【推荐1】Zoe, Damacela, 19, didn't have nice clothes when she was young. It wasn't easy for Zoe’s hard-working single mother to make ends meet. They moved in and out of homeless shelters.
Everything changed for Zoe in grade nine. At that time, she heard about a sewing (缝纫) class at her school. She signed up and couldn't wait to turn her designs into clothes. The color of the first dress she made was white-black strips. Soon the clothes she wore were all made by her. Other girls at school loved her designs too. They asked her if they could buy dresses from her. Zoe sold her first dress for $13. Unfortunately, it cost her $25 to make the dress. “I had the creativity in designs," says Zoe. “But I really had no idea about business.”
Zoe kept selling the clothes she designed. Her business was booming, and even the girls who had ever teased her became her customers. In the eleventh grade, Zoe took a business class. She learned how to price her clothes so that she could be sure to make a fair profit.
Her business teacher suggested she take part in a contest for teenaged entrepreneurs (企业家). The contest was for teens from all over the United States. Zoe sent in her business plan, which explained how she planned to make her pany grow. She won the second prize in the end. Zoe ’s success became a news item. Supermodel Tyra Banks heard about it and she invited Zoe to take part in her TV show. “Being recognized I felt really unreal,” says Zoe. Zoe has advice for teens who want to start their own business. “If you really work hard on it, you will be able to make it happen,” she says. “If I can do it, anyone else can.”
1. We can learn that_____________ when she was in grade nine.

A．Zoe had no interest in designing clothes

B．Zoe seldom wore her self-made clothes

C．Zoe didn' t know how to make money

D．Zoe attended a business course

2. After winning the contest, Zoe _____________.

A．considered it a reward	B．expected to be known
C．was proud of her own gift	D．could hardly believe it

3. Zoe advised the teens_____________.

A．to make efforts to achieve their dreams

B．to design and make their own clothes

C．to try every means to bee famous

D．to do whatever they would like to

【推荐2】In my mind, the effect that experience had on me lasted forever. I was determined to learn swimming at the age of ten. There was a pool, at the K. P.L.B., offering the opportunity. My mother constantly warned against it, and bore fresh in my mind the details of each drowning in the river. But the K. P.L.B. pool was safe.

My fear of water started from childhood. It began when I was four years old and father took me to the beach. There the huge waves knocked me down and swept over me.

The K. P.L.B. pool was quiet. I was afraid of going in all alone, so I sat on the side of the pool to wait for others. Then came a big boy. He yelled, "Hi, Skinny! How'd you like to be ducked?" With that he picked me up and threw me into the deep end. I landed in a sitting position, and swallowed water. But I was not frightened out of my wits-when my feet hit the bottom, I would make a big jump, come out of the surface. It seemed a long way down. I gathered all my strength when I landed and made what I thought was a great spring upwards. Then I opened my eyes and saw nothing bur water. I tried to yell but no sound came out. I went down, down, endlessly.

When I came to consciousness, I found myself on the bed in the hospital.

I never went back to the pool. I avoided water whenever I could. This misadventure stayed with me as the years rolled by. It deprived me of the joy of boating and swimming. Finally, I decided to get an instructor. Piece by piece, I practiced hard and finally he built a swimmer. Several months later, the instructor was finished, but I was not. Sometimes the terror would return.

This went on till July. I swam across the Lake Wentworth. Only once did the terror return. When I was in the middle of the lake, I put my face under and saw nothing but bottomless water. I laughed and said, "Well, Mr. Terror, what do you think you can do to me?"

I had conquered my fear of water.

1. Why was the author frightened of water originally?

A．His skill in swimming was very poor.

B．An experience of an outing to the beach affected him.

C．He had an unpleasant memory of the pool at the age of four

D．His mother warmed him about the danger of being drowned

2. Which of the following is right about the author's experience in the K.P.L.B. pool?

A．The experience made him aware that the pool was safe

B．While he had no skill in swimming, he struggled to go upwards.

C．When he was thrown into water, he knew someone would save him.

D．The big boy eagerly wanted to help him to conquer the fear of water.

3. Which of the following can be used to describe the author?

A．Diligent and cautious.	B．Determined and far-sighted.
C．Dependable and adaptable.	D．Demanding and courageous.

4. What does the author try to tell us?

A．A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit.	B．Do one thing at a time, and do well.
C．Deed divides beings into lower and higher ones.	D．Success always comes from daring to challenge.

【推荐3】Last week the electricity in my flat went out. I had just got home from work and was happily making my tea, when all of a sudden I was surrounded by complete darkness. I tried to fix it but failed. I had to wait for an electrician to come in the morning.     1    

I sat down to eat my half - cooked dinner. And then I wasn’t really sure what to do. My typical evening is spent watching the TV and looking through social media.    2     So for me it was an early night. And I couldn’t help but think, do we rely too much on electricity? That night, losing our electricity felt like losing a basic necessity. As basic as running water.    3     I use electricity all the lime, even when it’s not really necessary.

    4    . It contributes to global warming. It is harming our environment and we need to do what we can to stop it. Not only that, but if we continue to use the same large amount of energy we will soon run out.

So, shouldn’t we start preparing for it now? Cutting back on our use of electricity would make losing it easier, and also save energy resources so that they could last for longer.    5     And if everyone does the same, we can make a big difference.

A．Tonight this wasn’t possible.

B．Obviously, we can’t survive without it.

C．Our over-use of electricity is a big problem.

D．This left me a whole night without any electricity.

E．Electricity brings us convenience and trouble.

F．But really, we’ve grown to take electricity for granted.

G．I know for sure that I could cut down on my use of electricity.

【推荐1】Think about the longest elevator ride that you’ve ever taken.   Whether you rose five floors or 100,   it probably took less than a few minutes. Now imagine riding in an elevator higher and higher as it climbs for nearly a day.   When you reach the top floor,   prepare for views that are really out of this world. You’ll be in space!

Space elevators might sound like a crazy idea,   but they’re something scientists have been working on for decades.

Why would anyone want a space elevator?   At the moment,   riding in a capsule is the only way ordinary people can get to and from space.   But those rides are very expensive — about $25 million per person per flight.

Researchers are still figuring out the details about how a space elevator might work. One idea is stretching (伸展) a very long cable — more than 37,000 kilometers — up to space from the earth’s equator (赤道). The location is important: Objects in space above the equator orbit (绕……的轨道飞行) the earth at the same speed that our planet turns.   A weight on the end of the cable would stretch it tight.   An elevator tied to the cable could use it to climb up and down.

The only problem is that besides being long,   this cable must also be very strong.   Storms,   including hurricanes might break it. One way to solve this problem is to stretch the cable from the moon instead of from the earth.   Airplanes designed to climb higher than a typical jet might take off from the earth and link up with the cable, which would be held in place by the pull of gravity from the earth.   An elevator car waiting there would then take riders the rest of the way to the moon.     Fueled by solar power,     the elevator could transport people and materials without much expense or effort per ride.

So, when will you be taking your first space­elevator ride? Probably not for a while.

1. The first paragraph is presented by________.

A．giving an example

B．making a comparison

C．asking questions

D．analyzing causes

2. Why have   scientists   been   working   on   space elevators?

A．To make trips to space cheaper.

B．To help astronauts do research in space.

C．To find a more convenient way to the moon.

D．To prove an assumption which seems crazy.

3. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 4 refers to ________.

A．the cable

B．the equator

C．an object in space

D．a weight on the end of the cable

4. Which part of a magazine may the article appear in?

A．Science and technology.	B．Sports.
C．Literature.	D．Entertainment.

【推荐2】The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System（BDS）is a Chinese satellite navigation system. It consists of two separate satellite constellations（星座）. The first BeiDou system, officially called the BeiDou Satellite Navigation Experimental System and also known as BeiDou-1, consists of three satellites, which since 2000 has offered limited coverage and navigation services, mainly for users in China and neighboring regions. Beidou-1 was decommissioned at the end of 2012.

The second generation of the system, known as COMPASS or BeiDou-2, became operational in China in December 2011 with a partial constellation of 10 satellites in orbit. Since December 2012, it has been offering services to customers in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2015, China started the build-up of the third generation BeiDou system（BeiDou-3）in the global coverage constellation. The first BDS-3 satellite was launched on 30 March 2015. Up to January 2018, nine BeiDou-3 satellites have been launched. BeiDou-3 will eventually consist of 35 satellites and is expected to provide global services upon completion in 2020. So far, China has sent 27 BeiDou satellites into space. When fully completed, BeiDou, the world’s fourth navigation satellite system, following GPS in the United States, GLONASS in Russia and Galileo in the European Union, will provide an alternative global navigation satellite system to the United States owned Global Positioning System（GPS）, and is expected to be more accurate than the GPS. It was claimed in 2016 that BeiDou-3 will reach millimeter-level accuracy（with post-processing）, which is ten times more accurate than the finest level of GPS.

According to China Daily, in 2015, fifteen years after the satellite system was launched, it was generating a turnover of $31.5 billion annually for major companies such as China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, AutoNavi Holdings Ltd, and China North Industries Group Corp.

1. What does the underlined word “decommissioned” in the 1st paragraph mean?

A．out of service	B．out of control
C．under repair	D．under work

2. How many BeiDou-3 satellites had been sent into space by January 2018?

A．3.	B．9.
C．27.	D．35.

3. Which of the following statements about BDS is true according to the passage?

A．Beidou-2 began to operate in December, 2012.

B．Beidou-1 cannot cover all the Asia-Pacific regions.

C．Beidou-3 had reached the finest accuracy of GPS by 2016.

D．BDS ranks fourth among the existing navigation satellite systems in the world.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．The service of BDS.

B．The accuracy of BDS.

C．The development of BDS.

D．The comparisons among the satellite systems.

【推荐3】British scientists seeking to protect the environment have designed a biodegradable mobile phone cover that breaks down in soil when discarded and sprouts (发芽)a flower from a seed put inside the case. Researchers at the University of Warwick in central England said the novel device, made from a specially designed polymer (聚合材料),is a blessing for the environmentalists.

Millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year as the industry produces large quantities of new models without caring about the quality. “It is really original in the phone industry and consumers are happy because they feel they are doing something for the local environment,” said Keny Kirwan from the university of Warwick. Designers have made the hesitant users feel sure that the seed, put into a transparent window, only sprouts when the phone cover is discarded. “We put sunflower seeds into the covers of the samples, but we are working with gardening researchers to identify which other flowers would perform best. Maybe we could put poppies (虞美人)or roses next time,” said Kirwan.

1. Why is the new mobile phone unique?

A．It is popular with young people.

B．It is environmentally friendly.

C．The user can make it flower whenever he or she likes.

D．Its colour is beautiful.

2. What does the underlined word “ discarded” mean?

A．Thrown away.

B．Updated.

C．Cleaned.

D．Replaced.

3. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Good News for Environmentalists	B．Promising Mobile Phone
C．Changing Wastes into Valuables	D．Flowering Mobile Phone

4. In which section of a magazine may this text appear?

A．Entertainment.	B．Science and technology.
C．Education.	D．Health.