Times are a little tough at our house right now. Neither of us makes a lot of money, but years of experience have taught us how to walk between the raindrops and make it from one month to the next with a fair amount of grace. I cook a lot at home, more when we’re facing difficult times. When I know that I have to keep us fed on not much money, I fall back on my grandmother’s recipes. She taught me to cook.
When I was a kid, my twin brother and I spent long summer weeks and Christmas vacations with my mother’s parents in the mountains of North Carolina. Rather than go hunting with my grandfather on mornings, I found myself more and more in the kitchen with my grandmother, watching her making a lemon cheese pie with her soft hands.
My great-grandmother died when my grandmother was 11 years old. As the eldest daughter, she was expected to take on all of the housework while attending school. Throughout the Great Depression, she learned how to make a little food go a long way. Vegetables were cheap, so she cooked a lot of them, mostly only using small amounts of meat for seasoning. Roast beef was a twice-a-month luxury, but there was nothing she couldn’t do with a chicken, every part of it. Nothing went to waste.
Now I understand that her food was sacred (神圣的). I feel connected to my grandmother and to hundreds of years of family when I’m in my kitchen making country food. In the delicious smells is a long tale of victory over hard times, of conquering starvation of not just surviving, but finding joy and pleasure in every meal of every day.
From grandmother I learned to take real satisfaction in feeding people. My grandmother would beam with pleasure over a heavily laden table and say: “Do you know what this would cost at the restaurant?” I never knew what restaurant in particular she had in mind, but I knew that the question was totally not fair, because no restaurant anywhere can cook like a grandmother. But now, thanks to her guidance and years of practice, I can.
1. According to the passage, the author cooks a lot at home because _______.| A．she wants to try out her grandmother’s recipes | B．she is quite particular about food |
| C．the food in restaurants is unhealthy | D．she and her husband are embarrassed financially |
| A．learnt to cook because of the Great Depression |
| B．was good at cooking as well as careful in budgeting |
| C．preferred chicken to beef |
| D．had to walk a long way to learn cooking in a restaurant |
| A．liked to compare her grandmother’s food with that in restaurants |
| B．learnt something more precious than cooking from her grandmother |
| C．hasn’t found the joy in cooking though she can cook like her grandmother |
| D．feels connected to her grandmother when making country food in the kitchen |
| A．Cook like my grandmother | B．My grandmother’s sacred food |
| C．My grandmother’s recipe | D．Joy and pleasure in cooking |
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【推荐1】I’m sitting at my computer and getting on with my work, when suddenly an unseen hand takes over. It stops my work and starts an update, which I can not stop, never asked for and not want, from Windows 7 to Windows 10. Red alert (警报)! Where is my work? What is happening to my computer?
“Your computer?” says Clayden jokingly, and he is right. I’m sitting in my home, at my desk, using a computer that I think belongs to me. but it doesn’t. It seems to belong to Microsoft, because they’re in charge of it. They’ve gone into my living room, stopped me working, damaged my printer deliberately, which was specially set up to match, Windows 7 and stopped the sound on iPlayer, while I wasted my time trying to find files and sorting out how this new system works. They’ve given me a fright and ruined my day, and possibly my life, because I think I’ve lost most of my documents.
An annoying little notice appears in the comer of my screen. “I’m Cortana.” It says. “Ask me anything.” Here’s a machine telling me what to do, and I’m falling for it. Because I just wrote: “It says.” No, it doesn’t. It can’t speak. It’s a machine taking over.
“Are you sure you haven’t turned yours off?” Clayden asks. No, it’s on. I can see the little lights glimmering (闪烁) but there’s just no sound or sense to it.
How dare Microsoft disturb my private life like this? What a bloody cheek! And I am not alone. They’ve been doing these updates since July last year, although they claim they don’t install (安装) them without users’ permission (允许). Whatever is going on, they need to fix it like they promised. Because it’s still happening. So I’m stuck here, waiting for them to come and fix it.
1. How does the author feel while telling the story?| A．Frightened. | B．Surprised. | C．Humorous. | D．Angry. |
| A．addicted to using | B．having doubt about |
| C．fooled into believing | D．feeling tired of |
| A．The author’s computer is of bad quality. |
| B．Automatic update may cause trouble to the users. |
| C．Microsoft users benefit a lot from its free service. |
| D．The author has a privilege (特权) to update his computer system. |
| A．Wait for help. | B．Complain to Microsoft. |
| C．Take apart the computer. | D．Buy a new computer. |
【推荐2】Kids don’t have a voice. They have no way to share their ideas. TEDx Youth is a locally organized event, where live talks and recorded videos are shared with the community (社区). TEDx Youth is always held on Children’s Day every year. It brings together big ideas from, and for kids. More importantly, it encourages kids to share their ideas with the world.
“Age is but a number. You’re not too young to change the world. Planning an event alongside young people makes you realize that kids have ideas that an adult might usually not think of,” said one TEDx Youth speaker. Another speaker said, “What I have come to realize is that no matter where you live or how old you are, everyone is eager to be someone great.”
Organizing a TEDx Youth event shows that kids are able to do much more than what’s expected. They truly take this event and make it even more than what everyone hopes it will be. “The fact that youth, just like me, had planned and run the event shocked me most,” said one volunteer. “I thought the event was surprising. I couldn’t believe that kids of my age made the event happen.”
There are several ways to take part in TEDx Youth. The easiest way is to become a speaker, if you think your idea is worth spreading. Another way is to attend an event. And lastly, you can become a TEDx Youth Reporter. Reporters take pictures from the event and post them on line, and send news about what is happening at the event, interview some of the speakers, and write articles about the event. “It was wonderful to see how youth team members were with the whole event and how thankful they were (and still are!) to be given such an unbelievable chance as being part of a TEDx event.” said an organizer.
TEDx Youth is welcoming kids from every culture who want to have a deeper understanding of the world. Those who get involved with it believe in the power of ideas, which can change attitudes, lives and the world.
1. What is the main purpose of holding a TEDx Youth event?| A．To give kids a chance to record videos. |
| B．To spread kids’ ideas all over the world. |
| C．To raise money for the local community. |
| D．To help kids with their schoolwork. |
| A．Quite typical. | B．Pretty crazy. |
| C．Rather difficult. | D．Surprisingly good. |
| A．give a talk | B．do some interviews |
| C．plan an event | D．organize some activities |
| A．When Is TEDx Youth Held? |
| B．Why Can Kids Realize Their Dreams? |
| C．How Can Kids Share Big Ideas? |
| D．What Changes Can TEDx Youth Bring Us? |
【推荐3】A few weeks ago, I bought a locally-grown salad from a vending machine（自动售货机）. But then I immediately realized that it was packaged in a plastic jar. "I guess I live with this jar now and forever." I thought sadly as I stared down at my new child.
The salad jar was only the latest in a long line of examples of how I am addicted to the responsibility of reusing everything, trying to never throw anything away. Water bottles have been given second lives, and berry containers are transformed into Tupperware. I recently even looked at a plastic straw in my fruit juice: Could I reuse it too...?
Yet trying to squeeze my salad jar under my kitchen counter this weekend, I finally had to admit: Being an environmentalist has turned me into a hoarder（囤积者）. While keeping a certain number of jars and vegetable bags will allow me not to buy new containers, at a certain point those 30 berry containers begin to get a bit unnecessary. Who am I kidding? Then one day I came across a blog post that asks accusingly. "Are you turning your own home into a landfill（垃圾填埋场）? "
In my opinion, there is absolutely no excuse not to be a conscious consumer. The solution is painfully obvious, but hard to admit: Delaying waste is not, in fact, rejecting waste. In an over-packaged, over-consuming culture, this can feel like a burden. While I refuse to throwaway packaging, the fact remains: I already have it. The damage is done. I've been ignoring one of the most essential and difficult parts—reduce, reuse, recycle. Even if I go out of my way to reuse the waste I do have, I need to reduce what I am bringing home in the first place.
While I might not be ready to go full zero-waste, it's a goal that is admirable to work toward. Until then, my salad jar child is going to make a great overnight oats jar.
1. What can we infer about the author from Paragraph 2?| A．She is addicted to shopping. |
| B．She has bad living habits. |
| C．She is enthusiastic in reusing. |
| D．She makes good use of plastic straws. |
| A．She saved far more containers than she actually needed. |
| B．She was responsible for saving fine packages. |
| C．She enjoyed collecting a variety of jars. |
| D．She lived far away from the landfill. |
| A．Being an environmentalist. | B．Delaying waste. |
| C．Being a conscious consumer. | D．Rejecting waste. |
| A．Store less vegetable bags. | B．Avoid unnecessary consumption. |
| C．Reuse materials as much as possible. | D．Go full zero-waste from now on. |
