【推荐1】Fred Michel is one of 7.2 million Americans who moonlight. Once a week, after his day job as medical director of a mental health center, the 40-year-old psychiatrist heads to a part-time job at a treatment center for young people. Twice a month, he travels three hours to another teenage treatment center.
Last year, 5.4 percent of the American workforce held second jobs, according to the US Labor Department, and that looks set to increase this year.
Many workers like the safety that moonlighting provides, says Carl Hausman , the writer of “Moonlighting: 148 Great Ways to Make Money to the Side”.
The information from the US Labor Department shows that 40 percent of US moonlighters take a second job to meet household expenses or pay off debts. Others save money or buy some special things.
People also take second jobs with an eye to the future -- wanting to try out a new field or gain experience.
Michel started moonlighting when medical systems were unstable. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t tied to one system that ended up failing.
Just as the purposes for moonlighting vary, the moonlighters cross all ages and racial groups. And they work in a variety of industries -- no longer just service, office and sales jobs.
“Technology just affects your ability to make money,” Hausman says. “That makes a frequent change in moonlighting.”
As its name means, moonlighting still occurs mostly at night. And that results in some pressures. Chief among them is time.
Full-time employers could misunderstand, too. Some companies do not allow after-hour work because they fear it will affect their employees’ 9-to-5 performance.
“The primary employer is saying, ‘Wait, I’m paying you for the sharp, fresh, energetic you,’” says Tom Gimbel, president and founder of LaSalle Staffing in Chicago. “If you’re burning yourself at both ends, it’s going to show.”
Still, the good done to the moonlighters can be great. Besides extra income, moonlighters enjoy variety, freedom and chance to do something new. They may also find their part-time jobs strengthen what they do full time.
Besides, “it’s fun,” Michel says. Not only do his part-time jobs offer a chance to network, stretch his professional skills and make more money, but they also give him the variety he wouldn’t find just in a full-time job.
“It’s a way of pulling from the spice cabinet.,” he says, “and offering a little variety throughout the day.”
1. The reason why Fred Michel began to moonlight is that ________.

A．he found it exciting to do a part-time job

B．he needed to make ends meet with more money

C．he feared he would lose his present job one day

D．he felt more and more pressure from his employer

2. Some companies don’t allow their workers to moonlight because they are afraid ________.

A．their workers cannot do extra-hour work for them

B．their workers will be too tired to try their best at work

C．their workers will one day turn to some other different jobs

D．their workers will not get to work and be off work on time

3. The underlined sentence “It’s a way of pulling from the spice cabinet.” in the last paragraph means ________.

A．moonlighting gets you away from the job you don’t enjoy

B．moonlighting offers you freedom to make extra money

C．moonlighting strengthens your professional skills

D．moonlighting brings you chances to do something different

4. What is the article mainly about?

A．The ways of moonlighting.	B．The reasons for moonlighting.
C．The problems with moonlighting.	D．The kinds of people who moonlight.

【推荐2】It is not hard to find evidence of the success of the “sharing economy”, in which people rent beds, cars and other underused assets directly from each other, or via the internet. One pointer is the large amount of demand and supply. Airbnb claims that 11m people have used its website to find a place to stay. Lyft, a company that matches people needing rides and drivers wanting a few dollars, has spread from San Francisco to 30-odd American cities. Another sign is the frothy values (泡沫价值) placed on sharing-economy companies: Airbnb is estimated to be worth $10 billion, more than hotel chains such as Hyatt and Wyndham, and Lyft recently raised $250m from venture capitalists. But perhaps the most flattering—and least welcome—indicator of the sharing economy’s rise is the energy being devoted by governments, courts and competitors to preventing it.

The main battlegrounds are the taxi and room-rental businesses. A court in Brussels has told Uber, another San Francisco ride-sharing and taxi-services startup, to stop operating in the city. Other cities have banned their services outright, or tried other ways of putting spokes in their wheels. Meanwhile the Hotel Association of New York has been lobbying for (游说) stricter enforcement of a rule that bans absent owners from letting their apartments for less than 30 days, which makes most of Airbnb’s listings there illegal.

The newcomers’ opponents, whether competitors, officials or worried citizens, complain that the likes of Airbnb and Lyft dodge (躲避) the rules and taxes that apply to conventional businesses. Regulations exist to keep hotel rooms clean and fire alarms in working order, to stop residential areas being filled with unlicensed hotels, and to see that drivers are insured, checked for criminality and tested on their knowledge of the streets. Cowboys such as Airbnb, Lyft and Uber, their critics claim, are a danger to an unsuspecting public.

The objectors have half a point. Taxes must be paid: a property-owner who rents a room should declare the income, just as a hotel should. Safety is also a concern: people want some assurance that once they bed down for the night or get into a stranger’s car they will not be attacked or robbed. Zoning (划分区域) and planning are also an issue: peace-loving citizens may well object if the house next door becomes a hotel.

Sharing-economy firms are trying to mitigate (缓和) these problems. They have tightened insurance cover for their drivers and have offered to collect hotel taxes. They have an interest in their participants’ good behavior: as hosts, guests, drivers and passengers all rate each other online, their need to protect their reputation helps to maintain standards and keep people honest. But if consumers want to go for the cheaper, less-regulated service, they should be allowed to do so.

The truth is that most of the rules that the sharing economy is breaking have little to do with protecting the public. The opposition to Lyft and Uber is coming not from customers but from taxi companies, which understand that GPS makes detailed knowledge of the streets redundant (多余的) and fear cheaper competition.

This all argues for adaptation, not prohibition. An unlikely pioneer is San Francisco. Lyft and Uber got going in the city partly because taxis were hard to find, but the authorities have tolerated them. San Francisco bans rentals of less than 30 days, but is considering allowing people to let their residence, provided they live there most of the time, register with the city and pay its 14% hotel tax.

1. According to Paragraph 1, the success of the “sharing economy” is indicated by the fact that __________.

A．many people are trading their underused assets freely via the internet

B．growth in online rental demand has exceeded supply in many regions

C．its total capital value has surpassed that of conventional business

D．sharing economy companies are suffering from a number of attacks

2. Opponents complain that the taxi and room-rental businesses _________.

A．frequently make anti-competitive market behavior

B．are often involved in illegal business practices

C．are lacking in necessary rules and regulations

D．have caused a lot of accidents and crimes

3. By “have a half point” in Paragraph 4, the author probably means the objectors “__________.”

A．fail to indentify the safety problems existing among sharing economy firms

B．have overstated the dangers brought about by sharing-economy firms to the public

C．fail to realize the need of zoning and planning in sharing economy

D．have overestimated the impact of sharing economy firms on the traditional counterparts

4. The author believes that the current opposition to sharing economy mainly reflects_________.

A．the mission of protecting the public	B．the complaints from service consumers
C．the fear among conventional businesses	D．the dissatisfaction among service providers

5. What is the author’s attitude toward the practice of San Francisco authorities?

A．Indifferent.

B．Skeptical.

C．Disapproving.

D．Positive.

【推荐3】In a broad sense, migration is usually defined as “permanent or semi-permanent change of residence”. Although movements within nations (internal migration) often exceed movements between nations (international migration) in volume, the motives of people who move short distances are very similar to those of international migrants.

Students of human migration speak of “push” and “pull” factors, which influence an individual’s decision to move from one place to another. Push factors are associated with the place of origin. A push factor can be as simple and mild a matter as difficulty in finding a suitable job, or as traumatic as war, or severe famine. Obviously, refugees who leave their homes with guns pointed at their heads are motivated almost entirely by push factors.

Associated with the place of destination, pull factors are mostly economic, such as better job opportunities or the availability of good land to farm. In general, pull factors add up to an apparently better chance for a good life and material well-being than is offered by the place of origin. When there is a choice between several attractive potential destinations, the deciding factor might be a non-economic consideration such as the presence of relatives, friends, or at least fellow countrymen already established in the new place who are willing to help the newcomers settle in. Considerations of this sort lead to the development of migration flow.

Besides push and pull factors, there are what the sociologists call “intervening obstacles”. Even if push and/or pull factors are very strong they still may be outweighed by intervening obstacles, such as the distance of the move, the trouble and cost of moving, the difficulty of entering the new country, and the problems likely to be encountered on arrival.

The decision to move is also influenced by “personal factors” of the potential migrant. The same push-pull factors and obstacles operate differently on different people, sometimes because they are at different stages of their lives, or just because of their varying abilities and personalities. The prospect of packing up everything and moving to a new and perhaps very strange environment may appear interesting and challenging to an unmarried young man and terribly difficult to a slightly older man with a wife and small kids. Similarly, the need to learn a new language and customs may excite one person and frighten another.

Regardless of why people move, migration of large numbers of people causes conflict. The newest arrivals are usually given the lowest-paid jobs and are resented by native people who may have to compete with them for those jobs. It has usually taken several decades for each group to be accepted into the mainstream of society in the host country.

Migration
Passage outline	Supporting details
Broad     1     of migration	Migration is permanent or semi-permanent change of residence.     2     people move within nations than between nations, yet their motives are alike.
Factors in migration	Push factors	3     to find a suitable job or suffering from war or natural disaster, people are likely to leave their homeland.
	Pull factors	4     by pull factors, people are desperate for more chances to live a better life in the place of destination. Earlier settlers tend to offer help to new migrants, greatly     5     migration flow.
	Intervening obstacles	6     as push and pull factors might be, intervening obstacles seems more difficult for some to     7    .
	Personal factors	International migration may be interesting to those unmarried but not to those with a family; the same     8     of picking up a foreign language may make one excited but another frightened.
Impacts of migration	As a result of large numbers of the newest arrivals, conflicts between them and the natives will     9    . It usually takes long for the new comers to     10     in with the mainstream of the host country.

【推荐1】

It could be said that the age of adventure peaked with Sir Everest Shackleton the moment his ship, the Endurance, become hopelessly locked in ice on its way to Antarctica in January 1915. For ten months the 28 men aboard Shackleton’s ship waited and prayed for ice to break. When it finally did, the Endurance sank, leaving the crew homeless and adrift on a sea of ice in one of the world’s most dangerous environments.

In January 2000 a luxury ocean liner found itself similarly trapped in the cold waters off Antarctica. Argentine authorities sent off an icebreaker straight away from the nearest naval base, and in 24 hours, all 176 passengers and crew were free. The tour company’s spokesperson spun the potential disaster as a value-added reward in extreme travel. “The people on board are looking at this as sort of a great adventure,” she said.   

Ever since Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air made Everest a household name, the subculture of adventure has blown up like a Himalayan avalanche(雪崩) into public consciousness. Magazines promise “extreme” content, television, offers adventure programs, and the growing collective fascination with adventure has produced a flow of published accounts about the world’s greatest adventurous journey. Nowadays more and more people are interested in adventure and this mass appeal makes good business sense. Today the only thing blocking a would-be adventurer’s passage to Antarctica is the cost---- which typically runs well over $10,000.

Despite very different implications, adventure was just as popular in Shackleton’s time. He has little trouble filling the Endurance----5,000 men are said to have responded to his recruitment(招募) notice: “Men wanted for risky journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful.”

After five months drifting on ice, the crew were forced to take to their lifeboats to Elephant Island. Reaching the wasteland, Shackleton went on with one lifeboat and five of his best men 1,300 kilometers across the bone-chilly Scotia Sea to South Georgia Island. Shivering with cold, dressed in rags, Shackleton marched into a whaling station and set about organizing a rescue expedition to Elephant Island. Almost two years after becoming shipwrecked on ice, Shackleton picked up his crew. “Not a life lost, and we have been through hell,” he remarked earnestly.

1. We can learn from the first sentence of this passage that _______.

A．the age of adventure began with the ship Endurance trapped in ice

B．Shackleton’s adventure marked the highest point of pure exploration

C．the age of adventure ended with the ship Endurance trapped in ice

D．Shackleton’s adventure predicted that the golden age of exploration was approaching

2. The word “spun” in the second paragraph can be replaced by “_______”.

A．summed up

B．judged

C．boasted about

D．referred to

3. Since Jon Krakauer’s book was published _______.

A．the media have got interested in the topic of adventure

B．the costs of extreme travel have gone up

C．Everest has got its name known to Europe

D．people have got fascinated by Himalayan avalanches

4. The adventure in Shackleton’s time has different implications from today’s in that _______.

A．Shackleton’s adventure lasted longer then any other adventure nowadays

B．no one was missing during Shackleton’s adventure

C．Shackleton’s adventure was entirely for the sake of adventure

D．Shackleton enrolled volunteers more easily

【推荐2】As you grow older, you’ll be faced with some challenging decisions—like whether to cut class or try cigarettes. Making decisions on your own is hard enough, but when other people get involved and try to pressure you one way or another it can be even harder. People who are your age, like your classmates, are called peers. When they try to influence how you act, to get you to do something, it’s called peer pressure.
Peers can have a positive influence on each other. Maybe another student in your science class taught you an easy way to remember the planets in the solar system. Maybe you got others excited about your new favorite book, and now everyone’s reading it. These are examples of how peers positively influence each other.
Sometimes peers influence each other in negative ways. For example, a few kids in school might try to get you to cut class with them; your soccer friend might try to convince you to be mean to another player and never pass him the ball.
It is tough to be the only one who says “no” to peer pressure, but you can do it. Paying attention to your own feelings and beliefs about what is right and wrong can help you know the right thing to do.
You’ve probably had a parent or teacher advising you to “choose your friends wisely.” Peer pressure is a big reason why they say this. If you choose friends who don’t cut class, smoke cigarettes, or lie to their parents, then you probably won’t do these things either, even if other kids do.
If you continue to face peer pressure and you’re finding it difficult to handle, talk to someone you trust. Don’t feel guilty if you’ve made a mistake or two.
1. For whom is the passage most probably written?

A．Parents.	B．Teachers.
C．Students.	D．Doctors.

2. In the last three paragraphs, the author mainly_____.

A．explains why friendship is so important

B．shows how to make more good friends

C．discusses how peers influence us

D．gives advice on how to deal with peer pressure

3. Which of following may help handle peer pressure?

A．Spending more time with classmates.

B．Taking up more relaxing hobbies.

C．Choosing friends with no bad habits.

D．Helping others who are in trouble.

4. What is the topic of the passage?

A．Friendship.	B．Making decisions
C．Self-confidence	D．Peer pressure

【推荐3】Artificial intelligence, or AI, has slowly begun to influence higher education around the world. Now, one new AI tool could change the way university students evaluate their professor. The tool is called Hubert, a teacher evaluation tool that appears as an AI-powered chatbot. Instead of filling out a form, students use a chat window to give feedback(反馈) on the course and their professor. Afterwards, Hubert categorizes the students’ comments for the professor to review.

Hubert is free for educators to use. More than 600 teachers have used it already. The goal of the new Hubert program is to improve education by giving teachers detailed, organized feedback from students.

Viktor Nordmark, from Sweden, started the company in 2015, with several friends. Before creating Hubert, the founders asked teachers what would improve their teaching skills. The answer, Nordmark said, was qualitative(定性的) feedback from their students. In other words, teachers wanted students to write detailed answers to open-ended questions about their experiences in class.

Qualitative feedback is different from the survey responses, which students are often asked to provide at the end of a class. “This kind of data takes a lot of time for professors to collect and analyze,” Nordmark said. And for the students, it can also be “really boring to fill out.” So Nordmark and his friends designed Hubert as a compromise between a traditional survey and a personal interview. “You can reach a really large crowd, but you can also get really qualitative data back,” Nordmark said.

Now, when Hubert receives comments from students, it compares them with the information already in its system to organize the data. Nordmark says that Hubert will continue to get smarter as it receives more comments in the future. Nordmark says he and his co-founders have plans to make Hubert more flexible and accurate. They hope to give teachers the possibility of selecting their own evaluation questions.

1. What can be inferred about traditional teacher evaluation?

A．Its data is easy to collect.

B．Users are charged for using it.

C．Students needn’t fill out forms.

D．Students find it dull to take part in it.

2. According to the text, qualitative feedback ________.

A．can improve the students’ performance at school

B．is students’ answers to teachers’ questions in class

C．can be obtained by asking students to fill out forms

D．is detailed responses to questions not for fixed answers

3. What is one of the advantages of Hubert at present?

A．Being able to change itself to become smarter.

B．Saving much time when collecting survey forms.

C．Taking on the strengths of a survey and an interview.

D．Enabling teachers to select their own evaluation questions.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．The characteristics of qualitative feedback.

B．A new AI-powered tool of teacher evaluation.

C．The changes in the way teachers are evaluated.

D．A potential revolution in the educational system.

【推荐1】How and why, roughly 2 million years ago, early human ancestors evolved large brains and began fashioning relatively advanced stone tools, is one of the great mysteries of evolution. Some researchers argue these changes were brought about by the invention of cooking. They point out that our bite weakened around the same time as our larger brains evolved, and that it takes less energy to absorb nutrients from cooked food. As a result, once they had mastered the art, early chefs could invest less in their digestive systems and thus invest the resulting energy savings in building larger brains capable of complex thought. There is, however, a problem with the cooking theory. Most archaeologists (考古学家）believe the evidence of controlled fire stretches back no more than 790,000 years.

Roger Summons of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a solution. Together with his team, he analyzed 1.7 million-year-old sand-stones that formed in an ancient river at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania. The region is famous for the large number of human fossils (化石) that have been discovered there, alongside an impressive assembly of stone tools. The sand-stones themselves have previously yielded some of the world’s earliest complex hand axes — large tear-drop-shaped stone tools that are associated with Homo erectus (直立人) . Creating an axe by repeatedly knocking thin pieces off a raw stone in order to create two sharp cutting edges requires a significant amount of planning. Their appearance is therefore thought to mark an important moment in intellectual evolution. Trapped inside the Olduvai sand-stones, the researchers found distinctive but unusual biological molecules（分子）that are often interpreted as biomarkers for heat-tolerant bacteria. Some of these live in water between 85°C and 95°C. The molecules’ presence suggests that an ancient river within the Gorge was once fed by one or more hot springs.

Dr. Summons and his colleagues say the hot springs would have provided a convenient “pre-fire” means of cooking food. In New Zealand，the Maori have traditionally cooked food in hot springs, either by lowering it into the boiling water or by digging a hole in the hot earth. Similar methods exist in Japan and Iceland, so it is plausible, if difficult to prove, that early humans might have used hot springs to cook meat and roots. Richard Wrangham, who devised the cooking theory, is fascinated by the idea. Nonetheless, fire would have offered a distinct advantage to humans, once they had mastered the art of controlling it since, unlike a hot spring, it is a transportable resource.

1. All of the following statements can support the cooking theory EXCEPT__________.

A．cooking enabled early humans to invest less in digestive system

B．cooking enabled early humans to devote more energy to building big brains

C．our brain became larger around the same time our digestive system weakened

D．the controlled fire wasn’t mastered until about 790,000 years ago

2. The presence of biological molecules was important because_________.

A．they suggested a possible means of cooking without fire

B．they cast light on how early Homo erectus lived

C．they provided a convenient way of studying stone tools

D．they made studies of pre-historic cultures possible

3. The underlined word “plausible” probably means _________.

A．noticeable	B．applicable
C．reasonable	D．affordable

4. What may be the conclusion of the study by Dr. Summons and his colleague?

A．Early humans were capable of making complex stone tools.

B．Hot springs help explain how human brains got so big.

C．Homo erectus were adaptable to tough and complex territories.

D．Human brains are highly advanced as shown by their size.

【推荐2】The summer holidays are in full swing and protests have begun in a number of popular European cities. Barcelona, in particular, is at the centre of these mounting concerns about the rapid growth of tourism in cities, especially during peak holiday periods. In fact, Destination Barcelona estimates that there were 30 million overnight visitors in 2017, compared to a resident population of Ⅰ 625, 137. Overtourism is not a new problem.

While many tourists want to “live like a local and have an authentic and immersive experience during their visit, the residents of many tourism-dependent destinations are seeing the unique sense of place that characterised their home towns vanish beneath a wave of souvenir shops, crowds, tour buses and rowdy bars. They are also suffering as local amenities (便利设施) and infrastructure are put under enormous strain. It is a truly global issue. Recently, Thai authorities were forced to act when a number of tourists visiting Maya Bay, the beach made famous by Danny Boyle's film The Beach, led to shocking environmental damage.

Overtourism is harming the landscape% damaging beaches, putting infrastructure under enormous strain, and pricing residents out of the property market. It can have an impact in multiple ways. The international cruise industry, for example, delivers thousands of passengers daily to destination ports. While comparatively little is returned to communities, cruise activity creates physical and visual pollution.

City residents also bear the cost of tourism growth. As cities transform to cater tourists, the global travel supply chain prospers. This coincides with increasing property speculation and rising costs of living for local communities. AirBnB, for example, has been accused of reducing housing affordability and displacing residents.

Overcrowding and the establishment of typical tourism-focused businesses, such as clubs bars and souvenir shops, overwhelm local businesses, and rowdy and unmanageable tourist behaviour is common. This diminishes the unique ambience of destinations and leads to crowd and waste management pressures.

Local government and planning authorities have so far been powerless to deal with the overwhelming influence of the global tourism supply chain. This has led to widespread “tourist—phobia” first described by Manuel Delgado more than a decade ago as a mixture of repudiation, mistrust and contempt for tourists.

1. What's the purpose of writing the first paragraph?

A．To present a phenomenon.	B．To introduce the topic, overtourism.
C．To give readers a vivid description.	D．To show the protests in Barcelona.

2. The example of Thai authorities shows      .

A．Maya Bay in Thai is a popular tourist destination attracting a great number of visitors

B．visiting famous places shown in movies is a global phenomenon

C．too many visitors will cause great damage to local environment, amenities and infrastructure

D．many local governments have already taken action to prevent overtourism

3. According to the passage, overtourism will      .

A．improve the local cruise industry	B．make the local business boom
C．cause the rising costs of living for the residents	D．increase the business of AirBnB

4. What will the writer most probably talk about in the following paragraph?

A．Measures to deal with overtourism.	B．Problems caused by overtourism.
C．Protests caused by overtourism.	D．Environmental pollution caused by overtourism.

【推荐3】We can video chat with astronauts aboard the International Space Station and watch live footage from the frozen heights of Everest. But communicating with a submarine (潜艇) or a diver is not so easy. The lack of practical methods for sharing data between underwater and airborne devices has long been a frustration for scientists. The difficulty stems from the fact that radio signals work perfectly in air travel but poorly in water. Sonar(声呐)signals used by underwater sensors reflect off the surface of the water rather than reaching the air.

Now, researchers at MIT have developed a method with the potential to revolutionize underwater communication. "What we've shown is that it's actually feasible to communicate from underwater to the air，" says Fadel Adib, a professor at MJT's Media Lab, who led the research.

The MIT researchers designed a system that uses an underwater machine to send sonar signals to the surface, making vibrations (震动)corresponding to the Is and Os of the data. A surface receiver then reads and decodes these tiny vibrations. The researchers call the system TARF. It has any number of potential real-world uses, Adib says. It could be used to find downed planes underwater by reading signals from sonar devices in a plane' s black box and it could allow submarines to communicate with the surface.

Right now the technology is low-resolution. The initial study was conducted in the MIT swimming pool at maximum depths of around 11 or 12 feet. The next steps for the researchers are to see if TARF is workable at much greater depths and under varying conditions-high waves, storms, schools of fish. They also want to see if they can make the technology work in the other direction- air to water.

If the technology proves successful in real-world conditions, expect "texting while diving" to be the latest underwater fashion.

1. What does the author mainly talk about in Paragraph 1？

A．The future of video chat underwater and in air.

B．The difficulty of communication from water to air.

C．The frustrations of developing underwater devices.

D．The current situation of communicating with a submarine.

2. What does the underlined word "feasible" mean？

A．Changeable.

B．Convenient.

C．Achievable.

D．Alternative.

3. What do we know about TARF？

A．It is widely used to find downed planes.

B．It can work well at great depths underwater.

C．It is an underwater machine that sends signals.

D．It can send, receive and read signals from underwater.

4. What is the best title for the text？

A．The Real-world Uses of Sonar Technology

B．A Breakthrough in the Application of Video Chat

C．Full Water-to-air Communication Closer to Reality

D．TARF Becoming a New Means of Communication

【推荐1】The noble tree house—all natural materials, strong construction, aloof from the troubles of the world. In a more dangerous time in human history, their position above the ground would protect the inhabitant against environmental difficulties and possible predators. As modern construction has improved, these arboreal places have become less of a practical housing and more of a children’s fun—a secret place erected in many a back garden. But now, these fun shelters are appealing to adults too and many are booking themselves in for a few nights among the treetops.

These tree house hotels can be found From Europe to Australia. Best of all, they come in a variety of interesting designs! From the traditional four walls and a roof habitation, such as at TreeHouse Point, in Washington, North America, to the more artistic Nothofagus Hotel in Chilean Patagonia, whose twelve-sided walls make it look like a beehive. If that doesn’t appeal, how about a tree container? The Free Spirit Spheres resort on Vancouver Island in Canada allows guests to stay in one of three yellow spheres (圆球), which are suspended from trees. The company was founded in 1998 by Tom Chudleigh, who hand built the container from cedar wood and fibre glass, and then added fixtures and fittings. Not only are they as safe as houses, they’re popular! Visitor numbers have probably doubled in the past five years, Mr. Chudleigh tells the BBC.

And how about an office? Microsoft, hoping to give its employees thinking space, has commissioned (委托) a three-building structure from Pete Nelson, designer and builder of tree houses. “Studies show people can work better in nature. They are more productive,” says Mr. Nelson. If you’ve no head for heights, then maybe a tree house getaway isn’t going to be your home away from home. But the sense of adventure, the freshness of the setting and the opportunity to return to nature has given an increasing number of tree house-staying adults something to write home about.

1. The underlined word “arboreal” in paragraph one means “ ”.

A．relating to history	B．of or relating to trees
C．of danger	D．of secret

2. The Free Spirit Spheres resort is mentioned to prove .

A．the company has profited a lot from tree houses

B．tree houses come from interesting places

C．Tom Chudleigh has an eye for safety

D．tree houses are becoming fashionable

3. According to Pete Nelson, why is Microsoft building a tree house structure?

A．Because people are more productive working in nature.

B．Because the sense of adventure make people work harder.

C．Because the freshness of the setting make people cooperate well.

D．Because people need the opportunity to return to nature.

4. The passage is mainly about .

A．how a tree house is built	B．the trend for tree houses
C．peoples’ opinions about tree houses	D．the history of tree houses

【推荐2】Alida Monaco doesn’t spend her summers doing the usual teenage work, like working at the mall. Instead，she ‘ s studying.

It used to be that a summer job was considered a teenage thing. Today, Monaco ,who has never had a summer job, is part of growing trend (趋势)teenagers focusing on their studies, even during the summer. That’s down from 72% of Americans aged 16 to 19 who worked in July of 1978, according to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Fierce (激烈的)competition, older workers returning to the workforce and weak economic growth are all adding to the decrease of teenagers in the workforce. But as schoolwork grows increasingly heavy and homework eats up more time, data suggest the biggest reason why some teens won’t be working this summer is that they simply don’t1 have time.

For college - bound teens, some teachers even advise students not to waste time on a summer job. “ Some of my students only have about six weeks off in the summer,” said Shannon Reed, a lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh and a former high school English teacher.” I could never advise that they get jobs during that short break. ”

Young people who don’t work may miss out on valuable skills that they’11 need control and help people learn to deal with adult situations. But Monaco, who plans to attend Harvard, isn’t fazed by her lack(缺乏)of work experience. “Maybe I have missed out on a couple of life skills, “she said. “ But I don’t think it will harm me in way .”

1. What is the trend of American teenagers?

A．They are becoming lazy.

B．They are fond of doing holiday jobs.

C．They are focusing more on studies than on jobs.

D．They are becoming particular about (挑剔)holiday jobs

2. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．The reasons for teenagers giving up work.

B．The fierce competition teenagers face.

C．The structure (结构)of America’s workforce.

D．The effects of America9 s weak economy.

3. What’s Shannon Reed’s attitude towards the new trend?

A．uncaring.

B．favorable(支持的).

C．worried.

D．doubtful.

4. What does the underlined word “fazed” in the last paragraph mean?

A．supported.

B．helped.

C．upset.

D．confused.

【推荐3】We know that the pandemic(流行病)has had a far-reaching impact on our minds — so much so that it may have changed the very fabric of our society altogether. Mental health professionals think that those with social anxiety will not emerge from the pandemic unaffected.Counselling Directory member Beverley Blackman says, “For people with social anxiety, lockdown will make them deeply anxious in one way, and yet a relief in another.” He added, “On one hand, a person with social anxiety may feel relieved that they no longer have to socialize in person, but they may also feel that they have lost the opportunity to socialize with the people they feel safe and secure spending time with, meaning that they feel a new level of isolation and a different level of anxiety about socializing in any form.Without the security of those they feel safe with, self-confidence may very well decrease rapidly.Lockdown may have had a negative impact on those with social anxiety.”

Dr Daria J.Kuss, associate professor in psychology at Nottingham Trent University, says: “Following the lockdown, people in this country were allowed to meet up again, which for individuals with social anxiety may have led to stress and worry.They may not be comfortable being expected to be ‘social’ again, especially when in larger groups, and may worry about saying the wrong things and asking the wrong questions as they are reintegrating into their offline social lives.” Furthermore, Beverley says our even bigger reliance on social media and digital communication in the midst of lockdown could also have a negative impact on people with social anxiety.She says “For some people with social anxiety, communication by media can be even harder than communication in person.We know that words form only roughly 7-10% of the way in which we communicate and that we rely on body language, facial expression, tone of voice, and unconscious signals behind words to convey our thoughts and feelings.”

When it comes to what people with social anxiety can do to feel better as the lockdown situation continues to shift, Dr.Kuss says “I recommend being open and honest with their social environments. Friends and family will empathize when the concerns are voiced openly.Engaging in focused breathing and relaxation may also help alleviate feelings of worry and discomfort.Finally, negative thinking (e.g., “I don’t know what to say”) may be replaced with positive ones (e.g., “I am good enough” and “My friends want to see me”).”

1. Why do people with social anxiety feel relieved during the lockdown?

A．There is no one disturbing their life.

B．There is no need for them to socialize.

C．They have increased their self-confidence.

D．People can no longer communicate with each other.

2. What does the underlined word mean in the third paragraph?

A．Stimulate.

B．Relieve.

C．Begin.

D．Develop.

3. What can be the good advice for those with social anxiety during the lockdown?

A．Stay at home alone.	B．Communicate online.
C．Open heart to strangers.	D．Take a positive attitude.

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Stay with safe people can bring more confidence.

B．Lockdown can help people overcome the feeling of anxiety.

C．For people with social anxiety, lockdown is a double-edged sword.

D．It is a suitable way for people of social anxiety to communicate by media.