【推荐2】Still seeking a destination for your weekend break? There are some places which are probably a mere walk away from your college.

King's Art Centre

A day at the Centre could mean a visit to an exhibition of the work of one of the most interesting contemporary artists on show anywhere. This weekend sees the opening of an exhibition of four local artists.

You could attend a class teaching you how to ‘learn from the masters’ or get more creative with paint—free of charge.

The Centre also runs two life drawing classes for which there is a small fee.

The Botanic Garden

The Garden has over 8,000 plant species；it holds the research and teaching collection of living plants for Cambridge University.

The multibranched Torch Aloe here is impressive. The African plant produces red flowers above bluegreen leaves, and is not one to miss.

Get to the display house to see Dionaea muscipula, a plant more commonly known as the Venus Flytrap that feeds on insects and other small animals.

The Garden is also a place for wildlife enthusiasts. Look for grass snakes in the lake. A snake called ‘Hissing Sid’ is regularly seen lying in the heat of the warm sun.

Byron's Pool

Many stories surround Lord Byron's time as a student of Cambridge University.   Arriving in 1805, he wrote a letter complaining that it was a place of “mess and drunkenness”. However, it seems as though Byron did manage to pass the time pleasantly enough. I'm not just talking about the pet bear he kept in his rooms. He spent a great deal of time walking in the village.

It is also said that on occasion Byron swam naked by moonlight in the lake, which is now known as Byron's Pool. A couple of miles past Grantchester in the south Cambridgeshire countryside, the pool is surrounded by beautiful circular paths around the fields. The cries of invisible birds make the trip a lovely experience and on the way home you can drop into the village for afternoon tea. If you don't trust me, then perhaps you'll take it from Virginia Woolf—over a century after Byron, she reportedly took a trip to swim in the same pool.

1. According to the passage, there is a small charge for ______.

A．seeing an exhibition

B．learning life drawing

C．working with local artists

D．attending the masters' class

2. “Torch Aloe” and “Venus Flytrap” are ______.

A．common insects	B．rarely seen snakes
C．impressive plants	D．wildlife-enthusiasts

3. In the passage Byron's Pool is described as a lake ______.

A．owned by Lord Byron	B．surrounded by fields
C．located in Grantchester	D．discovered by Virginia Woolf

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Unknown stories of Cambridge University.

B．The colourful life in the countryside.

C．A way to become creative in art.

D．Some places for weekend break.

【推荐3】Holidays

Holiday News Vacancies(空位) now and in the school holidays at a country hotel in Devon. This comfortable, friendly home-from-home lies near the beautiful quiet countryside, but just a drive away from the sea. The food is simple but good. Children and pets are welcome. Reduced prices for low season.

The Snowdonia Centre The Snowdonia Centre for young mountain climbers has a mountain climbing lesson. The beginners’ costs are ￡57 for a week, including food and rooms. Equipment is included except walking shoes, which can be hired at a low cost. You must be in good health and prepared to go through a period of body exercises. This could be the beginning of a lifetime of mountain climbing adventure.

The World Sea Trip of a Lifetime Our World Sea Trip of 2008 will be unlike any holiday you have ever been on before. Instead of one hotel after another, with all its packing and unpacking, waiting and traveling, you just go to bed in one country and wake up in another. On board the ship, you will be well taken care of. Every meal will be first-class and every cabin like your home. During the trip, you can rest on deck(甲板), enjoy yourself in the games rooms and in the evening dance to our musical team and watch our wonderful play. You will visit all the places most people only dream about — from Acapulco and Hawaii to Tokoy and Hong Kong. For a few thousand pounds, all you’ve ever hoped for can be yours.

1. What can you do if you like to go on holidays with pets?

A．Choose the holiday in Devon.	B．Go to the Snowdonia Centre.
C．Join the World Sea Trip of 2008.	D．Visit Acapulco and Hawaii.

2. In what way is the Snowdonia Centre different from the other two holidays?

A．It provides chances of family gatherings.	B．It provides customers with good food.
C．It offers a sports lesson.	D．It offers comfortable rooms.

3. What is special about the World Sea Trip of 2008?

A．You can have free meals on deck every day.

B．You can sleep on a ship and tour many places.

C．You will have chances to watch and act in a play.

D．You have to do your own packing and unpacking.

【推荐2】Drinking enough water is important, but kids don’t seem to feel attracted to drinking enough water. Hopefully, this list of healthy drinks for your kids offers tasty solutions now!

Fresh Lemonade

Lemonade is widely popular among kids all over the world.

People make the sweet as well as the sour (酸的) lemonade. The lemon brings the sour taste, while sugar and salt decide the sweetness and sourness of the drink.

The drink is served cold with ice. It is important to remove seeds (籽) from the lemon juice before adding it to the water-sugar mixture.

Banana Shake

It is the most common one introduced to kids at an early age. This is due to the ease of eating bananas.

Banana contains a lot of nutrients (营养物) and provides natural sweetness to drinks. You can cut small pieces of one banana and include sugar and milk to prepare the shake.

Coconut Water

If you are specifically looking for a choice in water, coconut water is the perfect healthy drink for your kids. Coconut water contains a high content of nutrients. It also delivers a certain amount of sugar and protein.

You can find fresh coconut water in the market. If possible, get the fresh coconut water instead of the packaged one.

Ginger Tea

Ginger tea is helpful in protecting from common cold and flu.

You will need a small ginger piece and mix it with warm water. Add lemonade and honey to make it sweet and sour at the same time.

This tea can be served warm in winter. You can also make it a cold tea by serving with ice in summer.

1. What does the author advise people to do about making lemon juice?

A．Add much water.	B．Cut a lemon into pieces.
C．Get packaged lemons.	D．Take away lemon seeds.

2. Which is the most common drink for a young child according to the text?

A．Ginger Tea.	B．Banana Shake.
C．Coconut Water.	D．Fresh Lemonade.

3. Who is the text mainly intended for?

A．Parents.

B．Teenagers.

C．businessmen.

D．Children.

【推荐3】The National Gallery
Description:
The National Gallery is the British national art museum built on the north side of European art ranging from 13th-century religious paintings to more modern ones by Renoir and Van Gogh. The older collections of the gallery are reached through the main entrance while the more modern works in the East Wing are most easily reached from Trafalgar Square by a ground floor entrance.
Layout:
The modern Sainsbury Wing on the western side of the building houses 13th-to15th-century paintings, and artists include Duccio, Uccello, VanEyck, Lippi, Mantegna, Botticelli and Memling.
The main West Wing houses 16th-century paintings, and artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Cranach, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bruegel, Bronzino, Titan and Veronest.
The North Wing houses 17th-century paintings, and artists include Caravaggio, Rubens, Poussin, Van Dyck, Velazquez, Claude and Vermeer.
The East Wing houses 18th-to early 20th-century paintings, and artists include Canaletto, Goya, Turner, Constable, Renoir and Van Gogh.
Opening Hours:
The Gallery is open every day from 10am to 6pm（Fridays 10am to 9pm）and is free, but charges apply to some special exhibitions.
Getting There:
Nearest underground stations: Charing Cross（2-minute walk）. Leicester Square（3-minute walk）,Embankment（7-minute walk）,and Piccadilly Circus（8-minute walk）.
1. Where should you enter to enjoy the older collections ?

A．The main entrance.

B．The ground floor entrance.

C．The Trafalgar Square.

D．The East Wing.

2. In which century’s collection can you see paintings in the modern Sainsbury Wing ?

A．The 12th.	B．The 14th.
C．The 16th.	D．The 18th.

3. Where are Van Gogh’s works shown?

A．In the Sainsbury Wing.

B．In the main West Wing.

C．In the North Wing.

D．In the East Wing.

4. Which of the following is true according to the last 2 paragraphs?

A．You can enjoy the Gallery at 6am on Thursdays.

B．You are advised to go there only on Fridays.

C．Any special exhibitions are absolutely free of charge.

D．Charing Cross is the closest station to the Gallery.

【推荐1】Susan was a shy girl. She always had a hard time talking with new people. But when she grew up. she became a reporter. This job is usually for a person who likes to talk in front of people. But Susan thought that her shyness made her a better reporter. "Being shy makes me more believable people feel more comfortable around me. "she said.

It is reported that almost 50% of the people say that they are shy. Some people are not shy when they are with their friends. But when they are in a new place, they become quiet and shy.

Why are some people shy? Scientists did a study on two-month-old babies. They found that one of every five babies was very active. These active babies liked to make noise. And one of every five babies was always quiet. These quiet babies might be shy when they grew up.

Family also affects shyness. For example, children are more likely to be shy if their family always tell them that they are wrong. Studies show that if parents have fewer friends and fewer family activities. their children usually become shy.

In fact, shy people are often good at listening. They are good friends because they listen more than they talk. This can also make them successful.

1. What did Susan become when she grew up?

A．A nurse	B．A reporter.
C．A writer	D．A singer.

2. It is reported that almost ___________of the people say that they are shy.

A．30%	B．40%
C．50%	D．60%

3. What kind of baby might be shy when they grow up?

A．Naughty babies.	B．Active babies.
C．Noisy babies.	D．Quiet babies

4. What's the main idea of Paragraph 4?

A．Family also affects shyness.	B．Shy people talk less.
C．Shyness can be an advantage.	D．Babies are usually quiet.

5. Shy people are often good at____________.

A．Talking	B．singing
C．listening	D．working

【推荐3】Do you like to start your day with a cup of joe (咖啡)? Well, you wouldn't be alone. Millions of people from all over the world make a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, or at any time of day, for that matter. Cafes are everywhere these days, offering as many varieties of coffee as there are ways to have it served. And this leads to a range of prices, from cheap grab-and-go coffee, to the ultra-expensive artisanal coffee (匠人咖啡).However, an increasing number of Western consumers are happy to pay a little over the odds for their cup in order to ensure that it comes from an ethically (有道德地) produced and sustainable source.

At the Attendant, a cafe in east London, staff attempt to make customers aware of the story of the beans that they are drinking and the impact they are having by choosing to drink ethically. For a start, it can make coffee farmers up to three-and-a-half times better off, according to figures from the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization (Wipo). Ryan de Oliveria, the Attendant's co-founder and chief executive, says the extra income allows farmers and their families to have a better quality of life. It also makes investing or reinvesting in their business possible.

Wipo's figures show smarter processing, branding and marketing make a huge difference to the growers and their communities. Technology now means that the beans can be tracked all the way from the farm to the cup. The research shows that for a pound (454g) of beans going to a supermarket, the export price is $1.45. Most of this goes to the farmer. The price almost doubles when the beans are headed for large western coffee chains. But farmers exporting their beans to artisanal cafes make over SS per pound. That's because the coffee lovers who frequent these places are happy to pay more.

It seems that it's a win-win situation for the farmers, cafes and consumers. So much so that more established coffee businesses are jumping on the band wagon by buying up artisanal rivals who have already embraced this way of doing things. If that's the case, then the future of coffee production looks a little fairer for all. And that's something that should get anyone up on the right side of bed.

1. Why do more and more westerners prefer ethical coffee?

A．To appreciate the hard work done by coffee producers.

B．To get more luxury containers of coffee at the same time.

C．To invest more money into the business of coffee growing.

D．To make farmers' life better and more reliable coffee as well.

2. How much will you pay if you purchase coffee in a large coffee chain?

A．$1.45.

B．$3.00

C．$4.35.

D．$5.00.

3. What implied meaning can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．Buying ethical coffee can make farmers live better.

B．Purchasing ethical coffee will benefit traders more.

C．Ethical trade will bring all of us a more credible life.

D．Having ethical coffee can make us feel comfortable.

【推荐1】A history of vaccination

EBOLA, a deadly virus, has become one of the world’s biggest problems this summer. Since last December, it has killed over 1,200 people, most of them in West Africa.

Scientists all over the world are acting to stop the “monster”. They are developing medicines, but more importantly, they are experimenting with vaccines to prevent people from getting infected in the first place.

That change happened largely because of the British doctor and scientist Edward Jenner, the pioneer of smallpox vaccination. Vaccination has always been a powerful shield against diseases. The names of those diseases used to be frightening household names, but now they are all but forgotten.

Jenner was born in England in 1749. In his time, smallpox was one of the greatest killers of the period, especially among children. But Jenner noticed that milkmaids seldom caught smallpox.

What was the secret? Jenner had a brave guess: Cows sometimes caught “cowpox”, a disease similar to smallpox but much less dangerous. The pus from the cow’s body got onto the milkmaids’ hands and protected them from smallpox.

In 1796 Jenner carried out an experiment on an 8-year-old boy, the son of his gardener. He first made some scratches on the boy’s arm, and then rubbed the pus into them. Later, when the boy was exposed to the smallpox virus, he wasn’t infected.

Jenner’s theory was proven: a less dangerous virus makes your body learn to destroy it. Your body can then more easily destroy any similar viruses that it later meets.

However, many people couldn’t accept his idea at the time. To them, it was disgusting to put material from a diseased animal into someone’s body.

An opponent drew a cartoon in 1802 in which people who were vaccinated began to grow cow’s heads.

But the obvious effects of vaccination won out, and vaccination soon became widespread.

The terms “vaccine” and “vaccination” came from variolae vaccinae, which Jenner used to call “cowpox”. To honor Jenner, people are now using the terms for inoculation against any disease.

So, when will Jenner’s legacy save people from Ebola?

It won’t take long, according to the World Health Organization. It is expecting to consider the emergency use of Ebola vaccines by the end of 2014.

1. What does the article mainly talk about?

A．How vaccinations protect us from dangerous diseases.

B．The common efforts of scientists to find a cure for Ebola.

C．How the first vaccine and vaccinations came about.

D．Edward Jenner’s fight against smallpox.

2. From the text we can conclude that Jenner ______.

A．cured people after they had smallpox

B．interviewed many milkmaids before he tested his theory

C．found that the smallpox vaccine worked better on children than adults

D．came up with a theory based on observation and his knowledge of diseases

3. What could be inferred from the article?

A．Jenner’s smallpox vaccine could be used to fight against Ebola.

B．Smallpox vaccination was not widely accepted by the public at first.

C．The way vaccines work has changed a lot over the years.

D．It will only take months before Ebola vaccines are widely used.

【推荐2】Every week in China, millions of people will sit in front of their TVs watching teenagers compete for the title Character Hero, which is a Chinese-style spelling bee(拼写大赛). In this challenge, young competitors must write Chinese characters by hand. To prepare for the competition, the competitors usually spend months studying dictionaries.

Perhaps the show’s popularity should not be a surprise. Along with gunpowder and paper, many Chinese people consider the creation of Chinese calligraphy(书法)to be one of their primary contributions to civilization. Unfortunately, all over the country, Chinese people are forgetting how to write their own language without computerized help. Software on smart phones and computers allows users to type in the basic sound of the word using the Latin alphabet. The correct character is chosen from a list. The result? It’s possible to recognize characters without remembering how to write them.

But there’s still hope for the paint brush. China’s Education Ministry wants children to spend more time learning how to write.

In one Beijing primary school we visited, students practice calligraphy every day inside a specially decorated classroom with traditional Chinese paintings hanging on the walls. Soft music plays as a group of six-year-olds dip brush pens into black ink. They look up at the blackboard often to study their teacher’s examples before carefully attempting to reproduce those characters on thin rice paper. “If adults can survive without using handwriting, why bother to teach it now? ” we ask the calligraphy teacher, Shen Bin. “The ability to write characters is part of Chinese tradition and culture, ” she reasons. “Students must learn now so they don’t forget when they grow up. ” says the teacher.

1. What can we learn about the Character Hero?

A．It’s open to people of all ages and all walks.

B．It’s the most-viewed TV programs in China.

C．It aims to spread Chinese culture to the world.

D．It draws great public attention across the country.

2. Which of the following is closest to the underlined sentence in paragraph 2?

A．Every Chinese can write Chinese characters easily, especially with computers.

B．Only with the help of computers can some Chinese people write Chinese characters.

C．Despite the help of computers, Chinese people have forgotten how to write.

D．Computers are the only means to rely on to write Chinese characters for many people.

3. Why are Chinese people forgetting how to write the characters?

A．Chinese people don’t refer to dictionaries very often.

B．Chinese people no longer use brush pens or practice calligraphy.

C．Chinese people are using the Latin alphabet instead of the characters.

D．Chinese people needn’t write by hand as often with the help of technology.

4. According to Shen Bin, being able to write characters by hand is _______.

A．necessary for adults to survive in China

B．a requirement made by the Education Ministry

C．helpful to keep Chinese tradition and culture alive

D．an ability to be developed only when you are students

【推荐3】Chinese people had never paid more attention to the annual Nobel literature award than they did when Mo Yan became China’s first winner of the prize.

The effect has not disappeared. Tourists continue to rush to Mo’s home village in Gaomi, Shangdong province, which has become a tourist site since the author was awarded Nobel Prize. Visiting the village is to walk into the world he created in Red Sorghum Clan, one of his best-known novels, adapted for the award-winning film Red Sorghum by famous director Zhang Yimou in 1987.

About 210 hectares of red sorghum(高粱) is ready for harvesting, recalling this scene Mo wrote in the novel: "In the deep autumn of the eighth month under a high, clear sky, the land is covered by sorghum that forms a wild sea of blood. When the sun comes out, the surface of the sea shimmers(闪光), and heaven and Earth are painted with rich, wonderful colors."

Locals have planted the sorghum for the coming film of the novel’s TV adaptation starring actress Zhou Xun, in similar style to 1987 when Zhang’s film was filmed. But while the sorghum fields disappeared after the film was made, this time they may remain.“We have signed long-term contracts to sell sorghum to wine producers,”said Zhang Xinfu, head of Xianjia village, Mo Yan’s hometown is in the area.“Dozens of wine producers came to discuss the sorghum business after Mo Yan won the prize,” said Zhang. Zhang said the wine producers promised to pay a satisfying price for the sorghum.

1. What happened to Mo Yan’s home village after he won the Prize?

A．The house of Mo’s at his home village was rebuilt for tourism.

B．The local people at Mo’s home village welcomed the tourists.

C．Many tourists rushed to Mo’s home village to show respect and interest.

D．Mo’s home village remained what it used to be.

2. The underlined word “adapted” in paragraph2 probably means “___________”.

A．settled

B．designed

C．re-organized

D．written

3. Which season was it when the passage was written?

A．Autumn.

B．Winter.

C．Spring.

D．Unknown.

4. According to the text, we can infer that the wine producer bought sorghum from Mo’s home village for__________.

A．the fame of Mo Yan.	B．good quality of the red sorghum itself.
C．the lower price	D．the large amount of the red sorghum .