【推荐1】阅读下面短文和问题，根据短文内容和每小题后的具体要求，完成对该问题的回答。答语要意思清楚，结构正确，书写工整。

With the development of the Internet,many hobbies and interests of modern people have gained a new dimension(维度).The Internet allows enthusiasts to unite to share their excitement about trends,to communicate and share experiences. Specialized websites provide users with even more information about their subjects of interest and help discover new boundaries(边界)of their passions. This refers to movies,arts,modeling,literature,and music as well. One can hardly find a person who would not be listening to music on the way to work,at home,or elsewhere. There are plenty of websites that allow music lovers to stay in touch with the news relating to their hobbies.

One such website is Music fm,a mix of a social network and an Internet-radio that tracks down the music its users listen to. This website is of great benefit for music enthusiasts and besides,it has a number of advantages compared to other sources providing similar services.

The availability of multiple functions also speaks in favor of Music.fm. One of its significant advantages over many other musical websites is the function of scribbling(歌曲记录).This technology is convenient and definitely helpful for music lovers. With its aid，Music.fm searches for people with similar musical preferences and shows one a list of those whose interests match to some extent. These people are called neighbors and the idea is that they can get familiar with the fans of their favorite kind of music and，most likely，make new friends. The information about upcoming events nearby,as well as recommendations given about new music that a user might like are also gathered and introduced by the means of scribbling.

Music.fm allows users to listen to music for free. However，there is a serious drawback connected to it：It is available only to citizens of the USA,Germany,and Great Britain. At the same time,if you want to use Music.fm for communication,you might find that traditional social networks are more suitable for this purpose.

1. What can Internet help its enthusiasts to do according to the passage?
_______________________________________________________________
2. What is the main idea of the passage?
_______________________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement，then underline it and explain why.
Music fm is popular among its lovers because it is not only free but also more suitable for communication.
_______________________________________________________________
4. Please briefly present your opinion about Music.fm.(about 40 words)
_______________________________________________________________

【推荐3】This app could checkmate dating game

George Church, a leading professor of genetics at Harvard University, is planning to create a dating app that can match users based on their genetic agreement.

    1    Two people considering going on a date take out their smartphones first and check each other's genetic table to see whether there are any undesirable genes that cannot be determined from outward appearance. Genetic deficiencies that might lead to diseases in offspring will be screened out first. Heart disease? No. Immune deficiency? No.Hemophilia? No.

    2    Eye color, height preference, curly or straight hair. In the end, only those with the genes that promise the users a perfect child will date.

It sounds terrible. If the app becomes a reality, it could split people into different camps based on the genes they carry.

Some might argue that even now people are not wholly equal to each other-there are the rich and the poor to begin with.     3    Genes, on the other hand, are fixed, with no hope of changing at least in the near future.

Church didn’t have this divisive goal in mind. In an interview, he said he hopes to let people know the genetic deficiencies(基因缺陷) in their mating partners so as to minimize the chances of giving birth to children with diseases.    4    

The problem is not so much with genetic technology, which can help people find possible diseases before birth, and possibly even cure them through gene editing. But it would be a mistake to let everybody know of each other s genetic information and make choices on that basis.

    5    Gene sequencing(基因排序)is becoming increasingly popular with many people choosing to know their genes better. It is reaching a stage when it becomes urgent for the law to protect such information and avoid possible leaks.

A．He will make it.

B．This is how it works.

C．That in turn calls for legislation(法律;法规).

D．The app will be popular with different people.

E．Then comes the turn of harmless appearance characteristics.

F．But he will not be able to stop the above- mentioned possibility.

G．However, one can always struggle to improve one's quality of life.

【推荐1】Being "young is associated with all the good things in life - beauty, hope, and energy. But youth also has negative associations - impulsiveness, trouble -making, and irresponsibility. This negative side seems to be what society focuses on more, which is why young people have mostly been considered as idle and difficult.

But when it comes to Generation Z - those born between 1996 and 2010 - this stereotype doesn't seem to apply anymore.

In Japan, for example, Gen Z-ers are less likely to buy on impulse, but take into consideration more a product's true value. They' re looking at the companies, not just the products," Masahiko Uotani, CEO of Japanese cosmetics company Shiseido, told Bloomberg. They're asking, 'Are they really delivering value to the society? Are they promoting diversity and inclusion?"

Gen Z-ers are also more grounded than we' ve expected them to be. According to a recent survey by Bank of America, more than half of young adults aged between 18 and 23 said they were planning to buy a house within five years. And they' re not just saying it - they are willing to make sacrifices for it, including getting a second job and saving money for down payment instead of spending it on a vacation.

"Despite their young age, this group is pragmatic and actively planning for their future," D.Steve Boland, head of Consumer Lending at Bank of America, told USA Today. "They have a clear vision how they are willing to help themselves in order to make it happen.

Social issues are also at the center of concern of Gen Z-ers, who take themselves as a changing force of the world. In India, for example, young people who have just reached the voting age are eager to vote for a new leader who is capable of solving problems that matter the most to them, including pollution, unemployment and women' s safety.

As a Gen-Zer yourself, what is your plan for the future?

1. What do the underlined words this stereotype" in paragraph2 refer to ?

A．Being young is good.

B．Gen Z-ers are born after 1996.

C．The traditional poor impressions on the youth.

D．The associations with young people.

2. We can infer from the third paragraph that______________.

A．Gen Z-ers in Japan are picky

B．The Gen Z-ers are self-centered

C．The Gen Z-ers care little about products

D．The Gen Z-ers are wise when shopping

3. What's Steve Boland's attitude to the Gen Z-ers ?

A．Approving.	B．Negative.
C．Indifferent.	D．Critical.

4. Which of the following words may best describe the Gen Z-era?

A．Confident and independent.	B．Visionary and responsible.
C．Persistent and down-to-earth.	D．Active and creative.

【推荐2】Some of the world’s most significant problems never hit headlines. One example comes from agriculture. Food unrest and hunger make news. But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about. This is the decline in the growth in production of some of the world’s major crops. A new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where, and how far, this decline is occurring.

The authors study the four most important crops: rice, wheat, corn and soybeans. They find that the improvement in yields that took place before the 1980s slowed down in the 1990s and 2000s.

There are two worrying features of the slowdown. One is that it has been particularly sharp in the world’s most populous (人口多的) countries, India and China. Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world food markets. That self-sufficiency cannot be taken for granted if yields continue to slow down.

Second, production growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in corn and soybeans. This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods, accounting for around half of all calories consumed. Corn and soybeans are more important as feed grains. The authors note that “We have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather than on crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world.”

The report qualifies the more optimistic findings of another new paper which suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050, as the Food and Agriculture Organisation has argued.

Instead, it says, thanks to slowing population growth, land currently ploughed up for crops might be able to revert (回返) to forest or wilderness. This could happen. The trouble is that the forecast assumes continued improvements in production, which may not actually happen.

1. What does the author try to draw attention to?

A．Food riots and hunger in the world.

B．News headlines in the leading media.

C．The decline of the grain production growth.

D．The food supply in populous countries.

2. Why does the author mention India and China in particular?

A．Their self-sufficiency is vital to the stability of world food markets.

B．Their food yields have begun to decrease sharply in recent years.

C．Their big populations are causing worldwide concerns.

D．Their food self-sufficiency has been taken for granted.

3. What does the Food and Agriculture Organization say about world food production in the coming decades?

A．The growing population will greatly increase the pressure on world food supplies.

B．The optimistic prediction about food production should be viewed with caution.

C．The slowdown of the growth in yields of major food crops will be reversed.

D．The world will be able to feed its population without increasing farmland.

4. How does the author view the argument of the Food and Agriculture Organisation?

A．It is built on the findings of a new study.

B．It is based on a doubtful assumption.

C．It is backed by strong evidence.

D．It is open to further discussion.

【推荐3】The thing that sets children apart from adults is not their ignorance，nor their lack of skills．Rather，it's their enormous capability for joy．A friend told me a story．One day，when she went to get his 6-year-old son from soccer practice，her kid greeted her with a sad face．The teacher had criticized him for not focusing on his soccer drills．The little boy walked out of the school with his head and shoulders hanging down．He seemed wrapped in sadness．But before reaching the car door，he suddenly stopped，crouching(蹲伏)down to look at something on the sidewalk．“Mom，come here! This is the strangest bug I’ve ever seen．It has ，1ike， a million legs．It’s amazing!”The little face was overflowing with indescribable excitement．

Nowadays，however，when we walk into a classroom，especially in a high school，we’ll be choked by towering books and papers，and hiding behind them are a group of motionless creatures，pens in hand，minds dry，just as the hollow men portrayed by T．S．Eliot．Their pursuit of joy has given way to their hunger for grades．Laughter and happiness are a distant memory for them．

Although joy is an unaffordable luxury in today’s increasingly fierce competition，administrators and teachers need a mindset shift from crushing students with assignments to getting them to take pleasure in productive activities which develop their important qualities，like perseverance and obligation．The assumption that pleasure is the enemy of competence and responsibility makes no sense educationally．

Adults tend to talk about learning as if it were medicine：unpleasant，but necessary and good for you．Why not think of learning as if it were food—something so valuable to humans that they want to experience it as a pleasure?

1. How is Paragraph 1 mainly developed?

A．By describing a procedure．	B．By analyzing the process．
C．By giving an example．	D．By collecting data．

2. What does the author intend to do in Paragraph 2?

A．Summarize the previous paragraph．	B．Provide some advice for the readers．
C．Introduce the main topic for discussion．	D．Clarify some puzzling questions．

3. What does the text suggest administrators and teachers do?

A．Stop giving students homework．

B．Involve students in meaningful activities．

C．Supply students with luxuries．

D．Arouse students’fond memories．

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Joy is the spokesperson for learning．	B．Pleasure is the enemy of progress．
C．Education is the paradise for parents．	D．Exams are a never-ending war．

【推荐1】Just as regulation has helped increase fuel efficiency, cut exhaust smokes and introduce anti-slip equipment, so government involvement is needed to get the connected car on the road. It is beginning to happen. Earlier this year, Europe’s standards-setting agencies agreed a common set of agreements for cars and traffic infrastructure (基建) to communicate. Others should follow. Governments should then set firm deadlines for all new cars to be fully connected and capable of matching, and a date for existing cars to be re-improved with a basic locator beacon (定位器) and the ability to receive risky warnings.

If cars are to connect, new infrastructure will have to be built. Roads and parking spaces will need sensors to monitor them; motorways will need specific lanes for matching. But this will not necessarily be expensive. Upgrading traffic signals so they can be controlled remotely by a central traffic management system is a lot cheaper than building new roads.

The sooner these changes are made, and cars are plugged into a smart traffic section, the quicker Singaporean variable pricing — for parking as well as road use — can become the criterion. Motorists will then have the motive, as well as the ability, to avoid the busiest places at the busiest times, and the horrible death that roads take in human lives should start falling.

In the past, more people driving meant more roads, more jams, more death and more smokes. In the future, the connected car could offer mankind the pleasures of the road with rather less of the pain.

1. What do governments truly expect of the connected car?

A．It’ll be standard-friendly.	B．It’ll get fully prepared soon.
C．It’ll be under command.	D．It’ll promote infrastructure.

2. What will happen if traffic signals are to upgrade?

A．More sensors are offered by the companies.

B．More special roads are needed by motorists.

C．The whole project is more economical to operate.

D．The whole society is crazier about the new cars.

3. Which is most UNLIKELY to benefit from such changes?

A．Motorists.	B．Singaporeans’ pricing.
C．Road death.	D．Traditional traffic sections.

4. Which best describes the author’s attitude in the text?

A．Positive.	B．Critical.
C．Objective.	D．Doubtful.

【推荐2】Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua have made medical history as the first cloned primates (灵长目动物),with the efforts of a team of Chinese scientists.

According to the journal Cell , it is a milestone for biomedical research. It could potentially lead to the development of new treatments for human disease. But it also makes ethicists (伦理学者) about where this all might lead. Do Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua suggest the coming of human cloning?

Born in 1996, Dolly the sheep was the first cloned mammal, and was followed by many more, including dogs, rabbits and pigs. But researchers were unable to clone primates because the genes involved didn’t react well to the procedure. Over the years, a handful of research institutions have tried and failed to birth a live monkey clone.

The successful team, at Shanghai’s Chinese Academy of Sciences, used the same basic method that created Dolly but had failed in subsequent(随后的) primate cloning attempts. It’s called somatic（躯体）cell nuclear transfer and involves transferring DNA from adult cells into eggs that have had their own DNA removed. Without the addition of sperm(精子), the eggs are stimulated （刺激）chemically to develop into an embryo that’s a clone of the DNA donor(提供者). The embryo is then placed into a substitue(替代) for gestation（妊娠）.

The researchers modified the approach in two important ways, however. Rather than use adult cells in the DNA transfer, they used fetal (胎儿)cells, which react better to chemical stimuli（刺激）for embryo development, says Mu-ming Poo, director of the academy’s Institute of Neuroscience and a co-autho of the paper. They also fine-tuned the cell transfer process to minimize damage to the eggs

As for creating human clones, Poo says the research shows it can be done, but he and his team have no interest. “Besides many technical dificulties that remain to be overcome, we see no justifiable reason to do human cloning,” says Poo, “nor would the societies around the world permit such an attempt.”

While human cells may be cloned experimentally, for example to research tissue regeneration, the cloning of an entire human is illegal in more than 70 countries, according to the Center for Genetics and Society. U.S. law does not ban it, but over a dozen states do. (Discover 2019J&F,P60.)

1. About   somatic cell nuclear transfer, which of the following statements is true?

A．It needs the combination of sperm and eggs.

B．The eggs keep their own DNA in the process.

C．The embryo has the DNA of the adult donor.

D．The embryo gestates in the eggs donor’s body.

2. What does the underlined word “justifiable” mean in paragraph 6 ?

A．acceptable.

B．incredible.

C．valuable.

D．reliable.

3. Which does not contribute to the success of the primate cloning?

A．The right   donor cells.	B．The fine-tuned transfer process.
C．The united team.	D．The reduced damage to the eggs.

4. Where can this passage be found?

A．Nature Exploration	B．Science   Magazine
C．Medicine World	D．World Wonders

【推荐3】Growing Pains

The term "adulting started as a sort of joke 一一 whenever a millennial（千禧一代）would do something age-appropriate, this was an act of "adulting." Now, though, millennials obviously require training in being an adult.

Rachel Flehinger has co-founded an Adulting School, which includes online courses on simple sewing, conflict resolution and cooking. The cause for such classes is that many millennials "haven’t left childhood homes" 一一 in America 34 percent of adults aged 18 to 34 still lived with their parents as of 2015, up from 26 percent a decade before.

There's a good deal of truth to this. If you're living at home, with Mom and Dad doing their best to spoil（(溺爱）you, you're less likely to know how to do laundry, cook or balance a checkbook. Dependency breeds enervation.

But here's the catch: Living at home doesn't necessarily lead to dependency. As of 1940, more than 30 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds lived at home with parents or grandparents. They were adulting, even while living at home. Parents expected their kids to do chores, to prepare for life. Instead of blaming living at home, then, we have to blame our style of parenting. The truth is that we've simply become lazier as parents.

So what's the real problem?

We're more likely to let our kids crash on our couches（长沙发）than tell them to get a job and pay rent. We don't push our kids to build families of their own, as life expectancy has increased, so has adolescence. Americans aren't expected to start building a life, particularly middle- and upper-class Americans, until they're nearing their 30s. Then the question is how we can encourage young people to "'adult" in non-circumstance-driven fashion.

1. What does the last sentence in the third paragraph "Dependency breeds enervation." mean?

A．Parents would like to do housework by themselves

B．Present kids are too lazy to do housework.

C．Dependency makes kids unable.

D．Kids depend on their parents.

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Millennials would like to be trained in being an adult.

B．Parents are too lazy to do chores.

C．Millennials don't adult because they still live in their childhood homes.

D．In the 1940s kids were adulting even when they were living at home.

3. Which of the following statements is the main idea of the passage?

A．"Adulting" is hard, but only because parents are too lazy to teach their kids.

B．Millennials should leave home early to adult.

C．Americans aren't expected to start building a life until they're nearing their 30s.

D．Adulting schools with online courses are popular.

4. According to the passage, what will be written about next?

A．The government should push off the age of adulthood.

B．Parents should leave kids in charge of society.

C．Parents should put responsibility on young people.

D．Pushing kids to adult is painful for parents.

【推荐1】American track and field athlete Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee once said,“Age is no barrier. It's a limitation you put on your mind.” And 50-year-old Indian Lakyntiew Syiemlieh stands an evidence for this saying. She recently cleared her Class 12 board exams. Lakyntiew,who has four children and two grandchildren, decided to go after her higher secondary education over three decades after dropping out of school. Earlier this year, she was one of the 24,267 students who appeared for the state board's Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate(HSSLC) exam. Lakyntiew took part in the exams for the arts stream and had chosen subjects like Khasi,English, Political Science, Economics, and Education as her areas of specialization.

On July 13,2020,when the results were announced, she was excited. “Though I only got the third division(分段)，my children were still so excited that they started shouting, hugging, and kissing me when the results were declared,"said Lakyntiew.

In fact,the grandmother of two has expressed her interest in pursuing(追求) higher studies in the field of local language. Lakyntiew took up a distance education course offered by a university in 2015. She stopped going to school because mathematics was too difficult for her to understand. She was offered a job to teach in a preschool in 2008, and that was the beginning of her love for re-learning.

Being the oldest student in the class, most of Lakyntiew's classmates called her as "Mei”, which means “mother” in the local language. Besides concentrating on academics,she also participated in after-class activities like field trips, dance competitions, and singing challenges, among others.

Age is not a problem when one is in search of education. Lakyntiew Syiemlieh is an example for everybody,and especially for those who give up studies midway.

1. When did Lakyntiew probably drop out of school?

A．In 2008.

B．In 1998.

C．In 1988.

D．In 1968.

2. Which of the following caused Lakyntiew to stop going to school?

A．Her family was too poor to afford her education.

B．She had too much difficulty in learning one subject.

C．She was offered so good a job that she couldn't refuse.

D．She had many children to raise and had no time to study.

3. Which can best describe Lakyntiew's performance at school?

A．Independent.

B．Reasonable.

C．Outstanding.

D．Active.

4. What can we learn from Lakyntiew's story?

A．Live and learn.	B．Hard work pays off.
C．Many hands make light work.	D．Education is the key to success.

【推荐2】Since App Store was set up, it has been selling consumers one simple thing — choice. Whether you wanted to play games, read the news, or do a thousand other things, there was something for whatever you desired.

Then something funny happened. Logging into the App Store today is like going into a shopping mall with only a coupon (优惠券) for one thing: There's so much choice; it might be easier to give up than to choose.

It isn't consumers who are burdened, though. Too much content of all kinds also has economic effects. When countless choices are available, it causes pressure, pushing prices down and driving us a bit crazy.

So what is the way forward? It may well be to turn less choice itself to the marketing strategy. There are already signs that this is happening. Firstly content companies are looking to prevent their offerings from getting lost in the tons of stuff. Most obvious is Disney, which is planning to open its own streaming service next year. The point is to narrow the focus so that those seeking Disney cartoons will have one place to go, rather than being around various services.

Yet if that represents a careful first step, there are more extreme options too. Consider the idea of a wine club: from tens of thousands of bottles each year, subscribers (用户) pay someone to select the most interesting ones. Perhaps what comes next for digital content is similar — carefully selected offerings from trusted sources that put choices in the hands of someone else in order to get rid of the anxiety of choosing.

Up to now, too much choice in digital media has only one solution: the algorithm (运算法则). But we've seen the trouble with algorithms on You Tube. They feed you only what you've already said you like, not things you may not know you're into. Worse, they have a tendency to serve up disturbing content. The way forward can't simply be more or better algorithms.

Instead, it's time for digital companies to start thinking about how to put limits on things: on how much we can use a device, or what we are available to choose from.

As we move further into the digital revolution, what people ask for is clear: Less.

1. What will too much choice of content on the market result in?

A．The shutdown of companies.	B．Anxiety of consumers.
C．Poor quality of products.	D．Negative influence on economy.

2. Why is Disney planning to open its own streaming service?

A．To improve its marketing strategy.

B．To help people focus on less choice.

C．To encourage more people to visit Disney.

D．To provide consumers with various services

3. In what way may a wine club and digital content in the near future be similar?

A．Someone else will be employed to make a choice for consumers.

B．Both of them will offer only a few options.

C．Consumers will refuse to choose from too many options.

D．Both of them will make a change about their products.

4. What do we know about the algorithm?

A．It manages to offer what consumers will possibly like.

B．It helps to remove disturbing content from digital media.

C．it offers consumers things based on what they've said they like.

D．It'll solve the problem of having too much choice.

【推荐3】I prefer Lynne Truss’s phraseology: I am a grammar “sticker”. And, like Truss – author of Eats, shoots & Leaves – I have a “zero tolerance” approach to grammar mistakes that make people look stupid.

Now, Truss and I disagree on what it means to have “zero tolerance”. She thinks that people who mix up basic grammar “deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked (砍) up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave”, while I just think they deserve to be passed over for a job – even if they are otherwise qualified for the position.

Everyone who applies for a position at either of my companies, iFixit or Dozuki, takes a compulsory grammar test. If job hopefuls can’t distinguish between “to” and “too”, their applications go into the bin.

Of course, we write for a living. iFixit.com is the world’s largest online repair manual (指南), and Dozuki helps companies write their own technical documentation, like paperless work instructions and step-by-step user manuals. So, it makes sense that we’ve made a strong strike against grammar errors.

But grammar is relevant for all companies. Yes, language is constantly changing, but that doesn’t make grammar unimportant. Good grammar is credibility, especially on the Internet. And, for better or worse, people judge you if you can’t tell the difference between “their” “there” and “they’re”.

Good grammar makes good business sense – and not just when it comes to hiring writers. Writing isn’t in the official job description of most people in our office. Still, we give our grammar test to everybody, including our salespeople, our operations staff, and our programmers.

Grammar signifies more than just a person’s ability to remember high school English. I’ve found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something completely unrelated to writing – like stocking shelves or labeling parts. It is the same with programmers. Applicants who don’t think writing is important are likely to think lots of other things also aren’t important.

1. What’s the author’s “zero tolerance” approach to these job seekers who mix up basic grammar?

A．They should be left out for a job.	B．They have to correct their mistakes.
C．They aren’t qualified for their jobs.	D．They must be severely punished.

2. Which of the following is TRUE of iFixit and Dozuki?

A．Only one of them has a compulsory grammar test.

B．They are companies where one learns grammar.

C．Grammar is quite important for their existence.

D．They depend on grammar correction for a living.

3. What can we learn from the text?

A．Companies giving grammar tests may have no good business sense.

B．Grammar becomes unimportant as language is constantly changing.

C．A “zero tolerance” approach to grammar errors might seem a little unfair.

D．People who pay attention to writing may pay attention to other things.