【推荐1】Have you ever thought about making a bicycle that you dream of? Some creative people have invented some special bicycles. Here are three of them.

Bambikes

Bambikes are produced in a company in Philippines. They are made of an unusual kind of bamboo and other materials like metal and a local plant. They are very strong. And they are a perfect combination (结合) of the greenest building material and common bicycles. By making bambikes, the company offers jobs to the local people. Besides, it provides money for some students in its community to pay for their study. To continue the production, the company plants more bamboo than it cuts.

The heaviest bicycle

A German cycling lover, Frank Dose, has recently made the world’s heaviest bicycle with big old wheels and lots of other waste materials. He created it just because of a bet (打赌) he made with his friend. The bicycle weighed 1.08 tons. It broke the world record of its kind in weight. Frank said his bicycle was surprisingly easy to ride although it had a huge size and weighed a lot. He rode it in front of 5,000 people for over 100 meters to prove it.

Twisted (变形的) bicycles

Two brothers in France created a bike that looks strange to ride and twists in the middle. Riders can make tight turns (急转弯). The brothers say the bicycle is hard to ride so it can stop people from stealing it. In fact, it isn’t as hard to control as you think. It takes a day or two to get used to the crazy way of riding. It’s amazing. So far, they have 30 of the bicycle, but they are not for sale yet.

根据短文内容，判断下列句子正误。正确的用“A”表示，不正确的用“B”表示。
1. Bambikes are made of a special kind of bamboo and other materials.
2. Frank built the world’s heaviest bicycle with the material that his friend bought for him.
3. The two brothers rode their twisted bikes in front of some people to show how easy to use them.

【推荐3】Inventions make the world better, smarter and—in some cases—a little more fun.

	The folding (可折叠的) bike helmet: People refuse to wear a helmet because it’s thick and heavy. Morpher is a bike helmet made from plastics. It is just as strong as the traditional ones, but flexible enough to fold almost totally flat. Also it is much easier to carry.
	Shoes that tie themselves After we see the movie Back to the Future, almost everyone wants a pair of self-tying shoes. Now, thanks to Nike, the shoe dream comes true. When you press a button, the shoes themselves tighten and loosen around your feet.
	The smart alarm clock—Hello Sense An alarm clock, called Hello Sense, can improve your sleep. It can control the temperature, light and even air quality in your bedroom to help you have a perfect sleep environment. And it can record your sleep cycles.

1. The folding bike helmet is ________.

A．thick and heavy	B．made from metal
C．not as strong as a traditional one	D．flexible enough to fold almost flat

2. The smart alarm clock can NOT ________.

A．improve our sleep	B．control our weight
C．record our sleep cycles	D．control the temperature in the bedroom

3. The underlined word “flexible” in Paragraph 1 probably means “________” in Chinese.

A．脆弱的

B．宽松的

C．坚强的

D．灵活的

【推荐1】Smog is a big problem in many Chinese cities. But it seems that besides wearing a mask, few of us know what has caused the smog and what to do to beat it. Chai Jing, a former news anchor with China Central Television, discussed the questions in her documentary Under the Dome.
The 103-minute film was released on major Chinese video-sharing websites on Feb 28. In the film, Chai visits polluted places and talks to officials and scientists. She concludes that burning too much coal and oil are the main causes of PM2.5 and smog.
To make things worse, according to Chai, the coal and oil we are burning is of poor quality and don’t meet the standards for environmental protection. Therefore they have produced more harmful gas and particles(颗粒)to pollute the air.
To solve the problem, Chai suggests that we should clean our coal and oil or replace them with cleaner energy such as natural gas.
In her film, Chai also emphasized that ordinary people can do something to help control smog too. For example, we live a greener life by using more public transportation. Or if we see things that could harm the environment, we can try to stop it. In one scene from the film, Chai sees a dirt mound(土堆) in a building site exposed in the air, and asks the person in charge to cover it. When she sees a restaurant cooking without any suitable filter facilities(过滤设备)，she calls the hotline 12369. The restaurant installed the filter a week later.
Chen Jining, the new minister of environmental protection, praised Chai. “This film encourages ordinary people to be concerned with the environment. This is what we need in the future.”
1. What do most of people do to deal with the smog?

A．Wear a mask.

B．Think of ways to beat it.

C．Find out what has caused it.

D．Take a documentary.

2. What is the main cause of smog according to Chai?

A．Setting off too many fireworks.

B．Burning too much coal and oil.

C．Too many cars in big cities.

D．Too many factories and companies.

3. Which of the following is NOT included in Chai’s suggestions towards reducing smog?

A．Using cleaner energy.

B．Cleaning coal and oil.

C．Using gas and electricity.

D．Replacing coal with wind energy.

4. What can we tell from the story?

A．Only factories produce heavy smog.

B．Only the government can control smog.

C．Smog can’t be controlled by ordinary people.

D．Living a green life can help reduce smog.

5. What’s Chen Jining’s attitude towards Chai’s film?

A．He didn’t watch it.	B．He thought highly of it.
C．He disagreed with it.	D．He criticized it.

【推荐2】In the 13th century, Marco Polo saw many wonderful things in China. One of the things he discovered was money made of paper. People in the West did not have such kind of money until the 15th century. However the Chinese began to use it in the 7th century.

Paper was invented by a Chinese man called Cai Lun almost 2,000 years ago. But it was not made in Europe until the year 1100. Four hundred years later, a German discovered that he could make the best paper from trees. After that countries rich in forests, such as Canada, Sweden, America, Finland became the most important ones in paper making.

Paper can be used in many ways. The common uses include newspapers, magazines and books. But do you know that paper can be used for keeping warm? In Finland, the farmers wear paper boots to keep their feet warm in the snow. And even houses can be insulated (使绝缘) from heat or cold with paper.

However, we have to understand that paper still comes from trees now. If we keep on wasting so much paper, there will not be any trees left on the earth someday in the near future. Every day people throw away about 2,800 tons of paper in our city. It takes 17 trees to make one ton of paper. This means that we are cutting down nearly 48,000 trees every day. The fact is that it takes more than 10 years for a tree to grow.

So we must start saving paper right now. We can use both sides of every piece of paper. We can make useful things out of used paper. We can use china cups instead of paper ones. When shopping, we can use fewer paper bags and reuse them if we have some.

In short, we should keep a balance between using paper and protecting trees, and do it now before it is too late.

1. When did people in the West have paper money?

A．In the 5th century.	B．In the 13th century.
C．In the 7th century.	D．In the 15th century.

2. Why did America become an important country in paper making?

A．Because it had a large population.	B．Because it was a large country.
C．Because it had lots of forests.	D．Because it was a rich country.

3. What is paper used for in Finland?

A．Keeping warm.	B．Making newspaper.
C．Reducing waste.	D．Making books.

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Seventy trees are needed to make one ton of paper.

B．Marco Polo found money made of paper in China.

C．Used paper can not be used again.

D．It takes five years for a tree to grow.

5. What’s the best title of this passage?

A．Save Paper	B．History of Making Paper
C．Information of Paper	D．The Use of Paper

【推荐1】The world has a plastic problem. And not just with bottles. Straws (吸管), toothbrushes, toys—all kinds of plastics are placed in landfills (垃圾填埋场). There are 5 billion tons of plastic waste in the world. Landfills have a large part of it. By 2050, they could have 13 billion tons.

Much of plastic rubbish finds its way into the ocean. Scientists say 165 million tons of plastic pieces are floating (漂浮) around out there. And most plastic won’t disappear itself. It will remain in the ocean forever. Whales get caught in plastic fishing nets. Birds die because of eating plastic straws and bottle caps. It endangers ocean life. Plastic rubbish even ends up in the food we eat.

Governments are realizing that recycling may not be enough. They are taking more actions. Though it is hard work, it is still a solvable problem. In Britain, people are not allowed to use plastic bags except in hospitals. Scotland and several coastal (沿海的) cities in the US stop people from using plastic straws as well. The US alone discarded (丢弃) some 500 million plastic straws a day. That’s enough to circle the Earth twice. “Saying no to a plastic straw is an easy way to protect the environment,” Diana Lofflin who started www.strawfree.org said. “Do we really want to pass on to our children a world harmed by plastic?”

People have found some tasty ways to reduce waste. A company in India made the first-ever spoon that people can eat. You don’t have to eat the spoon. You can throw it away. It decomposes (分解) in just a few days. David Edwards, a scientist at Harvard University, designed an eatable bag which can protect the food or drink inside. It is a delicious replacement (替代品) for plastic ones.

1. According to the writer, birds die because they ________.

A．eat plastic straws and bottle caps	B．get caught in fishing nets
C．feed on ocean animals	D．have the spoons in India

2. The underlined word “endangers” means ________ in the passage.

A．brings

B．loses

C．harms

D．saves

3. The writer writes this passage mainly to ________.

A．introduce some ways to recycle waste	B．tell readers about the problem with plastics
C．compare air pollution and plastic pollution	D．describe how the US is reducing plastic waste

4. From the passage, we can tell that the plastic problem ________.

A．is too big for people to solve	B．can be solved by recycling alone
C．can be solved, but it won’t be easy	D．will have to be solved by future scientists

【推荐2】阅读理解。
PM2.5--Killer in China 10:00 a.m. April 1^st,2014

Rank of Air Pollution	City	AQI	PM2.5 μg/m3	PM10 μg/m3	SO2 μg/m3	NO2 μg/m3	CO μg/m3	O3 μg/m3
2	Sanya	24	13	21	1	10	/	36
95	Shanghai	72	52	71	13	48	1.1	96
178	Harbin	78	45	78	38	43	/	54
259	Beijing	233	184	201	32	72	1.5	41
261	Tangshan	281	231	327	132	99	4.1	53

0--50	Excellent	Take part in activities &breathe fresh air
51--100	Good	Take part in activities
101--150	Light pollution	Have outdoor activities less
151--200	Middle pollution	Have outdoor activities less
201--300	Heavy pollution	Stop outdoor activities
>300	Serious pollution	Mustn’t go outside

AQI
PM2.5细颗粒物。PM10可吸入颗粒。AQI空气质量指数。
PM2.5（单位：μg/m³）表示每立方米空气中可入肺颗粒物的含量。
根据表格所提供的信息选择最佳答案。
1. The AQI in Beijing is much __________ than that in Sanya.

A．better

B．worse

C．bad

2. The air in ___________ is both heavy pollution.

A．Shanghai and Beijing

B．Beijing and Tangshan

C．Tangshan and Harbin

3. If you are in Tangshan, you had better _________.

A．have outdoor activities

B．breathe fresh air

C．stay at home

4. The amount of _______in the air in Sanya is the same as that in Harbin.

A．SO2

B．O3

C．CO

5. Which of the following is not TRUE according to the information above?

A．The air in Harbin is middle pollution, we’d better not go out to work.

B．We can know the AQI of April 1st from the table.

C．O3 in Shanghai is the most of all the cities.

【推荐1】Students learn their lessons in class. In class teachers teach them. Students sit in the classroom listening to the teacher. This is a way of learning. Is this the only way for students to learn something? Of course not. There is another way to learn. Students can teach themselves. For example, if you can’t remember something when you are doing your homework, you can look at your book to find the answer. This is a way too. And it is not a difficult thing.

How do you teach yourself? The first thing you must do is reading. Read something you are interested in or you have to read. The second is that you must ask yourself questions. The question is something you don’t understand, or you want to know more about. You can write down these questions. A clever student is usually good at asking questions. The third is to answer the questions yourself by thinking hard, by reading the passage or other books, and sometimes by asking other people. These are the ways of teaching yourself. And you must do these all by yourself! If you keep doing like these for a long time, you are sure to succeed in your study.

1. Listening to the teacher is ________ for students to learn something.

A．the only way

B．the best way

C．not a way

D．not the only way

2. What does teach yourself mean in Chinese?

A．教别人

B．自学

C．教学

D．上课

3. A clever student usually likes ________.

A．asking questions

B．telling jokes

C．finding answers

D．teaching others

4. If you want to succeed, you’d better learn ________.

A．how to teach others	B．how to teach yourself
C．to read and write carefully	D．how to buy books

【推荐2】If you look at the top of your phone, you’ll usually see a little symbol that says 3G or 4G. The "G"stands for the"generation(代)"of your mobile network. But these symbols will become things of the past after 5G networks fully arrive.

On march 30, Shanghai vice- mayor (副市长) Wu Qing made the first 5G video call on a Huawei Mate X smartphone, CGTN reported. Shanghai has also become the first city in China to start testing 5G networks.

About 100 times faster than 4G networks, 5G will let people download and upload data faster than ever before. But 5G won’t just bring faster mobile Internet. People can use it for many other things as well.

For example, 5G will help to make self- driving cars safer. Today’s self-driving test cars have one problem—lag. When the car "sees" an obstacle(障碍物), it sends this information to a data center and receives instructions.

However, it takes time to send and receive this information. With this kind of lag, the cars might crash because they don’t receive instructions in time. With 5G, this lag will be greatly lowered, making the cars safer, according to CNN. 5G could also be used to power the Internet of thing(IoT, 物联网). This refers to a large online network that connects all things and people. Fast Internet speeds will be the key to developing this technology.

The IoT could be used in a lot of ways. For example, with IoT, your refrigerator could automatically(自动地) place an order online for eggs when it finds that there are no eggs left inside. Who is building the network?

China is racing to build a nationwide 5G network. China’s biggest telecom (电信) companies—China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom are working on test runs of 5G systems in 17 cities across the country. China is set to become the world’s largest 5G market, with 460 million users by 2025, China Daily reported.

1. In which city was 5G tested for the first time?

A．Beijing.

B．Shanghai.

C．Shenzhen.

D．Guangdong.

2. We can infer from the story that ______.

A．5G is all over China	B．there are no symbols at the top of our phones
C．we can now buy self-driving cars	D．5G networks are much faster than 4G or 3G

3. The underlined word "lag" means ______.

A．问题

B．困难

C．延迟

D．弊端

4. The writer uses self-driving cars as an example to ______.

A．explain how self-driving cars work	B．show us how advanced self-driving cars are
C．warn about the possible dangers of self-driving cars	D．explain how 5G’s fast speed can be helpful

5. According to the story, the IoT is ______.

A．a robot that can do housework	B．an online store where you can buy anything
C．a large online network that connects things and people	D．a type of high-tech refrigerator