up with a study space that suits you now.     5    

A．It can lead to academic success.

B．Making sure the surrounding best for you is important.

C．In this case, you’d better create some background music.

D．Choosing the right way for you can help you do better in study.

E．Having the perfect study space can make it easier to focus on your study.

F．Wherever you are, study requires focus, so creating a quiet space is important.

G．Looking for any of these in the course of study may make it hard to truly focus.

【推荐2】Have you ever noticed how some people can effortlessly talk to anyone they meet, no matter how different their backgrounds are? Or have you seen that one person who always offends someone, no matter what the topic of conversation is? These two scenes show how we can differ in our abilities to interact, get along with, and relate to others around us.    1    

After years of academic research and development, this social competency is now commonly referred to as “social intelligence”. Do you want to improve your social intelligence? Here are great ideas with which to get started.

Listen well and pay attention

Practice active listening so that you can fully engage and communicate with others.     2     It is natural to want to respond to that text message that pops up on your phone immediately, even when you’re in the middle of a face-to-face conversation. Give people your full attention when speaking with them.     3    

Watch out for body language

    4     Even if they aren’t saying so, their feelings are truly revealed. Try to tune in to what the other person is saying “physically”. In the same way, be aware of your own body language and how you are presenting yourself. If you slouch and appear physically uninterested during a conversation, it may make the speakers lose confidence in what they are saying, resulting in a negative interaction.

Show that you care

If you sense that someone is upset, or if someone tells you they are going through some difficulties, show them you truly care.     5    

A．Life is often fast paced, with many digital distractions.

B．Often, people’s gestures will tell us a great deal about how they are feeling.

C．Sharing other people’s feelings can help you connect at a more meaningful level.

D．People like to feel heard, and it will help you develop worthwhile relationships.

E．The speaker fails to deliver a clear and objective message during his presentation.

F．Engaging in a meaningful conversation can reduce loneliness and help reconnect with others.

G．In the same way that we vary in traditional academic competencies, we can vary in how socially competent we are.

【推荐2】The first Friday of October is World Smile Day. Created by an artist named Harvey Ball, this day came about as a response to his creation of the smiley face. These little yellow faces are more than just a symbol.     1    

In 1963, Harvey Ball, a graphic (插画) artist from Massachusetts, created the smiley face symbol we’ve all come to know.     2     It’s every artists dream for their work to be respected and few symbols have had quite the impact that Harvey’s creation has had.

In the following years, the symbol has been used in many different ways including clothing, comic books, coffee cup sand more. Harvey worried that the commercialization of the symbol would reduce its impact.     3     Harvey knew something had to be done.

    4     It is aimed to promote acts of kindness. It was established in 1999 and has since been observed. Following his death in 2001, Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation was established to honour his name and memories.

The day is to encourage people to act kind and make others smile.     5     By doing so, you’d smile and in return, you’d make someone else smile and brighten up their day.

A．World Smile Day is very important.

B．It seeks to promote people’s connection.

C．The kindness will be returned to you soon.

D．They’re an expression about the power of smiling.

E．The smiley face started to move away from its goal of goodwill.

F．Popularity for this symbol broke into the world of popular culture.

G．Due to his concern, he came up with the idea of World Smile Day.

【推荐1】United Kingdom’s Go Below offers adventure-packed cave tours in North Wales. But what made the company world-famous is the hotel set 419 meters below the ground level in a waste mine (矿井).

The entrance of the old waste mine is a 45-minute walk into the mountains. That’s before you can enter the deep caves. After putting on the safety helmet, miner’s lamp, harness (安全带), and shoes not allowing water to enter, you are ready to enter the underground world.

Although the improved way is much safer than before, it still takes an hour to reach the underground hotel. The impressive underground world has many huge natural caves. Along the   way, you can see the remains of this 19th-century mine — old mine cars, broken tracks, and bridges.

Across the mine, cables in the air connect parts to get you safely, and really fast, from one side to the other. The exciting zip lines (滑索) glide over lakes and black deep holes so deep that you can barely see the bottom. During your journey, you will also see water or drink bottles of workers at that time.

Once you arrive at the camping base, you are welcomed with a hot drink. Then, the team provides you with a meal which can be vegetarian (素食的) upon request.

When you are finished with the food and chat at the picnic table, you can go back to your comfortable room and enjoy the deepest sleep you have ever experienced. The beds have thick   quilts to keep you warm, as the temperature here is only 10°Celsius.

The underground hotel opens the door only once per week on Saturday nights. Depending on your taste, you can choose to sleep in a small wooden house or a ca ve with rocks and the soft light of the candles around you.

The morning starts with a wake-up call at 8 am, and after a quick breakfast, the staff will guide you back to the surface, so you can go and tell your friends and family that you slept in the world’s deepest hotel!

1. What do visitors need to do before entering the underground world?

A．Get climbing training.	B．Have a health examination.
C．Wear protective equipment.	D．Learn the history of the mine.

2. What can you expect to see in the underground world?

A．Ancient wall paintings.	B．Different plants and wildlife.
C．Underground rivers and waterfalls.	D．Old mine cars, broken tracks, and bridges.

3. What can we learn about the meal at this hotel?

A．It respects different eating habits.	B．It involves local specialities.
C．It is to everyone’s taste.	D．It is vegetable-based.

4. When can visitors stay at the hotel?

A．Every day except Saturday.	B．Only at weekends.
C．Only on Sunday nights.	D．Only during weekdays.

【推荐2】If you walk along the streets, you will find children as young as seven years old walking to school or taking the public bus on their own. If you ride a public bus with a baby or young child, you will find at least three people standing up to give up their seats for you. And as a booming town with a young population, Xiamen has a lot to offer young families with kids.

There are lots of places of interest for you to enjoy. The following are some of them.

※A walking adventure on Gulangyu Islet: There you can have a round-the-island trip by fast boat and the Xiamen Underwater World has a dolphin and sea lion performance and brings you an enjoyment of around 400 types of underwater life from around the world.

Opening hours: 08: 00-18: 00 Click the map!

Price: 70 yuan (adults); 50 yuan (children above 1.4m)

※Wild rides at Guanyinshan Water Park: The park has a wave pool, which creates seven types of wave effects. It also has a hair-raising water ride that speeds down…

Opening hours: 10: 00-20:00 Click the map!

Price: 120 yuan per person; 60 yuan(visitors aged above 60 and below 1.4m)

※Xiamen Firefly Park: Last of all, young nature lovers will enjoy the wonder of watching more than 100, 000 fireflies light the dark night in the firefly park. Children will also learn the roles fireflies play in protecting the ecology by controlling the number of pests.

Opening hours: 19: 30-21: 30 Click the map!

Price: Free for children up to 16 years old

1. If a 1. 3-metre-tall child goes to visit Gulangyu Islet together with his parents, how much should they pay?

A．140 yuan.

B．120 yuan.

C．190 yuan.

D．210 yuan.

2. If a family go to Xiamen for a day’s holiday and they have to return home before 6 pm, then they can visit_______.

A．Gulangyu Islet and Xiamen Firefly Park

B．Guanyinshan Water Park

C．Gulangyu Islet and Guanyinshan Water Park

D．Guanyinshan Water Park and Xiamen Firefly Park

3. Where can you probably find this short paragraph according to the passage?

A．In the newspapers.	B．On the Internet.
C．In a magazine.	D．In a guidebook.