【推荐1】Your mobile phone vibrates in your pocket. ‘Need to see you,’ reads the screen. Nothing new, considering that texting is currently the most common form of long-distance communication. But how were messages conveyed in the past?

One of the first methods was the smoke signal. This practice was used by Chinese soldiers guarding the Great Wall to warn of the enemy’s approach. The Greeks invented a whole alphabet of smoke signals for sending messages. But it was Native Americans who made the system mobile by carrying small bunches of dried grasses around with them. These could be lit quickly from any place at any time.

Moving on to messages transmitted by sound, an early technique was the drum. Drums are still used today in the rainforests of Africa, Papua New Guinea and Central and South America for broadcasting news. The instrument is made from a piece of wood, which is empty inside, and this is hit with a stick. On receiving the message, each village passes it on to the next, which means that news can travel at up to 150 km an hour.

In some parts of the world, humans are able to convey messages over long distances without using instruments. On La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands, people use Silbo, or the ‘whistling language’ to communicate across the valleys. The language involves the use of the tongue, lips and hands to make sounds, which can travel up to 5 km. To ensure its continuation, Silbo is currently a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools on the island.

A look at long-distance communication would not be complete without mentioning the art of yodelling. This is a form of singing, in which the voice changes sound levels very quickly, making it easily heard over long distances. It is believed that the technique was developed in the Swiss Alps, but it is also found in other places such as Central Africa. At one time, yodelling was popular in theatres and music halls, but this is no longer so.

1. What was most remarkable about the Greeks’ system of smoke signals?

A．It could communicate words.

B．It could be used instantly.

C．It could mislead the enemy.

D．It could stop wars from breaking out.

2. What is the advantage of communicating by drums?

A．The length of the message.

B．The simplicity of the instrument.

C．The speed of the transmission.

D．The volume of the sound.

3. What would be an accurate definition of ‘yodelling’?

A．Moving frequently between high and low notes.

B．Singing a recognizable tune in harmony.

C．Using music with a really strong beat.

D．Shouting in a loud voice.

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A．Is That Strange?

B．Get the Message?

C．The Old Technology

D．The History of Information

【推荐3】One of the greatest contributions to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most   unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every   English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations (引文) showing how it was used.
This was a huge task, so Murray had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the   British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American surgeon who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.
Minor joined the army of volunteers sending words and quotations to Murray. Over the next 17 years, he became one of the staff’s most valued contributors.
But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always decline to visit Oxford. So in 1897, Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked   in a book-lined cell at the Broadmoor Asylum (精神病院) for the Criminally Insane.
Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.
In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave
goodbye to his remarkable friend.
Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volumes defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.
1. According to the text, the first Oxford English Dictionary _________.

A．came out before minor died

B．was edited by an American volunteer

C．was intended to be the most ambitious English dictionary Murray

D．included the English words invented by Murray

2. How did Dr. Minor contributed to the dictionary?

A．He helped Murray to find hundreds of volunteers.

B．He sent newspapers, magazines and books to Murray.

C．He went to England to work with Murray.

D．He provided a great number of words and quotations

3. Why did Dr. Minor refuse to visit Oxford?

A．He lived far from Oxford

B．He was shut in an asylum

C．He was busy writing a book

D．He disliked traveling

4. Prof. Murray and Dr. Minor became friends mainly because __________.

A．They had a common interest in words

B．They both served in the Civil War

C．Minor recovered with the help of Murray

D．Murray went to America regularly to visit Minor

【推荐1】A guide to Beijing museums during Spring Festival
The Capital Museum
The Beijing Capital Museum is presenting a special monkey-themed exhibition that decodes the cultural roots of the monkey in traditional Chinese culture. The exhibit shows more than 40 antique collections, including paintings, calligraphy, stamps, and 12 classic Monkey King pictures based on the great Chinese novel, Journey to the West. The museum also prepared a series of cultural activities for children, such as making paper-cuts for window decoration and painting monkeys.
The National Museum of China
Pasting Spring Festival couplets too doors is a traditional custom in Chinese culture. An exhibition Calligraphy Art of Couplets for the Year of the Money is ongoing, with more than 30 calligraphers’ couplet pieces on display. A major exhibition, Treasures of Romania, showcasing Romania’s history from the pre-historical period to the end of the 18^th century, is still underway.
National Art Museum of China
The 2016 New Year show, National Art Exhibition of the Great Unity of China is a visual feast that will last until March 7. The works reflect the reality that people of all nationalities in China unite as one and jointly construct a moderately prosperous society. The works also highlight their positive mental attitude and present their picturesque and colorful national customs.
Zhoukoudian Relies Museum
A Spring Festival folk custom culture exhibition will introduce traditional Spring Festival customs in detail. Visitors can enjoy nearly 100 precious exhibits from the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)and Minguo Era(1912-1949), including New Year paintings and musical instruments. Children can also take part in the treasure hunt games organized by the museum, watch 4D movies and experience the primitive way of hunting fishing and chipping stone tools in the science experience pavilion.
1. In which column of the newspaper may this article appear?

A．Travel

B．Business

C．Lifestyle

D．Culture

2. Which of the following statement is True according to the article?

A．The 40 antique collections in the Capital Museum are based on Journey to the West.

B．All four museums provide exhibits of traditional Spring Festival customs

C．Children can be involved in some activities about the primitive life in Zhoukoudian Relics Museum

D．Visitors can appreciate exhibits of Minguo Era in National Art Museum of China

3. Which one is the best choice among the four museums for visitors who’d like to enjoy history of both China and foreign countries?

A．The National Museum of China

B．Zhoukoudian Relics Museum

C．The Capital Museum

D．National Art Museum of China

【推荐2】The Torch Festival (火把节) is a traditional festival which is celebrated among some ethnic groups in southwestern China, such as the Yi, Bai, Hani, Lisu, and Lahu, etc. It usually falls on the 24th or 25th of June, with three days of celebrations. The festival came from worship (崇拜) of fire by ancestors ( 祖 先 ). For some ethnic groups, it’s a tradition in the festival for elders to share farming experience with young people and educate them about taking care of crops.

During the festival, big torches are made to stand in all villages, with small torches placed in front of the door of each house. When night falls, the torches are lit and the villages are bright. At the same time, people walk around the fields and houses, holding small torches and placing the torches in the field corners. Inside the villages, young people are singing and dancing around the big torches that keep burning throughout the night. Other activities like horse races are also held during the festival.

In a horse race of the Yi people in Yunnan, torches are used to form hurdles for riders to get through. The Hani people in Yunnan traditionally tie fruits to torches with strings. When the strings are broken after the torches are lit, people struggle for the fruits for good luck.

For the Lisu people in Sichuan, the festival is an occasion for holding torch parades. Big torches are carried by teams of people, which is like a fire dragon. If different teams meet, it’s a tradition to exchange the big torches with one another.

1. What can we know about the Torch Festival from the first paragraph?

A．It is a festival to show worship of fire.	B．Its celebrations usually last two days.
C．It is a traditional festival of all China.	D．It has nothing to do with farming.

2. What is the main idea of the second paragraph?

A．Why the festival is enjoyed.	B．How the festival is celebrated.
C．What torches are used for the festival.	D．Where the festival is celebrated.

3. Which of the description is INCORRECT?

A．Small torches are put in front of the door.

B．Big torches are burnt all day and all night.

C．Yi people use torches to form hurdles to get through.

D．Young people like singing and dancing around the big torches.

4. Which is a way that Lisu people in Sichuan celebrate the festival according to the text?

A．Struggling for fruits for good luck.	B．Tying fruits to torches with strings.
C．Holding torch parades.	D．Using torches as hurdles for a horse race.

【推荐1】For the first time in its history, the International Olympic Committee has allowed a team of refugees to compete at the Games. All of the team’s members were forced to leave their home countries. Now they’ve come together to compete under the Olympic flag instead.

Making it to the Olympics is something eighteen-year-old swimmer Yusra has always dreamed of. But just last year, she was swimming for her life. She and her sister were forced to leave their home in Syria because of the war there. They were trying to get to Greece in a rubber dinghy (橡皮艇) with eighteen other refugees, when their boat broke down and began filling with water. Most of the people on board couldn’t swim, so she and her sister jumped in to help push it to shore.

Three hours later, they made it to safety, and eventually to Germany as refugees. Refugees are people who have left their home country because their lives are threatened by war, bad treatment or violence---often because of their race, gender or beliefs. Around the world, more than 60 million people are in this situation. And some of them, like Yusra, are elite athletes who have trained all their lives to compete at the highest level, only to have that chance taken away.

Now, a team of ten, including swimmers, runners, and judokas from Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Congo have been given the chance to compete at the Games under the Olympic flag. They’ve also been given their own coaches, officials, uniforms and a chef, all paid for by the IOC. And in the past few months they’ve been training hard. The IOC says it wants the team to inspire and give hope to other refugees, and draw attention to the issues millions of other around the world are facing. And these guys say they are up to the task whether they win gold or not.

“These refugee athletes will show the world that despite the unimaginable tragedies that they have faced, anyone can contribute to society through their talent, skills and strength of the human spirit,” the statement continues.

1. What does the underlined sentence mean?

A．She trained all her life.

B．She swam for the glory of life.

C．She swam to escape being drowned.

D．She swam to escape from other refugees.

2. Where do Yusra and her sister live as refugees now?

A．Syria

B．Germany

C．Congo

D．Ethiopia

3. Which of the following is NOT a reason why the refugees are threatened to their country?

A．Race

B．Violence

C．Religion

D．Nationality

4. The IOC allowed a team of refugees to complete in the Olympic Games in order to ________.

A．help the refugees to fulfill their dreams of winning the Olympic gold medal.

B．offer the refugees a chance to earn bread by themselves.

C．light a candle of hope for all the refugees in the world.

D．curse the darkness of the society by forcing them to pay attention to the life of refugees.

【推荐2】In the past 70 years, physical activity in America has transformed from a necessity of daily life into an often-expensive leisure(闲暇)activity, and has reformed itself as the basis of people's social position."In the 1950s and 1960s, the body became a problem, and exercise developed — it had to develop-because people realized that we were all going to die of heart attacks," Shelly McKenzie, the author of Getting Physical： The Rise of Fitness Culture in America, told me.

With new middle-class needs coming into new marketing, Jack LaLanne^!s instructional exercise TV show introduced much of the country to the active pursuit of physical fitness in 1951, paving the way for workout tapes from fitness superstars such as Richard Simmons and Jane Fonda.In the 1970s, exercise began to leave the home, both through the popularization of jogging and weightlifting and in more organized ways, such as Jazzercise classes.

No matter how they package it, these businesses aren't just selling physical activity； they're providing people with a way to stick to expectations that the industry itself helped set."Exercise, and especially public exercise, came to indicate mental, emotional, and even spiritual health and virtue," Marc Stern wrote in 2008," In return for the effort, gym-goers attain(获得)the type of body that proves their virtue to all who see them.”

That these physical standards are difficult to achieve is the point."We live in a culture in which being diligent is highly, highly praised," Petrzela, the New School professor, who is working on a book about fitness's place in American culture, told me.

“Many people want to be regarded as people who value exercise, because it shows they're committed to（致力于）self-improvement, and to hard work."Above and beyond movement itself, part of the satisfaction of gym-going comes from performing those values around other people who share them, and from achieving what that community regards as success.

1. Why did exercise develop in the 1950s and 1960s?

A．Because exercise was a necessity of daily life.

B．Because people realized the importance of body health.

C．Because exercise was an often-expensive leisure activity.

D．Because people regarded exercise as the foundation of people's social position.

2. Why do many people like going to gym according to Marc Stern?

A．To keep healthy.	B．To gain good body shape.
C．To show their good character.	D．To prove their social position.

3. What do NOT make people gain satisfaction from going to the gym?

A．Seeing some superstars in the gym.

B．The same values around other people.

C．Achieving success defined by that group of people.

D．Being regarded as people who're committed to self-improvement.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．How to keep healthy.

B．Why American people want to gain virtue.

C．Why physical activity developed in America.

D．How physical activity developed in America.

【推荐3】When I first got an e-mail account ten years ago, I received communications only from family, friends, and colleagues. Now it seems that every time I check my e-mail, I have an endless series of advertisements and other correspondence that do not interest me at all. If we want e-mail to continue to be useful, we need specific laws that make spamming a crime.

If lawmakers do not do something soon to prohibit spam, the problem will certainly get much worse. Computer programs allow spammers to send hundreds of millions of e-mails almost instantly. As more and more advertisers turn to spam to sell their products, individual e-mail boxes are often flooded with spam e-mails. Would people continue to use e-mail if they had to deal with an annoying amount of spam each time?

This problem is troubling for individuals and companies as well. Many spam e-mails contain computer viruses that can shut down the entire network of a company. Companies rely on e-mail for their employees to communicate with each other. Spam frequently causes failures in their local communications networks, and their employees are thus unable to communicate effectively. Such a situation results in a loss of productivity and requires companies to repeatedly repair their networks. These computer problems raise production costs of companies, which are, in the end, passes on to the consumer.

For these reasons, I believe that lawmakers need to legislate against spam. Spammers should be fined, and perhaps sent to prison if they continue to disturb people. E-mail is a tool which helps people all over the world to communicate conveniently, but spam is destroying this convenience.

1. What does the underlined word “correspondence” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Messages.

B．Ideas.

C．Connections.

D．Programs.

2. According to the text, what is the major cause of the flooding spam?

A．Companies rely on e-mail for communications.

B．More people in the world communicate by e-mail.

C．Many computer viruses contain spam e-mail.

D．More advertisers begin to promote sales through spam.

3. According to the author, who is the final victim of spam?

A．The business.

B．The advertiser.

C．The employee.

D．The consumer.

4. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To inform.

B．To educate.

C．To persuade.

D．To instruct.