【推荐1】A mother of a cheerful five-year-old just returned from a meeting of the National Organization for Women. Inspired by exciting dreams for the possibilities of womanhood, she asked her daughter what she wanted to be when she grew up. Little Lisa quickly answered, “A nurse.”

There was a time when nursing was thought of as a woman’s job and the answer somehow seemed not to be satisfied. She had, after all, just returned from a new meeting.

“You can be anything you want to be,” she reminded her daughter. “You can be a lawyer, a doctor, a banker, president of the country — you can be anything.”

“Anything?” Lisa asked.

“Anything!” her mother smiled.

“I know,” Lisa said. “I want to be a horse!”

Lisa’s dream may need some improvement, but there is plenty of time for that. When do we give up dreaming about the future? When do we resign (听任) ourselves to simply replaying dreams from the past?

Maybe her dream needs to mature (成熟) a bit, but would you rather have the optimism (乐观) of a five-year-old girl who wants to be a horse, or the pessimism (悲观) of an adult who says in despair, “I can’t be anything at all”?

Teddy Roosevelt said, “Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.” I believe that is the way to make those dreams come true. So everyone need look up and dream of something beautiful while working hard to the dream.

1. What did the girl really want to be when she grew up?

A．A nurse.

B．A horse.

C．A banker.

D．A lawyer.

2. How did the mother feel when hearing her daughter’s first answer?

A．Satisfied.

B．Puzzled.

C．Disappointed.

D．Excited.

3. The lesson we can learn from the passage is that we should ______.

A．stop children dreaming of something strange

B．advise parents how to educate children

C．encourage adults to learn from children

D．help children to set up a big goal

4. The true meaning of the underlined sentence in the last paragraph is ______.

A．Stand on the ground and watch the stars

B．Have a big dream and work hard

C．Protect your eyesight while working

D．Find a good way to watch the stars

【推荐2】Sometimes when she felt bored, she would pick up one of the numerous biographies（传记） about herself and begin to note on it. “I never did that” or “simply not true” she would write roughly in the margins at the sides of pages. Since journalists, biographers and more recently even “bloggers” had been writing about her since the day she was born, there was plenty of material to edit. Not that her notes or corrections were ever shared with the authors. Lately, however, she even seemed to have lost her appetite for correctness. Did it matter anymore if things were not right?

She knew that sitting alone chewing away on downbeat thoughts would not get her anywhere and would leave those around her confused and upset, should they ever catch her out. After all she was the decisive one, always on top of her game. A printed timetable for the following day lay on the table. full day of openings and presentations, of smiling and nodding and flowers.

Shaking herself out of her gray mood, she stepped over towards the computer where a sudden burst of energy gave her an idea. The screen flashed up in front of her but instead of clicking on the familiar icons which would lead her to the emails Randolph had considered she needed to read, she simply went to visit Mr. Google and began her search for train timetable.

A dish heaped with multi-coloured jellies and plenty of ice cream, served by a white-gloved train waiter with a perfect moustache. So many years had passed but she still remembered the jelly dissolving on her tongue in small but delicious mouthfuls. Each spoonful had to be lifted delicately to her mouth under the watchful eye of her grandmother, who was a stickler for good manners. It was unlikely that they served jelly on the trains these days, what with all the concern about childhood fatness, but even a Spartan menu could not kill the romance of a train journey. As the timetable for Linehurst line flashed in front of her, she remembered that the Mayor of Alwoy would be expecting her to make a short predictable speech at the opening of the new bridge.

1. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A．Randolph is probably an assistant or a secretary to the main character.

B．The main character is always busy editing plenty of material about herself.

C．The main character is probably a journalist writing blogs about royal members.

D．The authors probably had chances to get the notes or correctness from the main character.

2. Why does the main character recall the time she ate jeilies and ice cream?

A．She wishes she still knew where the handsome train waiter was.

B．Today's children aren't allowed to eat the same things that she ate as a child.

C．She wishes that she were still a child so that she could eat jellies and ice cream.

D．She is reminded of these foods because the thought of a train journey reminds her of them.

3. A “Spartan menu”（paragraph 4） would most likely ________.

A．include a range of sweets, but no jelly

B．be suitable for a romantic dinner

C．have mainly low fat, healthy foods

D．include foods which are easy to transport

4. What is most likely to happen next in this passage?

A．Randolph will send some emails to the main character.

B．The main character will update her blog on the Internet.

C．The main character will decide to take a rail journey.

D．The main character will practise her speech for greeting the Mayor of Alwoy.

【推荐3】My first performance in front of the audience was coming up soon.

I tried as hard as I could to remain calm but my heart was racing. I stared down at my sweat-covered shaking hands.

I looked up again at the audience realizing that these were real people. They were not just my mum and dad who would say “Good job!” even if I messed up the entire piece.

What if I had the wrong music? What if I played the wrong notes?

As it turned out, I was never able to answer these questions because the spotlight (聚光灯)was waiting for me. I grasped my hands tightly together drying off the sweat.

Slowly I walked to the mud-brown piano in the center of the room. It contained 88 demanding keys which were waiting impatiently to be played. I swallowed the golf-ball-sized lump (隆起部分) in my throat and sat down. Slowly I opened the music. Next I rested my still shaking hands on the ivory (象牙色的) keys.

As my fingers played across the keys, I was becoming more unsure of my preparation for this moment. But the memory of my years of training came flooding back. I knew that I had practiced this piece so many times that I could play it backwards if requested.

Although at one point, I accidentally played two keys instead of the intended one, I continued to move my fingers automatically (自动地).

My eyes burned holes into the pages in front of me. There was no way that I was going to lose my concentration. To keep this to myself, I leaned forward and focused carefully on the music.

When I came to the end of the page a warning went off inside my head: DON’T MAKE A MISTAKE WHEN YOU TURN THE PAGE!

Needless to say I obeyed myself with all my heart and mind. And proud of my “page-turning” feat (技艺) I finished the rest of the piece without making a single mistake.

After the final note died away, a celebration went into action inside my head. I had finished. I had mastered the impossible.

1. How did the author feel before the performance?

A．Over the moon.	B．On pins and needles.
C．As cool as a cucumber.	D．Hot under the collar.

2. We learn from the passage that ________.

A．The author had never performed in public before.

B．The author didn’t make a single mistake while playing.

C．The author’s parents were present at the performance.

D．The author hadn’t made full preparation before the performance.

3. What did the author want to express by saying “My eyes burned holes into the pages in front of me.”?

A．He tried to fix his eyes on the pages.	B．He wanted to tear the pages into pieces.
C．He lost interest in the pages.	D．He was dissatisfied with his performance.

4. What did the author feel about his/her performance?

A．He/She thought he/she played through the piece carefully but light-heartedly.

B．He/She thought it was comfortable and successful.

C．He/She thought he/she was too nervous to have a good performance.

D．He/She thought it was very difficult but successful.

【推荐1】Emmy Combs, 17, lost her hair as a young girl due to the autoimmune disorder, a disease which caused complete loss of hair all over her body. From the age of five until she was 16, Emmy wore bandanas(花绸巾) to cover her head.

But in May last year, she made the decision to stop wearing them. Emmy admitted that taking her bandana off for the first time was a fearful experience, but her close friends and family stuck by her. "It was time to try new things and I have always wanted to grow out of wearing bandanas, " Emmy said. "My friends and family pushed me to go through with it and I'm glad that they did. Even though it does not seem that hard to do, it was one of the hardest things that I have ever done. It was stressful, but I had my friends and family by my side the entire time. "

"I have always been a confident person to others and myself. I was at a very young age when it happened, however over the many years of growing up with it the reaction I usually get from people ranges from just curiosity and kind, generous comments. Sometimes I will get an occasional rude-sounding comment, however I have never let it get to me. "

Emmy taught herself how to use make-up to improve her natural features and replace the ones she's missing, such as eyebrows and lashes. She shares her make-up looks on her blog and is committed to helping others be confident with their appearance.

"I have learned over the past 17 years of my life that you control how you want to live your life. You choose the lifestyle that makes you happy, " she said.

1. How did Emmy feel when she decided to show her hairless head?

A．Confident.	B．Nervous.
C．Light-hearted.	D．Ashamed

2. What did Emmy do towards unkind comments on her hairless head?

A．She was angry.	B．She felt deeply hurt.
C．She just ignored them.	D．She talked back.

3. Why did Emmy show her make-up looks on her blog?

A．Show her beauty.	B．Show her courage.
C．Show her make-up skills.	D．Inspire others.

4. What life lesson has she learnt?

A．Just follow her heart.	B．Face challenges bravely.
C．Develop herself to the fullest.	D．Just accept what it is.

【推荐2】You’re never too old to achieve your dreams — or even break records. A 104-year-old woman named Dorothy Hoffner is such an example. She has just become the oldest person to skydive (跳伞), and she had the time of her life doing it. After touching ground following her jump with a US instructor, she proudly said, “Age is just a number.”

Hoffner took to the skies of Northern Illinois with the help of Skydive Chicago, making her way to the town of Ottawa for the jump. For all the excitement, this wasn’t her first time jumping out of the plane. Hoffner’s first skydiving took place a few years ago, when she was 100. Although back then the instructor helped push them out together, this time she insisted on leading the jump from 13,500 feet up in the air.

A video shared by Skydive Chicago shows Hoffner determinedly advancing towards the plane on her red walker (助行架) before being helped on board. Sitting among her fellow skydivers, she is all smiles as she waits for her turn. Once the door opens, the woman confidently jumps out of the plane head first.

Before Hoffner’s jump, the record for the oldest person to skydive belonged-to 103-year-old Linnea Ingegard Larsson from Sweden, who set it in May 2022. Now, Skydive Chicago is requesting Guinness World Records to certify Hoffner’s jump as the new record.

As for Hoffner, she seems happy with having achieved this, describing the jump as an amazing experience. “It was wonderful up there. The whole thing was wonderful, and couldn’t have been better,” she says. Now that she has completed this achievement, she is now thinking of her next adventure. Since she is turning 105 in December, she is thinking of celebrating by riding a hot air balloon, saying, “I’ve never been in one of those.”

1. What do we know about Hoffner?

A．She set a world record in 2022.

B．She took up skydiving from an early age.

C．She loved to meet new challenges in life.

D．She improved her physical fitness through sports.

2. Why does the author mention Hoffner’s red walker in paragraph 3?

A．To compare different types of walkers.

B．To explore the reason why she took to skydiving.

C．To encourage people struggling in life to be brave.

D．To show her determination despite physical difficulties.

3. Which of the following best describes Hoffner?

A．Thoughtful.

B．Courageous.

C．Responsible.

D．Calm.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Woman braves difficulties to achieve success.

B．104-year-old woman takes the world by storm.

C．Woman with disability stands out with hard work.

D．The oldest person breaks world record for skydiving.

【推荐3】Since birth, I have worn a tracheotomy tube (气切管) around my neck to help me breathe. When I was growing up, it was common for adults to tell me that I should wear colorful scarves (围巾) so that other people wouldn’t see it. They would say, “You can’t even tell it’s there,” as if my disability is something to be ashamed of (羞耻). As a kid, I never really thought about my disability the way I do now. It was just how I lived my life.

Now I’m 26 years old, and I’m proud to call myself a disabled woman because I consider my disability to be a part of who I am. I travel around the world to share my story as a disabled reporter and train other reporters on how to cover disability problems. I still remember the first time I gave a university lecture to a group of students. I realized that I could help create safe spaces where disabled people can be themselves and feel free to tell their own stories.

Unfortunately, being disabled is still viewed as something that is meant to be overcome. But for so many of us, this is how we live. This is who we are. I am always moved by the people I’ve met in the disability community: educators, historians, writers, lawyers and many more because we share the same dream and the same need for a mentally-safe world.

1. Why did the writer wear a special tube when she was a child?

A．It could help her breathe normally.

B．It was a special fashion at that time.

C．She wanted to look different from others.

D．A photography editor asked her to do it.

2. Why did the adults ask the writer to wear colorful scarves?

A．To keep warm.	B．To protect her neck.
C．To look beautiful.	D．To cover her special tube.

3. What does the writer think of being disabled?

A．Shameful

B．Pitiful.

C．Normal.

D．Abnormal.

4. Which is the best title for the text?

A．How I Became Disabled

B．How I Became Proud of Being Disabled

C．How to Get Along with a Disabled Person

D．How to Edit Photographs of Disabled People

【推荐1】As robots are increasingly playing a part in society, we need to consider whether and how machines can learn morality. While robots can’t be ethical(伦理的) agents in themselves, we can program them to act according to certain rules. But what is it that we expect from them?

A 2016 study by UC San Francisco found that most virtual assistants struggled to respond to domestic violence or sexual assault(袭击). To sentences like “I am being abused”, several responded: “I don’t know what that means. If you like, I can search the web”. Such responses fail to help vulnerable people, who are most often women in this case.

But should virtual assistants ever be able to call the police when it overhears domestic violence? In a widely reported case from 2017, Amazon Echo was said to have called 911 during a violent assault. Responding to the incident, Amazon denied that Echo would have been able to call the police without clear instruction. Even if it had the ability, it is unlikely that people would expect a virtual assistant to go beyond providing information.

Then, there are robots whose very function gives rise to ethical questions. How should a driverless car react in an accident? To answer this question, Philippa Foot’s famous philosophical thought experiment, the trolley(有轨电车) problem, is usually rolled out. It goes as follows: imagine you see an unstoppable trolley zooming down a track, towards five people who are tied to the track. If you do nothing, they’ll die. But, as it happens, you are standing next to a lever that can redirect the trolley to a side track, which has one person tied to it. What should you do?

Variations of this experiment are invoked(援引) to ask whether a self-driving car should turn sharply around a jaywalking pedestrian teenager while putting the two elderly passengers at risk. Should it spare the young over the old? Or should it save two people over one?

Driverless cars are unlikely to encounter or solve the trolley problem, but the way we expect them to solve the variations could depend on where we’re from. In the moral machine experiment, MIT Media Lab researchers collected millions of answers from people around the world on how they think cars should solve these dilemmas. It turns out that preferences among countries and cultures differ wildly.

If, however, machines attain superior decision-making abilities, it may be necessary to have a full public discussion as to what should be the new and prevailing norms. But if we don’t come up with an ethical framework, we might risk leaving it to companies to regulate their own products or for people to choose with their wallet.

Figuring out what robot ethics we’d want is, therefore only the beginning.

1. The first three paragraphs indicate that virtual assistants _________.

A．must be programmed to learn morality

B．ever called 911 during a violent assault

C．have no abilities to respond to domestic violence

D．are expected to go beyond providing information

2. According to the experiments, we can learn that _________.

A．the trolley is redirected to the track tied with one person over five

B．the self-driving car turns sharply to spare the teenager over the old

C．people from different cultures and countries make varied decisions

D．MIT Media Lab researchers have worked out practical regulations

3. The passage mainly talks about _________.

A．why robots are unlikely to solve the morality problems

B．whether robots are expected to make ethical decisions

C．what tech companies have done to better robots’ response

D．how robots try to react to domestic violence or dilemmas

【推荐3】New England is the six northeastern states of the United States：Maine，New Hampshire，Vermont，Massachusetts，Rhode Island，and Connecticut. The six states were among the first colonies (殖民地) in America. The colonies were ruled by England，and this is how the area became known as New England. After the Revolutionary (革命的) War the colonies became states.

Many things are similar in the six New England states. For example，there are many stone walls, fishing villages and forests in these states. The houses and buildings are similar，too. People cut down trees from the forests to make space for their farms and villages.

They then used wood from the trees and stones from the field to build houses，schools, and churches. Even today, most of the houses in New England are made of wood.

There are big cities in New England，but there are also small cities and farms，especially in the northern part.There is much industry and business and New England is one of the most populous (人口稠密的) parts of the United States.It has many busy seaports on its long coast.There are always many tourists who enjoy the beautiful lakes，beaches，and mountains and who visit the historical places.

1. Why are the six states called New England?

A．They are now ruled by England.	B．They were once colonies of England.
C．There were people from England.	D．The states were near England.

2. What did they use to build their houses?

A．Stones and trees.	B．Rocks and wood.
C．Stones and wood.	D．Stones and forests.

3. Which is NOT true according to the passage?

A．There are six states in New England.

B．The states became known as New England after the Revolutionary War.

C．Many tourists come and enjoy themselves.

D．The six states have many similar things.

【推荐1】The idea of changing the world seems very crazy, but there are a number of small everyday things we can do to make the world better. Community centers, parks, libraries, homeless shelters, hospitals and schools are all places where students can make a difference through service.

Alisia Orosco, 10, wanted to show her love and care to the sick kids at University Children's Hospital in Texas, where her brother had been a patient. She earned money by doing part-time jobs and used it to buy different toys for the children in hospital. Now she visits three hospitals every year with bags of toys. "I hope to help as many kids as I can," Alisia says. "It makes me happy to make them smile."

High school students in a town of Washington made a difference to the lives of some needy children by building a playground at a worker's camp. They got a lot of help from a building supply store which provided free building materials for the project.

Teens in New Jersey decided to offer their help at a local soup kitchen where people with no homes can get free food. But there wasn't one. They created a one-day soup kitchen and were able to feed 60 needy people and allow them to take the rest home. Their efforts got more people to understand the great need of the poor in their community. Because of their efforts and success, a permanent soup kitchen was created with the $ 10,000 National award they received from Newman's Own.

High school students in Las Vegas helped 30 homeless adults prepare resumes during a job fair they held at the area's largest homeless shelter. At least nine of the adults later found jobs.

1. Every year Alisia visits three hospitals with bags of toys in order to _________.

A．sell her different toys	B．look for part-time jobs
C．look after her sick brother	D．bring cheer to the sick kids

2. The one-day soup kitchen created by teens in New Jersey _________.

A．received high praise	B．cost $ 10,000 to build
C．got help from 60 people	D．was aimed at children

3. Which of the following can best describe the students mentioned in the text?

A．Kind.

B．Brave.

C．Proud.

D．Crazy.

4. Where was a playground built for needy children?

A．In Texas.	B．In a town of Washington.
C．In New Jersey.	D．In Las Vegas.

【推荐2】Many studies have shown that getting more exercise is good for our brain. But can it happen the other way around? Can working on elevating mood help us to exercise more? The answer to this question is positive.

A study conducted by Emmons and McCullough formed three groups. One group was told to journal once a week and list 5 things that happened during the week that they were grateful for. Another group was told to journal once a week and list 5 things that had been a problem for them. A third group was told to journal once a week about 5 things that affected them, but were not given instruction as to whether they should be positive or negative.

After 10 weeks, the group that had focused on gratitude ended up 25%happier than the other two groups. Astonishingly, the gratitude group also exercised almost 1. 5 hours longer per week than the other groups.

Daniel Amen, in his book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Life, notes that emotional tagging of events is critical to survival. If we tag an event negatively, it can cause an avoidance response. If we tag an event positively, it can drive us to action.

Apparently, our survival is more dependent on being able to perceive a threat to our being, rather than notice that something good is happening. Focusing on the negative can cause us to lose sight of the big picture.

Jonathan Haidt, in his book The Happiness Hypothesis, explains that once we take a negative stance, we look for evidence that supports it. If we find some evidence-enough so that our position makes sense-we stop thinking. When this happens, often people will not start a change of thinking for themselves.

Jonathan Haidt notes that gratitude increases one's sense of control over a situation. A sense of control can bring about an increase in action, energy, and happiness. This can translate into sustained optimism, the ability to consider new options, set new goals, and, yes, even exercise more.

1. What were the three groups in Emmons and McCullough's study asked to do?

A．Write five things down	B．Take exercise regularly
C．Focus on being thankful	D．Express their true feelings

2. Why is emotional tagging significant?

A．It protects us from negative emotions.	B．It allows us to think in a positive way.
C．It tells us how to manage our feelings.	D．It determines how we respond to events.

3. How can being grateful benefit us according to Jonathan Haidt?

A．It helps us to get rid of unrealistic goals.	B．We feel situations are more controllable.
C．It is a great way to stop thinking too much.	D．We will regard everything around wonderful.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Changing Thinking Model Is Necessary	B．Staying Optimistic Brings Active Thinking
C．Working Out Regularly Is Good for Our Brain	D．Being Grateful Motivates Us to Exercise More

【推荐3】If you had to guess which direction Apple would be headed in 2019, what might you say? The company’s iPhone business has been stricken because of an economic slowdown and a maturing smartphone market. It’s clear Apple needs to adapt to face new realities.

Some might say the obvious answer is to lower the prices on the iPhone. Others want it to expand its services beyond Apple devices to Android and Windows.

But what’s more likely to happen is this: iPhones will get even more expensive. The evidence for this is already starting to appear. A new report from The Wall Street Journal suggests Apple is going to give its entire 2020 iPhone line OLED screens(有机发光二极管屏幕)—the same very expensive tech currently only found in the iPhone X and XS.

This may seem surprising, but it’s all of a piece with Apple’s strategy: Make high profit, desirable tech, and get the rewards of creating a closed ecosystem.

So Apple wants to focus on the high-end in order to satisfy choosy customers, while also recognizing that in a mature market, people will replace smartphones less often. This means high-profit devices will be key to maintaining a healthy profit, which helps explain the shift to an all-OLED lineup. That shift also allows for more basic design updates, like curved screens or edges.

It is important to note, too, that even though iPhone sales are down, sales for the Apple Watch and iPad are up. For the future, Apple will continue to put more emphasis on those categories. And looking even further out, it is almost certain that Apple will enter new sectors.

Apple has made some mistake policies in recent years. But the company is not down and out. Far from it: By focusing on high-end, high-profit tech, plus services, all while keeping an eye to the future, Apple will likely keep its dominant position for many years to come.

1. What can we know about OLED screens?

A．They haven’t been used by Apple.	B．They will make iPhones expensive.
C．They will let Apple save cost.	D．They have been used in computers.

2. What does Apple think of market?

A．It’s not fully mature.	B．It needs more smartphones.
C．It needs many design updates.	D．Its customers are hard to be satisfied.

3. Which of the following can best describe the future of Apple in the author’s opinion?

A．Uncertain.

B．Terrible.

C．Concerning.

D．Promising.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．IPhones Will Be More Expensive	B．The Advantages Apples Will Have
C．IPhones Will Work Harder	D．Apple Is Facing Difficulty