【推荐1】Six Things You should Never Do Before the Queen

※Don’t show up empty handed.

What do you get the woman who already has everything? Sure, the Queen has several homes full of priceless trinkets（饰品）, but bringing a gift is necessary.     1     So if she’s paying a visit to your hometown or country, something which reflects local culture might go down better than W.H. smith’s vouchers（优惠券）.

※    2    

You may be dead on your painful feet---but you should always stand when the queen enters the room. You may only sit once she has taken the seat, so keep a close eye on when the Queen sits down herself.

※Don’t ignore the dress code.

Regardless of how late you’re running or how tempting it is to stay in your casual clothes, make sure you dress accordingly when meeting HRH.     3    

※Resist the temptation to refer to her by her first name.

While the Royal family may be extremely familiar to us, and while we may have our own nicknames for them, we common folk still aren't on a first name basis with them. So, when you meet the Queen she should be addressed as “Your Majesty” and “Ma’am” consequently after. When she leaves, however, you must address her as “Your Majesty” once again.

※Only speak if the queen speaks to you.

Remember when you were a small child and all your elders would drop wisdom such as “don’t speak unless spoken to first” and “children should be seen and not heard”?     4     This rule exists so Her Royal Highness can control every aspect of the conversation-- including exiting it swiftly.

※Don’t eat before she does.

No matter how tasty and tempting the banquet morsels spread in front of you look, you can only start eating once the Queen does. So perhaps have a quick snack beforehand, in case any speeches go on for a long time.     5    

A．Stand to attention.

B．Watch out for Queen.

C．Oh, and if she has finished eating, you’d better be full too.

D．If the event is black tie, wear black tie.

E．You are supposed to listen to them though you've grown up.

F．This gift must also be appropriate to the occasion.

G．The same applies to meeting the Queen.

【推荐2】I grew up in Hastings, a small coastal town in East Sussex, famous for 1066 years of history and seaside charm. I have a memory as a boy, saving my pocket money by placing it in a special drawer, the golden pound coins collecting into a neat pile. When I was 14 in 2007, I saved up money for a gap year, by working at a bingo hall, and I put the money into a savings account. I remember getting £70 ($91) interest rates one year, which made me feel very rich indeed.

Skip forward to 2018 and I was living and working in Beijing, China, as a journalist. All around me Beijing residents were paying for everything using just their smart phones. They would walk up to a counter of a restaurant, shop, or convenience store, and offer up a QR code(二维码)for the cashier to scan. Once scanned, the online system would immediately deduct(扣除) the exact amount owed from the payer’s e-wallet. No reaching for cash and waiting for change. The transaction would take seconds.

But I was a stubborn holdout. My friends, both Western and Chinese, would make fun of me for being so traditional – for sticking to ―dirty cash. But there were a couple of reasons why I kept using physical money and avoided getting into e-payments and e-wallets. Firstly, it felt safer. I wasn’t really aware of how electronic money would work on my smart phone and I feared it would somehow get easily taken away. Secondly, I feared that by moving to e-payments, I would end up spending more. I would lose all sense of how much, day by day, I would be spending.

Were these fears justified? As more and more people across the world escape cash, these are essential issues for me to consider.

1. Which of the following made the writer feel very rich?

A．Saving £70 ($91) by placing it in a special drawer.

B．Collecting £70 ($91) coins into a neat pile.

C．Putting £70 ($91) into a savings account in bank.

D．Getting £70 ($91) interest rates from a bank.

2. Which’s not the advantage of e-payments?

A．No reaching for cash.	B．No waiting for change.
C．Taking only few seconds.	D．Spending more money.

3. Why didn’t the writer like to accept the e- payments at first?

A．Because he was too traditional to save money.

B．Because he liked the sense of paying in cash.

C．Because he thought e-payments would deduct more.

D．Because he knew how e-payments work on smartphones.

4. What can we infer about the writer from the last paragraph？

A．He accepted the idea that money is abstract.

B．He eventually turned to using e-payments.

C．He thought the pain of e-payment is delayed.

D．He insisted that having physical cash is safer.

【推荐3】The days of elderly women doing nothing but cooking huge meals on holidays are gone. Enter the Red Hat Society －a group holding the belief that old ladies should have fun.
“My grandmothers didn’t do anything but keep house and serve everybody. They were programmed to do that,” said Emils Comette, head of a chapter of the 7-year-old Red Hat Society.
While men have long spent their time fishing and playing golf, women have sometimes seemed to become unnoticed as they age. But the generation now turning 50 is the baby boomers (生育高峰期出生的人), and the same people who refused their parents’ way of being young are now trying a new way of growing old.
If you take into consideration feminism (女权主义), a bit of spare money, and better health for most elderly, the Red Hat Society looks almost inevitable(必然的). In this society, women over 50 wear red hats and purple (紫色的) clothes, while the women under 50 wear pink hats and light purple clothing.
“The organization took the idea from a poem by Jenny Joseph that begins: “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple. With a red hat which doesn’t go,” said Ellen Cooper, who founded the Red Hat Society in 1998. When the ladies started to wear the red hats, they attracted lots of attention.
   “The point of this is that we need a rest from always doing something for someone else,” Cooper said. “Women feel so ashamed and sorry when they do something for themselves.” This is why chapters are discouraged from raising money or doing anything useful. “We’re a ladies’ play group. It couldn’t be more simple,” added Cooper’s assistant Joe Heywood.
1. The underlined word “chapter” in paragraph 2 means __________.

A．one branch of an organization	B．a written agreement of a club
C．one part of a collection of poems	D．a period in a society’s history

2. From the text, we know that the “baby boomers” are a group of people who

A．have gradually become more noticeable

B．are worried about getting old too quickly

C．are enjoying a good life with plenty of money to spend

D．tried living a different life from their parents when they were young

3. DIt could be inferred from the text that members of the Red Hat Society are               .

A．interested in raising money for social work

B．programmers who can plan well for their future

C．believers in equality between men and women

D．good at cooking big meals and taking care of others

4. Who set up the Red Hat Society ?

A．Emily Cornette .	B．Ellen Cooper .
C．Jenny Joseph .	D．Joe Heywood .

5. Women join the Red Hat Society because                 .

A．they want to stay young

B．they would like to appear more attractive

C．they would like to have fun and live for themselves

D．they want to be more like their parents[来

【推荐1】If you ask me what my favourite sport is, my answer is swimming. I had started learning how to swim when I was five years old and I have been swimming ever since. There are many reasons why I love swimming but I’ll just share a few with you, and maybe I can even encourage you to go for a swim.

The first reason why I love swimming is that it can be extremely relaxing. I love the feeling of floating on the water, feeling almost weightless. I find that whenever I leave the pool I feel totally relaxed.

On the other hand, it can also be a competitive sport. It’s amazing pushing yourself to the challenge of beating someone else to the finishing line and it’s great fun racing across the pool as fast as you can! Trying little tricks like underwater handstands and flips (空翻) also puts a big smile on my face.

Another reason why I love swimming is that it has more varieties (种类) than other sports. Swimming offers many different strokes (游法), so it doesn’t feel like you’re stuck doing the same thing over and over again.

In the summer, swimming provides a nice break! There’s nothing better than jumping into the water on a hot summer’s day. The pool makes you feel better immediately. And I think it adds to the summer holiday feeling. As for me the summer months are when I swim most.

And finally, it’s a life skill which everyone should have. Not only is it good for your health, but you never know when you’ll need your ability to swim.

1. How does the author feel after a swim?

A．Confident.

B．Tired.

C．Relaxed.

D．Bored.

2. What makes the author love swimming more than other sports according to Paragraph 4?

A．The variety of swimming.

B．The challenge of swimming.

C．Much swimming experience.

D．Underwater swimming tricks.

3. What is the best title for the text?

A．Whether swimming is good for health.

B．The advantages of swimming.

C．The ways to learn swimming.

D．Why I love swimming.

【推荐1】Ocean food plays a very important part in our food supply. Not so long ago, the world’s oceans were filled with different types of fish. Now, a large increase in global overfishing has threatened that supply.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 90 percent of the world’s fisheries (渔场) are either being fully exploited (开发), or are at risk of being closed down.

With fish supplies running out at home, fishermen are traveling further to find their catch. Frequently, fishermen are crossing over into other countries. As fish supplies closer to their homeland’s shores are decreasing fishermen cross borders to find fish.

Overfishing can be found everywhere, from Mexican fishing boats off the US coast of Florida to Russian fishing boats in the western Bering Sea. However, the effect is felt the strongest in the South China Sea.

On the other side of the world, West Africa is now seeing malign effects of overfishing. For coastal African countries, such as Senegal, the fishing industry is a large part of the national economy. The World Bank reports nearly 20 percent of the Senegalese are working in the fishing industry. Rashid Sumaila is the Director of Fisheries Economic Research at the University of British Columbia. He says communities that depend on fish for income and food, like Senegal, are now at risk.

1. Why do fishermen cross borders to catch fish?

A．Because they want to protect the environment.

B．Because they want to enjoy the overseas scenery.

C．Because fish supplies in their countries are decreasing.

D．Because fishing is not allowed in their own countries.

2. Where can the most serious overfishing be seen according to the text?

A．In Russia.	B．In the South China Sea.
C．Off the US coast of Florida.	D．In the western Bering Sea.

3. What does the underlined word “malign” in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．Harmful.	B．Satisfying.
C．Hopeful.	D．Beneficial.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Most people in Africa will be out of work.

B．The World Bank will lend money to fishermen.

C．Rashid Sumaila is unconcerned about overfishing.

D．Overfishing has some bad effects on African people.

【推荐2】After years of research and testing, the hybrid car was developed and put on the market. It’s an interesting and exciting new improvement in today’s world as we look for better ways to protect the quality of the air we breathe and conserve our natural resources.

The quality of our air is affected by many different things. But one of the largest sources of air pollution is the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline which is used to power a car’s engine. The EPA has set national standards to help control the level of harmful pollutants sent off into the air, and the automobile industry has acted by producing a hybrid car that uses less gas and therefore causes less pollution.

A hybrid car is a combination of a regular car that runs on gasoline and an electric car that is battery powered. Some people tend to think that since the hybrid car is partially electric, you have to plug it in to charge it. But that’s not how it works. The 144-volt battery pack is actually recharged through the energy that is produced when the car’s brakes are used. This is referred to as “regenerative braking”, because it generates electricity.

Although the hybrid car still runs on gasoline most of the time, this helps it use less gas than a regular car. When the driver stops at a traffic light, the engine automatically shuts off to save fuel. Then, as soon as the driver puts the car in gear and touches the gas pedal, the engine starts back up.

Have you ever ridden in a car with someone who ran out of gas? That probably wouldn’t happen if you were riding in a hybrid car. It flashes a warning on its computer screen that says, “I am low on gas”. When it completely runs out, the warning reads, “YOU ARE NOW OUT OF GAS!” Then the electric power supply kicks in to let the driver travel a few more miles to a gas station.

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

A．The hybrid car will be put on the market.

B．Hybrid cars run faster than regular cars.

C．When the hybrid car stops at a traffic light, the driver will get a warning.

D．The burning of fossil fuels is one of the largest sources of air pollution.

2. According to the passage, the word “hybrid” refers to ________.

A．a high-tech discovery	B．energy saving
C．a new invention	D．a combination of two things

3. “Regenerative breaking” is an important process of the hybrid car because ________.

A．it allows the car to come to a quick stop	B．it gives the driver a smoother ride
C．it produces energy to charge the battery	D．it can control the speed of the car

4. Which of the following is right about the EPA?

A．They designed hybrid cars.

B．They outlawed(宣布……为不合法) the burning of fossil fuels.

C．They set important guidelines that help control pollution.

D．Their main purpose is to protect endangered plants and animals.

5. Which of the following is the reason for developing hybrid cars?

A．They use less gas than regular cars.	B．They’re safer to drive than most cars.
C．They’re more modern than other cars.	D．They cost less than regular cars.

【推荐3】Throughout history it has been the individualists, like Henry Ford and Rosa Parks, who have led nations, formed common groups, and made the greatest influence. However, people, such as the author, Michael Walzer, of Multiculturalism and Individualism, condemn the independent person as an unreliable and empty creature. This criticism of the socially unlimited human is the fearful reaction to the power that these individuals can possess. Nevertheless, strong individuals form the foundation of the world progress in technological and social fields because of their willingness to question and create.

Individualists have always been more involved with technological advances than the communitarian (社群主义者). It has been the person, unstopped by other people’s familiar opinion that has given the most creative and helpful of inventions. A brief look into history reveals names such as Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and, more recently, Bill Gates who have improved and contributed to the comfort of humanity. These individuals were often criticized for their self-interest work, but when the products of their imagination changed the lives of humans around the world the dissatisfied voices quieted.

Individualists are more socially persuasive than the faceless members of self-interest groups. History disclosed the fact that it is the individual that empowers the people. I ask you, what are ten important interest groups that had a positive influence on America in the nineteenth century? This is a difficult question. However, if the words interest groups are replaced with individuals, the answer would be relatively easy. Michael Walzer claims that individuals are just trash floating aimlessly away from every creative center. But, it is the strange individualists who have the power to create the groups and the fact is that every group is a product of individualists. So by arguing for wiping out individualistic thought a group is actually cutting their own lifeline.

Individualists are the largest and most important contributors to society. The fear of change doesn’t change that fact. Society has always condemned the different, strange, and unusual person when in actuality that person is the source for the advancement of society itself.

1. What attitude does Michael Walzer have to individualists in his book?

A．Optimistic.

B．Objective.

C．Negative.

D．Positive.

2. Why are Bill Gates and Edison more creative according to the author?

A．They don’t follow the traditional ideas.

B．They are more constructive to the society.

C．They are more likely to stick to old ideas.

D．They dislike the main stream society.

3. What can be inferred from paragraph 3?

A．Individualists make the majority of groups.

B．Most group members are usually creative.

C．The life of a group lies with individualists.

D．Individualists should be removed from groups.

4. What’s the purpose of the passage?

A．To call on people to contribute to the society

B．To stress the importance of individualists

C．To criticize the individualists

D．To tell the difference between individualists and groups

【推荐1】That morning, I dropped our eldest at kindergarten and returned home to let our two younger children play while I worked on my medical report. It was wonderful, but it hit me that my career in hospital wasn't making a difference in anyone's life. I needed something that would stretch my limits and push me to grow. My career enabled me to work from home. I could work from home, and become a foster (领养) mother, providing safety for a child who needed it desperately.

On Monday morning, I picked up the phone and dialed the number I had googled for the nearest Department of Children's Services. The man on the other end was receptive to my questions and explained the next step of training, involving eight weeks of classes designed to prepare and educate foster parents. We continued through all the classes, the home visits, background checks, and seemingly endless steps.

Five long months after we were approved, the phone rang. In the middle of the night, I woke my husband and rushed to East Tennessee Children's' Hospital. Our placement was waiting for us in the emergency room, sick and lack of nutrition. It didn't take long for us to realize the full depth of her suffering. Six months later, her half-brother came to us by our request. We now had five children under our care.

On August 12, 2016, our family of seven walked into a small courtroom. The children's lawyer and social worker were there. With just a few words, our adoption was finalized. These two amazing children weren't going home, because they were already home. We are their forever family, and they are our forever children. We may not be able to change the entire world, but we have changed the world entirely for our new children.

1. How did the author feel about her hospital work?

A．Unusually demanding.	B．Lacking in motivation.
C．Filled with challenges.	D．Packed with chances.

2. What led the author to decide to adopt children?

A．She wanted to make a difference in other people.

B．She felt sympathetic for abused children she knew.

C．She felt confident about her ability to raise children.

D．She experienced training to raise children properly.

3. What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?

A．The foster parents must be healthy and well-educated.

B．It was impossible to go through all the endless process.

C．The man on the phone was nice and gave clear instructions.

D．The home visits and background checks would take eight weeks.

4. What does the underlined word "placement" in Paragraph3 refer to?

A．The child to be adopted.	B．The need to get trained.
C．The approval of adoption.	D．The official at the hospital.

5. Why did the author appear at the courtroom?

A．To put the adopted kids elsewhere.	B．To receive another adopted child.
C．To begin the kids' adoption in her home.	D．To make the adoption officially legal.

【推荐2】You probably know that frogs hop ( 双足跳 ). But did you know that there’s a small frog in the Pacific Northwest that bellyflops（肚子先着水）? It’s called a tailed frog.
Dr.Rick Essner, who has been studying tailed frogs for the past few years, says, “ I’ve looked at thousands of jumps and have never seen them land on their feet like other frogs.” Most of the time, tailed frogs land on their stomachs and then bring their back legs in to prepare for another jump.
Essner forst noticed these frogs because of the way they swim. Other frogs kick both of their back legs at the same time. But when a tailed frog swims, it pushes first with one leg and then the other.
To try to find out why tailed frogs bellyflop, Essner and other scientists collected and filmed different kinds of frogs. They found that all of the frogs start their jumps the same way: they hold out their legs. The change comes in the landing. Tailed frogs can't move their back legs as quickly as other frogs do. Maybe they don’t need to. Tailed frogs live around water and quickly jump into the water to escape danger.
Early frogs developed around watery areas and could jump quickly into the water to escape danger. Scientists think those frogs blended in with (与…融合在一起) the green plants on the side of the rocky rivers, just like today’s tailed frogs. “Ｉwould guess that other animals would have problems detecting them, ” explains Essner. When other animals find those early frogs, the frogs could jump into the river. They didn’t need to continue hopping.
Tailed frogs and other kinds of frogs went their own ways about 200 million years ago. Tailed frogs stayed by rivers. Other kinds of frogs moved to places where new hopping skills allowed them to survive.
1. What’s special about the detailed frog ?

A．It has a long tail

B．It jumps on one foot

C．It stars its jump differently

D．It lands differently from other frogs.

2. Why do tailed frogs bellyflop?

A．They have never left the water to live .

B．They have trouble in holding out their legs

C．Their back legs can’t catch up while jumping..

D．Their front legs develop better than the back ones.

3. The underlined word “detecting” in Paragraph 5 means “______”.

A．eating	B．killing
C．using	D．discovering

4. When they are in danger, the detailed frogs would _________.

A．jump into the water for protection

B．hop around quickly

C．hide in the green plants near the river

D．jump into the rock

【推荐3】Beijing’s super large new Daxing International Airport is officially open for business-just in time for celebrations marking the 70 th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China on October 1st.

On Wednesday morning, President Xi Jinping entered the main concourse（大厅）just before noon, where he was greeted by airport officials. “I declare Beijing Daxing International Airport open,” he said. Later that day, the crowd watched as the airport’s maiden flight took off from one of the airport’s four runways. Flights from other airlines due to move to the airport, with a three-letter code PKX, were also scheduled for later in the day. Initially, the only flights making use of the airport are native. Customs and immigration are not yet working. Flights from Daxing will cover 112 destinations around the world by next spring.

Daxing’s official opening caps a long design and building process. Construction for the $11.5 project began in 2014, with more than 40,000 workers on site at its peak（高峰期）.Designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid and her Chinese partners, the airport is built for the future, with a terminal（航站楼）the size of 97 soccer pitches as well as customer-service robots that provide travelers with flight updates and airport information.

Nicknamed”starfish”by Chinese media for its shape of five concourses connected to a main hall, Daxing aims to reduce walking for passengers. The airport authority has promised a distance of no more than 600 meters(650 yards)-about eight minutes of walking-between security checkpoints and the farthest gates.

1. What does the underlined word“maiden" in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Major.	B．First
C．Significant.	D．Grand.

2. What do we know about the airport?

A．Flights from Daxing cover 112 native destinations.

B．Over 40,000 workers were involved in the construction every day.

C．The design is a joint effort of experts from home and abroad.

D．Robots can update the flight and airport information.

3. What does the airport look like?

A．A cap.	B．A robot.
C．A soccer.	D．A starfish

4. What's the purpose of the text?

A．To introduce a newly-built airport.

B．To evaluate the success of an airport.

C．To describe the construction of an airport.

D．To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the PRC.