【推荐1】San Francisco's Chinatown is the biggest and oldest in the country. It's the third most visited tourist destination in the city. It's also the city's most densely populated neighborhood. So why are businesses in Chinatown struggling?

In this week's paper, I outline some of the reasons for why Chinatown's crowded streets and busy shops might be declining. Underneath the surface, Chinatown is falling. And the city, local organizations and businesses are trying to figure out what they can do to turn things around.

While numbers of people visit Chinatown, they don't stay long and they don't spend a lot of money. And beyond annual festivals, like Chinese New Years, this month's Moon Festival and last month's Sunday Streets—which drew about 15,000 to 20,000 people—the neighborhood has a hard time attracting locals.

Can you remember the last time you went to Chinatown? If you can't, you're not alone. Locals told me that Chinatown doesn't have much to offer them—that the stores are all the same. There are some good eating joints, people said, but they don't know how to find them. Some people even told me that they sometimes go to extreme measures to avoid the neighborhood altogether. But when asked if they would like to see Chinatown gone, the answer was always a strong no.

Locals are hopeful that things will get better and traffic will increase when the Central Subway is complete. But that's not for another five years, at least. And if new shops or restaurants don't make their way into Chinatown, the same problem of attracting locals will exist.

Not that Chinatown's going to die. The dragon still has some fire in its belly. And many people are rooting for positive change. The question is, how does Chinatown change without losing the very importance of what makes it unique?

1. Which can we know about Chinatown according to the passage?

A．Businesses in Chinatown are going well.	B．Local people like going shopping there.
C．A great number of people visit it every year.	D．No period has seen a more prosperous Chinatown.

2. According to the locals we can know that ________.

A．Chinatown doesn't love to offer them assistance

B．shops in Chinatown lack their own characteristics

C．it is hard to buy quality goods at proper prices

D．they feel annoyed to see so many familiar faces

3. It can be inferred from the passage ________.

A．the Central Subway is under construction	B．Chinatown has to make way for subway
C．many restaurants have been closed down	D．the locals hope Chinatown will be extinct

4. What is the author's attitude towards Chinatown?

A．Negative.

B．Sympathy.

C．Hopeful.

D．Indifferent.

【推荐2】WELCOME TO THE VIRTUAL REALITY CINEMA AMSTERDAM

World's First Reality Cinema

Going to the VR CINEMA offers you the opportunity to watch movies like you've never done before. You can see 360 degree movies using a VR headset. In the VR CINEMA, ringing mobile phones and noisy visitors belong to the past. Furthermore, traditional red cinema chairs or the big white screen are nowhere to be found. Instead, a Samsung Galaxy S6 (smart phone) together with the Samsung Gear VR (virtual reality glasses) transports you to a wholly new world. Headphones shut out background noise, and above all, offer super sound quality. Turning chairs allow you to freely look around and see what's happening above, below, behind, in front, on the right and on the left side of you. So no sore neck, we promise.

In the VR CINEMA, you will experience 30 minutes of the coolest virtual reality films. We proudly present four film selections in different themes in order to please every virtual reality lover. Are you brave enough for our scary films? Will you lose yourself in VR documentaries from around the globe? Do you prefer to go on an adventurous journey like no other? Or do your kids want to swim with dolphins, interact with magical characters, and experience the moving stories beyond imagination? Supernatural, Documentary, Journey and Fun are waiting for you!

For kids, young and older ones, there's the cheerful and colorful selection. The only thing you have to do is sit back, relax and enjoy the VR experience of your choice.

Location: Oosterdokskade 5, 1011 AD Amsterdam The Netherlands

Tel: +31(0) 627006916

E-mail: mail@thevrcinema.com

Ticket Price: ￡12.5

Opening hours: Wednesday, Thursday & Friday: 14:00-21:00

Saturday & Sunday: 12:00-22:00

1. What is the VR CINEMA like?

A．It has a big white screen.	B．It is full of noisy visitors.
C．It is quipped with red chairs.	D．It offers 360 degree movies.

2. What can you do in the VR CINEMA?

A．Join the swimming club.

B．Experience the touching unimaginable stories.

C．Act as magical characters.

D．Lose yourself in VR documentaries only from America.

3. What’s the main purpose of the text?

A．To introduce new VR films.	B．To present VR film schedules.
C．To report development of VR films.	D．To attract people to the VR CINEMA.

【推荐1】FaceApp has taken the world by storm, giving users the chance to see themselves age through its algorithm. 12.7 million people—some three million more than the population of New York City—reportedly downloaded it in a week last month.

Although the Russian app has become known for its privacy issues, the more interesting lesson of our FaceApp fling (尽情玩乐) is what it tells us about our society—and our future lives. It turns out we are more interested in aging than we realized. Most younger people are in denial about old age, doing almost nothing to prepare for it. We rarely have a chance to plan for the future, with increasing time and financial pressures. Those pressures bring sacrifices we may not always want to make: we can no longer afford to spend the time or the money needed to look after our elderly parents.

As a family doctor, I can see the loneliness epidemic developing. Elderly patients come to see me with no particular illness, no clear medical issue. After a few minutes of the consultation I understand why: they are not sick, and often they don’t feel sick. They just need someone—anyone—to talk to.

Although loneliness has no medical classification, the health effects are real: loneliness and isolation can be as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and is more damaging than obesity. But loneliness does not come with nearly enough health warnings.

So what next? Since 1980, we are living on average 10 years longer. Meanwhile, people are having fewer children, and they are having them much later in life. The snake of a world class health service is eating its own tail; its care is prolonging (延长) people’s lives, but as the rate of pensioners (退休人员) to working age people increases, there are fewer taxpayers ta fund that very health service.

Into this void have stepped NGOs, charities and volunteers. But in the long term, the only way to truly help the oldest members of our society is to go back to the traditional values of inter-generational cooperation—often under the same roof. Ultimately, we will need to evolve towards a culture where elderly care IS treated the same as childcare, where employers recognize the duty of someone with an elderly parent the same way they recognize those of someone with a newborn child.

1. What’s the writer’s intention of mentioning FaceApp in the first two paragraphs?

A．To explain its function in detail.	B．To prove its popularity across the world.
C．To show the rapid progress of technology.	D．To introduce the topic of aging and loneliness.

2. What makes elderly people without illness go to see their family doctors?

A．Desire to have the consultation.	B．Unclear medical issues.
C．Strong feeling of loneliness.	D．Questions to ask doctors.

3. How can the oldest members of our society be truly helped?

A．By being provided with family care.	B．By going back to the traditional society
C．By being treated like children.	D．By recognizing the duty of employers

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．FaceApp is helpful in dealing with elderly people’s loneliness.

B．FaceApp’s popularity proves it has no security problems.

C．The loneliness of elderly people needs more attention

D．Health service lacks fund because of prolonged people’s lives.

【推荐2】Going to outer space is a little like going camping. You have to carry with you all the food and equipment you need for your trip, so your food can’t be too heavy or hard to prepare.     1     Food with all the water dried out is lightweight and doesn’t spoil. So, many space foods are dried on Earth and stored in special packets.

On Earth, gravity is the force that keeps your feet on the ground and your sandwich on your plate.     2    . To keep food from floating away, astronauts on the Space Shuttle attach the packets to a special tray. The tray can be fixed to a wall or to the astronaut’s lap. To prepare their food, astronauts use liquid forms of salt and pepper. The liquid sticks to the food better. Regular salt and pepper would float away, maybe up an astronaut’s nose. Achoo!

    3    . So astronauts drink everything from a small bag with a straw (饮料吸管) that can be closed. Astronauts say that most space foods taste pretty good.

Some, such as apples and pudding are the same as the foods you eat on Earth. Astronauts eat tortillas (玉米粉圆饼) instead of bread because they make fewer crumbs(碎屑).     4    .

Your body uses food in space the same way it does on Earth.     5    . During take off and landing, astronauts can’t leave their seats to go to the bathroom. They wear diapers (尿布) under their spacesuits instead. The Space Shuttle has a bathroom the size of a small closet. The toilet has bars that keep astronauts from floating away. A strong flow of air is used instead of water to flush waste down the toilet. Back on Earth it’s flushed away—or sometimes studied by scientists.

A．But there’s no gravity in space

B．Liquids float right out of cups and glasses

C．Your body must get rid of waste in space too

D．Crumbs can not be dealt with in outer space

E．In addition, everything seems to be different in outer space

F．Besides, there are no refrigerators to keep food cold and fresh

G．With them floating, they could get stuck in equipment or an astronaut’s eye

【推荐1】In my life, I make it a rule to avoid using plastic bottles. So when I was invited to visit Sri Lanka for two weeks, I wondered how I could go without using them.

First, I got prepared for the worst. I brought a water bottle that can convert any water from lakes, streams, or hotel taps into clean drinking water through a filter(过滤器). Next, I bought a package of Aquatabs that help purify the water. And I also packed two other water bottles.

When I got to the first hotel, I discovered that there was a large drinking water machine in the main hallway. The guide told us at the initial meeting that we could expect it in many places. However, I became less delighted when he told me later that many of the hotels bring out the cooler just when we arrive because they know we want to see it. Some will hide it the rest of the time because they’ll be able to make money off the sale of small plastic water bottles in the rooms.

This led to my next strategy. If there was no cooler available to the public, I’d ask the hotel staff to refill my bottle whenever I was at a meal. Sure enough, they did, although they usually asked first if I wanted a bottle of water. I could find they weren’t pleased by my requests, but they did it anyway. These requests are what drive the broader behavioral changes that we need very much in order to shake single-use culture. Imagine if every single traveler asked for their water bottles to be filled from cooler; I bet the hotel would have one installed the next day.

I ended up not using the filter bottle until I got stuck at Delhi airport for 24 hours, my flight back to Toronto delayed by heavy fog. In the hotel room, I filtered tap water before drinking and was grateful to have that option. I never needed the Aquatabs, but they’ll keep until my next camping or backpacking trip.

1. What did the author worry about before visiting Sri Lanka?

A．He might suffer from the terrible weather.

B．He might carry more water during his travel.

C．He might have no access to clean drinking water.

D．He might spend more money in buying water bottles.

2. What does the underlined word “convert” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Fill.

B．Transform.

C．Acquire.

D．Boil.

3. What was the hotel staff’s response to the author’s requests?

A．Uncertain.

B．Uncomfortable.

C．Unbelievable.

D．Unwilling.

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

A．He didn’t have a good time.	B．He didn’t use any water bottles.
C．He didn’t enjoy drinking tap water.	D．He didn’t feel satisfied with his travel.

【推荐2】A shocking 53.6 million tons of electronic waste were discarded last year, a new UN-backed report has revealed. The report shows that e-waste is up 21% from five years ago. This isn't surprising, considering how many more people are adopting new technology and updating devices regularly to have the latest versions, but the report also shows that national collection and recycling strategies are nowhere close to matching consumption rates.

E-waste contains materials including copper, iron, gold and silver, which the report gives a conservative value of $ 57 billion. But most are thrown away or burned rather than being collected for recycling. Precious metals in waste are estimated to be worth $ 14 billion, but only $4 billion-worth is recovered at the moment.

While the number of countries with national e-waste policies has grown from 61 to 78 since 2014, there is little encouragement to obey and a mere 17% of collected items are recycled. If recycling does occur, it’s often under dangerous conditions, such as burning circuit boards to recover copper, which “releases highly poisonous metals” and harms the health of workers.

The report found that Asia has the highest amounts of waste overall, producing 24.9 million metric tons(MMT), followed by Europe at 12 MMT, Africa at 2.9 MMT, and Oceania at 0.7 MMT.

But whose responsibility is it? Are governments in charge of setting up collection and recycling points, or should companies be responsible for recycling the goods they produce? It goes both ways. Companies do need to be held accountable by government regulations and have incentives to design products that are easily repaired. At the same time, governments need to make it easy for citizens to access collection points and deal with their broken electronics in a convenient way. Otherwise, they may turn to the easiest option — the landfill.

1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．What e-waste refers to.	B．Where e-waste is collected.
C．Why e-waste is increasing rapidly.	D．How many kinds e-waste includes.

2. What do the statistics in paragraph 2 show?

A．The functions of policies.	B．The great damage to environment.
C．The change of consumption rates.	D．The urgency of recovering e-waste.

3. How should the problem be solved according to the passage?

A．New technology should be used to update old devices.

B．Governments and companies should take responsibilities.

C．Non-poisonous metals had better be used in e-device.

D．Citizens must play a key role in recycling e-waste.

【推荐3】If you’re reading this story, the chances are you’ve got a pretty good command of English. You’re not alone — an estimated 1.5 billion people speak English today, making it the most commonly used language in the world. Most are non-native speakers with English as their second language, while it serves as a third or fourth language for hundreds of millions more. So which place has the most fluent non-native English speakers?

According to a new report by international education company, the Netherlands is the best non-native English speakers across the globe. The results of its English Proficiency Index (英语能力指数), based on a free online test taken by 2.3 million volunteers, show that the Dutch are the most fluent. Sweden was positioned just below, with a score of 68.74 out of 100, while Norway came in third with 67.93 points.

Although the places with “very high proficiency” were largely made up of European countries, Singapore and South Africa also scored highly, coming in fifth and sixth place respectively.

The report also found that English was the most widely studied second language in the world by far. This may be the reason why just 20% of school students in the United States were studying a foreign language.

The survey was measured by testing non-native English speakers in 100 countries and over 400 cities and regions who voluntarily agreed to take the test. But there’s one thing that should be noticed. People are more likely to participate (参与) in the survey if they can surf the internet more easily. And this may greatly influence the accuracy (准确性) of the results.

1. Which of the following country has the most fluent non-native English speakers?

A．America.	B．Singapore.
C．Sweden.	D．The Netherlands.

2. What can we infer from Paragraph 4?

A．Americans do not need to learn a second language.

B．Americans dislike languages other than English.

C．More and more people are taking English as a second language.

D．Not many Americans would like to learn another language.

3. How was the survey carried out?

A．By asking volunteers to test online.

B．By handing out paper survey in some places.

C．By inviting volunteers to participate in the company.

D．By cooperating with other organizations.

4. What’s the attitude of the author towards the results of the survey?

A．Positive.	B．Doubtful.
C．Supportive.	D．Objective.

【推荐1】LaShenda Williams was a woman who had been sleeping in a parking lot for a year. It was a pity that she had been battling alcohol addiction and had been spending the nights in her car at a Nashville Kroger after driving around different locations during the day. Williams was really poor, and she would lean her seat in the car all the way back so that no one would see her because she wasn’t supposed to be there.

At the end of last year, Jackie Vandal, a hiring manager at a Kroger grocery store, noticed Williams and encouraged her to attend an upcoming job fair. With some help from Vandal, Williams spent a few hours filling out the application. Once Vandal saw the message indicating she had successfully applied, Vandal hired her on the spot.

It became a great day! Williams was brimming with happiness and smiled from ear to ear. From then on,she loved her work and got excited every day to come in. She couldn’t wait to see the workers who she worked with. She couldn’t wait to see the customers. Her positive attitude had been a blessing to the staff, too.

Even Jackie Vandal thought that they were so lucky to have Williams as part of their team members. Her uplifting spirit was inspiring. She had made such a positive impact on her fellow team members, and so many customers as well.

Williams said it was easy to be enthusiastic after everything that had happened. She was sleeping in a parking lot and looking for something to eat last year.   However, now，all Williams’s colleagues there love her. No one laughs at her, and no one calls her dumb and stupid. For the first time in her life, she gets peace and happiness.

1. How was LaShenda Williams’s life last year?

A．Enthusiastic and happy.	B．Poor and hard.
C．Peaceful but boring.	D．Exciting but tough.

2. What happened to Williams at the end of last year?

A．She got a job with the help of Vandal.

B．She gained financial assistance from Vandal.

C．She helped Vandal work for Kroger grocery store.

D．She attended a job fair organized by a Kroger grocery store.

3. Which can take the place of the underlined word“brimming" in paragraph 3?

A．uncovered

B．filled

C．increasing

D．relieving

4. What can we know about Williams?

A．She made her family members enthusiastic.

B．She won back the customers with her inspiring story.

C．She loved her work and felt satisfied with her new life.

D．She was so lucky that she made a good impression on customers.

【推荐2】As people age, the body changes in all sorts of predictable ways. Brains can slow. Wounds take longer to recover. And sleep patterns (模式) shift, too. This can come as news to many, says Michael V. Vitiello, a psychologist at the University of Washington who is expert in sleep in aging.

The most noticeable—and often most annoying—changes are how sleep and wake-up times change and sleep gets lighter, often beginning in middle age. Gone are weekend sleep to 11 a.m. and the ability to sleep through a noisy garbage truck down the block. Older drivers take longer to fall asleep, and they wake up more often. They tend to stay in the deepest stages of sleep for less time than younger adults.

Studies have found that poor sleep can create a particular threat to older adults—Falls, depression and anxiety, problems with memory, and increased suicide (自杀) risk are among the effects of sleep issues in this population group that researchers have found. But scientists are still unsure why those risk connections exist.

What is clear is the connection between good sleep and psychological well-being in older adults. A 2010 study showed us that connection when it came to sleep quality, but sleep quantity didn't show the same effects.

Experts say this may be the key to understanding sleep as you age. If you're sleeping less, but don't feel negative effects out of bed, the changes you notice may just be normal age-related. If you experience a sudden change in your sleep, or poor sleep is affecting your daily life, changing your personality, or your bedmate says you stop breathing when you snore, that could be a sign of something more serious and it's worth visiting your doctor.

1. What is one of the changes in sleep patterns with aging?

A．People tend to wake up later.	B．People sleep more at weekends.
C．People take longer to fall asleep.	D．People stay longer in deep sleep.

2. What will probably happen if the elderly have poor sleep?

A．They may threaten others.	B．They may become anxious.
C．They may have better memory.	D．They may be unaware of their risks.

3. What does the 2010 study imply?

A．Both sleep quality and quantity matter with aging.

B．Sleep quantity is the key to older people's mental health.

C．Sleeping well is good for older people's psychological health.

D．The relationship between quality and quantity is not yet clear.

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Bedtime pattern changes as people age.

B．Poor sleep is more dangerous for older adults.

C．Bedtime pattern changes are not a sign of trouble.

D．People's body changes in different ways with aging.

【推荐3】Reading instruction in the classroom is a key concern for all teachers and there are many ways to go about it. However, is our determination to achieve excellence in reading skills in our children killing their love and enjoyment of a good book?

In my work with parents, I am frequently asked the best ways to encourage reluctant readers to be engaged with books. Parents report that their children return home from school with no inclination to pick up a book and read.

Any eager reader will gladly talk about the joy with a good book to read away the hours on a cold, rainy afternoon. Reading a good book is one of life’s greatest pleasures. We need to share these experiences with our children in order to assist them in developing into strong readers. But the use of boring, mass-produced home reading texts in children’s early years at school can be seen as the beginning of this negative cycle.

As children progress through their schooling life, there are many other instances of learning reading skills that don’t help reading development. Frequently, teachers feel the pressure to give their students “just enough” in terms of reading strategies to be able to achieve the test, which leaves little time to focus on reading for pleasure.

Kelly Gallagher, a high school teacher, outlines the term “Readicide” in his book. He says it’s: the systematic killing of the love of reading, often worsened by foolish, boring practices found in schools.

Recent research shows that many teachers tend to follow the traditional literacy practices that they have experienced in their own education, which can often have negative intentions for their students.

While teaching children key concepts for analyzing and evaluating texts is important, the manner in which it is done and time that is spent on this can lead to unexpected results. Schools aren’t to blame when it comes to not arresting students’ lack of interest in reading, but they have an important role to play in fostering reading enjoyment.

1. What does the underlined word “inclination” mean?

A．Energy	B．Task
C．Intention	D．Requirement

2. What does the term “Readicide” refer to?

A．To develop reading habits	B．To read for pleasure
C．To learn reading skills	D．To kill a love for books

3. According to the text, teachers at school ______.

A．focus on teaching reading strategies

B．ignore key concepts for analyzing texts

C．are to blame for students’ poor reading

D．fail to follow the traditional reading practices

4. What might be suitable title for the text?

A．Reading books is to experience pleasure

B．Learning to love books is even more important

C．Teaching reading helps reluctant readers

D．Getting pleasure from books makes capable readers