【推荐1】Every year, billions of kilograms of fresh produce are wasted in the United States. Meanwhile, millions of poor Americans go hungry, without access to healthy and affordable meals.

Evan Lutz is enthusiastic about correcting that social injustice. And he combines that goal with enthusiasm for business, Lutz is CEO and founder of Hungry Harvest, a business which collects and sells “ugly” produce. These are fruits and vegetables that most food companies would throw away. More than six billion pounds are wasted each year due to surface imperfections.

“So I’ll give you an example.” Lutz says, “If you go to a grocery store you will see all the produce lineup shiny, perfect, of the same size and color. But on a farm, everything doesn’t grow the same way. So all that stuff that doesn’t grow the same way often gets thrown out. And what we do is take all that normally gets thrown out because of its odd size or shape, box it up and deliver it to our customers once a week.”

For Evan Lutz, giving back to others came from his upbringing.

“When I was growing up my parents taught me the values of giving back, and giving is a lot more powerful than receiving. We sell produce with a purpose and that doesn’t just mean we reduce food from going to waste. We hire people that were formerly in prison or were formerly injured or sick living in homeless shelters. They really wanted to get back on their feet for a second chance in life.”

Evan Lutz is really happy to be realizing great mission that he thinks can really revolutionize the food industry in America.

1. The social injustice in Paragraph 2 refers to the fact that ________.

A．vegetables and fruits that don’t taste good get wasted

B．much produce gets wasted while many Americans starve

C．grocery stores only sell produce of the same size

D．poor Americans cannot afford healthy food

2. What business does Hungry Harvest mainly do?

A．Deliver food for free.

B．Raise money for the poor.

C．Collect “ugly” produce and sell it.

D．Buy “ugly” produce and process it.

3. Why does Evan Lutz hire those people mentioned in Paragraph 5?

A．To lower labor costs.	B．To increase productivity.
C．To offer them a job.	D．To enjoy a better reputation.

4. What can be a suitable title for the passage?

A．Creating More Jobs for the Less Fortunate

B．Putting Healthy Food on Dinner Table

C．Making Profits from Shiny Produce

D．Giving Unused Produce a Purpose

【推荐2】According to the Associated Press (AP), a Chinese scientist claims he successfully created the world’s first genetically-edited babies.

Chinese researcher He Jiankui, a research professor at China’s Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, said he had edited DNA of twin girls born a few weeks ago. ①

He’s claims were immediately criticized by some scientists as unsafe and unethical. This kind of gene editing is forbidden in the United States and many other countries. ②Such changes to a person’s DNA can pass to future generations and risk harming other genes.

In interviews, He Jiankui defended his work. He said he had performed the gene editing to help protect the babies from future infection of HIV, the virus responsible for the disease AIDS. He said the process had “worked safely” and the twin girls were “as healthy as any other babies.” He told the AP he felt a strong responsibility “not just to make a first, but also to make an example” for future research. “Society will decide what to do next,” he said.

When He’s claims became public, the university made a statement saying his work had “seriously went against academic ethics and standards.” University officials said they had no knowledge of his research and had looked into the case. ③

China’s National Health Commission was “highly concerned” about the claims and ordered local health officials “to immediately look into” He’s activity. “We have to be responsible for the people’s health and will act on this according to the law,” the commission said.

Scientists discovered in recent years a new way to edit genes that make up a person’s DNA throughout the body. The tool, called CRISPR-cas9, makes it possible to change DNA to supply a needed gene or take one away that is causing problems. So far the tool has only been used on adults to treat deadly diseases, and the changes only affected that person.

④Kiran Musunuru, a scientist from University of Pennsylvania, told the AP that if such an experiment had been carried out on human beings, it could not be “morally or ethically reasonable.” Julian Savulescu, a medical ethics expert at Britain’s University of Oxford, agreed. “If true, this experiment may cause disasters,” he told Reuters.

However, one well-known geneticist, Harvard University’s George Church, defended the attempt to edit genes to prevent infections of HIV. He told the AP that since HIV is “a major and growing public health threat” he finds such experiments “valuable.”

1. What can we learn from this passage?

A．All scientists consider He’s experiment unsafe and unethical.

B．The university He works in supports his experiment.

C．Many countries don’t allow editing babies genetically.

D．China’s National Health Commission thinks highly of He’s experiment.

2. The following sentence “However, many scientists believe such experiment is dangerous.” can be placed in __________.

A．①	B．②
C．③	D．④

3. What’s the author’s attitude towards He Jiankui’s research?

A．Supportive.	B．Uninterested.
C．Doubtful.	D．Neutral.

4. What might be the best title of this passage?

A．Chinese Scientist Claims First Gene Edited Babies

B．Chinese Scientist Finds A New Cure For AIDS

C．Gene Editing Still Has A Long Way To Go

D．China Takes The Lead In Gene Editing

【推荐1】Snow leopards (豹) are so hard to photograph that scientists aren’t even sure how many of these endangered animals still live in the wild.

The Snow Leopard Conservancy(SLC) set up 20 cameras in Russia in 2010 to learn more about the big cats. After a full six months, they had exactly zero picture! That’s when the organization understood they needed help. And the only people who could help them in finding the leopards were the very people from whom they wanted to protect the animals—local hunters (猎人).

Hunting snow leopards is against the law in Russia, but in the terrible climate of Siberia, the few people living there had to turn to poaching (盗猎) to feed their families.

In 2013, Russian naturalist Sergei Spitsyn approached Mergen Markov, a local hunter, and told him his project. Markov agreed to set up the camera where he knew he would find leopards, and it worked.

Markov, once a poacher, works full time for the conservationists now and has 10 cameras monitoring leopards. “I visit each camera once a month. I have known this whole region since I was a child,” he said proudly.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) began working with other local villagers in 2015. The village would be paid 40,000 rubles at the end of the year if the image of a snow leopard is caught. WWF also rents horses from the villagers so that they do not need to make money by poaching anymore. “Today there are far fewer leopard poachers but leopards still get caught in traps set for other animals, so I have to stay watchful,” said Markov.

Changing guns for cameras has made a big difference in the lives of these former poachers, the village, and the Russian snow leopards. The number of snow leopards has been rising and their population is expected to recover to normal levels within 10 years.

1. Why was no picture of snow leopards taken in six months?

A．SLC’s 20 cameras failed to work properly.

B．The number of snow leopards in the wild was too small.

C．The local poachers destroyed these cameras on purpose.

D．The researchers knew little about the animal’s living habits.

2. What did Sergei Spitsyn persuade Markov to do?

A．Find the poachers.	B．Repair cameras in the forest.
C．Catch more leopards.	D．Work for SLC.

3. Why did the WWF begin working with local villagers?

A．To get some pictures of snow leopards.

B．To help villagers make a living.

C．To prevent villagers from hunting animals.

D．To rent their horses at a low price.

4. How can we describe the WWF’s cooperation with the villagers?

A．Practice makes perfect.	B．Curiosity kills the cat.
C．Kill two birds with one stone.	D．Old habits die hard.

【推荐3】Given how valuable intelligence and automation are, we will continue to improve our technology if we are at all able to. At a certain point, we will build machines that are smarter than we are. Once we have machines that are smarter than we are, they will begin to improve themselves. The concern is really that we will build machines that are much more competent than we are. And the slightest divergence (分歧) between their goals and our own could destroy us.

Just think about how we relate to ants. We don’t hate them. We don’t go out of our way to harm them. In fact, sometimes we take pains not to harm them. We step over them on the sidewalk. But whenever their presence seriously conflicts with one of our goals, we will kill them without hesitation. The concern is that we will one day build machines that, whether they’re conscious or not, could treat us with similar disregard.

The bare fact is that we will continue to improve our intelligent machines. We have problems that we desperately need to solve. So we will do this, if we can. The train is already out of the station, and there’ no brake to pull. If we build machines that are more intelligent than we are, they will very likely develop in ways that we can’t imagine, and transcend us in ways that we can’t imagine.

So imagine we hit upon a design of super intelligent AI that has no safety concerns. This machine would be the perfect labor-saving device. It can design the machine that can build the machine which can do any physical work, powered by sunlight, more or less for the cost of raw materials. So we’re talking about the end of human labour. We’re also talking about the end of most intellectual work. So what would apes like ourselves do in these circumstances?

But the moment we admit that information processing is the source of intelligence, we have to admit that we are in the process of building some sort of god. Now would be a good time to make sure it’s a god we can live with.

1. Why does the author mention ants in Paragraph 2?

A．To indicate future intelligent machines could treat us without mercy.

B．To show improved machines will escape from us.

C．To stress the presence of machines does conflict with our goals.

D．To compare intelligent machines to ants.

2. Which of the following sayings shares similar meaning with the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3?

A．Time and tide wait for no man.	B．Rome wasn’t built in a day.
C．Tomorrow is another day.	D．Shot arrows will not come back.

3. How is the passage mainly developed?

A．By giving assumptions.	B．By making comparisons.
C．By showing evidence.	D．By analyzing statistics.

4. Which of the following statements can best summarize the author’s viewpoint towards AI?

A．Human beings will no doubt be destroyed by AI in the future.

B．Super intelligent AI will put an end to human labour eventually.

C．We should keep the development of AI within human’s control.

D．Human beings should stop the development of super intelligent AI.

【推荐1】Thirty years ago, if you looked down from a plane at the east coast of Australia, you would be greeted by the breathtaking beauty of the Great Barrier Reef (大堡礁), the world's largest coral reef. It stretched for over 2,600 kilometres in the blue sea, containing countless corals and small islands. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.

However, this natural wonder of the world is being taken away from us. Coral cover in the Great Barrier Reef has dropped by more than half over the last 28 years, The Guardian reported. “If the trend continues, coral cover could halve again by 2022,” said Peter Doherty, researcher at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). So unless we start acting now, there won’t be any “heritage” left in the future.

Coral reefs are an important part of the ocean’s ecosystem. They are a source of food, and act as protection for young fish. But in the past three decades they have been under threat around the world mainly from increased storms, a growing number of crown­of­thorns starfish and coral bleaching (褪色).

Storm damage caused nearly half of the coral losses. In the past seven years, the reef has been affected by six major storms, each leaving a trail (痕迹) of destruction.

The crown­of­thorns starfish is also causing problems. Scientists believe that run­offs (地表径流) containing a large amount of fertilizers have caused the population boost of this coral­eating animal. Outbreaks of crown­of­thorns starfish usually start two or three years after major floods in northern rivers.

Coral bleaching accounts for about 10 per cent of coral damage. It is usually due to ocean acidification (酸化) and rising temperatures because sea water absorbs more carbon dioxide from the air. This disrupts the corals' ability to grow and build structures.

The good news is that corals can recover if given the chance. But this is slow. And the future of the ocean’s coral is largely in human hands.

“We can’t stop the storms…But we can achieve better water quality, and we can deal with the challenge of crown­of­thorns starfish,” says John Gunn, CEO of AIMS. “However, its future also lies with the global response to reducing carbon dioxide emissions (排放). ”

1. What can we learn about the Great Barrier Reef from the article?

A．As the world’s second largest coral reef, the Great Barrier Reef was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

B．The Great Barrier Reef has lost more than half of its coral cover since 28 years ago.

C．At the present rate of loss, the coral cover will reduce by another 30 per cent within a decade.

D．Coral reefs are an important part of the ocean's ecosystem and can prevent ocean acidification.

2. The underlined phrase “under threat” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to “________”.

A．at risk	B．out of sight
C．in demand	D．beyond recognition

3. What can we do to prevent further coral decline of the Great Barrier Reef according to the article?
a. Improve water quality.
b. Reduce global carbon dioxide emissions.
c. Disrupt the coral­eating starfish’s ability to build structures.
d. Control the population of the crown­of­thorns starfish.
e. Make ocean absorb more carbon dioxide from the air.

A．a, b, c	B．a, b, d
C．a, c, e	D．b, d, e

【推荐2】Plastics remain one of the most - used materials for making many things. Things made of plastics can be very strong and last a long time. Plastics are also much lighter than metal and can easily be formed into different shapes. Plastics can take hundreds of years to break down on their own. And very few kinds are highly recyclable.

A team of researchers working at the US Department of Energy says it has created a kind of plastic that could lead to products that are 100 percent recyclable. It recently reported the discovery in a study in the journal Nature Chemistry.

The researchers say the new material is a plastic polymer (聚合体)called polydiketoenamine, or PDK. The team reports the material can be broken down in parts at the molecular (分子的)level. It can then be built up again to form plastics of different shapes, textures and colors. The researchers say this process can be repeated over and over again—without the plastic material losing any performance or quality.

"Most plastics were never made to be recycled, ” lead researcher Peter Christensen said in a statement. " But we have discovered a new way to assemble plastics that takes recycling into consideration from a molecular perspective. ”

Many plastics have different chemicals added to them to make them more useful and powerful. The problem is that these chemicals attach to the monomers (单体),which remain in plastics even after the material gets processed at a recycling plant. The research team reported that, with the newly discovered PDK material, the monomers could be recovered and separated from any chemical additives.

Next, the researchers plan to develop PDK plastics "with a wide range of thermal and mechanical properties. These plastics could be used for many kinds of cloth, as well as things such as 3D printed materials and foams. In addition, the team is trying to include plant - based materials in the process.

1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A．Plastics are never highly recyclable.

B．Plastics are widely used in our lives.

C．Plastics have both advantages and disadvantages.

D．Plastics take hundreds of years to be broken down.

2. What does the underlined word “It” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The new material.	B．The research team.
C．The molecular level.	D．The producing process.

3. Why do many plastics have different chemicals added to them?

A．To make them easy to break down.

B．To make them easy to get processed.

C．To make it possible for them to be recycled.

D．To make them stronger and more widely used.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．PDK plastics will be soon put to good use.

B．PDK plastics may have a promising prospect.

C．The researchers are busy developing PDK plastics.

D．Plant - based materials have been used in the new plastics.

【推荐3】Psychopaths, by definition, have problems understanding the emotions of other people, which partly explains why they are so selfish and why they commit violent crimes at up to three times the rate of other people.

But curiously, they seem to have no difficulty in understanding what other people think, want, or believe."Their behavior seems to suggest that they don't consider the thoughts of others," says ArielleBaskin-Sommers from Yale University, but their performance on experiments suggests otherwise. When they hear a story and are asked to say what a character is thinking, they can.

On the face of it, this makes sense: Here are people who can understand what their victims are thinking but just don't care. Hence their actions. But Baskin-Sommers found that there's more to their minds than it seems.

Bakin-Sommers managed to persuade a maximum-security prison in Connecticut to let her work with their prisoners. First, Baskin-Sommers administered a standard test to 106 male prisoners from the Connecticut prison to assess psychopathy. Of them, 22 proved to be psychopaths, 28 were not, and the rest fell in a gray zone.

After assessing the 106 volunteers, she then gave them a computer-based task. They saw a picture of a human avatar (化身) in prison uniforms, standing in a room and facing either right or left. There were either two red dots on the wall in front of the avatar, or one dot in front of it and one dot behind it, The prisoners’ job was to figure out how many dots either they or the avatar could see.

Normally, people can accurately say how many dots the avatar sees, but they're slower if there are dots behind the avatar. Thar's because what they see (two dots) affects their ability to see through the avatar's eyes(one dot), This is called egocentric interference. But they're also slower to say how many dots they can see if that number differs from the avatar's count. People are automatically affected by the avatar's perspective, even when it hurts their own performance. This is called altercentic interference.

Baskin-Sommers found that the psychopathic prisoners showed the usual level of egocentric interference-that is, their own perspective was muscling in on the avatar's, But they showed much less altercentric interference than the other prisoners- the avatar's perspective wasn't messing with their own, as it would for most other people.

Of course, not all psychopaths are the same, and they vary considerably in their behavior. But Baskin-Sommers also found fhat the higher their score on the psychopathy assessment test, the less they were affected by what the avatar saw. And the less affected they were, the more charges they had on their record.

To her, the results show that psychopaths do not automatically take the perspective of other people. That helps to explain why they behave so cruelly and even violently.

1. What does "otherwise" (in paragraph 2) refer to ?

A．Pychopaths' behavior is not worth studying

B．Psychopaths can understand others' thoughts

C．Psychopaths have trouble knowing about others.

D．Psychopaths' perfomance on experiments is unbelievable

2. Baskin-Sommers's research with the prisoners involved.

A．asking them to say the number of the dots they or the avatar could see

B．reading their medical records to see whether they were psychopaths.

C．requiring them to figure out which avatar messed in with them

D．decreasing the effect of the avatar on their performance

3. What can be inferred from the results of Baskin Sommers's work the prisoners?

A．It's more difficult for psychopaths to work out what they themselves are thinking about.

B．Egocentric interference are more related to criminal acts than altercentric imerference.

C．People showing more altercentric interference are less likely to be psychopaths.

D．Psychopaths tend to be affected by the avatar to the same degree.

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

A．Varieties of Psychopaths

B．How Psychopaths See the World

C．Psychopaths and Their Perspectives

D．Why Psychopaths Need More Understanding

【推荐1】The newspaper must provide for the reader the facts, pure, unprejudiced, objectively selected facts. But in these days of complex news it must provide more: it must supply interpretation, the meaning of the facts. This is a very important assignment facing American journalists - to make clear to the reader the problems of the day, to make international news understandable as community news, to recognize that there is no longer any such thing as "local" news, because any event in the international area has a local reaction in the financial market, political circles, in terms, indeed, of our very way of life. There is in journalism a widespread view that when you start an interpretation, you are entering dangerous waters, the rushing tides of opinion. This is nonsense.

The opponents of interpretation insist that the writer and the editor shall limit themselves to the "facts". This insistence raises two questions: What are the facts? Are the bare facts enough?

As for the first question, consider how a so-called "factual" story comes about. The reporter collects, say, fifty facts; out of these fifty, his space being necessarily restricted, he selects the ten which he considers most important. This is Judgment Number One. Then he or his editor decides which of these ten facts shall make up the beginning of the article, which is an important decision because many readers do not proceed beyond the first paragraph. This is Judgment Number Two. Then the night editor determines whether the article shall be presented on page one, where it has a large influence, or on page twenty four, where it has little. Judgment Number Three.

Thus in the presentation of a so-called "factual" or"objective" story, at least three judgments are involved. And they are judgments not at all unlike those involved in interpretation, in which reporters and editors, calling upon their research resources, their general background, and heir "news neutralism", arrive at a conclusion as to the significance of the news.

The two areas of judgment, presentation of the news and its interpretation, are both objective and subjective processes. If an editor is determined to give a prejudiced view of the news, he can do it in other ways and more effectively than by interpretation. He can do it by the selection of those facts that support his particular viewpoint. Or he can do it by the place he gives a story - promoting it to page one or dragging it to page thirty.

1. According to the first paragraph, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．If a reporter makes clear the facts he writes, he will no doubt get into trouble.

B．Journalists must select facts objectively to make current events clear to the readers.

C．The most important task of reporters is to provide unprejudiced facts for the readers.

D．For reporters, interpretation of facts is no less important than presentation of the facts.

2. The beginning of the article should present the most important fact because________.

A．it will influence the reader to continue

B．many readers read only the first paragraph

C．it details the general attitude of the writer

D．it's the best way to write according to the schools of journalism

3. Where a story is presented in a newspaper shows________.

A．the editor's prejudice

B．the reporter's background

C．the story's factual matter

D．the story's effect on the readers

4. Which of the following can best express the author's attitude toward objectiveness?

A．Objectiveness is controlled by editors rather than writers.

B．Properly choosing facts prepares a solid ground for objectiveness.

C．He doesn't think there exists complete objectiveness in news writing.

D．To make clear the news is a way to be objective and responsible for the readers.

【推荐2】University of Pennsylvania researchers say that for the first time they have linked social media use to increases in depression and loneliness． The idea that social media is anything but social when it comes to mental health has been talked about for years， but not many studies have managed to actually link the two． To do that， Penn researchers， led by psychologist Melissa Hunt， designed a study that focused on WeChat， Snapchat and Instagram．

The study was conducted with 143 participants， who before they began， completed a mood survey and sent along photos of their battery screens， showing how often they were using their phones to access social media． "We set out to do a much more complete study which attempts to imitate real life．" Hunt said．

The study divided the participants into two groups： The first group was allowed to maintain their normal social media habits． The other， the control group， was restricted to 10 minutes per day on social media． The restrictions were put in place for three weeks and then the participants returned and were tested for outcomes such as fear of missing out， anxiety， depression and loneliness．

The results showed a very clear link between social media use and increased levels of depression and loneliness． "Using less social media than you normally do would lead to significant decreases in both depression and loneliness，" Hunt said．

Social media invites what Hunt calls "downward social comparison．" "When you're online， it can sometimes seem that everyone else is cooler and having more fun and included in more things and you're left out，" Hunt said． And that's just generally discouraging． "Every minute you spend online is a minute you are not doing your work or not meeting a friend for dinner or having a deep conversation with your roommate．" And these real life activities are the ones that can encourage self﹣esteem and self﹣worth， Hunt added．

"People are on their devices， and that's not going to change，" she said． But as in life， a bit of control goes a long way．

1. Before the study was conducted， the participants completed a survey to　 　．

A．imitate people's real life

B．link loneliness to depression

C．show their use of social media

D．prove social media is important

2. The results of the study showed using less social media would result in　 　．

A．people's fear of missing out

B．higher levels of depression

C．obvious relief in loneliness

D．lower levels of happiness

3. In Hunt's opinion， which activity benefits more to mental health？

A．Hiking out with friends．

B．Making comparison with others．

C．Playing computer games in spare time．

D．Logging onto social media and having fun．

4. Which can be the best title of the passage？

A．A Study on Social Media．

B．How to Improve Mental Health．

C．People Addicted to Social Media．

D．Social Media Influences Mental Health．

【推荐3】The twilight zone (朦胧地带) contains the largest and least explored fish stocks (储备) of the world’s oceans. Ranging from just below 200 metres to 1,000 metres deep, it is an interface between the well-studied sea life in the sunlit zone above and the ecosystems of the darkest territory below. It has a major role in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it for centuries or longer. The twilight zone is also known to the largest migration on Earth. Huge numbers of fishes and zooplankton (浮游动物) move hundreds of metres towards the surface each night to feed, before withdrawing back down at dawn.

Yet the zone is poorly understood — physically,     biogeochemically and ecologically. Even the number of organisms that live there remains a mystery, let alone their diversity and function.

It is alarming, then, that this vast ocean domain is at risk in three ways-even before any of the potential consequences are understood. First, the world’s growing population has an increasing need for food. Second, sea-floor mining for minerals and metals could release waste into the region. And   third, climate change is varying temperature, acidification and oxygen levels in ways that are likely to affect life there.

The twilight zone is hard Io study. Its organisms are difficult to sample and analyse, being thinly distributed, almost invisible and often fragile. They also live at pressures of up to 100 atmospheres, which poses problems for laboratory-based investigations.

Critics might argue that walers near coasts and above shelves are more deserving of study, given the huge environmental pressures there, as well as their importance to societies. And, of course, they need attention. Sadly, however, it is too late to avoid widespread environmental damage to these inshore regions. Instead, research efforts and local policies must aim at minimizing the worst effects.

By contrast, the twilight zone is almost left in its original condition. Moreover, the majority of it lies beyond national administration. This makes it of common interest and responsibility, and means that global agreement is necessary to manage it.

1. What can we learn about the twilight zone?

A．It has the least fish stocks.

B．It reduces atmosphere’s carbon dioxide.

C．It lies at the bottom of sea.

D．Il is located above the sunlit zone.

2. What does Paragraph 3 mainly tell us?

A．Where global warming leads us.

B．Why high food consumption arises.

C．How the twilight zone is threatened.

D．What impacts pollution has on ocean.

3. What does the underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refer to?

A．The twilight zone.	B．The inshore area.
C．Its original condition.	D．National administration.

4. Which statement does the author agree with?

A．International cooperation is essential.

B．Inshore regions deserve more attention.

C．Global agreement has been reached.

D．Study on the twilight zone is out of the question.