【推荐1】Sally Smith is an unbelievable woman who looks like a fit 40-year-old, although she just turned 70. She follows a special raw(生的；未加工的) diet and only drinks rainwater.

She looks so young that people mistake her for her daughter when she’s out with her husband of 54 years, but I think he isn’t complaining.

Mrs. Smith says the secret to her beauty lies in her special diet, consisting of organic vegetables, fruits, seeds and nuts grown in her own garden; she calls it the “fountain(源泉) of youth”. The woman doesn’t touch anything that has been cooked.

And another strange thing she does is to collect rainwater, to keep her garden blossoming, but also to drink. But Mrs. Smith, who is from Miami-Dade County, Florida, didn’t always have such a healthy lifestyle. In fact, she ate meat regularly, as her husband used to own a meat factory way back in the 1960s. It was then that she decided to change her eating habit forever. And what a great decision that was! I mean, just look at her!

When she started off, Mrs. Smith was just looking for a few health benefits and never expected that she would look like a 40-year-old at the age of 70. Over the 27 years, she has been eating raw food, and she has written two booklets called Journey to Health and also produced a DVD containing all her healthy secrets.

Her husband, Mr. Smith, wishes he had followed her example, because now he looks much, much older and also suffers from diabetes (糖尿病) and high blood pressure. He takes prescription medicine every day, but Sally doesn’t even take an aspirin(阿司匹林).

1. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Her raw diet.

B．Her beauty.

C．Specially cooked food.

D．The organic food.

2. What kind of person does the author think Mrs. Smith is?

A．Careless.

B．Honest.

C．Strong-willed.

D．Open-minded.

3. What did the woman do with her healthy secrets?

A．She sold them to the local people.

B．She gave up them at the age of 70.

C．She shared them with the public in various ways.

D．She improved them with her husband’s help.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards Mrs. Smith’s lifestyle?

A．Uninterested.

B．Doubtful.

C．Negative.

D．Supportive.

【推荐2】Jayson McCarthy, 12, was born without fingers on his left hand. That didn’t stop him from being able to do many tasks. But Jayson could not grasp more than one object at a time. So Jayson’s father, Paul, created a Prosthesis, using a 3D printer. Now Jayson has fingers that open and close. “It was a do-it-yourself, father-and-son adventure,” says Paul.

When Jayson was a baby, his doctor advised his parents not to give him a prosthetic hand until he was in his early teens. “The doctor said Jayson should first learn to get full use out of the hand he was born with,” says Paul. As Jayson got older, his father looked into purchasing a prosthetic hand, which can cost as much as $30,000. Paul found a more affordable solution.

One day, Paul discovered a video on the Internet about Robohand, a prosthesis created with a 3D printer. He downloaded the free instructions and called Robohand’s creators for advice. They told him all he needed was a 3D printer—which costs around $2, 000—and some materials.

Luckily, Jayson’s school had recently purchased a 3D printer and it offered to help Paul build the hand for Jayson. “We used a soccer shinguard, cardboard, and tape. They cost about $10,” says paul.

With his new hand, Jayson can do things better. “I can help my mom more, because now I can carry two grocery bags,” he says.

Jayson’s father has already built several hands for Jayson. Jayson helps design each one. He says there’s one thing in particular that he wants to do with a future prosthesis. “The goal, ” he says, “is to be able to tie my shoelaces.”

1. Why did Jayson ‘s doctor disapprove of his using a prosthesis in his childhood?

A．The prosthetic technology was underdeveloped then.

B．A prosthesis was very expensive at that time.

C．To use the disabled hand was important.

D．The original hand could do many tasks.

2. Jayson ‘s father managed to get Jayson a new hand by ________．

A．collecting money on the Internet	B．buying a prosthetic hand
C．buying a 3D printer	D．printing a hand

3. The underlined word in paragraph 2 can be replaced by ________．

A．buying

B．borrowing

C．renting

D．making

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．A DIY Enthusiast	B．A Helping Hand
C．A Great Adventure	D．A Lucky Escape

【推荐3】Most kids can walk into a library or bookstore and find hundreds of books to read. But it’s not that simple for kids who are blind. They read in a different way. Jenny Lee and other braille (盲文) transcribers take the printed words of a book and change them into a code of raised dots. Blind people can read these dots with their fingers. To know what braille feels like, take a ballpoint pen and press hard onto a piece of paper. Now turn the paper over and touch the raised dot made by the pen point.

When Lee first saw the dots of the braille alphabet, she wondered if she’d ever be able to read and write them easily. She took a class and practised hard for about six months before she passed the final exam: she had to convert 35 pages of a book into braille. Today, Lee works for a publisher. One of her jobs is to change children’s books into braille.

To do this, Lee first types the story into a computer and then uses a computer program to translate it into the braille code. Next, she looks over the translation several times to make sure it’s mistake-free. After that, a copy of the braille story is printed with a special printer. Then Lee and a proofreader work together to find and correct any mistakes. When a book is ready, many copies of it are printed. Afterwards, some are sold through websites and others are sent to libraries.

Sometimes, going over a story again and again gets tiring. That’s when Lee takes a break. Several of Jenny Lee’s co-workers, who are blind, use guide dogs. When the animals aren’t working, Lee likes spending a few minutes with them. To her, playing with dogs “is always a pick-me-up in the middle of the day”.

“I love this mission,” Lee says. “Through my brain power and my fingers, I am putting the dots into some kid’s hands.”

1. How does the writer explain what braille feels like?

A．By explaining what braille words look like.

B．By describing how blind people read books.

C．By asking readers to experience it themselves.

D．By giving examples of different braille words.

2. What was Lee’s first reaction to braille?

A．She was excited to get a new skill.

B．She was amazed at the clever idea.

C．She realized she could teach it herself.

D．She believed it would be difficult to learn.

3. What does the underlined word “pick-me-up” in paragraph 4 most probably mean?

A．A discussion to release work stress.

B．Something to improve one’s appetite.

C．Something to help restore one’s spirit.

D．A free ride accompanied with a guide dog.

4. What does Lee think of her job?

A．Profitable and hopeful.	B．Tiring but meaningful.
C．Relaxing and helpful.	D．Boring but challenging.