【推荐3】A small supermarket is decorated with a lot of red lanterns. There are piles of red envelopes on sale, for filling with cash and handing out as gifts. Such festive trappings can be seen everywhere in China in the build-up to the Lunar New Year. But this is Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar, where Han Chinese are a mere 2.5% of the country's population. They are a sign that Chinese New Year is becoming a global holiday.

Several countries in Asia celebrate the Lunar New Year in their own way. But dragon and lion dances in Chinatowns over the world have helped make China's the most famous. In Tokyo, window cleaners dress up as the animals of the Chinese zodiac （生肖）.America, Canada and New Zealand have issued commemorative stamps for the Year of the Rooster. Last year New York City made the Lunar New Year a school holiday for the first time.

The spread of the Spring Festival, as China calls it, is partly due to recent emigration（移民）from China: 9.5 million Chinese people have moved abroad since 1978, many of whom are far richer than earlier waves of migrants. It also reflects the wealth and ambitions of China's new middle class: festivities in other countries are partly aimed at the 6 million Chinese who are expected to spend their week long holiday abroad this year.

It's hoped that the festival will promote Chin's cultural "soft power" abroad. So related events are welcomed, such as a display this year of martial arts in Cyprus and a traditional Chinese temple-fair in Harare, Zimbabwe. More and more Chinese are glad to see foreigners enjoy such festivities. Though there is a growing enthusiasm among Chinese for Western celebrations such as Christmas, Chinese New Year is a welcome chance to reverse（逆转）the cultural flow.

1. The scene in a supermarket shown in the first paragraph is to________ .

A．stress the importance of the Spring Festival

B．explain why the Lunar New Year is popular

C．present the popularity of Chinese New Year

D．show how other countries celebrate the Spring Festival

2. What are the best-known celebration activities for the Lunar New Year in Chinatowns?

A．Dragon and lion dances.

B．Dressing up as animals and dancing.

C．playing cards and letting off fireworks.

D．Eating dumplings and singing and dancing.

3. Some countries celebrate the Spring Festival in order to         .

A．reflect on their own cultures

B．show respect to the Chinese traditions

C．promote the values of Chinese customs

D．attract Chinese to spend the holiday there

【推荐1】You’re out to dinner. The food is delicious and the service is fine. You decide to leave a big fat tip. Why? The answer may not be as simple as you think.

Tipping, psychologists have found, is not just about service. Instead, studies have shown that tipping can be affected by psychological reactions to a series of different factors from the waiter’s choice of words to how they carry themselves while taking orders to the bill’s total.

“Studies before have shown that mimicry (模仿) brings into positive feelings for the mimicker,” wrote Rick van Baaren, a social psychology professor. “These studies show that people who are being mimicked become more generous toward the person who mimics them.”

So Rick van Baren divided 59 waiters into two groups. He requested that half serve with a phrase such as, “Coming up!” Those in the other half were instructed to repeat the orders and preferences back to the customers. Rick van Baaren then compared their take-home(实得收入). The results were clear---it pays to mimic your customer. The copycat waiters earned almost double the amount of tips to the other group.

Leonard Green and Joel Myerson, psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis, found the generosity of a tipper may be limited by his bill. After research on the 1,000 tips left for waiters, cab drivers, hair stylists, they found tip percentages in these three areas dropped as customers’ bills went up.

“That’s also a point of tipping,” Green says. “You have to give a little extra to the cab driver for being there to pick you up and something to the waiter for being there to serve you. If they weren’t there you’d never get any service. So part of the idea of a tip is for just being there.”

1. According to the passage, a customer gives the cab driver a tip for ____.

A．driver’s politeness

B．being there

C．driver’s attitudes

D．driver’s mimicry

2. According to the passage, which of the following will be likely to show the right change of the tip percentages for the three areas researched?

A．

B．

C．

D．

3. According to the passage, we know the writer seems to _________.

A．oppose Mr. Green’s idea about tipping

B．support the opinions of Mr. Green and Rick van Baaren about tipping

C．give his generous tip to the waiters very often

D．think part of Mr. Green’s explanation is reasonable

【推荐2】Close your eyes and picture the city of Paris．Now imagine the city without its most famous landmark：the Eiffel Tower．
The unthinkable almost happened．
When French engineer Gustave Eiffel built this tower for the Paris World’s Fair of 1889，it was controversial．The iron structure contrasted(对比)sharply with the historic stone buildings of Paris．Eiffel’s four-legged iron archway was supposed to last only 20 years．That’s when Eiffel’s permit to operate the building would expire(过期)and the city could choose to tear it down．
Yet from the beginning．Eiffel had a strategy to save his building．If the Tower was linked   to important research，he reasoned，no one would dare to take it down．So he would make it a   grand laboratory for science．
Scientific research began just one day after the Tower opened to the public on May 6，1889．Eiffel installed a weather station on the Tower’s third(and highest)floor．He connected   instruments by wire to the French weather bureau in Paris．With these，he measured wind speed   and air pressure．
In 1903，still worried that his building might be torn down，Eiffel got a clever idea．He   asked the French military to conduct its own research on radio communications at the Tower．He even paid the army’s costs．
French army captain Gustave Ferrié worked from a little wooden house at the base of the   Tower's southern pillar．From there，he made radio contact with forts around Paris．Convinced of the importance of radio communications，the army set up a permanent radio station at the   Tower．In 1910，the city of Paris renewed the structure’s permit for another 70 years．
This year marks the iconic structure’s 125th birthday．Over the years，research conducted   there has brought dramatic and unexpected payoffs．During World War I，for instance，the French army used the Tower as a giant ear to receive radio messages．It even led to the arrest of one of the war's most famous spies．
1. What does the author mean by“The unthinkable almost happened”?

A．The Eiffel Tower was almost torn down．

B．Gustave Eiffel was more than an engineer．

C．It took great efforts to build the Eiffel Tower．

D．The Eiffel Tower has served important purposes．

2. The Eiffel Tower was controversial because_____________．

A．it was giant and ugly

B．it would expire too soon

C．some historic buildings had to be removed

D．it didn’t match the historic buildings of Paris

3. How did Gustave Eiffel save the Eiffel Tower?

A．By asking the army to defend it．

B．By showing its importance for tourism．

C．By making it a base for scientific research．

D．By asking the government to renew its permit．

4. The arrest of a famous spy is mentioned to show．

A．the Eiffel Tower has lost its initial value

B．the Eiffel Tower has existed long enough

C．research done in the Eiffel Tower had unexpected payoffs

D．the Eiffel Tower was successfully preserved during the war

【推荐1】The saying “a penny for your thoughts” is an English idiom simply asking people to volunteer their opinions on an issue being discussed. In modern usage, it is often stated as an indirect way of asking what someone is thinking about.
This phrase is basically a proposal (提议), and the speaker is offering to pay to hear the listener’s thoughts. It is an idiom, of course, and not meant literally (字面上的) so no real payment generally takes place.
When the saying originated, a penny was worth a lot more than it is in the 21st century. Therefore, “a penny for your thoughts” likely indicated the thoughts were more valuable to those asking the listener for them than they are by today’s standards. This loss of value can be used ironically(讽刺地), however, through tone(语气) of voice; it can be used to indicate that someone’s idea is bad or worth a penny in modern value.
The phrase is generally credited to a man by the name of John Heywood, who was born sometime just before the 16th century. During his life, he was a writer who penned many plays and a book in 1546, later known as The Proverbs of John Heywood. It is likely Heywood did not actually come up with the phrase “a penny for your thoughts”. Rather, he was simply the first person to have set the phrase down in written form. The actual origins of the term are unknown, and since his book was simply a collection of common idioms and expressions, it was probably familiar to people in the mid 1500s.
Another phrase similar to “a penny for your thoughts” is offering “your two cents” after making a statement. Someone might give his or her opinion and then say, “that’s my two cents,” to indicate the value of his or her idea. While, much like a penny, “two cents” is relatively low in value now, it would have been more valuable at one time and the expression is used in much the same way.
1. When someone says “a penny for your thoughts”, he or she ___________.

A．wants to ask you for advice

B．considers your thoughts unique

C．is curious about what’s on your mind

D．will pay for what you’re thinking about

2. The modern meaning of “a penny for your thoughts” ____________.

A．is more closely connected to the value of the penny

B．can differ greatly according to a speaker’s manner

C．can confuse the listener easily

D．is more popularly accepted

3. In what way is Heywood related to the phrase “a penny for your thoughts”?

A．He came up with it while he was writing.

B．He helps to explain the origins of it.

C．He contributed to the wide use of it.

D．He was the first person to use it.

4. What do we know about the phrase “your two cents”?

A．It is usually used at the end of a statement.

B．It comes from “a penny for your thoughts”.

C．It has witnessed some changes since the 16th century.

D．It is more familiar to people than “a penny for your thoughts”.

【推荐2】“Have a nice day!” may be a pleasant gesture or a meaningless expression. When my friend Maxie says “Have a nice day” with a smile, I know she sincerely cares about what happens to me. I feel loved and secure since another person cares about me and wishes me well.

“Have a nice day. Next!” This version of the expression is spoken by a salesgirl at the supermarket who is rushing me and my groceries out the door. The words come out in the same   tone(腔调) with a fixed procedure (步骤). They are spoken at me, not to me. Obviously, the concern for my day and everyone else’s is the management’s attempt to increase business.

The expression is one of those behaviors that help people get along with each other. Sometimes it shows the end of a meeting. As soon as you hear it, you know the meeting is at an end. Sometimes the expression saves us when we don't know what to say. “Oh, you may have a tooth out? I'm terribly sorry, but have a nice day.”

The expression can be pleasant. If a stranger says “Have a nice day” to you, you may find it heart-warming because someone you don't know has tried to be nice to you.

Although the use of the expression is an insincere, meaningless social custom at times, there is nothing wrong with the sentence except that it is a little uninteresting. The salesgirl, the waitress, the teacher, and all the countless others who speak it without thinking may not really care about my day. But in a strange and comfortable way, it's nice to know they care enough to pretend they care when they really don't care all that much. While the expression may not often be sincere, it is always spoken. The point is that people say it all the time when they like.

1. How does the author understand Maxie’s words?

A．Maxie shows her anxiety to the author.

B．Maxie really wishes the author a good day.

C．Maxie encourages the author to stay happy.

D．Maxie really worries about the author's security.

2. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．The salesgirl is rude.	B．The salesgirl is annoyed.
C．The salesgirl cares about me.	D．The salesgirl says the words insincerely.

3. By saying “Have a nice day”, a stranger may ______.

A．try to be polite to you	B．express respect to you
C．give his blessing to you	D．share his pleasure with you

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．Have a Nice Day--- a Social Custom.

B．Have a Nice Day--- a Pleasant Gesture.

C．Have a Nice Day--- a Heart-warming Greeting.

D．Have a Nice Day--- a Polite Ending of a Conversation.

【推荐3】Are you a talkative person? Do you like chatting with your colleagues? Every day around the world, most people who go to work avoid making small talk with their colleagues once they get there.

Some put on their headphones and keep their eyes low. Others will pretend to receive an urgent message that requires an immediate, life-or-death rapid response, which prevents them from doing pretty much anything else, including the conversation made while people are heating up lunch in the office microwave or while walking from the entrance of their office building to the nearest bus stop.

If those sound familiar or if you’ve convinced yourself that avoiding small talk with colleagues is smart self-preservation and that the risk of saying something offensive or coming across as socially unskillful is not worth the reward of connecting with somebody, then there is a bad piece of news—your false logic could be costing you a higher position at work.

Jamie Terran, a licensed career coach in New York City, said that small talk between colleagues builds rapport, which builds trust. “Rapport is the feeling that allows you to extend the deadline, or overlook smaller mistakes because it makes your colleagues to remember that we’re only human,” she added.

However, many people underestimate how much their conversation partners like them. But it’s not necessary. Imagine that after you have an awkward small talk with your colleague, do you think that the colleague you just talked with is a terrible conversationalist? No. You just feel bad about yourself. And you colleague feels the same about himself or herself.

If you’re generally anxious in social situations, Terran suggested coming up with questions or stories from which you can pull. “Whether or not you share personal information about yourself is up to you, but discussing things you truly care about always works,” she said. “Topics related to your professional field, for example, the sports you do well, is a great place to start.”

1. How do most people avoid chatting with their colleagues?

A．By asking their colleagues to stay far away.

B．By getting themselves occupied on purpose.

C．By reading something unrelated to their work.

D．By devoting themselves fully to the deadlines.

2. What may people lose if they avoid small talk with colleagues?

A．Smart self-preservation.	B．Trust in their colleagues.
C．Professional and social skills.	D．A chance for job promotion.

3. What do people worry about after an awkward chat with their colleagues?

A．Their colleagues will overwork their efforts.	B．They are likely to make more big mistakes.
C．Their colleagues may think poorly of them.	D．They will lose heart during the coming days.

4. What does Jemie Terran strongly about making small talk?

A．Making up funny stories about others.	B．Talking about something you are good at.
C．Choosing serious topics for discussion.	D．Sharing private information about yourself.

【推荐1】Curtis Whitson knew the water fall was coming. He'd rafted down the Arroyo Seco, a river in central California, before. But this year was different. Heavy snow and spring rains had turned the usually manageable falls into something fierce. And this year, instead of his friends, Whitson's companions were his wife, Krystal Ramirez, and his 13-year-old son, Hunter. As the three of them approached the falls late in the afternoon of the third day of their camping trip, Whitson could tell from the increasing roar of water in the narrow canyon that they were in serious trouble. There was no way they’d be able to rappel down(绕绳下降) the rocks as planned.

“The water was just gushing through there with tremendous force,” recalls Whitson.

They could wade to the shore, but would anyone find them there? They had no mobile phone service, and they hadn’t seen a single person in the past three days.

As he considered what to do, Whitson hit on a bit of luck-he heard voices coming from the other side of the falls. He yelled, but the sound of the rushing water drowned him out.

We have to get these people a message, Whitson thought.

Then he spotted his green Nalgene water bottle. Whitson grabbed it and carved “Help!” on it. Ramirez also reminded him that he had a pen and paper, which she'd brought to play games with, in his backpack. Whitson knew it was a long shot. But he scrawled “We are stuck here at the waterfall. Get help please!” and pushed the note into the bottle, throwing it over the waterfall perfectly.                                          

“All right, that’s all we can do,” Whitson told Hunter.

It took 30 minutes to navigate back upstream to the beach where they made a fire. With no reasonable expectation that their message in a bottle would find its way to anyone, they spelled out SOS in white rocks. As the evening wore on, they placed a headlamp with a flashing light on a ledge (岩石突出部) . Then, just after midnight, they heard a helicopter hovering above them. Whitson ran over to the headlamp and started flashing it at the helicopter. He, Ramirez, and Hunter were waving and hollering when they heard the magic words: “This is Search and Rescue. You have been found.”

It was a moment of pure happiness as the three chatted with the officers who had rescued them. Together, they marveled at the unlikelihood of it all. Two men had seen the water bottle in the water. When they picked it up, they noticed the writing on it - “Help!”.

A few days after news of the rescue broke, one of the hikers contacted Whitson.

That’s when he learned the story. There were actually two little girls hiking with the men that day. It was the girls who first spotted the bottle and swam to get it. Whitson is planning on having a big barbecue to meet the hikers-and thank them.

1. Which was NOT the trouble the Whitsons faced?

A．The water falls were fierce.

B．There was no mobile phone service.

C．All of them were not experienced in rafting.

D．They had to rappel down the rocks.

2. Which is the order that the Whitsons helped themselves out?
① They spelled out SOS on the rocks.
② Whitson squeezed the note “Get help please” into the bottle.
③ Whitson yelled to the other side of the falls.
④ Whitson carved “help” on his green bottle.

A．③④②①

B．②③④①

C．①④③②

D．④③②①

3. What does the underlined part in paragraph 6 mean?

A．It is a fantastic idea.	B．It’s a big challenge.
C．It’s a wild attempt.	D．It’s a long exploration.

4. Whitson is planning to have a big barbecue ______.

A．to celebrate their survival

B．to show gratitude to the hikers

C．to have a family union

D．to meet and thank the rescue officers

【推荐2】As people try to keep social engagement during self-isolation, citizen science offers a unique opportunity.

Defined as "public participation and collaboration in scientific research", citizen science allows people to use technology to unite towards a common goal —from the comfort of their homes. And it is now offering a chance to contribute to research on the coronavirus pandemic.

With so many of us staying home, this could help build a sense of community where we may otherwise feel helpless, or struggle with isolation.

Anyone is welcome to contribute. You don't need expertise, just time and interest. Projects exist in many forms, catering to people of diverse ages, backgrounds and circumstances. Many projects offer resources and guides to help you get started, and opportunities to collaborate via online discussion forums.

Scientists worldwide are racing to find effective treatments and vaccines to halt the coronavirus pandemic. As a citizen scientist, you can join the effort to help tackle COVID-19, and other infectious diseases.

Foldit is an online game that challenges players to fold proteins to better understand their structure and function. The Foldit team is now challenging citizen scientists to design antiviral proteins that can bind with the coronavirus.

The highest scoring designs will be manufactured and tested in real life. In this way, Foldit offers a creative outlet that could eventually contribute to a future vaccine for the virus.

Another similar project is Folding@home. This is a distributed computing project that, rather than using you to find proteins, uses your computer's processing power to run calculations in the background. Your computer becomes one of thousands running calculations, all working together.

1. Where does a citizen scientist work?

A．In the office.	B．At research center.
C．In the factory.	D．At home.

2. Who can be a citizen scientist?

A．Anyone who has time and interest.	B．The expert who is interested.
C．People who are well educated.	D．Doctors who are experienced.

3. How can a citizen scientist join in the effort to help deal with the COVID-19 and infectious diseases?

A．He can play Foldit an online game and get the highest scores.

B．He can do experiments about COVID-19.

C．He can design a new game about COVID-19.

D．He can help build a sense of community.

4. What is true about Folding@home?

A．It is the same project as Foldit.

B．It is a computer project using you to run calculations by computer.

C．It is a project using you to find proteins.

D．It is done by experts.

【推荐3】As millions of people move indoors to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the World Health Organization suggested that governments should restrict access to alcohol during lockdowns.

Drinking alcohol can affect peoples' immune systems and make them more vulnerable to the bad health effects of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to WHO. Alcohol use is also associated with diseases and mental health disorders that can make a person more likely to contract COVID-19.

"At times of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, alcohol consumption can worsen the health vulnerability, risk-taking behaviours, mental health issues and violence," WHO noted in a press release.

The organization encouraged governments to "enforce measures which limit alcohol consumption."

In the US, alcohol sales increased 55% over a one-week span last month, according to market research firm Nielsen.

Excessive drinking can cause alcohol poisoning and increase the risk of violence among intimate partners.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned earlier this month that stay-at-home orders and self-quarantining will likely lead to more home violence.

"Women in abusive relationships are more likely to be exposed to violence, as are their children, as family members spend more time in close contact, and families cope with additional stress and potential economic or job losses," Tedros said.

The guidance issued last week came from WHO's European regional entity. The area has the highest alcohol intake in the world, and roughly 1 million deaths are caused by alcohol every year there.

"Alcohol is consumed in excessive quantities in the European Region, and leaves too many victims. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we should really ask ourselves what risks we are taking in leaving people under lockdown in their homes with a substance that is harmful both in terms of their health and the effects of their behaviour on others, including violence," Carin Ferreira-Borges, the program manager for the region's alcohol and illicit drugs program, said in a statement.

1. What did WTO encourage the governments to do during the lockdowns?

A．It encouraged the governments to prevent people from going out.

B．It encouraged the governments to tell people to keep social distance.

C．It encouraged the governments to close the schools.

D．It encouraged the governments to limit the sale of alcohol.

2. Which is not the reason why people are not allowed to drink more alcohol?

A．Drinking more alcohol will affect peoples' Immune systems.

B．Drinking more alcohol will cause more violence at home.

C．Drinking more alcohol will cause more traffic accidents.

D．Drinking more alcohol can cause poisoning.

3. In what area did people like drinking most in the world?

A．Asia	B．America
C．Europe	D．Africa

4. From what Tedros said who is more likely to be affected by violence at home?

A．Young people.	B．Old people.
C．Drunken man.	D．Women and children.