【推荐1】What I’ve been wondering is:     1     And if so, how? Here are three ideas to do just that.

Read books and watch movies that transport you

One of my favorite things to do before taking a trip is to search out books and movies that can help me get a feel for a place.     2     Search out famous—or not-so-famous—books or films from the part of the world you want to visit. Then get lost in these during your staycation week.

    3    

Music is deeply connected to our emotions, which makes it particularly transporting. The beautiful sounds of Sigur Rós, for example, can create a dreamy atmosphere. Hawaiian ukulele and hula music bring the beach to your living room. Try searching for artists or genres of music from your desired destination and build a playlist to help you set the atmosphere.

Visit a museum — virtually

Museums in many locations have started to reopen with social distancing and masks, but if you’re not ready to go in person, you can spend an afternoon exploring them online. Google map has digitized hundreds of collections and online tours at museums around the world.     4    

Tour a national park

Camping is one type of vacation that’s mostly safe and accessible to do right now. But if you can’t get to the great outdoors, bring the outdoors to your home.    5    Explore a Hawaiian volcano, dive a Florida beach or ride horseback through the red rocks of Bryce Canyon.

If you don’t have the budget or time to travel right now, try layering a few of these ideas together to create a kind of at-home immersion(沉浸感).

A．Listen to related music.

B．Is it necessary to go out for an adventure?

C．You can choose a national park for camping.

D．Find one near your destination using this map.

E．But you can still do this even if you’re staying at home.

F．Is it possible to have an adventure without leaving home?

G．You can do that with an online tour in America’s national parks.

【推荐2】In the UK we often equate life experience, especially amongst younger generations, with the number of stamps in your passport. Travel is not simply a pursuit of leisure but also “character-building”, “defining” and potentially, “career-boosting”.

Most of the people I know here at university experience that same itch to get in a plane, train, bus or car and escape the hectic stress of deadlines and seminars that usually surrounds us. But I don’t think, as UK student, we can blame our addiction to international travel simply on a stressful life. Yes, I have a lot to handle and it’s a fine balancing act managing my part-time job, my degree and my social life to a perfect level. But really I think we are the first generation in a truly open world, where we can get anywhere, see anything and experience every culture under the sun, at the click of a button, the purchase of a ticket.

Many people I met while working in China were surprised at the number of countries I’d travelled to, which came as a surprise. Compared to friends and family I consider myself vastly under-travelled. I’ve yet to even set foot across the pond in the U. S. A and Canada. let alone South America and even within Europe, my checklist of destinations is far from complete. But more eye opening for me, I was also met by astonishment at how little geographical traversing I had done within my own borders. This was something I had not really considered before and as I left Beijing I felt an overwhelming appreciation not just for the rich culture of China but also for the diverse localities within the UK. How much of my own country had I really seen and experienced? To those from a place as vast and varied as China, Britain was really so small in comparison and so to have spent 20 years there and not seen every nook and cranny of it was quite surprising.

I spent a while engaged in a convention with a Chinese colleague over the difference in building style, in architecture from the Highlands of Scotland to the Cornish const. Now for most people this sounds dreary and dull, and I guess I am biased as a student of history who finds anything remotely historical fascinating. However it was not the geological variety of stone within British cities I found interesting. We continued our discussion, yet I was left embarrassed that I could not provide a concrete answer to her question. In China, as well as a wealth of new culture that fascinated me, I discovered that there were parts of the UK’s culture, history, the very structure of my identity that were so different, so unique from China that I also gained a new found interest in my own heritage.

In this respect, travelling enables you with two things. Firstly, you develop an overwhelming fascination with new cultures, understanding customs, experiencing cuisines and absorbing the sights and smells of every new city. For many employers this adaptability to new locations is seen as a tremendous asset to your personal resume. But alongside increased employ ability, through international, cross-cultural conversations, you develop an interest in your own history, culture, and customs. You return to your home filled with an understanding of other people’s fascination with it and imbued with your own sense of love for its peculiarities.

1. What information can we get from Paragraph 1 in the UK?

A．The number of stamps shows someone’s life experience.

B．Travel experience is a important criterion in selecting applicants.

C．Travel is regarded as an enriching life experience that will make your C.V. stand out.

D．Travel is simply a way of gaining relaxation.

2. According to the passage, which statement is correct?

A．British university students travel for getting rid of busy life.

B．The author is an experienced traveller who has been to diverse localities and completed her checklist of destinations.

C．It’s not surprising that 20 more years’ living in UK makes the author walk around every part of it.

D．Travelling can enable you to be competent in employ ability.

3. What is the author’s purpose of exampling her conversation with her Chinese colleague?

A．Inadequate travelling experience restricted her sights at work.

B．Her colleague had a prejudice on her for she was a student of history.

C．Not answering the question in detail embarrassed her so much.

D．She got interested in Chinese culture by comparing it with that of UK.

4. Which is the best title for this passage?

A．Travel, a self-finding tour

B．Travel, a home coming tour

C．Travel, a leisure-pursuing tour

D．Travel, a cultural recognition tour

【推荐1】Have you ever noticed what happens to an idea once you express it? Just talking about it or writing it down causes you to make it clear in your own mind. How can you use this to increase your brain power? Start writing.

By putting thoughts into words, you are telling yourself the logic (逻辑) behind what you think, feel, or only partly understand. Often, explaining a thought is the process of understanding. In other words, you increase your brain power by exercising your “explain power.”

Try this experiment. Explain how you’ll increase your brain power, even if you have no idea right now. Just start with anything, and create an explanation. For example, start with “I’ll learn chess,” or “I’ll read an article on the mind every week.” Explain how that will help. You’ll be surprised how often this becomes a workable plan, and if you actually do this, you’ll have a better understanding of your brain from now.

Another benefit of writing is that it helps you remember. Many, if not most, highly productive people are always taking notes. You can try keeping it all in your head, but if you keep a journal of your ideas the next time you’re working on a big project, you’ll probably have more success.

Want to understand a topic? Write a book about it. That’s an extreme example, but if you are learning something new, write a letter to a friend about it, and you will understand it better. Want to invent something? Write an explanation of the problem, why you want to solve it, and why it is worth solving, and you’re half-way there.

Writers don’t always write because they clearly understand something beforehand. Often, they write about something because they want to understand it. You can do the same. Writing will help bring you to an understanding. Give it a try.

1. What would be the best title for the text?

A．A Way on How to Write.

B．Increase Your Brain Power through Writing.

C．How to Start Your Writing.

D．Brain Power Helps Improve Your Writing.

2. According to the text, writing can help you a lot in the following ways EXCEPT _____.

A．the increase of your brain power

B．the ability to remember

C．the development of your interest in study

D．the better understanding of a topic

3. The underlined sentence “you’re half-way there” in the fifth paragraph implies that ______.

A．you are already successful

B．you still need to work hard

C．writing can help you walk half way

D．You have been on the way to success

4. What’s the main purpose of the writer writing the text?

A．To advise readers to start their writing.

B．To explain the importance of writing.

C．To persuade readers to become writers.

D．To increase readers’ brain power.

【推荐2】There are a couple of ways to forecast the destructive potential of a hurricane so that people in the way can take adequate precautions (预防措施). Satellite images of cloud patterns can be analyzed to estimate peak wind speeds, but the estimates are often way off the mark. Specialized aircraft can fly into a storm to measure the winds directly, but the flights are costly.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology come up with a third way: listening to a storm underwater.

In a paper to be published in Geophysical Research Letters, Nicholas C. Makris and a former graduate student, Joshua D. Wilson, report a strong connection between the intensity (强度) of sound recorded by an undersea microphone in the mid-Atlantic and the wind power of a hurricane that passed over it. They say that such microphones, known as hydrophones, could be a safe and relatively inexpensive means of estimating hurricane force.

Dr. Makris and Dr. Wilson, who are now with Applied Physical Sciences Corporation, worked out the theory of underwater acoustic (声音的) monitoring of storms in a 2005 paper. “To be very frank with you, it’s a mystery what makes storms noisy underwater.” Dr. Makris said. The most popular idea currently is that it has something to do with oscillating air bubbles (气泡振动).

The researchers then went looking for experimental data to back their theory, and found it from a hydrophone placed at a depth of 2,500 feet by the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration. It happened that Hurricane Gert passed over the area in September 2009, and a hurricane-hunter plane directly measured the wind speed at the same time. The hydrophone data showed sound intensity rose when the storm’s outside wind “wall” passed over, and again when the inside wall, the most destructive part of the storm near the eye, passed over. “We got a beautiful connection,” Dr. Makris said, “between the hydrophone data and the actual wind speeds as measured by the aircraft.”

Dr. Makris is conducting additional experiments, working with the Mexican Navy off the west coast of Mexico. The eventual goal, he said, would be permanent hydrophones in known hurricane zones or temporary ones that could be easily laid by plane or ship in the path of a coming storm.

1. Compared with the traditional methods, the new way of measuring is_____.

A．more expensive	B．more direct
C．less accurate	D．less dangerous

2. Which statement is WRONG according to the article?

A．The scientists gained support from different fields.

B．Dr. Makris and Dr. Wilson have figured out what makes storms noisy underwater.

C．The relationship between sound intensity and the force of the hurricane has been found.

D．There are several ways for people to forecast the force of the coming hurricane.

3. Why is Dr. Makris now making other experiments with the help of the Mexican Navy?

A．To place permanent hydrophones in some zones.

B．To collect more images of cloud patterns.

C．To be secure in carrying out their experiments.

D．To get more information from the hurricane-hunter planes.

4. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A．Ways to Stop the Destructive Force of a Hurricane.

B．Measuring a Hurricane by Sound Underwater.

C．Connection between the Intensity of Sound and the Wind Power of a Hurricane.

D．Hydrophones, Safe but Expensive Means of Estimating Hurricane Force.

【推荐1】Almost everyone knows that Shanghai is the economic center of China. However, you might not notice that it is also improving in developing its travelling business. The following are more details.

The area of the Yuyuan and Chenghuangmiao (City God Temple) is crowded at night with tourists trying to get a view and a taste of traditional Shanghai.

Three of Shanghai’s top destinations, the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower and the Shanghai Wildlife Park, have jointly launched a new city pass program to attract tourists both from home and abroad.

Under the Shanghai Pass ticket system, visitors can book online one-, two- and three-day passes covering the three destinations. With different prices for adults and students, they can scan QR codes to enter each of the destinations during the validity of their pass.

The new program will mainly focus on popularizing science as the city receives an increasing number of student visitors.

The three destinations also linked agreements with online travel agency Ctrip to cooperate further on marketing, activity-planning and communications.

Besides the discounted prices, through which you can pay less, the city passes provide more convenience for tourists, especially tourists from other countries, says Xu Ting, the secretary-general of the Shanghai Tourism Association.

Nearly 100 travel destinations have promised that they will take part in the Shanghai Pass program and work with Ctrip.

A total of 105 scenic spots, art galleries, museums and memorials across the city have taken special measures to meet the growing need for nighttime leisure from both Shanghai residents and tourists, according to the municipal culture and tourism bureau.

Parks and leisure spots including the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium and Shanghai Jinjiang Action Park have extended their opening hours, while destinations such as the Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai Wildlife Park and Shanghai Happy Valley have launched special late shows and night-tour programs.

Museums including the Shanghai Museum and the Shanghai Natural History Museum have also launched special nighttime exhibitions, lectures and exploration activities.

1. Which of the following is not a top tour destination in Shanghai?

A．The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.

B．The Shanghai Wildlife Park.

C．The Shanghai Ocean Aquarium.

D．The Shanghai Oriental Pearl Tower.

2. By writing this article, the writer tries to ________.

A．introduce the Shanghai Pass ticket system

B．introduce three of Shanghai top destinations

C．introduce the online travel agency Ctrip

D．introduce the tourism in Shanghai

3. Which of the following is not true?

A．The top destinations begin to cooperate so that they can attract more tourists.

B．Everyone can get an online pass and the price is the same.

C．Museums begin to provide nighttime service.

D．105 scenic spot have done something to meet the growing need for nighttime amusement.

4. About the ticket fee which statement is correct?

A．Foreigners don’t need to buy the pass and they can visit the destinations for free.

B．Residents of Shanghai can visit the scenic sports without paying a cent.

C．Children can visit the museums at half price.

D．If you use the city pass, you can save some money.

【推荐2】Happiness is for everyone. You don’t need to care about those people who have beautiful houses with large gardens and swimming pools or those who have nice cars and a lot of money and so on. Why? Because those who have big houses may often feel lonely and those who have cars may want to walk on the country roads at their free time.

In fact, happiness is always around you if you put your heart into it. When you are in trouble at school, your friends will help you; when you study hard at your lessons, your parents are always taking good care of your life and your health; when you get success, your friends will say congratulations to you; when you do something wrong, people around you will help you to correct it. And when you do something good to others, you will feel happy, too. All these are your happiness. If you notice them, you can see that happiness is always around you.

Happiness is not the same as money. It is a feeling of your heart. When you are poor, you can also say you are very happy, because you have something else that can’t be bought with money. When you meet with difficulties, you can say loudly you are very happy, because you have more chances to challenge yourself. So you cannot always say you are poor and you have bad luck. As the saying goes, life is like a revolving(旋转 ) door. When it closes, it also opens. If you take every chance you get, you can be a happy and lucky person.

1. Happiness is for_________.

A．those who have large and beautiful houses	B．those who have cars
C．those who have a lot of money	D．all people

2. When you do something wrong, _______________.

A．you may correct it	B．you will have no chance to challenge yourself
C．anybody will laugh at you	D．you will be happy

3. Which is TRUE according to the passage?

A．When you get success, your friends will be very proud of you.

B．You can get help from others when you make mistakes.

C．You can still be a happy person even if you have little money.

D．All the above.

4. Why do we say “Happiness is not the same as money”? Because ___________.

A．money always brings happiness	B．money doesn’t always bring happiness
C．everything can be bought with money	D．only rich people have happiness

5. Which is the title of the passage?

A．Do Something Good to Others	B．Happy and Lucky
C．Happiness	D．Life and Success

【推荐3】For several days I saw little of Mr. Rochester. In the morning he seemed very busy with business, and in the afternoon gentlemen from the neighborhood called and sometimes stayed to dine with him. When his foot was well enough, he rode out a great deal.
During this time, all my knowledge of him was limited to occasional meetings about the house，when he would sometimes pass me coldly, and sometimes bow and smile. His changes of manner did not offend me, because I saw that I had nothing to do with the cause of them.
One evening, several days later, I was invited to talk to Mr. Rochester after dinner. He was sitting in his armchair, and looked not quite so severe, and much less gloomy. There was a smile on his lips, and his eyes were bright，probably with wine. As I was looking at him, he suddenly turned, and asked me, “Do you think I am handsome，Miss Eyre? ”
The answer somehow slipped from my tongue before I realized it: “No, sir.” “Ah，you really are unusual! You are a quiet, serious little person, but you can be almost rude.” “Sir，I'm sorry. I should have said that beauty doesn't matter, or something like that,” “No, you shouldn't! I see，you criticize my appearance, and then you stab (刺) me in the back! You have honesty and feeling. There are not many girls like you. But perhaps I go too fast. Perhaps you have awful faults to counterbalance (抵消) your few good points.”
I thought to myself that he might have too. He seemed to read my mind, and said quickly, “Yes，you're right. I have plenty of faults. I went the wrong way when I was twenty-one, and have never found the right path again. I might have been very different. I might have been as good as you, and perhaps wiser. I am not a bad man, take my word for it, but I have done wrong. It wasn't my character, but circumstances which were to blame. Why do I tell you all this? Because you're the sort of person people tell their problems and secrets to, because you're sympathetic and give them hope.”
It seemed he had quite a lot to talk to me. He didn't seem to like to finish the talk quickly, as was the case for the first time.
“Don't be afraid of me, Miss. Eyre,” he continued. “You don't relax or laugh very much, perhaps because of the effect Lowood school has had on you. But in time you will be more natural with me, and laugh, and speak freely. You're like a bird in a cage. When you get out of the cage, you'll fly very high. Good night.”
1. At the beginning Miss Eyre's impressions of Mr. Rochester were all except_____.

A．busy

B．sociable

C．dull

D．changeable

2. The underlined sentence means_________ .

A．Only by meeting him around the house sometimes did I know a little about him.

B．Only by coming to the house could I know about him.

C．I occasionally met him but my knowledge about him was poor.

D．What I knew about him was limited in the house.

3. From what Mr. Rochester told Miss Eyre, we can conclude that he wanted to _________________. .

A．tell her all his troubles	B．tell her his life experience
C．blame her for misunderstanding him	D．change his circumstances

4. At the end of the passage，Mr. Rochester sounded ___________ .

A．rude

B．cold

C．polite

D．encouraging

5. According to the passage, which of the following statements is WRONG?

A．Miss Eyre was at Lowood School before she came to Mr. Rochester’s house.

B．Miss Eyre didn’t see Mr. Rochester often.

C．Miss Eyre was honest, brave and confident.

D．Miss Eyre was brave, polite and warm-hearted.

【推荐1】Tayka Hotel De Sal

Where: Tahua, Bolivia

How much: About $95 a night

Why it’s cool: You’ve stayed at hotels made of brick or wood, but salt? That’s something few can claim. Tayka Hotel de Sal is made totally of salt - including the beds (though you’ll sleep on regular mattresses and blankets). The hotel sits on the Salar de Uyuni, a prehistoric dried-up lake that’s the world’s biggest salt flat. Builders use the salt from the 4,633-square-mile flat to make the bricks, and glue them together with a paste of wet salt that hardens when it dries. When rain starts to dissolve the hotel, the owners just mix up more salt paste to strengthen the bricks.

Green Magic Nature Resort

Where: Vythiri, India

How much: About $240 a night

Why it’s cool: Riding a pulley (滑轮) -operated lift 86 feet to your treetop room is just the start of your adventure. As you look out of your open window - there is no glass! -you watch monkeys and birds in the rain forest canopy. Later you might test your fear of heights by crossing the handmade rope bridge to the main part of the hotel, or just sit on your bamboo bed and read. You don’t even have to come down for breakfast - the hotel will send it up on the pulley-drawn “elevator”.

Dog Bark Park Inn B&B

Where: Cottonwood, Idaho

How much: $92 a night

Why it’s cool: This doghouse isn’t just for the family pet. Sweet Willy is a 30-foot-tall dog with guest rooms in his belly. Climb the wooden stairs beside his hind leg to enter the door in his side. You can relax in the main bedroom, go up a few steps to the loft in Willy’s head, or hang out inside his nose. Although you have a full private bathroom in your quarters, there is also a toilet in the 12-foot-tall fire hydrant outside.

Gamirasu Cave Hotel

Where: Ayvali, Turkey

How much: Between $130 and $475 a night.

Why it’s cool: This is caveman cool! Experience what it was1 like 5,000 years ago, when people lived in these mountain caves formed by volcanic ash. But your stay will be much more modern. Bathrooms and electricity provide what you expect from a modern hotel, and the white volcanic ash, called tufa, keeps the rooms cool, about 65 ℉ in summer. (Don’t worry - there is heat in winter.)

1. Which of the following about Tayka Hotel de Sal is true?

A．The hotel is the cheapest among the four mentioned.	B．Everything in the hotel is made of salt.
C．The glue can prevent the rain from dissolving the hotel.	D．It is located on a prehistoric dried-up lake.

2. What does the underlined part “Sweet Willy” refer to?

A．The building of Dog Bark Park Inn B&	B．B. The name of a pet dog of the hotel owner.
C．The name of the hotel.	D．The name of the hotel owner.

3. Which of the hotels makes you have a feeling of living in the far past?

A．Tayka Hotel De Sal	B．Green Magic Nature Resort
C．Dog Bark Park Inn B&B	D．Gamirasu Cave Hotel

【推荐2】If, for some reason, you had 2,010 empty plastic bottles, what would you do? You’d probably sell them cheaply, right? But Xia Yu collected 2,010 bottles and built a boat with them. As you read this, Xia is, in fact, on a river somewhere in Anhui, slowly going towards his destination: the Expo Garden in Shanghai. 2,010 plastic bottles were to celebrate Expo (世博会) 2010 Shanghai. On the opening day of the Expo, Xia, together with five friends, went on a 1, 500km journey from Xiangtan to the Expo Garden, in spite of the doubt whether they’ll make it. After all, the boat they are on can hardly be called a boat. It cost only 2,000 yuan to build in a month.

What’s keeping Xia going is a major cause behind the trip. “We are examining water pollution through our journey and trying to promote a low-carbon (低碳) lifestyle. Before we started, no one believed we could sail the boat to the Dongting Lake. But we made it.” But as they expected, the journey has not always been smooth. Of the six from Xiangtan, four gave up. As of the press time (到发稿时), only Xia and his friend Huang Ying were on the boat. Huang suffered from a disease when they reached Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, Xia said, “There are so many things that can stop us from making it to Shanghai, like the weather, health, and sometimes swift river water”.

The boat was produced in a factory according to our design, and perhaps it’s not in a very good condition. But, Xia said, “we are wearing life jackets. Some boats passing by offered help”. What is more of a reward for Xia and Huang is that the Yangtze River turned out much cleaner than they had expected. Although Xia and Huang are uncertain about the journey ahead, they are quite happy with what they have already achieved. After all, it’s not the destination that counts. It’s always the course that matters the most.

1. Xia Yu doubts the success of the journey because of 　　　.

A．such a long journey on the river

B．the poor boat and the bad weather

C．few people taking part in the journey

D．the seriously polluted river in some parts

2. Which of the following is NOT the purpose of the journey?

A．To examine water pollution.

B．To celebrate Expo 2010 Shanghai.

C．To win a race on the water.

D．To promote a low-carbon lifestyle.

3. From the text we know that　　　.

A．they stay on the boat at night

B．three people gave up due to their bad health

C．Xia Yu and his mate have arrived in Shanghai

D．Huang suffered from a disease on the journey

【推荐3】Female seals don’t change their spots, according to a new study by University of Alberta biologists. In fact, individual differences in boldness remain consistent over time. The study is among the first to examine boldness in wild marine mammals in the field of animal personality. Animal personality influences many ecological processes, like how individuals interact with other species or respond to changing environmental conditions.

Researchers studied female seals on Sable Island, home to the world’s largest grey seal colony. Over a period from 2008 to 2016, biologist Christi Bubac and a field team led by Fisheries and Oceans Canada measured boldness responses in the female seals when defending their young.

“During the breeding season, we saw that females tend to behave consistently, not only between years, but also within the lactation period of a given year,” explained Bubac, lead author and PhD student in the Department of Biological Sciences studying with wildlife geneticist David Colman. “This provides an example of animal personality, with consistent individual differences observed over time.”

Bubac also examined how reproductive success is related to a seal’s boldness or shyness. Rey seals nurse for 16 to 18 days, so mother seals have a very short window to get baby seals as fat as they can. During this time, baby seals triple in body mass. Body mass is a good predictor of reproductive success because it indicates the puppies’ chances of survival. “On average, we found that bolder females stop feeding those that are two kilograms heavier, compared with the shyest females, improving their chances of surviving the first year of life,” said Bubac.

These results present some very interesting biological questions, explained Coltman, professor of biology. “This research shows that young grey seal moms that are bold tend to stop feeding larger puppies compared with shy moms. However, older grey seals also tend to be bolder. If bolder animals have bigger pups and live longer, why does variation in boldness remain? Why be shy?”

1. What is the purpose of the study of seals?

A．To test their effects on ecological processes.

B．To study how seals interact with each other.

C．To check how the environment affects mammals.

D．To examine marine mammals’ personality difference.

2. What can be inferred from Paragraph 3?

A．Animals have remained their personality since they were born.

B．Female seals behave more boldly in the lactation period.

C．Seals’ boldness responses remain the same over time.

D．The study on seals’ personality has been very mature.

3. Which of the following may Christi Bubac agree with?

A．Bolder female seals adjust the nursing time to their babies’ weight.

B．Mother seals tend to get babies as slim as possible.

C．It usually takes mother seals 20 days to nurse.

D．Bolder female seals feed less than shy ones.

4. Where are we most likely to read the text?

A．In a travel guide.

B．In a textbook.

C．In a magazine.

D．In an art gallery.