【推荐2】The best known vegetable in the world is the potato. It grows in many places and does not need rich soil like many other crops. But until four hundred years ago the potato was not known to the Europeans. But today it’s one of the main foods in Europe. About half of the world’s potatoes are grown in Europe.
In France the potato was not grown for a long time. Here is a story about Louis. In 1778 he saw some potato flowers for the first time. He liked them so much that he picked one and put it in his buttonhole. He was interested in the flowers not the potatoes themesleves.
根据短文内容判断对错。
1. Potatoes are grown and eaten in Europe.
2. The potatoes are grown only in the rich soil.
3. Louis was the first man to eat the potato.
4. At first the Europeans grew potatoes to eat.
5. Louis liked the potato flowers better than the potatoes.

【推荐1】       Researchers say sleep is probably the best tool we have for memory and learning. “Getting a good night’s sleep is important for the learning and memory process. It’s important because it stores the training and learning exercises into our memory forever while we’re sleeping 7-8 hours in bed. And then the next morning when we wake up, our mind is better prepared to act on that information,” Twery, an expert on the science of sleep said.

But what about getting rest during the middle of the day? Past studies have shown that napping can help babies and young children learn better. In fact, napping can help older adults with their brain performance and may also help this group of people fight off age-related memory loss.

The researchers studied 3,000 people and found that those who took an hour-long nap did much better on mental (智力的) tests. The hour-long nappers also did better on the tests than those who napped for shorter and longer periods. But researchers notice that these findings are for those over 65, and for young, healthy adults, an hour-long nap may be too long.

“At present, we’re suggesting that we try to nap for about 30 minutes or less. Thirty minutes is enough to remove the pressure and will help us feel more awake. If we nap longer, we will get trapped into (陷入) the deep sleep, which can be hard to get out of, ” Twery said. This feeling is called sleep inertia (迟钝) —the period when you awake from a very deep sleep. For a time, you are unable to think clearly.

1. From Paragraph 1, the author wants to tell us that a good night’s sleep ________.

A．is usually 7-8 hours

B．helps with people’s learning and memory

C．makes people become smarter and healthier

D．makes people wake up early in the morning

2. The underlined word “napping” in Paragraph 2 means “_________”.

A．a short sleep during the day	B．a good sleep during the day
C．a deep sleep at night	D．a long sleep at night

3. What does the result of the study in Paragraph 3 show?

A．The time of napping should be an hour.

B．Young healthy adults need more napping time.

C．The hour-long nappers are much smarter and healthier.

D．The right amount of time for napping is very important.

4. In which part of a newspaper can we find the passage?

A．Nature.

B．Health.

C．Sports.

D．Culture.

【推荐2】You feel sick, so you go to the doctor. She checks your fever, looks at your throat, she gives you some medicine, but also a list of thinking skills that you are supposed to practice daily. She says that the way you think is causing some of your illness.

Doctors and other scientists who study the human mind and try to explain why people behave in the way that they do, called psychologists, are starting to believe it. You know that your brain is connected to every part of your body through your nervous system (神经系统).

Stress is caused whenever there is a problem or a change in your life. Of course, everybody has stress more or less; nobody’s life is perfect. In fact, we would never learn anything or grow or change without stress. We would probably be bored to death. But too much stress can hurt you. It can weaken your body’s protection so that you are more likely to catch diseases. It can even make you more likely to have an accident.

When you feel stressed, your brain sends a message to your body to produce a chemical called adrenaline (肾上腺素). Adrenaline speeds up your breathing and your heartbeat. Today you have a different kind of stress. Problems like endless homework or troubles with your family are the kind of things you can’t fight or run away from, and that’s what can do something bad to you.

What can you do about stress? First, you can try to find ways to change things so you aren’t under so much stress. You can set up a plan to finish homework or go to a doctor or a psychologist to try to work things out with your family or your friends. But sometimes you can’t change a stressful situation. Sometimes you don’t even want to. A big change might be a good change, but it will still be stressful.

The link (关联) between your body and brain works in two ways. Your body can help your mind deal with stress. If you are under stress, you need to take especially good care of your body. It’s important to get enough sleep and eat nutritious meals. Some people take a vitamin-mineral pill every day. Another thing that you can do is daily exercise. If you go walking or do aerobic dancing or work out at the gym, a person who isn’t used to much physical activity should start slowly. Anyone with a continuing physical problem should check with a doctor before starting any exercise programs.

1. A psychologist is a person who may help you with your ________.

A．illness and abilities	B．thoughts and behaviour
C．mind and nervous system	D．physical activity and daily exercise

2. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．You shouldn’t go to the gym if you are under stress.

B．One can do his homework to burn up adrenaline.

C．Diseases and accidents are always caused by stress.

D．Problems or changes in life may cause stress to people.

3. What can we infer (推断) from the passage?

A．A big change will cause another stressful situation.

B．The way you think has nothing to do with your illness.

C．If you take good care of your body, you will never feel stressed.

D．It’s unnecessary to check with a doctor before starting exercise programs.

4. What does the writer want to tell us in this passage?

A．The causes of disease.	B．The work a psychologist does.
C．Good ways to keep healthy.	D．The connection between the body and brain.

【推荐3】People have understood that kindness is good for the person who receives help. However, scientists have recently begun to study the effect of the kindness on the person giving it. What they have found is that doing good is good for the doer (行为者). Acts of kindness can improve health, help a person reach goals and even add years to a person’s life.

The first study to show the connection between doing good and living along life was a study on aging (衰老). Beginning in 1956, scientists studied a group of married mothers for 30 years. They found that what did matter was whether they volunteered. Women that volunteered had fewer diseases during their life.

Many other studies have found the same positive (积极的) effects. Helping other people improves long-term health. Those who volunteered had fewer serious diseases than those who did not volunteer. This included diseases such as heart attack, cancer and stroke.

Scientists are researching many possible causes. One possible cause is an increase in antibodies (抗体), which help fight against disease. One study showed the body produces more antibodies after an act of kindness. This increase in antibodies (抗体) can last nearly an hour after one act of kindness is finished.

Another one is an increase in a chemical that fights the effects of stress from life. Scientists have found a link between being kind to people and an increase in the chemical oxytocin (催生素). Oxytocin is a chemical produced in the brain. It reduces many of the harmful chemicals the body produces under stress.

1. What did the study in Paragraph 2 show?

A．Diseases age people fast.	B．Doing good is good for one’s health.
C．Women with more kids die earlier.	D．A long marriage leads to a long life.

2. What can we infer about antibodies from Paragraph 4?

A．More antibodies may not be good.	B．They help people reduce pressure.
C．They increase with one’s kind acts.	D．The more antibodies, the more oxytocin.

3. How does the author develop the last two paragraphs?

A．By explaining the causes.	B．By making comparisons.
C．By introducing a method.	D．By describing a chemical.

4. What’s the main idea of the text?

A．Everyone needs to be cared for.

B．Happiness is connected with kindness.

C．Try your best to help someone in need.

D．Helping others means helping yourself.

【推荐1】Hi, my name is Eric. I’m a student of Confucius Institute of Pisa (CIP, 比萨孔子学院). My school is 14 years old. I like it very much because I can learn (学习) Chinese in it. I am so happy that I can learn Chinese culture (文化), too.

Chinese is difficult. But it’s very useful. CIP and Chongqing University (大学) are sister schools. I have a penfriend from the school. His name is Lin Hai. His favorite subject is English. He says learning English well can help him find good jobs (工作).

Every year, thirty students of CIP can go to its sister school. And the students can stay (停留) for 4 to 6 weeks in China. I really want to go to Chongqing next year. And I really want to meet my Chinese penfriend.

1. CIP has a history of ________ years.

A．eleven

B．twelve

C．thirteen

D．fourteen

2. Eric thinks Chinese is ________.

A．easy and fun	B．fun and useful
C．difficult but useful	D．difficult but fun

3. Why does Lin Hai want to learn English well?

A．Because he wants to talk (交谈) with his penfriend in English.

B．Because he wants to find good jobs.

C．Because he wants to go to CIP.

D．Because English is his favorite subject.

4. We can infer (推断) from the passage that ________.

A．Eric’s Chinese is very good

B．Eric really likes Chinese and Chinese culture

C．Eric doesn’t want to go to Chongqing next year

D．thirty-two students of CIP can stay for 4 to 6 weeks in China every year

【推荐3】根据短文内容，判断正误（正确“T”，错误“F”），并将答案涂到答题卡的相应位置上。

Are you interested in space? Do you want to be an astronaut? Let’s come close to them and know more.

Can anyone be an astronaut? Of course not. You don’t have to have a science degree, but most astronauts do. Most of them are pilots too. Life in a spaceship is hard so you must have a healthy body and mind. You need to be easy-going and helpful to spend so much time in a small space with other people.

What’s the training like? People have to train for a year to learn how to stay healthy and safe. They practice space walking and living in zero gravity (重力). They train in difficult situations to learn how to solve problems and to work on a team. Everyday life like eating, washing and sleeping can be difficult in a spaceship. There is no running water to wash hands. It’s hard to enjoy the dry food that astronauts have to eat. And to sleep, you must cover your eyes because the sun rises every 90 minutes on the International Space Station. You also must tie yourself to something, so you don’t fly away!

What health problems do astronauts have? Astronauts often get backache (背痛) because you grow in space-up to 8 centimeters! It’s also common to feel terrible at the beginning. So you must do a lot of exercise in space to stay healthy. And you must have vitamins to take the place of fresh fruit and vegetables.

1. Astronauts need to be easy-going and helpful.
2. People can wash hands with running water in a spaceship.
3. The sun rises every ninety minutes on the International Space Station.
4. Astronauts often get backache because they do a lot of exercise in space.
5. The article is about the importance of being an astronaut.

【推荐1】Do you know about bio-plastic（生物塑料）？It is a kind of plastic. but it is not the same as normal plastic. Normal plastic is made from chemical materials and takes a very long time to degrade（降解）. But bio-plastic is good for the environment. it is made by using bacteria（细菌） to process（加工）natural sources like vegetable oils, corn or sugar. It can degrade more easily.

But there is a problem with bio-plastic. The "food" that bacteria eat is what we eat. This means that bacteria are competing against humans for the same resources.

Now scientists have found a new way to make bio-plastic－using two kinds of bacteria and sunlight. According to Newsweek.

One of the bacteria can use sunlight to produce sugar. The other land eats the sugar and produces polymers(聚合物）. Polymers are used to create bio-plastics. The way the bacteria store polymers is similar as humans store fats.

The new way to produce bio-plastic has many advantages. It is 20 times faster than the normal way we produce bio-plastic. Moreover, using these two bacteria saves resources.

The next problem scientists face is that they want to put their tab research into real-world practice. By doing this, bio-plastic made with these two bacteria can be widely produced in the future.

1. According to the passage, which is TRUE about bio-plastic?

A．It is bad for the environment.

B．It's made from chemical materials.

C．It is a new kind of bacteria.

D．It can degrade more easily.

2. What does the phrase "The food" underlined refer to?

A．Normal plastic.

B．Normal bacteria.

C．Salty waters.

D．Natural sources.

3. From the passage, which is the correct order to make bio-plastic?
a. eating the sugar
b. creating bio-plastics
c. producing polymers
d. using sunlight to produce sugar

A．a-d-c-b

B．a-d-b-c

C．d-a-c-b

D．d-c-a-b

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

A．A new kind of plastic.	B．A new way to produce bio-plastic.
C．A way to store fats	D．A way to produce two kinds of bacteria.

【推荐3】Monkeys That Lend a Hand
Have you ever dropped something while both your hands were full and wished you had another hand to pick it up? Some people cannot use their arms or hands to do simple jobs because they have been hurt or are sick. Usually they depend on other people to help them. This problem made two women think about how they could help people who cannot do everyday things for themselves.
In 1979 Dr. M. J. Willard and Judi Zazula began looking at some small, friendly monkeys called capuchin monkeys. These monkeys have hands like people’s hands, and they like to be around people. Could the monkeys be trained to do things that people could not do for themselves? The women wanted to find out if their idea would work. So they spent a long time training some capuchin monkeys, and they found that these animals made great helpers.
Today the first step in training a young capuchin monkey is to have it stay home with people and watch how they live. The monkeys learn how to behave around people. Then the monkeys go to a special school in Boston. There they learn how to do many easy chores. They are taught how to carry food and pick up dropped objects. They learn how to open doors and turn light switches on and off. They even learn how to use CD players and VCRs.
After a monkey finishes its training, it goes to live with a person who needs help. If the person wants a light turned on, the monkey does it. If the person needs a glass of water, the monkey brings it. If the person wants to watch TV, the monkey turns it on. The monkey becomes a very important part of that person’s life. In fact, the monkey often becomes the person’s good friend.
1. Capuchin monkeys are people’s great helpers because ______________.

A．they learn more quickly than other monkeys

B．they have hands like people’s hands

C．they like to watch how people live

D．they are small, cute and naughty

2. The underlined word “behave” means to______________.

A．learn skills	B．act well
C．avoid hurts	D．provide help

3. What is the passage mainly about?

A．How capuchin monkeys can help people do things.

B．Why capuchin monkeys’ hands are like people’s hands.

C．Where scientists train capuchin monkeys to help people.

D．When people found capuchin monkeys were helpful.