【推荐1】Home sweet home

No matter how far you've travelled, there's always something special about coming home. It might be your comfortable bed or your mum' s special dish or walking round your local park that makes you feel so happy and comfortable there.

    1    . It's something you learn to deal with better as you grow older; from your first weekend away with school or a youth group, to a week-long holiday with friends, to moving out to university, it becomes ever easier.     2       I always long to go home about a week before it's time. It's the expectation of seeing your friends and family, smelling Dad' s apple pie, and feeling your own sheets.

    3     . Concentrate on what you' re doing and where you are. Think about all the good differences from home. You might not be able to get your favorite foods, but this will force you to try something new.     4     , but perhaps it' s more beautiful and sunnier! And although you'll miss friends and family, distance helps you appreciate the truly valuable relationships.

There's a new generation of   " children of the world". With more people moving abroad, it's easy to feel like you have many different homes. However, I think this is positive-you lead an enriched life and you learn to value what, where and who really matters to you.       5     , you learn to make everywhere your home!

A．And when the world is your shelter

B．Your new town may not be familiar

C．Some tips to help with homesickness

D．A great wave of homesickness swept over me

E．Homesickness is something almost everyone suffers from

F．As these are the things that made you cry with homesickness

G．Although I'm used to travelling around and living away from home

【推荐3】I’m Jane from America. I can not sleep well and I always wake up several times during the night. I know for a fact that there are many other people who have trouble going to sleep, too. So, I’ve collected some advice I’ve received over the past few months.    1    

Have regular sleep habits.

Go to bed at the same time every night. Try not to break this habit on weekends when you may be made to stay up late.    2    If you’re getting enough sleep, you should wake up naturally without an alarm.

Turn off your computer.

    3    Studies show that it is bad for the quality of your sleep. Read a book or listen to some light music to prepare your body for sleeping.

    4    

A clean environment helps people to be happy and relaxed. Make sure that you have turned off all lights that might come into your room, and that the temperature is comfortable.

Exercise often.

Exercising will help you to fall asleep more easily, so walk out for 45 minutes every day and you will sleep better at night. But don’t do it just before you go to bed— you won’t be able to sleep!

Eat properly.

Eat only a little for supper.    5    

A．Turn off the lights.

B．Have a nice bedroom.

C．Get up early every morning.

D．Wake up at the same time every day.

E．They have helped me sleep faster and better.

F．A full stomach may make it much harder for you to sleep.

G．Don’t play on the computer for half an hour before you decide to sleep.

【推荐2】It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers (生产商) follow certain uniform standards for different features of clothes. What seems strange, however, is that the standard used for women is the opposite of the one for men. Take a look at the way your clothes button. Men’s clothes tend to button from the right, and women’s from the left. Considering most of the world’s population — men and women — are right-handed, the men’s standard would appear to make more sense (更有道理) for women. So why do women’s clothes button from the left?

History really seems to matter here. Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants. For the mostly right-handed servants, having women’s shirts button from the left would be easier. On the other hand, having men’s shirts button from the right made sense, too. Most men dressed themselves, and a sword (剑) drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.

Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning from the left is still the standard for them. Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once it is set, resists change. At a time when all women’s shirts buttoned from the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women’s shirts that buttoned from the right. After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch. Besides, some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men’s shirts.

1. What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?

A．It has been followed by the industry for over 400 years.

B．It is different for men’s clothing and women’s.

C．It woks better with men than with women.

D．It fails to consider right-handed people.

2. What do we know about the rich men in the 17th century?

A．They tended to wear clothes without buttons.

B．They drew their swords from the left.

C．They were mostly dressed by servants.

D．They were interested in the historical matters.

3. Women’s clothes still button from the left today because         .

A．customs are hard to change

B．manufacturers should follow standards

C．modern women dress themselves

D．using men’s style is improper for women

4. The passage is mainly developed by          .

A．analyzing causes	B．making comparisons
C．examining differences	D．following the time order

【推荐3】Downtown Baltimore is home to an unusual experiment that seems strange—cooling buildings with ice. It’s a service provided by Veolia Energy. Veolia doesn’t run big coal or nuclear power plants—instead, it tries to deliver “efficiency”—basically getting more out of the electricity network.

Veolia does this with a concept called “district cooling,” which sends water chilled by ice at a central plant out to several nearby buildings. A nearly 10-mile circuit of cooling pipes connects the downtown buildings, including the convention center, government buildings and hotels, to a brick building with two domes(穹顶)about 30-feet high next to it.

Inside the domes are tanks filled with water. A lot of tubes run through the water tank carrying chilled glycol, a fluid(液体)that freezes at a very low temperature. This process runs at night, and ice forms around the tubes.

“During the day, when we are using the ice to produce cooling for customers, we run water over the outside of the ice and malt it and actually provide cool water out to the distribution system,” says John Gibson, a vice president at Veolia Energy.

Why ice? The ice essentially stores the cheaper energy that’s available at night.

“ It allows you to make ice at night, when electrical demand is lower and costs are lower, and then melt that ice during the day to supplement your mechanical refrigeration,” Gibson says. The customers don’t need to buy their own refrigeration units, so they save about 10 percent on cooling costs by using Veolia’s district setup.

Using nighttime electricity also takes the heat off the electricity network. By using ice, Veolia doesn’t need to use as much electricity during the days.

Gibson also says it’s not cheap to build all of the pipes and pumps for a district cooling system, but it saves money in the long run, especially if existing underground infrastructure (基础设施)can be used.

1. What does the underlined word“chilled” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．Cooled down.

B．Boiled up.

C．Frozen.

D．Purified.

2. Why is ice made at night?

A．It is energy-saving and economical.	B．It reduces the burden of refrigeration units.
C．Buildings need less cooling.	D．Cheaper water is available.

3. What is the text mainly about?

A．Unusual findings.	B．An efficient network.
C．A unique cooling system.	D．Velia’s mechanical refrigeration.

4. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A diary.	B．A magazine.
C．A novel.	D．A brochure.

【推荐1】Step into Moving to Mars, an exhibition of Mars mission and colony design at London's Design Museum, and immediately you have good reasons not to move there.

Frightening texts on the walls announce that Mars wasn't made for you; that there is no life and precious little water; that, dressed in a spacesuit, you will never touch, taste or smell the planet you now call “home”. As Lisa Grossman wrote for New Scientist a couple of years ago, “What's different about Mars is that there is nothing to do there except try not to die.”

It is an odd beginning for such a celebratory exhibition, but it provides a valuable, dark background against which the rest of the show can sparkle (闪耀)—a show that is, as its chief manager Justin McGuirk remarks, “not about Mars; this is an exhibition about people”.

Moving along, there is a quick yet clear flash through what the science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson calls “the history of Mars in the human mind”. A Babylonian clay tablet and a Greek vase speak of early ideas about the planet. A poster for the original Total Recall film reminds us of Mars's psychological threat.

The main part of the show is our current plans for the Red Planet. There are real spacesuits and models of 3D­printed Martian settlements and suitable clothing and furniture. Mission architecture and engineering sketches line the walls. Real hammers meant for the International Space Station are wall­mounted (固定在墙上的) beside a low­gravity table that has yet to leave and may indeed never leave Earth.

This, of course, is the great strength of approaching science through design: reality and assumptions can be given equal visual weight, drawing us into an informed conversation about what it is that we actually want from a future on Mars.

1. What is the text mainly about?

A．How to move to Mars.

B．How to survive on Mars.

C．What preparations we made for Mars.

D．What the exhibition of Mars truly tells us.

2. What can we learn from Lisa Grossman?

A．It's impractical to live on Mars.

B．It's no good settling on Mars.

C．You have nothing to do when living on Mars.

D．You can live on Mars in a spacesuit.

3. What does the exhibition focus on?

A．The current plans for Mars.

B．The advantages of living on Mars.

C．The early ideas about Mars.

D．The history of Mars in the human mind.

4. What does the author want to tell us in the last paragraph?

A．A story.	B．An opinion.
C．A fantasy.	D．A solution.

【推荐2】One day, when I was working as a psychologist in England，an adolescent boy showed up in my office. It was David. He kept walking up and down restlessly, his face pale, and his hands shaking slightly. His head teacher had referred him to me. “This boy has lost his family，” he wrote. “He is understandably very sad and refuses to talk to others, and I'm very worried about him. Can you help？”
I looked at David and showed him to a chair. How could I help him? There are problems psychology doesn't have the answer to, and which no words can describe. Sometimes the best thing one can do is to listen openly and sympathetically.
The first two times we met, David didn't say a word. He sat there, only looking up to look at the children's drawings on the wall behind me. I suggested we play a game of chess. He nodded. After that he played chess with me every Wednesday afternoon—in complete silence and without looking at me. It's not easy to cheat in chess, but I admit I made sure David won once or twice.
Usually, he arrived earlier than agreed, took the chess board and pieces from the shelf and began setting them up before I even got a chance to sit down. It seemed as if he enjoyed my company. But why did he never look at me?
“Perhaps he simply needs someone to share his pain with，” I thought. “Perhaps he senses that I respect his suffering.” Some months later, when we were playing chess, he looked up at me suddenly.
“It's your turn,” he said.
After that day, David started talking. He got friends in school and joined a bicycle club. He wrote to me a few times, about his biking with some friends, and about his plan to get into university. Now he had really started to live his own life.
Maybe I gave David something. But I also learned that one—without any words—can reach out to another person. All it takes is a hug, a shoulder to cry on, a friendly touch, and an ear that listens.
1. When he first met the author, David ________．

A．felt a little excited	B．walked energetically
C．looked a little nervous	D．showed up with his teacher

2. As a psychologist, the author     ________．

A．was ready to listen to David

B．was skeptical about psychology

C．was able to describe David's problem

D．was sure of handling David's problem

3. David enjoyed being with the author because he________．

A．wanted to ask the author for advice

B．needed to share sorrow with the author

C．liked the children's drawings in the office

D．beat the author many times in the chess game

4. What can be inferred about David?

A．He recovered after months of treatment.

B．He liked biking before he lost his family.

C．He went into university soon after starting to talk.

D．He got friends in school before he met the author.

【推荐3】The playing field is never even or equal. Your skills and attitude play a major role in the outcome. Knowing what you can do to have an advantage can make the difference between success and failure.

My kids tell me it's unfair to play with the big children. I tell them that's right. Unfairness is a good thing. There is more to be gained by the effort when things seem unfair. It is true that many things in the world are unfair. But unfair things usually can be a boon to you. For example, the early bird catches the worm. It is unfair that the bird that sleeps in misses out on breakfast but it is nice to know that if it gets up early it is sure to get the worm.

I always try to explain to my kids that complaining about how unfair something is will get them nowhere. Instead, make the most out of it and get on the other side of it. Once you do that you are in the advantage. Above all, you have to focus on gaining that unfair advantage and in order to do that, build your inner strength, When you empower （武装） yourself, you are gaining skills or abilities, confidence and self-esteem （自尊）.

You should look at your place in the world. Where do you want io be financially, spiritually, emotionally, and physically ? You are creating your own story when you empower yourself.

You can build all the advantages that you need to live the life that you want. If you haven't yet, you need to make a list of all the things you want to experience in your new life. This will help you focus on building advantages so that you never have to say that it's Not Fair. When you do this then you will be able to realize that unfairness is a good thing and you will want to teach those around you to see unfairness in this way too.

1. What does the underlined word "boon" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Something that is very terrible.	B．Something that is very helpful
C．Something that is very kind	D．Something that is very scared

2. What can we infer from the example of the playing field used by the author?

A．The author wants to introduce his topic

B．The author wants to support his opinion

C．He wants tell us that having an advantage is needed

D．He wants to show skills and attitudes are important in playing games

3. What is the best way to deal with unfairness according to the author?

A．Just accept it.	B．Thy to change it.
C．Simply ignore it.	D．Make good use of it.

4. You are told to look at your place in the world in order to ________.

A．make yourself better	B．be proud of yourself
C．have more confidence	D．know others' advantages

5. What is the text mainly about?

A．The way to live a happy life.	B．The right attitude to unfairness.
C．Being patient enough to succeed.	D．Staying calm when treated badly.

【推荐1】Some dogs can be really mean. They fight with other dogs and bark at you on the street when you walk by.

Now scientists say that some dogs are badly behaved because they were taken away from their mothers too early. Scientists say this can turn them into aggressive(有攻击性的)dogs.

Researchers at the University of Milan in Italy studied 140 dogs aged between 18 months and seven years, according to the Daily Mail newspaper.

Half of these dogs had been taken away from their mothers and given new homes when they were between 30 and 40 days old. The other half were taken away when they were 60 days old.

Researchers asked the owners where their pets were from and what breed they were. Then they asked owners to write down whenever their dogs behaved badly. Examples of bad behavior include biting furniture and clothes, barking a lot, and being aggressive to people. Some dogs got angry if other dogs took away their food and toys. Some got scared when they were walking outdoors or if they heard a sudden noise.

The scientists found that bad behavior was more common in dogs that had been taken away from their mothers between 30 and 40 days old.

Behavior was also worse in dogs that had been removed early and put in pet shops than those that had been removed later.

So if you want to keep a pet dog. think twice before getting one younger than two months old. Your puppy could grow up to be a real troublemaker.

1. The underlined word “mean” in the first paragraph can be replaced by         .

A．poor	B．unkind
C．smart	D．unsafe

2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the article as an example of bad behavior among dogs?

A．Biting clothes.	B．Barking at people.
C．Taking away others’ food.	D．Being unfriendly to people.

3. Which of the following statements about the research is TRUE?

A．140 dogs aged 18 days to 7 months were studied.

B．Dogs behaved better after receiving special training.

C．The research found no clear connections between breed and had behavior.

D．All the dogs in the experiment had not been taken away from their mothers after birth.

4. This passage comes most likely from         .

A．a pet magazine	B．a fiction book
C．an advertisement	D．an amusing newspaper

【推荐2】Russia’s security chief has blamed an act of terror for the Russian A321 airliner crash in Egypt last month which killed 224 people . Whatever happened , the tragedy raises sad memories of horrific airplane crashes that have cost thousands of lives in recent decades .

Some of the worst such incidents—like four crashes in frightening succession into New York’s World Trade Center , the Pentagon and rural Pennsylvania on September 11 , 2001 ; the 1988 downing of Pan Am Flight 103 in Lockerbie , Scotland ; and a 1977 crash involving the apparent hijacking of a Malaysian Airlines jet that left 100 dead—involved terrorist activity . But there are many others that did not , with mechanical problems , pilot error or other reasons blamed for loss of life . Below are some examples of the latter : crashes that left at least 200 people dead in each incident .

March 27 , 1977 : A KLM Royal Dutch Airlines Boeing 747 beginning its takeoff crashed into Pan American World Airways Boeing 747 then still on the runway at the Los Rodeos Airport at Tenerife in the Canary Islands . A total of 574 people , aboard both planes , died .

July 11 , 1991 : The landing gear of a Nigeria Airways DC-8 catches fire shortly after takeoff Jeddah , Saudi Arabia . It doesn’t make it back to the airport , crashing nose-down less than 10,000 feet short of the runway and killing all 261 people aboard .

April 26 , 1994 : The pilot of a China Airlines’ Flight 140 alerts the control tower at Japan’s Nagoya Airport of his intention not to land and try another approach . But something goes wrong and , a short time later , the Airbus A300 crashes leading to 264 deaths—though a few passengers do survive .

September 2 , 1998 : A Swissair jetliner that had departed New York’s Kennedy airport on its way to Geneva , Switzerland , goes down off the coast of Nova Scotia , Canada ; none of the 229 people aboard Flight 111 make it . Investigators believe that the MD-11 lost all electrical power immediately before the crash .

June 1 , 2009 : Air France Flight 447 is on the way from Rio de Janiero to Paris when it and its 228 passengers and crew go missing somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean . It’s not until five days later that the first bodies are found about 600 miles off the northern coast of Brazil . Two years later , French authorities blame the crash on equipment breakdown .

1. The first paragraph is intended to __________ .

A．memorize those people aboard the Russian A321 airline .

B．direct attention to some disastrous air plane crashes .

C．show it is the most serious incident in history .

D．analyze the cause of the disaster and blame the airline company .

2. Which air crash resulted from terrorist attack ?

A．China Airlines’ Flight 140

B．Air France Flight 447

C．Pan Am Flight 103

D．Swissair Jetliner Flight 111

3. Which of the following statements is not true ?

A．Two planes of the same type hit each other on March 27 , 1977 .

B．There were over 264 people aboard China Airlines’ Flight 140 .

C．Swissair Jetliner Flight 111 crashed during its landing .

D．It took five days to find some bodies of Air France Flight 447 .

4. Which of the following might be the best title for the text ?

A．Russian Airlines Plane Crash	B．Air Crash Investigation
C．Deadliest Airline Crashes	D．Mysteries of Air crashes

【推荐3】My problems started after I went to a boarding school. I was only 14, and at first I missed my family a lot. I often called them and cried on the phone. But after two weeks, I found I enjoyed being with my classmates at school.

I had many friends who were boys. I thought of them as my best friends—but only friends. I never guessed my friendships with boys would become a problem.

Then, three months later, my friends told me that some teachers and girls said I was hanging out with boys all day long in order to get attention from them. Seven months after that, the head teacher Mr. Wang asked the class to choose some students to join the Student Union. I thought I could win for I was doing well in school. I’d already won prizes for the best math and English exams. A week later, the list came out and it didn’t include me. I was sad.

Mr. Wang came to me and said, “Don’t be sad. I know you’re excellent! Maybe you’re a little distant from the girls in our class. They don’t know much about you, so some of them didn’t choose you. It doesn’t matter. Do your best to get along well with everyone and I think you’ll make it next time.”

1. What was the writer’s problem when she first entered the boarding school?

A．She didn’t like her new school.	B．She didn’t get along well with her classmates.
C．She missed her family very much.	D．She didn’t like her new teacher.

2. Why did the writer fail to join the Student Union?

A．Her teachers didn’t like her.	B．She was a poor student.
C．Some girls didn’t choose her .	D．She likes showing off herself.

3. The word “distant” (in paragraph 4)means “______” in Chinese.

A．陌生的

B．疏远的

C．热心的

D．粗鲁的

4. Which of the following is NOT true, according to the passage?

A．The teacher thought she was an excellent student.

B．The writer didn’t realize that her friendships with boys would cause problems.

C．The writer was sad because she failed to join the Student Union.

D．The writer won prizes for the best science and English exams.