【推荐1】A young kangaroo is lucky to be alive today thanks to a pair of New South Wales teenagers.

Nick Heath and Jack Donnelly, both 19, were riding their motorbikes in the bush outside Sydney on Sunday when they came across a kangaroo stuck in the mud.

The boys saw the head of the animal sticking out of the mud at Agnes Banks near the Nepean River in southwest Sydney. The animal was clearly in pain but the boys couldn’t reach it, so they raced home to get some rope. When they returned, Mr. Donnelly tied the rope around his waist and walked into the thick mud to get hold of the kangaroo while his friend then pulled them about 30 meters to safety.

Appearing on Today this morning, the young men retold their experience to save the animal.

“The kanguarwo’s life was important to us sowe pulled out all the stops to rescue it,” Mr. Heath said. “We lake pride in what we did. If we see something like that again, we’ll do it all over again,” Mr Heath added.

The animal, while not in great health after being save, was handed to wildlife rescue organization WIRES. It’s believed that the kangaroo was likely searching for water in the dry conditions when it got stuck in the mud.

As for the heroes of the story, they re glad to have been in the right place at the right time to help the animal—and don’t mind the attention it’s brought.

“Yeah we liked it, something different,” Mr. Donnelly told news.com.au.

1. What did the teenagers do on seeing the kangaroo?

A．They walked into the mud to save it.

B．They rode in the bush to look for help.

C．They went back home for some rope.

D．They tried to keep its head out of the mud.

2. What did Mr. Heath mean by saying the underlined words in Paragraph 5?

A．They stopped to think before acting.

B．They tried their best to save the animal.

C．They walked out of the mud without difficulty.

D．They were not sure if they should save the animal.

3. What do we know about the kangaroo?

A．It’s in good care.

B．It’s still in great danger.

C．It nearly died from thirst.

D．It ran too fast to notice the mud.

4. How did the teenagers feel after rescuing the kangaroo?

A．They were delighted and proud.

B．They were worn-out but excited.

C．They were worried about the kangaroo.

D．They were uncomfortable with the attention.

【推荐2】SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - An Arizona aquarium (水族馆) is joyfully celebrating the successful hatching of three endangered African penguin chicks, emphasizing the tiny additions are genetically valuable as zoos and aquariums worldwide work to ensure the species’ survival through breeding (培育) programs and conservation efforts.

The announcement was made by officials at OdySea Aquarium on Friday, accompanied by a delightful video showcasing the cute birds. Hatched a few weeks ago, the chicks will remain behind the scenes with their parents until they’re ready for a public appearance.

African penguins have faced a significant population decline over the decades, earning them endangered status from the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Jessica Peranteau, director of animal training and education at the aquarium, expressed that any successful hatching is a cause for celebration. “As the population of the African penguin continues to rapidly decline-down 23% in the past two years alone-OdySea Aquarium remains committed to the survival of the species in partnership with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums,” stated Peranteau. The breeding program established by the association aims to build up a genetic pool for the species.

Officials say two of the three new chicks in Scottsdale were born to parents Mojo and Lemieux-a power couple of sorts that was selected for pairing as part of the breeding program. The third chick was born to first-time parents Bubbles and Weasley. Aquarium workers will regularly conduct “chick checks,” brief exams to monitor their growth and development and ensure they are hitting all necessary milestones.

The three chicks have yet to be named, and their sex has not yet been determined. For now they’re known by their numbers,42,43 and 44. In all, OdySea Aquarium now houses 40 African penguins and has recorded 13 successful hatchings. The aquarium bills itself as the largest in the Southwest.

1. Why is the hatching of African penguin chicks a cause for celebration?

A．To hold significant genetic value.	B．To promote tourism in Scottsdale.
C．To meet the demands of the public.	D．To boost the population of sea animals.

2. What is the goal of the breeding program in the text?

A．Establishing a gene bank for the species.	B．Conducting research on penguin behavior.
C．Improving new aquarium facilities.	D．Promoting African penguin tourism.

3. What information is provided about the three penguin chicks?

A．They share the same parents.	B．Their gender remains unidentified.
C．They are hit regularly with stones.	D．Their growth is not closely monitored.

4. What is the text?

A．Technology Review.	B．Entertainment Feature.
C．Species Protection Report.	D．Zoological Exhibition Notice.

【推荐3】“Dining out”, or “eating out”, is a phrase people use in Britain when they eat in a restaurant or a pub. Eating out is more popular in Britain today than ever before.
However, eating out can be expensive. Restaurants are normally more expensive than pubs, though many pubs serve very good, simple food. As British people don’t dine out every night of the week, eating in a restaurant is often seen as a special occasion. When going for the first date, or if celebrating an anniversary or a birthday, many people like to go to a restaurant. People often eat in a restaurant before going to the cinema or the theatre.
As in all cultures, there are many rules of etiquette (礼节)surrounding food and eating, and nowhere is this more pronounced than when eating in a smart restaurant. People are almost always expected to eat with a knife and fork and these should be held in the correct hand and used in the correct way. It is also impolite to have your elbows on the dining table when you are eating.
There’re many such “unspoken” rules — they are normally only important when eating in a very elegant and expensive restaurant, and vary slightly from restaurant to restaurant and place to place. A recent nationwide survey showed that there was a divide in manners between the north and south of Britain — the “worst” manners were in Scotland and the northeast, and the “best” in Wales and the southeast! However, this survey was almost certainly conducted by someone in the southeast, so it may not be entirely fair.
Naturally, restaurants vary greatly in quality and price. However, almost all British cities have a vast range of food and cooking styles to choose from as well as traditional British food,. from the very cheap to the very expensive — French, Italian, Indian, Greek, Thai, Japanese and many more. In fact, when asked what their favorite food is, many British people say an Indian curry (咖喱菜）rather than any other dish!
As well as dining in a restaurant, when people are too tired to cook after work they often get a “takeaway”. This means they order from a takeaway or takeout restaurant by phone, then go to collect it and take it home to eat. Many takeout restaurants also deliver to your house. While you can normally find a takeout restaurant for almost any cuisine, the most popular are Italian, Indian and Chinese — and all you have to do is to open the door, pay and eat!
1. What can be concluded from the first two paragraphs?

A．The British spend more eating out than cooking at home.

B．The British pay great attention to eating in a restaurant.

C．The British often dine out when celebrating festivals.

D．People tend to eat in a restaurant after watching a movie.

2. The underlined word ^“pronounced” in Paragraph 3 probably means “_____”.

A．polite

B．expensive

C．strange

D．obvious

3. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A．There exist great differences of rules in different restaurants.

B．People from Wales and southeast Britain are the most polite.

C．Your order in a takeout restaurant can be sent to your home.

D．Traditional British food is seldom served in British restaurants.

4. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．Restaurant culture in Britain.	B．Table manners in Britain.
C．Different restaurants in Britain.	D．Traditional and foreign foods in Britain.

【推荐1】No longer in the pink

The world is going to have to start thinking thoroughly to save its coral reefs. Corals are comeback creatures. As the world froze and melted and sea levels rose and fell over 30,000 years, Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which is roughly the size of Italy, died and revived five times. But now, thanks to human activity, corals face the most complex mixture of conditions they have yet had to deal with.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a rise in global temperatures of 1.5°C relative to pre-industrial times could cause coral reefs to decline by 70-90%. When waters become unusually warm, corals throw out the algae, leaving reefs a ghostly white. This ''bleaching'' is happening five times as often as it did in the 1970s.

Corals need protection from local sources of harm. Their ecosystems suffer from coastal currents, whether dirty water or waste from farms. Plastic and other rubbish block sunlight and spread aggressive bacteria. Governments need to carry out tighter rules on these industries, such as tougher local building codes, and to put more effort into strengthening rules against overfishing.

Many reefs that have been damaged could benefit from restoration. Coral's biodiversity offers hope, because the same coral will grow differently under different conditions. Corals of the western Pacific near Indonesia, for example, can survive higher temperatures than the same species in the eastern Pacific near Hawaii.

Stronger measures to fight against the larger threats corals face should also attract more research. Shading reefs using a polymer film as a sunscreen to cool them is under discussion for parts of the Great Barrier Reef. Other schemes to help corals involve genetic engineering, selective breeding and brightening the clouds in the sky above an area of the reef by spraying salt into the lowest ones, so that they turn away more of the sun's energy. These measures may sound extreme, but people need to get used to thinking big. Dealing with the problems caused by climate change will call for some far-reaching ideas.

1. Thorough thinking is needed to save the coral reefs because __________.

A．corals have come back in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

B．corals are frozen and melted five times over 30,000 years

C．corals are strong enough to survive human activity

D．human activity are threatening the condition of coral reefs

2. The underlined word ''bleaching'' most probably means _______.

A．warming	B．throwing out
C．whitening	D．dying

3. Corals are being damaged by the following local sources EXCEPT ___________.

A．coastal water flows	B．more sunlight
C．waste from farms	D．bad bacteria

4. Some extreme solutions to saving corals are mentioned in the passage in order to ______.

A．encourage people to come up with more ideas

B．introduce some advanced technological progress

C．raise people's awareness of protecting the environment

D．warn people of the threats and risks corals are facing

【推荐2】In a new look at the impact of long-time sitting behavior on health， a new study links time watching television to an increased risk of death.   One of the most surprising findings is that it isn't just couch potatoes who were affected.   Even for people who exercised regularly， the risk of death went up the longer they were in front of the TV.   The problem was the long periods of time spent sitting still.

Australian researchers who tracked 8，800 people for an average of six years found that those who said they watched TV for more than four hours a day were 46% more likely to die of any cause and 80% more likely to die of cardiovascular（心血管的）disease than people who reported spending less than two hours a day in front of TV.

Time spent in front of TVs and computers and video games has come under fire in studies in recent years for contributing to a spread of obesity in the US and around the world.   But typically the resulting public-health message urges children and adults to put down the Xbox controller and remote and get on a treadmill（跑步机）or a soccer field.

The Australian study offers a different view.   "It's not the sweaty type of exercise we're losingsays David Dunstan， a researcher at Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute？ Melbourne？ who led the study.   "It's the incidental moving around？ standing up and using muscles.   That doesn't happen when we are planted on a couch in front of a television.

Indeed？ participants in the study reported getting between 30 and 45 minutes of exercise a day？ on average.

The results are supported by a new field of research that shows how long periods of inactivity can affect the body's processing of fats and other substances that contribute to heart risk.   And they suggest that people can help decrease such risk simply by avoiding extended periods of sitting.

Keeping such processes working more effectively doesn't require constant intense exercise， but consciously adding more routine movement to your life might help？ doctors say.   "Just standing is better than sitting，" says Gerard Fletcher， a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic， Jacksonville， Fla.   ， who works standing up at his computer.   "When you stand up， you wander around a little bit and use muscles not required when you are sitting or lying down. "

Simple strategies for increasing activity include combining household chores such as folding laundry with TV-watching time or getting up to change a TV channel rather than using a remote control.

The report， published Tuesday in the American Heart Association journal Circulation focuses on TV watching partly because it is the main leisure-time activity in many countries？ researchers said， especially in the US.

1. One misunderstanding people might have is that___.

A．couch potatoes were affected by long-time sitting.

B．watching TV is related with increased death risk.

C．watching TV very long is a good way to kill time.

D．regular exercise can minimize the side effect of watching TV

2. What is new about the discovery of the Australian study？___

A．Remote control shouldn't be used when people watch TV.

B．People who watch TV too long should take more physical exercise.

C．Sitting too long in front of TV will lead to high risk of heart attack.

D．Long-time sitting is bad for all people including those who exercise regularly.

3. According to the study？ how can people reduce the risk of death when watching TV？___

A．By increasing simple movement.

B．By totally avoiding watching TV.

C．By taking some medicine.

D．By doing sweaty type of exercise.

【推荐3】I was determined to learn swimming at the age of ten. There was a pool, at the K.P.L.B., offering the opportunity. My mother constantly warned against it, and bore fresh in my mind the details of each drowning in the river. But the K.P.L.B. pool was safe.

My fear of water started from childhood. It began when I was four years old and father took me to the beach. There the huge waves knocked me down and swept over me.

The K.P.L.B. pool was quiet. I was afraid of going in all alone, so I sat on the side of the pool to wait for others. Then came a big boy. He yelled, “Hi, Skinny! How’d you like to be ducked?” With that he picked me up and threw me into the deep end. I landed in a sitting position, and swallowed water. But I was not frightened out of my wits—when my feet hit the bottom, I would make a big jump, come out of the surface. It seemed a long way down. I gathered all my strength when I landed and made what I thought was a great spring upwards. Then I opened my eyes and saw nothing but water. I tried to yell but no sound came out. I went down, down, endlessly.

When I came to consciousness, I found myself on the bed in the hospital.

I never went back to the pool. I avoided water whenever I could. This misadventure stayed with me as the years rolled by. It deprived me of the joy of boating and swimming. Finally, I decided to get an instructor. Piece by piece, I practiced hard and finally he built a swimmer. Several months later, the instructor was finished, but I was not. Sometimes the terror would return.

This went on till July. I swam across the Lake Wentworth. Only once did the terror return. When I was in the middle of the lake, I put my face under and saw nothing but bottomless water. I laughed and said, “Well, Mr. Terror, what do you think you can do to me?”

I had conquered my fear of water.

1. The author’s original fear of water was brought about by     .

A．an outing to the beach with his father	B．his poor skill in swimming
C．his mother’s warning of drowning	D．an unpleasant memory of the pool

2. Why was the author not scared to death when he was thrown into the water?

A．He came up with an idea to go upwards.

B．He knew how to swim in the pool.

C．He felt that the K. P. L. B. pool was safe.

D．He was waiting for others to save him.

3. Which of the following can be used to describe the author?

A．Demanding and courageous.	B．Determined and far-sighted.
C．Dependable and adaptable.	D．Diligent and cautious.

4. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．When swimming across the Lake Wentworth, the author’s still awfully scared.

B．Recovering from the hospital, the author showed no interest in water activities.

C．Under the guidance of the instructor, the author could swim freely and bravely.

D．At first the author dare not swim on his own and wanted others’ company.

【推荐2】More and more parents are worrying about their daughters who have become overweight. Girls who think they aren’t popular at school are at higher risk for weight gain, according to a new study. It’s long been known that being overweight can lead to social exclusion for teens, but researchers at Harvard University discovered: whether a student’s opinions of her social position played a role in her weight.

To find out, the researchers measured the body weight of nearly 4,500 girls aged 12 to 18. Two years later, the researchers found all of the girls had gained weight—no surprise, since they were all growing. But girls who thought they were less popular at school were at a 70 percent higher risk of gaining extra weight.

The researchers considered something else besides the collected information, including whether a child was overweight at the start of the study, family income, a mother’s weight, diet, television viewing habits and some other things that can affect childhood weight gain. But the opinions of girl’s popularity are more likely to affect the girls, weight.

Experts suggested that parents concerned about a girl’s weight should look not only at eating habits but also at their child's social network, encouraging relationships with friends and joining in group activities. Meanwhile schools should also organize more programs to help girls build social skills, they added.

1. Which kind of girls is less likely to gain extra weight?

A．Those who like watching TV for a long time per day.

B．Those whose parents show no sign of being overweight.

C．Those who are self-centered and not optimistic.

D．Those who enjoy meals rich in high oil and fat.

2. What can parents do in controlling their teenage girls’ weight?

A．They encourage their kids to study hard.

B．They ask their daughters to cat whatever they want.

C．They record the body weight measurements of their own kids.

D．They make their kids communicate more with others.

3. What can be concluded from this passage?

A．A rising number of teenager girls are becoming overweight.

B．Some schools have already organized various activities for teenage girls.

C．Girls aged 17 are certainly heavier than those aged 14.

D．The researchers reached the final discovery only by studying the collected information.

4. How is the text organized?

A．topic—argument—description—conclusion

B．opinion—supporting examples—conclusion—advice

C．opinion—supporting examples—solution—advice

D．topic—argument—conclusion—solution

【推荐3】From the earliest times, man has been interested in art. People have often worked together to collect and save the world‘s art treasures.

Fine art treasures from many countries are kept in an art museum called the Louvre in Paris, France. The works of art have been collected by the people of France over many centuries.

The Louvre has not always been a museum. The first building was a fort. In 1190, it was the king’s castle with high walls and a round tower. It had a moat to prevent his enemies from walking in .

Over the years, the number of buildings around the castle grew. By 1350, the castle was no longer needed as a fort. The Louvre became a palace home for French kings and queens.

During times of peace, new treasures were brought in. During days of war, many treasures were stolen, and the buildings were damaged.

When Francis I became king of France in 1515, he brought in artists from many countries. One of the artists was Leonardo da Vinci from Italy. Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is the best known painting in the museum today.

In 1793, the Louvre became a public museum, just as it is now. It is a place where art treasures have been saved for everyone to enjoy.

1. On the whole, this passage is mainly about____.

A．an art museum called the Louvre	B．an Italian artist named Leonardo da Vinci
C．a king of France named Francis I	D．the best known painting in Louvre

2. From the passage we know that _____.

A．the Louvre has always been a museum.

B．old forts always make the best museums.

C．Nowadays even the ordinary people can enjoy the art treasures in the Louvre.

D．king Francis I of France brought in artists from an old fort

3. In the third paragraph, the underlined word moat probably means_____.

A．a high tower built in former times where soldiers watched out for enemies

B．a long and deep ditch dug round a castle and was usually filled with water.

C．a cart pulled by horses on which soldiers fought

D．a long and high wall around castle