【推荐1】What are the keys to learning English? Lai Shixiong believes that they are practice and hard work. Lai, 68, is the president of the Ivy League Analytical English magazine. On March 20, 2016, he was invited to be one of the judges (评委) at the finals for the 14th China Daily “21st Century New Oriental Cup” National High School and Primary English Speaking Competition. Like many non-native speakers (母语非英语的人), Lai failed when he first started learning English. When he was in high school, he once got the low mark of 7 out of 100 on an English test. He almost gave up on English. But then he entered a military school (军校), where he met a classmate who was very good at English. Inspired (受到激励) by his classmate, Lai decided to start learning English again. As he put it, “I saw myself as a baby who had just started to learn a language.” To correct his pronunciation, Lai practiced phonetic symbols (音标) hundreds of times every day using records.

When he was able to pronounce words, Lai said he began to practice dialogues. It was hard to find someone to practice with, so Lai created (创造) a learning environment on his own. “I just talked to myself as if I were in a dialogue,” he said. He also thought of many ways to improve his skills. He used English to describe everything he saw. He even translated speeches when he went to class meetings at the military school. He also read and listened to English news to learn new expressions. “There is no quick way to language learning. You have to practice,” Lai said. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

1. Who is Lai Shixiong?

A．He is the teacher of a military school.	B．He is the president of a high school in China.
C．He is the president of an English magazine.	D．He is one of the judges of a singing competition.

2. How was Lai Shixiong’s English at first?

A．It was very good.	B．It was excellent.
C．It was poor.	D．It was neither too good nor too bad.

3. Who inspired Lai to start learning English again?

A．His parents.

B．His teacher.

C．One of his classmates.

D．His brother.

4. How did Lai practice dialogues?

A．He talked to his friends.	B．He talked to himself.
C．He listened to the radio.	D．He read English news.

5. Which of the following is TRUE about Lai Shixiong?

A．Lai Shixiong thinks there’s a quick way to language learning.

B．Lai Shixiong always got good grades in English tests when he was in high school.

C．Lai Shixiong practiced phonetic symbols hard to correct his pronunciation.

D．Lai Shixiong had few ways to improve his skills.

【推荐2】How do you study each day? You may answer it quickly: have classes at school, take notes and do homework. Feel a little bored?     1     . It’s called digital learning (网络学习).

Digital learning is a way to help students learn by using the Internet. There are three important kinds of digital learning. Apps are computer software applications (应用) that can help learn. People can download them on their mobiles.     2     Every one of them is like your teacher. They help you master what you have learned at school.

Compared with traditional learning ways, digital learning has its advantages.     3     It covers almost every school subject. More importantly, it always offers students the latest resources (资源) to learn from.

Digital learning is also personalized (个性化).     4     If you don’t master what you have learned at school, you can learn again through digital ways.

    5     When you use digital ways to learn, you’ve got little chance of talking with teachers and classmates. As digital learning uses computers or smart phones, watching the screen too long may be bad for your eyes. It is better to take a rest every 20 minutes.

根据短文内容，将下面选项还原到文中空白处，使短文内容完整、通顺，并将其字母序号写在短文后面的空格内。（每个选项只能用一次。）

A．You can choose what you like to learn.

B．There are other ways that can make learning interesting.

C．However, digital learning also has disadvantages.

D．The other two kinds are social networking services, including WeChat and websites.

E．Digital learning is varied (多变的).

【推荐1】Dogs are “man’s best friends”. They are smart and they’re kind to people. Some pet dogs just play with their owners. Others help people work. So how many kinds of dogs are there? Search and rescue dogs (救援犬) can help to save people. They are good at finding people after a big disaster (灾难).

Guide dogs are good helpers for people who can’t see things. They help these people walk without danger. They also know some words.

Dogs working with doctors can help sick children. These dogs make the children feel relaxed.

Herding dogs (牧羊犬) are important to people with sheep. They help look after the sheep. There are many herding dogs in Australia and New Zealand.

Do you know how to be safe around dogs? Here are some useful tips:

Be away from a dog when it is eating. If you touch it, it might think you want to take its food away. The dog may shout at you.

Never kiss a dog’s face or put your face near its face, even if the dog doesn’t want to scare you.

1. If something is wrong with John’s eyes, he can find _________ to help him.

A．a guide dog	B．a herding dog
C．a search and rescue dog	D．a dog working with doctors

2. How many tips should we follow if we want to be safe around dogs?

A．2.

B．3.

C．4.

D．5.

3. It’s very dangerous to get near a dog when _________.

A．he is playing with you	B．he is eating
C．he is helping people	D．he is looking after sheep

4. From the passage, we know that _________.

A．herding dogs are good at finding people after a big disaster

B．we can kiss a dog’s face if we like

C．some dogs can help sick children feel better

D．search and rescue dogs may know some words

5. Search and rescue dogs are helpful _________.

A．in a talk show

B．at a big sale

C．under a bridge

D．after a fire

【推荐2】Most young boys don’t like growing flowers and watering them. But for 16-year-old Angus, working in the garden isn’t just a hobby—it has changed his life.

Angus has a special illness and his IQ is lower than an ordinary boy. Six months ago, he started learning how to grow flowers. Now, he spends hours in the garden growing flowers, watering and looking after them. “Before working in the garden, it was difficult for Angus to pay attention to class and sometimes he didn’t want to go to school,” said his mother Kim. “Now he can’t wait to go to school and he is happy every day. We can see Angus is able to work in a garden center in the future.”

Research shows that working in the garden improves mental and physics health （身心健康）. In the past, soldiers in Egypt treated their mental problems after war by working in the garden. Even now, some doctors advise people to work in the garden to treat their mental health problems. And doctors also advise young people like Angus to work in the garden.

The lives of hundreds of children in Britain with special needs, like Angus, have been changed by this special kind of education. When working in the garden, children have a chance to learn a lot of important skills, such as how to work with other people and how to take care of plants. Besides, the children become more confident after working in the garden.

1. Angus began to ________ half a year ago.

A．need special help	B．learn how to grow flowers
C．have a special illness	D．learn how to change his life

2. After working in the garden, Augus ________.

A．likes to go to school	B．works in a garden center
C．follows his mother’s advice	D．doesn’t go to school any more

3. Which of the following is TRUE about working in the garden?

A．Doctors advise all of the young people to work in the garden.

B．Research shows that the lives of all children have been changed

C．This way was used to treat mental problems a long time ago.

D．This way can be used to treat physical problems.

4. The underlined words in the fourth paragraph probably means “________”.

A．working in the garden	B．growing flowers
C．working with parents	D．learning to work with others

5. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．How to take care of flowers.

B．How to get a chance to learn things.

C．Advantages （好处）of working in the garden for children.

D．The activities children can do in a garden.

【推荐3】Would you be surprised to learn that your eyes are like an eagle’s eyes in some ways? You and an eagle（鹰）can see colors. And an eagle’s eyes and yours are about the same size. But there are a lot more of a special type of cell（细胞） in an eagle’s eyes than in your eyes. These cells send information to the eagle’s brain. Getting a lot of information helps an eagle see much better than you. In fact, an eagle can spot a fish in the sea from a mile away.

You and an eagle have eyes that make tears. Your eyes make watery tears that clean your eyes. An eagle’s eyes for watery tears and oily tears. Eagles dive into the sea to catch fish. The oily tears guard their eyes from the saltwater.

Like you, eagles have eyelids（眼睑）. You have two eyelids, and you close your eyes by lowering the top lid. When eagles close their eyes, their bottom lids raise up. Eagles have a third eyelid that moves across the eye every few seconds. It wipes（消除）dust away from the eye. An eagle can see through this third eyelid. The eyelid guards the bird’s eyes when it swoops（抓取） at 100 miles an hour after its prey（捕食）.

阅读短文，完成下列小题。请根据短文内容判断正（T）误（F）。
1. An eagle’s eyes have the same number of special cells as yours.
2. Eagles’ tears help them clean eyes and protect from the saltwater.
3. Eagles close their eyes by lowering their top eyelid.

【推荐1】Do you ever fight with your little brother or sister? How would you like to travel around the world with them in a musical group? Sisters Johanna and Klara Soderburg are doing just that in their band, First Aid Kit! The two sisters are sweeping the world with a perfect mix of pop and folk music.
The Soderburg sisters come from Sweden. Their music sounds like music from the 1960s. They both play several instruments. And, since they are sisters, their voices fit together perfectly!
Like many other teen stars before them, the two girls got their start on the website, YouTube. Their singing caught the attention of a Swedish musician. It wasn’t long before people all over the world discovered their music!
The sisters don’t just sing or play instruments; they also write their own music and design all of their album art！They have worked very hard, and they____ four new songs at the beginning of 2011! If you want to hear the songs, check out their music in YouTube for yourself! Listen to see why First Aid Kit is your new favorite band!
1. Johanna and Klara Soderburg are famous for          .

A．touring the world	B．their musical group
C．a perfect mix of music	D．cleaning the world

2. What is the advantage of their group because they are sisters?

A．Their voices fit together perfectly.

B．They look more beautiful than other stars.

C．They both play several instruments.

D．They have more time to train together.

3. People got to know Johanna and Klara Soderburg            .

A．in the magazine	B．on the radio
C．on TV	D．on the Internet

4. The underlined word“released”means           .

A．放弃

B．发行

C．构思

D．错过

5. What do you know about Johanna and Klara Soderburg?

A．They are a famous musical group now.

B．They often fought with each other in the past.

C．They are learning different instrument.

D．They want to come China some day.

【推荐2】Recently, a study that was published (刊登) in BMC Medicine found that sitting in front of the TV for a long time was a risk for people’s health.

After scientists used data (数据) on 370,000 people, covering 12 years, they found that about 9,000 developed heart disease. They found people with genes (基因) of heat problems were more likely to develop heart disease. However, they found that people without such genes watching TV for more than four hours every day were at the greatest risk of heart disease. People spending 2 to 3 hours a day watching TV had a 6% lower risk. And those who watched less than an hour had a 16% lower risk. The scientists of the research team finally found cutting the time of watching TV to less than an hour a day could prevent 10% of heart disease.

In life, people who want “one more episode(剧集)” might be the group at a higher risk, for they are easy to spend more time watching TV. If they have more snacks while watching TV, it might add the risk of putting their hearts in danger. So, if people want to watch TV longer, standing up and moving the body, or hanging out will work. But reducing their time on TV could be a more useful way to help them avoid possible heart problems in the future.

1. According to the data from the study, how many people had heart disease?

A．370,000.

B．12.

C．9,000.

2. ________ have the lowest risk of heart disease.

A．People with genes of heart problems

B．People who watch TV less than an hour a day

C．People spending 2 to 3 hours every day on TV

3. The underlined word “reducing” probably means ________.

A．花费

B．记录

C．减少

4. The passage is probably taken from _______.

A．a textbook

B．a newspaper

C．a story book

5. What can we infer from the passage?

A．We shouldn’t have snacks while watching TV.

B．We’d better not watch TV too much to be healthy.

C．Hanging out after dinner will develop heart disease.

【推荐3】A new study shows that negative ( 消极的) punishments to dogs while training can bring long-term bad effects to the animal. The latest study paid attention to some dogs for humans. Such dogs are often thought of as part of the family and need training on how to behave around people.

Researchers from Portugual’s University of Porto led the study. The researchers carried out experiments including two kinds of dog training methods — reward-based and aversive( 令人厌恶的). Reward-based methods include giving the dog food or praise when the animal completes wanted behavior. Aversive methods depend on the use of some kinds of negative actions, such as shouting, pushing or pulling the dog to let it do something.

The study included 92 dogs. 42 of them got reward-based training and the others received aversive training. Researchers did these experiments to find both short-term and long-term effects of the two training methods.

Researchers recorded the training. They reported that dogs from the aversive training group have more stress-related behavior than those in the reward-based group. It clearly shows the short-term effects of aversive training methods.

In order to find the long-term effects, the dogs took part in an exercise for about a month after the training. The dogs were put in a room with food bowls. Researchers looked at how quickly and excitedly the dogs went to the bowls. The researchers reported that after getting aversive training, the dogs were more “pessimistic (悲观的)” in behavior than those getting reward-based training.

1. Why do dogs need training on how to behave around people?

A．Because people see them as family members.	B．Because people see them as friends.
C．Because people see as travel guides.	D．Because people see them as the police.

2. What does the second paragraph mainly tell us?

A．Researchers of the study.	B．Two kinds of ways to train dogs.
C．Good behavior of dogs.	D．The reasons to do the study.

3. What CANNOT we know in the passage?

A．The researchers are from Portugual’s University of Porto.

B．Reward-based methods include praising dogs.

C．Dogs would be excited after getting aversive training.

D．Shouting to dogs often is harmful to them.

4. What’s the best title of the passage?

A．Groups of dog trainers.	B．The experiences with dog training.
C．How to let dogs behave well.	D．Negative punishments are bad for dogs.

【推荐1】How to Improve Your Memory

Man still has a lot to learn about the most powerful and complex (复杂的) part of his body—the brain.It may be surprising to learn that it isn’t age that makes you lose your memory. The reason could be that you have a “lazy” memory, not an old one. Like your body, your memory improves with exercise. Once given plenty of exercise, the brain keeps its power. Before discussing how to improve the memory, let’s look at how the brain works. There are two sides to the brain, the left and the right. The right side deals with senses (what we see, hear, feel and smell). It’s the creative and imaginative side. The left side is related to logical (逻辑的) thinking, which analyzes (分析) information and puts it in order.Some recent research suggests that we remember everything that happens to us. The problem most of us have is recalling (回忆) events. Most forgetting takes place immediately after learning. An hour after learning something new, more than 50% has been forgotten. After a month, 80% has been forgotten, and so on.

This research is very important. It shows if you review new material you have learnt, you remember much more. So it’s of the greatest importance to review newly learned material often, and have breaks often. You best remember what you learn at the beginning of a learning period and at the point where we stop. After the break, review what was learned before the break and then continue learning the new material. These breaks should happen every 20 or 45 minutes.

Other experiments have shown the brain needs time to take in what has been learned. The time necessary for this is 5 to 10 minutes. After the break, the memory will have taken in what it has just learned, and more will be remembered. During this period it is important to exercise the right side of the brain, because the left side is used during the learning period. Therefore you should relax. Listening to music, breathing in fresh air, and looking at a picture are all ways of using the other side of the brain. So when you are studying alone, make a plan which shows when to have breaks and to review newly learned material immediately before you begin studying again. If you do in this way, your memory will improve.

1. To fight forgetting better, we’re advised to ______.

A．break down materials into small prices

B．use two sides of the brain together

C．make proper use of our senses

D．go over what was learned often

2. During the learning process the brain needs breaks to ______.

A．use the right side of the brain

B．review newly learnt materials

C．take in what has been learnt

D．relax the left side of the brain

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Old age makes people lose their memory and forget the past.

B．People can remember 20% an hour after learning something new.

C．Listening to music is the best way to use the left side of the brain.

D．Memory works best at the beginning and the end of a learning period.

【推荐2】Turtle mother has three sons. The first one is seven years old. The second one is five and the third is four. They often have a running game. They think they run fast.

One day, three turtles decided (决定) to have some coffee. Just as they got into the café, it started to rain. The first turtle said to his little brother, “Go home and get the umbrella.”
The little turtle answered, “I will, if you don’t drink my coffee.”
“OK. We won’t drink your coffee.” The other two promised.
Two years later, the first turtle said to the second turtle, “Well, I don’t think our brother is coming back, so let’s drink his coffee.”
Just then a voice called from outside the door, “If you do that, I won’t go!”
1. How old is the second turtle?

A．Seven.

B．Five.

C．Four.

D．Three.

2. Why did the little turtle go home?

A．Because he wanted to get money.

B．Because he wanted to drink coffee.

C．Because he wanted to get an umbrella.

D．Because Mother called him at home.

3. The underlined word “promised” in the passage means ________.

A．agreed

B．asked

C．ran

D．jumped

4. From the story, we can know that ________.

A．turtle mother has two sons

B．little turtle got the umbrella soon

C．they drank coffee at home

D．little turtle didn’t run very fast

5. The passage is ________.

A．a piece of news

B．a letter

C．a joke

D．an e-mail

【推荐3】One day an American called Simon went to London to visit his friend, Rick. Rick told him that his flat was on the first floor. When he arrived, Simon went straight to the first floor of the building. But he was told that there was no Rick on that floor. Do you know why?
In fact, the British call the first floor of a building the ground floor. The floor above the ground floor is the first floor, while Americans would call it the second floor.
The story shows that there are a few culture differences between Britain and America, though the British and Americans both speak English.
The British usually hide their feelings. They seldom start a conversation with strangers. For example, on the train the British often spend their time reading newspapers or books. But Americans are quite different. They’re more active and easier to talk with.
The British and Americans may use different ____for many things. The British usually use “football”, “eraser” and “mail” while Americans prefer to use “soccer”, “rubber” and “post”.
1. Simon went to London to __________.

A．spend his holiday	B．visit his friend
C．study English	D．have a meeting

2. According to the passage, the British usually spend their time _____ on the train.

A．talking	B．playing cards
C．singing and dancing	D．doing some reading

3. What does the underlined word “term” mean in Chinese in the passage?

A．用语

B．学期

C．会议

D．成果

4. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Hiding the feeling

B．Simon’s funny story

C．Information abroad.

D．Differences in British and American culture