【推荐2】The first time I questioned the traditional wisdom on the nature of a healthy diet, it was 40 years ago, and the subject was salt. Researchers found that salt supplementation(补充) was unnecessary after exercise, and this advice was passed on by health reporters. I recalled high school football practices in hot days. Without salt pills, I couldn’t make it through a two-hour practice.

Although sports nutritionists have recommended consuming more salt when we sweat hard in physical activity, the message that we should avoid salt at all other times remains strong. And salt is still considered deadly.

So why have we been told that salt is so deadly? The advice has always sounded reasonable: Eat more salt, and your body keeps water to maintain a stable concentration of sodium (钠) in your blood. This is why salty food might make us thirsty: We drink more; we keep water. The result can be a temporary increase in blood pressure. The scientific question is whether this temporary phenomenon leads to permanent problems: If we eat too much salt for years, does it cause high blood pressure, and then kill us? It makes sense, but it’s only a hypothesis(假设), which hasn’t been proved but unfortunately accepted as a fact.

In reality, eating less salt can worsen health. Decades ago, Italian researchers’ study reported that reducing salt consumption increased the risk of dying early and that reducing sodium to a government-recommended “safe upper limit” is actually harmful.

Supporters of the eat-less-salt campaign(运动) tend to deal with this opposing evidence (证据) by implying that anyone raising it is a shill(同谋) for the food industry (widely criticized for adding salt to processed foods to improver taste). When several government agencies held a hearing last November to discuss how to ensure Americans eat less salt, anti-salt supporters argued that the latest reports suggesting damage from lower-salt diets should simply be ignored. This attitude, which lacks respect for science, has been held for the anti-salt campaign for decades. Maybe now is the time for it to change.

1. The underlined phrase in paragraph 1 refers to the belief that_________.

A．people should take in salt after exercise

B．salt intake was needless after physical activity

C．salt pills were helpful during football practices

D．a healthy diet does not necessarily include enough salt

2. What does the Italian researchers’ study show?

A．Eating less salt can harm our health.

B．Eating too much salt raises blood pressure.

C．We should try to avoid salt on a daily basis.

D．We should follow the recommended “safe upper limit”.

3. What do the eat-less-salt campaigners do with the opposing evidence?

A．They treat it with some respect.

B．They report it to the government agencies.

C．They do scientific experiments to support it.

D．They suggest that the food industry is behind it.

4. What is the writer’s attitude towards the anti-salt campaign?

A．Supportive.	B．Unconcerned.
C．Puzzled.	D．Negative.

【推荐3】As we age, our ability to think and remember starts to deteriorate. But not everyone. Some of us have brains that age more slowly. Enter the super-ager!

Super-agers are people over the age of 80 who have the brain structures and abilities of much younger people. Eighty-seven-year-old Bill Gurolnick is a super-ager. “What do I feel like? If I was to give a number, I probably feel like I’m about my early 70s…”

Scientists know that parts of the brain decrease in size with age. But in super-agers that process is much slower. Emily Rogalski is a neuroscientist at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago, Illinois. In a recent study, she showed that super-agers have young brains. The area of the brain responsible for attention and memory—the cortex—was shown to be thicker in super-agers. “When we look at the cortex of their brain, we see that, on average, that it looks more like a 50-year-old brain that it looks like an average 80-year-old bran…”

Not only do super-ages have thicker cortexes, they have more spindle neurons. These large brain cells appear to be involved with social-emotional communication. But their exact purpose is still a mystery. Scientists writing for Smithsonian magazine say they are “brain cells for socializing.”

Several factors affect how our brains age. Scientists say super-agers have several things in common, including an active lifestyle. Many travel and play sports. They are often big readers. And they usually have healthy relationships and spend time with friends. Super-agers also seem to have certain common personality traits. Rogalski says they are, for the most part, known for their optimism, resilience and perseverance. Growing old, she adds, does not have to be depressing and sad. “Perhaps, if we expected a bit better from ourselves, then we would understand that not all aging is stressful!”

Can we all be super-agers? The science behind super-aging is a relatively new, but growing field. Scientists involved in the research offer this advice as we age: Stay active. Learn new things. Challenge yourself. Surround yourself with healthy relationships.

1. What does underlined word “deteriorate” mean?

A．Become better as time passes.	B．Speed up with time.
C．Improve whatever happens.	D．Become worse as time passes.

2. What is the function of the cortex?

A．Be responsible for social-emotional communication.

B．Take care of attention and memory.

C．Keep track of numbers and charts.

D．Care for healthy relationships.

3. Super-agers have the tendency to ________.

A．stay at home with friends all day long

B．learn new things but seldom read books

C．be optimistic and like playing sports

D．travel a lot alone

4. The best title of the passage may be ________.

A．A New Scientific Study	B．Can We All Be Super-agers?
C．How People Get Old	D．Being Young Forever

【推荐1】THE MILLION POUND BANK NOTE

Narrator: Two rich brothers, Roderick and Oliver have made a bet. Oliver believes that with a million-pound bank note a man could live a month in London. His brother Roderick doubts it. They see a poor young man walking outside their house. It is Henry Adams.
Roderick: Young man, would you step inside a moment, please?
Henry:Who? Me, sir?
Roderick: Yes, you.
Servant:(opening a door) Good morning, sir. Would you please come in?
(Henry enters the house.)
Roderick: How do you do, Mr ... er ...?
Henry:Adams. Henry Adams.
Oliver:Come and sit down, Mr Adams.
Henry:Thank you.
Roderick: You’re an American?
Henry:That’s right, from San Francisco.
Roderick: May we ask what you’re doing in this country and what your plans are?
Henry:Well, I can’t say that I have any plans. As a matter of fact, I landed in Britain by accident.
Oliver:How is that possible?
Henry:Well, I had my own boat. About a month ago, I was sailing, and towards night. I found myself carried out to sea by a strong wind. The next morning I was spotted by a ship.
Oliver:And it was the ship that brought you to England.
Henry:Yes. l went to the American consulate to seek help, but ... Anyway, I didn’t dare to try again. (The brothers smile at each other.)
Roderick: Well, you mustn’t worry about that. lt’s an advantage.
Henry:I’m afraid I don’t quite follow you, sir.
Roderick: Tell us, what sort of work did you do in America?
Henry:I worked for a mining company. Could you offer me work here?
Roderick: Patience. lf you don’t mind, may l ask you how much money you have?
Henry:Well, to be honest, I have none.
Oliver:(happily) What luck! Brother, what luck!
Henry:Well, it may seem lucky to you but not to me! lf this is your idea of some kind of joke, I don’t think it’s very funny. Now if you’ll excuse me, I ought to be on my way.
Roderick:Please don’t go. You mustn’t think we don’t care about you. Oliver, give him the letter.
Oliver:Yes, I was about to go get the letter. Wait! (getting it from a desk and giving it to Henry) The letter.
Henry:(taking it carefully) For me?
Roderick: For you, (Henry starts to open it.) Oh, no, you’d better not open it. You can’t open it until two o'clock.
Henry:Oh, this is silly.
Roderick: Not silly. There’s money in it.
Henry:Oh, no. I don’t want your charity. I just want a job that earns an honest income.
Roderick: We know you’re hard-working. That's why we’ve given you the letter. (to the servant)Show Mr Adams out.
Henry:Well, why don’t you explain what this is all about?
Roderick:You’ll soon know. In exactly an hour and a half.
Servant:This way, sir.
Roderick: Not until 2 o’clock. Promise?
Henry:Promise. Goodbye.
1. Scan the text and find out the following information.

When	What happened
When in America	____________________________
About a month ago	____________________________
Towards night	____________________________
The next morning	____________________________
Later	____________________________
After he arrived in London	____________________________
While walking outside the two brothers’ house	____________________________
At last	____________________________

2. Why do you think Henry does not want the brothers’ charity?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Why do you think the brothers chose Henry for their bet?
___________________________________________________________________________________________

【推荐3】The 2016 Oscars, the 88^th Academy Awards, once again thrilled people around the world, including the Chinese, who were excited about Leonardo DiCaprio winning the Best Actor Award.

But the annual carnival also put Chinese filmmakers in an awkward position, as no Chinese film makers ever pocketed a golden trophy(奖杯). The hard truth leaves people wondering when the nation, which is already the second largest film market, will earn a place in the well-known award ceremony’s spotlight.

There are good reasons to be optimistic about such an ambitious outlook.

First, China is one of the fastest growing film markets in the world, attracting abundant capital from home and abroad, which will attract more talented people to get into the industry. Latest statistics showed Chinese cinemas took a record of 6.87 billion yuan (about $ 1.05 billion) in ticket sales in February, with the monthly box office overtaking that of North America for the first time.

The achievement, which may be repeated in the future, has led to thinking that China’s annual box office could go on to surpass(超过) North America as soon as 2017. As capital rushes into the Chinese film industry, fierce competition is expected. The creativity and quality of homegrown movies, two outstanding shortcomings compared with Hollywood productions, will be improved.

Second, Chinese culture and stories have provided a rich source of inspiration for domestic(国内的) productions. For example, the most popular animations in China are the Kung Fu Panda series and Monkey King films. Once they master cutting-edge film technology and improve narration(叙述), Chinese film makers could see their potential released. Also showing promise is the younger generation of filmmakers, who are born after 1970. With more professional and international training compared with their predecessors(前辈), such as Zhang Yimou, they are equipped to make breakthroughs.

Young directors, who often travel to the United States and Europe for seminars and award ceremonies, are also more familiar with Hollywood productions. This being said, no one can predict the exact year when a homegrown film will surprise the world greatly. Patience is gold for domestic filmmakers.

1. Why do Chinese filmmakers feel awkward, according to the passage?

A．Because China has never earned any film award in the world.

B．Because Leonardo DiCaprio won the Best Actor award of the Oscar in 2016.

C．Because Chinese film makers have never won a golden trophy of the Oscar.

D．Because Chinese wonder when China will be the largest film market in the world.

2. In the author’s opinion, what are the reasons for Chinese filmmakers to win an Oscar in the future?
① China can raise capital from home and abroad.
② The creativity and quality of Chinese movies have been improved.
③ Film makers can find a rich source of inspiration from Chinese culture and stories.
④ The younger film makers, receiving international training, are more professional.

A．①②③	B．②③④
C．①②④	D．①③④

3. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．The record in monthly ticket sales has overtaken that of North America in the past few months.

B．Kung Fu Panda series and Monkey King films are the most popular animations in China now.

C．Zhang Yimou, who is familiar with Hollywood production, will win an award at Oscar.

D．A Chinese film is certain to surprise the world greatly in the Oscar of 2017.

4. What is the implied meaning of the underlined sentence, according to the passage?

A．Chinese filmmakers still have a long way to go.

B．Oscar awards can provide gold chances for domestic filmmakers.

C．Hollywood is a great place for filmmakers to achieve their dreams.

D．It is certain that young directors are in the gold periods of filmmaking.

【推荐1】The age of adulthood is by definition arbitrary (武断的). If everyone matured at the same, fixed rate, it wouldn’t be a human process. Indeed, maturation happens at varying speeds across different categories within the same individual, so I’d say I was easily old enough to vote at 16, but nobody should have given me a credit card until I was 32, and I’ve got the county court judgment to prove it.

However, we broadly agree that there’s a difference between a child and an adult, even if we might argue about the transition point. So the political theorist David Runciman’s view that six-year-olds should be allowed to vote goes against any standard argument about the age of civic responsibility. Nobody would say that a six-year-old could be held criminally responsible, could be sent to war, could be capable of consent, could be given responsibility for anything. So allowing them the vote — along with, unavoidably, seven-year-olds who are even sillier, if anything — is quite an amusing proposal.

Runciman’s argument is that this is the only way to rebalance political life, which is currently twisted in favor of the old, who don’t (he added) ever need to demonstrate mental capacity, even long after they’ve lost it.

The first part of his case is self-evident: pensions (养老金) are protected while children’s centers are closed, concepts such as sovereignty (最高权威) are prioritized over the far more urgent business of the future: climate change. Nostalgia (怀念) for a past the young wouldn’t even recognize plays a central role, which is completely unfair.

Most of the arguments against giving six-year-olds a vote are that children would end up voting for something damaging and chaotic, if someone made unrealistic promises to them, which could never be realized. Well, it’s not children’s fault.

Having said that, children do tend towards the progressive, having a natural sense of justice (which kicks in at the age of six months, psychologists have shown, by creating scenes of great unfairness to babies, and making them cry) and an underdeveloped sense of self-interest. My kid, when he was six, made quite a forceful case against private property, on the basis that, since everybody needed a house, they shouldn’t cost money, because nobody would want anyone else not to have one. Also, food should be free. It was a kind of pre-Marx communism, where you limit the coverage of the market to only those things that you wouldn’t mind someone else not having.

On that particular day, when we were registered as voters, my kid was quite far to the left of me, but in the normal run of things, we’re united, which brings us to the point of the problem: children obey you on almost nothing, but they do seem to believe in your politics until they’re adolescent. So giving kids the vote is really just a way of giving parents extra votes. And what can stop us having even more children, once there’s so much enfranchisement (选举权) in it for us?

Now, if parents could be trusted to use their influence wisely, and hammer into children the politics it will take to assure a better future, then I wouldn’t necessarily have a problem with that, apart from, obviously, that culture is already wildly twisted towards parents, and I can imagine a few non-parents boiling with fierce anger. But that’s not worth talking about anyway, because parents can’t be trusted, otherwise we’d all already vote Green (绿党).

In short: no, six-year-olds should not get the vote; but while we’re here, if any votes come up in the near future, which will have an impact on the next five decades of British political life, alongside EU migrants, 16-year-olds certainly should be enfranchised.

1. The author refers to his age of adulthood to prove that ________.

A．a credit card is more difficult to get than the vote	B．there’s a common standard for the age of adulthood
C．people mature at different rates in various aspects	D．certain rights are granted at different stages of life

2. The author talks about his kid to indicate that ________.

A．children are good-natured and like to help people in need

B．children are simple-minded and can fall for an adult’s trick

C．children are innocent and don’t want to be involved in politics

D．children are in favor of a just society and tend to be idealistic

3. The author thinks allowing children the vote may lead to ________.

A．twisted culture

B．misuse of rights

C．parents’ objections

D．unusual maturation

4. What is the main point of the passage?

A．The definition of adulthood is quite arbitrary.

B．There is a difference between adults and children.

C．Parents should introduce politics to their children.

D．Allowing children the vote is not altogether ridiculous.

【推荐2】Last night, I found my mother sit with her legs crossed on the sofa, looking through her iPhone with her glasses. This is not the first time I have caught her like this. My father once tapped (敲) away on his phone with a serious look on his face, saying the “I’ll be with you shortly” line. I have learned by now that this is to tell me to leave him alone for the next 10 minutes. Although they don’t like admitting it, both of my parents                    couldn’t go without their phones as I do.

Growing up, we are repeatedly reminded that we are those who prefer to text our friends in the same room rather than make eye contact with them. We are ruining the English language because we like using heart-eyes emojis (表情符号) instead of spelling it out. And even though I can recognize myself as a social media (媒体) addict, I think parents should at least consider that not only the young generation (代), but also they like phones.

I get upset when I receive the “I’ll be with you shortly” line from a parent. But, at the same time, leaving the room to wait until my father is finished with his “serious business” has now become the norm.

Whether you want to escape your noisy children for a while, or want to stay up late tapping through Twitter, all of these are common. But you should fully understand it. We—your children—know how addictive it can be and how difficult it is to turn it off. So before calling us out and telling us to “put our phones away at the table” or even worse, saying how damaging social media can be to us, maybe you should lead by example and consider how much time you spend on the phone as well as how this is influencing your children and your relationship with them. Maybe in this way we can work on our addiction together.

1. What can we learn about the author’s parents?

A．They become addicted to phones like him.

B．They’ve been forced to use phones by him.

C．They like buying their phones online at home.

D．They often communicate with him by phone.

2. What is the young generation’s weakness according to paragraph 2?

A．Having fewer chances to learn social skills.

B．Failing to express themselves in a right way.

C．Getting angry easily when facing their parents.

D．Giving up the ways of communicating directly.

3. What does the underlined word “norm” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Fixed tradition.	B．Accepted behavior.
C．Expected decision.	D．Unforgettable experience.

4. What advice is given to parents in the last paragraph?

A．Behaving well in front of children.	B．Putting the phones away at the table.
C．Taking more time to stay with children.	D．Having good communication with children.

【推荐3】The thought of low material need and being unwilling to work, marry and have children, is described as a “lying down” lifestyle recently. It creates an emotional reaction among many young Chinese who are eager to take pause to breathe in this fast-paced and highly competitive society.

Many young people complained to the Global Times that duties, including work stress, family argument and financial pressure, have pushed them “against the wall”. They said they hate the “involution (内卷)”, joking that they would rather give up some of what they have than get stuck in an endless competition against peers(同龄人).

“Instead of always following the ‘good quality’ of struggle and sacrifice to bear the stresses, they prefer a temporary(暂时的) lying down as release and adjustment,” said an expert. “It is no wonder that some young people, under the growing pressures from child-raising to paying the mortgage (按揭) today, would try to live in a simple way and leave the worries behind.”

Interestingly, the majority of young people, who claim to be big fans of the lying down philosophy, admit that they only accept a temporary lying down as a short rest. It is true that with the great improvement of living conditions, some Chinese youth have partially lost the spirit of hardship and are not willing to bear too much hard work. But in fact, lying down is not entirely comfortable. Young people who lie down always feel ashamed about their constant loss of morale (士气).

“Young people have both ambition and confusion about their future, but most of us have refused to waste opportunities and challenges,” a postgraduate student told the Global Times. “It’s no use running away. I have to ‘stand up’ and face the reality sooner or later.”

1. Which of the following is NOT a “lying down” lifestyle according to the passage?

A．Being uninterested in material enjoyment and refusing to shoulder duties.

B．Being involved in various social activities.

C．Stopping to breathe in a stressful life.

D．Giving up struggle and sacrifice.

2. What might have caused the “lying down” lifestyle among the young?

A．Poor health from working so hard.	B．Increasing material wealth from families.
C．Growing pressure from family and social life.	D．Temporary adjustment to failure in competitions.

3. What’s the expert’s attitude toward the “lying down” group?

A．Understanding.

B．opposed

C．Supportive.

D．Unclear.

4. What can be inferred about the young generation from the text?

A．They would rather escape than take challenges.	B．They really enjoy the “lying down” lifestyle.
C．They find their dreams far beyond their reach.	D．They never really drop their responsibilities.