【推荐2】French schools once prized the nutritional value of wine. So commonly was it served to children that in 1956 the government banned wine in school canteens—and even then, only for the under-14s. France was the world’s biggest wine producer last year. A bottle of wine has long been to the French meal what fast driving is to the German motorway: an ordinary habit, national right and personal pleasure.

No longer. In 2022 roughly 10% of French people drank wine every day, down from half in 1980. Back in 1960 the French drank an average of 116 liters of everyday wine per person. Between 2000 and 2018 that shrank from 28 liters to just 17. A glass of wine is an increasingly rare sight at the lunch table.

What is going on? It is not simply price. A bottle of Bordeaux can still be found in a French supermarket for under €3. Some village co-operatives sell local produce straight from the vat for €l.90 a liter—less than fresh orange juice. A better explanation is that a beer-drinking trend is challenging Mediterranean habits. The French now tell polls that they prefer beer to wine. Beer accounts for more than half of all alcohol bought in French supermarkets. Even in southern France, some cafes serve imported Belgian or German beer on tap.

Most important, a health-conscious younger generation is drinking less. A quarter of French 18- to 34-year-olds say they never drink alcohol. Fully 39% of under-35s say that they do not drink wine, next to only 27% of the over-50s. Le dry January has entered the national vocabulary. No- and low-alcohol drinks are spreading. A younger generation is rejecting old Mediterranean habits. In an attempt to “speak to Generation Z by adopting its codes”, Pernod Ricard, a drinks giant, runs a marketing campaign with the slogan “Drink more…water”.

Of course, consumption of high-quality wine remains strong. But the decline of cheaper stuff has wider consequences for France. Last summer the government allowed €200m to buy surplus low-end wine that producers could not sell. In some areas, farmers are tearing off lesser vines (葡萄藤) altogether. Less alcohol may improve health, but not necessarily the mood or landscapes of rural France.

1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．Serving wine to French children has been banned.

B．Drinking wine is as dangerous a habit as fast driving.

C．Wine consumption has long been a practice in France.

D．Nutritional value of wine is widely recognized in France.

2. What’s the major reason for the French people drinking less wine?

A．Health concern.	B．Challenge from beer.
C．Economic decline.	D．Shortage of wine supply.

3. What does the underlined part “Le dry January” in paragraph 4 probably refer to?

A．A season of poor grape harvest.

B．A period when the weather is dry.

C．An organization advocating drinking water.

D．A campaign calling for less wine consumption.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Consumption of low-quality wine remains unchanged.

B．Production of high-end wine is lower than that of low-end wine.

C．Farmers who produce more wine are awarded by the government.

D．Not all French people benefit from the decline of wine consumption.

【推荐3】As a result of trade, travel and migration, different cuisines have spread across the world. Many recipes, chefs and restaurants try to announce that their food of a country or region is the most authentic (正宗的). But is this a good thing?

People care about authenticity because food traditions are closely linked to identity (身份), particularly for migrant communities. Sociologist and professor of food studies, Krishnendu Ray, explains that home cooking is often the last way that communities can show their identity. British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was accused of trying to take advantage of positive feelings about Jamaica. His ready meal product had a Jamaican name, but was unlike real Jamaican cooking.

However, food consultant Sara Kay asks whether there are problems with the idea of authenticity. She stresses that these ideas often come from the expectations that majority cultures have about minority cultures and their food. These can be restricting (限制的) — restauranteurs have complained that people expect Asian food to be cheaper than that from European cultures. Expectations can also give people a false idea of what is authentic. While large cities are full of eateries representing different countries — China, India, Italy, Mexico and more — these labels can oversimplify the reality of food from these countries. Stephanie Elizondo Greist is surprised by the recognition(认识) that foods in Mexico are more authentic than what she ate growing up as a Mexican-American in Texas, because she feels that both are authentic examples of Mexican food.

A more controversial (有争议的) view of authenticity was stated by American Chef Andrew Zimmern, who claimed that he could bring in Chinese dishes in a more authentic way than existing restaurants — many of which are owned by Chinese-Americans. Writer and food podcaster Ruth Tam points out that while these restaurants altered their menus to suit local tastes, so does Zimmern. So, while food and identity are closely linked, and failure to respect authenticity can cause offence, could there be problems with the whole idea of authenticity?

1. Which of the following factors causes people to care about authenticity?

A．Taste.

B．Tradition.

C．Culture.

D．Identity.

2. What is the main idea of paragraph 3?

A．Eateries in different countries contribute to the authentic problem.

B．Expectation about authenticity may cause problems.

C．Asian food is cheaper than European food.

D．You can enjoy the traditional taste of Mexican food both in Mexico and America.

3. Which statement might Stephanie Elizondo Greist agree with?

A．There can be only one authentic taste in a country.

B．What she eats in Texas means nothing to her.

C．Every person can have his or her own recognition of authenticity.

D．The regional specialities (特色菜) should be the same in a country.

4. The underlined word “altered” has the similar meaning with ________.

A．changed

B．kept

C．tricked

D．pressed

【推荐1】You just came back from lunch so you know you can’t be hungry. Yet, you are reaching for a bag of chips or a bar of chocolate as you prepare to work on a project which has been causing you stress and anxiety.     1    

Most of us tend to overeat when we’re feeling stressed or under a lot of pressure. When under long periods of stress, our bodies produce cortisol, a hormone (荷尔蒙) that causes hunger.     2     In addition, the hormone causes our bodies to react favorably when we consume (消耗) foods that are high in fat or sugar, or both. These foods, known as comfort foods, do control stress in the short term, which explains why many of us desire for them.

Stress eating may be a conscious (有意识的) or unconscious decision, but it does pose (引起) several problems.

Physical health concerns of stress eating

Consuming an unnecessary number of unhealthy foods that are high in fat and sugar will contribute to weight gain.     3     What’s worse, it can lead to various chronic health illnesses such as high blood pressure.

Emotional concerns of seeking comfort foods

    4     However, it does not actually solve your problems. Instead of looking for practical solutions to a stressful situation, your attention is focused on getting quick relief with food. These short-term relief measures may actually translate into a long-term emotional burden and affect your mental health.

Mental health concerns of anxiety eating

Eating to deal with stress and anxiety can easily become an unhealthy habit and may even lead to eating disorders. If left unchecked, stress eating may progress to binge-eating disorder.     5     However, it is neither a healthy nor a permanent solution to deal with a stressful situation. There are still many other methods of helping you fight stress and anxiety without sacrificing (牺牲) your physical and mental well-being.

A．That’s stress eating.

B．This poses a risk of being overweight.

C．This affects a person’s food preferences.

D．Stress eating can provide relief in times of stress.

E．Stress eating can provide emotional and mental comfort.

F．Seeking comfort in food may give you short-term stress relief.

G．It doesn’t work for the benefit of your body shapes in the long term, though.

【推荐1】For most people, playing tennis or going to the gym is a good way to exercise and relax.

However, some people are not satisfied with such “boring” sports. They prefer dangerous sports like mountain climbing, scuba diving, or hang gliding. These daredevils love the adventure of reaching the top of the highest mountain, swimming underwater in dangerous areas of the ocean, or jumping off a mountain and silently gliding down to flat land. They feel most “alive” when there is the possibility that they might die the next minute.

Why do these people participate in such dangerous sports? There are many answers.

Some daredevils are actually very careful. They examine the potential (潜在的) dangers, pay attention to both their physical and mental health, and carefully check their equipment. Often, they choose a specific sport because they have always been frightened of it, and they want to have power over their fear. They do not want to die, but they do not want to be scared of dying either.

Other daredevils are very different from normal people. Most people, for example, feel nervous before doing something dangerous, afraid during the event, and excited after it. Many daredevils, on the other hand, feel so excited during the dangerous action that they decide to do it again and again. They are addicted to excitement as other people are addicted to drugs or alcohol. It is possible that many daredevils have slightly higher amounts of certain chemicals in their bodies, but scientists haven’t yet studied this enough to be sure.

1. The underlined word “alive” in the first paragraph could best be replaced by __________

A．excited

B．tired

C．fresh

D．normal

2. Some people participate in dangerous sports probably because __________

A．they are never afraid of dangers

B．they have a high amount of certain chemicals in their minds

C．they feel excited about knowing they will die at any time

D．they want to give themselves a test of courage

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

A．The majority of people prefer “boring” sports.

B．All the daredevils are crazy but not careful at all.

C．The daredevils love dangerous sports because they use drugs

D．It has been proved that daredevils have slightly higher amounts of certain chemicals

4. The purpose of this passage is mainly to __________

A．examine facts	B．give information
C．compare hobbies	D．ask people to take up dangerous sports

【推荐2】While many of us might long to just sleep through this entire winter, humans, unlike a lot of other mammals - don’t have the capacity to hibernate (冬眠). But researchers think they have found some tell-tale marks on the fossils, which suggests that early humans may have survived the harsh winter by hibernating.

Bears have specialized metabolic (新陈代谢的) processes to protect them from this extended sleep, but sometimes this process doesn’t quite go to plan. For example, hibernators can end up with a host of diseases after hibernation if they don’t get enough food reserves before they go down for the winter. The researchers believe this may have been the circumstance of some human ancestors whose remains with deep cracks in bones were discovered in a Spanish cave called Sima de los Huesos. This deep hole is home to an incredible number of fossils, with archaeologists having discovered thousands of early humans’ skeletal remains that are around 430,000 years old and probably the ancestors of the Sima people or others.

In a paper published in L’Anthropologie, two experts argue that the fossils found in Sima de los Huesos show seasonal variations that suggest that bone growth got interrupted for several months of each year. They suggest these early humans found themselves being in metabolic states that helped them to survive for long periods of time in extremely cold conditions with limited stores of body fat.

The researchers admit the idea “may sound like science fiction”, but they point out that many mammals including primates (灵长类动物) do this. “This suggests that the genetic basis and physiology for such slow metabolism could be preserved in many mammalian species including humans," state Arsuaga and Bartsiokas.

However, Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London pointed out that large mammals such as bears do not actually hibernate, because their large bodies cannot lower their core temperature enough. Instead, they enter a less deep sleep known as torpor. In such a condition, the energy demands of the human-sized brains of the Sima people would have remained very large, creating an additional survival problem for them during torpor.

1. Why does the author mention the example in Paragraph 2?

A．To explain the special ability of bears.	B．To provide the background to the research.
C．To show the basis of researchers’ evaluation.	D．To discuss a new cause of hibernating disease.

2. What can we know about the bones found in the Spanish cave?

A．They were badly preserved with deep cracks.

B．Their growth discontinued temporarily for some reason.

C．Their appearances varied from individual to individual.

D．They showed signs of people living in comfort in the past.

3. What is Arsuaga and Bartsiokas’ attitude towards humans’ hibernation?

A．It’s quite possible.	B．It merely appears in science fiction.
C．It’s an exception to human genetics.	D．It solved the mystery of humans’ evolution in Europe.

4. What might the hibernation of the Sima people result in according to Chris?

A．They might have developed smaller brains.

B．Their daily sleep quality might become poor.

C．Their body temperature might increase rapidly.

D．They might suffer from life-threatening starvation.

【推荐3】If the benefits of physical activity were made into a pill, everyone would be on it. Studies show that moving improves nearly every aspect of health: boosting sleep, strength, and mental well-being. Still, most people don’t exercise nearly enough. According to data published in 2023, less than a third of U.S. adults get the government-recommended amount of physical activity in their free time: at least 20 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise per day, plus a couple of muscle-strengthening sessions each week.

Why is it so tough to get people to do something so good for them? Physical limitations, health problems and modern life are certainly factors for many people. But research suggests there’s another factor: our brains don’t want us to exercise. For most of human existence, people had to be physically active to carry out the basic functions of life, such as finding food. Humans evolved (进化) to tolerate a high level of activity-but also to conserve energy for when movement was unnecessary, explains Daniel Lieberman, a human evolutionary biologist. As a society, we no longer move much in daily life, but the evolutionary instinct (本能) to conserve energy remains, Lieberman says. “That voice ‘I don’t want to exercise,’ is completely normal and natural,” he says.

Physical-activity researcher Matthieu Boisgontier demonstrated that phenomenon in a 2018study. He gave people control of a digital avatar (化身) while they were connected to brain-activity monitors. They were instructed to move the avatar away from images of sedentary (久坐的) behavior that appeared on screen and toward images of physical activity. The study found that avoiding sedentary behavior took more brain power, suggesting that we have an “automatic tendency” to pick relaxing over moving.

That conclusion shows up repeatedly in research. Studies show, for example, that people consistently choose to take a lift instead of the stairs. “That natural instinct isn’t bad-it’s just that modern life gives us so many chances to give in to our preference for rest that we have reached an extreme that is no longer beneficial to our health,” Boisgontier says.

1. What do data published in 2023 suggest?

A．U. S. adults have poor health awareness.	B．The recommended activities are impractical.
C．Most Americans lack sufficient physical activity.	D．Muscle-strengthening sessions deserve attention.

2. What makes people unwilling to exercise according to Lieberman?

A．The physical limitations.	B．The basic structure of the brain.
C．The convenient modern life.	D．The natural energy-saving tendency.

3. What does the underlined part “that phenomenon” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Sedentary behavior took much brain power.	B．Most people tend to avoid physical activity.
C．Humans evolved for a high level of activity.	D．Brain-related activities attract modern people.

4. What is Boisgontier’s attitude toward people’s physical inactivity?

A．Doubtful

B．Reserved.

C．Approving.

D．Opposed.