【推荐1】Is your TV connected to the Internet? What about your chair or your fridge? It is possible that they are not. But in the future, most things in your home may be connected, as the so-called “Internet of things” are developing.

The Internet of things may be coming sooner than you think. It was reported that Samsung CEO BK Yoon spent a lot of time talking about the Internet of things. He said that five years from now, every Samsung product would be part of the Internet of things, whether it was a washing machine or a vacuum cleaner（吸尘器）.

So, how do 42 household objects that are part of Internet of things work?

Well, think of a usual chair. When connected to the Internet, the chair warms up when it knows that the user has just walked into the room and is feeling cold. And an Internet-connected camera, like a smart-home camera, could help people feel safer in their homes. It can recognize people’s faces, and even can see when someone passes by in the dark. Then it can send you a message on your smartphone to let you know who’s there. If the person is someone you don’t know, it can tell you that, too.

But according to MIT Technology Review, whether companies are connecting dog food bowls or security（安全）systems to the Internet, there may be problems. For example, many early connected-home devices（装置）don’t have much built-in（内建的）security, which means they could be hacked（被黑客攻击）. In addition（此外）, it could be difficult to get these devices to work together because they are made by different companies. To fight this, many companies have joined the Open Interconnect Consortium, which had 45 members by late 2014.

So, imagine this: you walk in through the front door of your home. The temperature changes to make you feel comfortable after a long day at school. Your favorite music starts playing for you. Do you think this would be a good thing? It may happen sooner than you think.

1. The purpose to mention Samsung CEO’s speech is to ________.

A．prove “Internet of things” will appear in our daily life

B．tell us “Internet of things” is very important in daily life

C．talk about how much time he spent on “Internet of things”

D．show Samsung products are part of “Internet of things”

2. The underlined word “household” in paragraph 3 means ________ in Chinese.

A．家眷

B．家用的

C．家务活

D．室友

3. From paragraphs 4 and 5, we can infer that ________.

A．an Internet-connected chair is used to massage（按摩）in the house

B．a smart camera can recognize and tell you the stranger’s name

C．connected-home devices can help people live conveniently but easily get hacked

D．many companies can solve the problem of being hacked at this time

4. We can read the passage in a(n)________.

A．computer instruction	B．tourist guide
C．English dictionary	D．science magazine

5. The proper title of the passage may be ________.

A．Internet of things	B．Internet-connected TV
C．MIT Technology Review	D．Connected-home devices

【推荐2】Most people may think that people who write computer code (代码) must be good at math and logical (逻辑的) thinking. However, people who write computer code say that creativity is also important for writing code.

Software developers (开发者) in the USA have created a game called Osmo Coding Jam. The game is designed to help children use the creative side of their minds as they learning to code. Children can play the game on iPads.

Tanya Dodge is the mother of two children who play the game. According to her, these activities give them important skills for the future. “It's an analytical (分析的) skill” said Dodge.

But the developers believe writing code should be more than just an analytical skill. “We want to explore the creative side of coding that I think is often not as explored,” said Felix Hu, an Osmo engineer. Hu added, “The coolest part is that we're teaching kids how to be creative with code and that's a really important thing that kids should get comfortable with because coding is creative.”

Hu also sees many parents who feel that software code is a second language that children need to learn to succeed in future jobs. Tanya Dodge agrees, she said, “I think you're going to have to understand at some point the idea of coding will work well in the future.” Hu also explained that very often kids grow up not understanding how a computer works or just thinking that it's like a magical machine. He said by breaking it down to a lower level, kids can understand that the computer isn't as smart as they think it is.

1. Osmo Coding Jam is designed for?

A．Training kids' logical thinking.	B．Helping kids learn to code fast.
C．Helping children learn math well.	D．Helping kids become more creative.

2. What does Tanya Dodge think of Osmo Coding Jam?

A．It needs to be improved.

B．It is highly addictive for kids.

C．It is of great help to today's kids.

D．It is imperfect in training kids' analytical skill.

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．If someone doesn’t learn Maths well, he or she can’t write code.

B．Creativity comes from writing code in daily life.

C．Writing code is just a skill which helps kids to analyze things well.

D．A lot of parents agree that software code will be useful for their kids’ future jobs.

4. The writer wrote this passage ________.

A．to tell how to learn to code well	B．to tell about a new game for kids
C．to encourage kids to learn to study well	D．to show the importance of creativity

【推荐1】To many students, joining social media “circles” is now more important than making new friends in real life. And it’s easy. If you have a mobile phone, you can download many apps such as Weibo, QQ and WeChat.

“I love to check my friends’ updates(最新消息). I also enjoy news and jokes shared on social media,” said Wang Wei, 14, from a middle school in Shenzhen. While enjoying these, Wang distances(疏远) himself from real life. “I love playing the plane-shooting game on WeChat, but have no interest in playing chess with my classmates,” said Wang.

Deng Yunyun,14, from Xuhui Middle School in Shanghai, said that social media had influenced their normal lives. Last month, his school held a basketball match, and a student hurt his leg. Instead of giving him some help, students were busy updating their blogs（博客）about the accident. “I think they need to learn to balance（平衡）their real and online lives, and what worries parents and teachers a lot is safety,” said Deng.

“Many students are happy to tell their interests and personal information to their social media ‘friends’. And this could bring them danger,” said Miss Wang, a teacher from Shenzhen. “For example, WeChat’s shake-shake function（功能）allows users to connect to other nearby users.” Also the police warn about the risks of making friends in this way.

“Be careful. Do not use the locating（定位）function at any moment, do not give your name, and do not post the photos of your community,” said Miss Wang.

1. What is more important than making friends in real life for many students?

A．Studying hard	B．Joining social media “circles”
C．Playing basketball with friends	D．Having a meal with their family

2. Why did nobody give help when a student hurt his leg?

A．Because his classmates were busy updating their blogs

B．Because his classmates didn’t consider him as their friend

C．Because he didn’t belong to their social media “circles”

D．Because few students were there at that moment

3. What does the underlined word “this” in the fourth paragraph refer to (指代)?

A．WeChat’s shake-shake function

B．Having no interest in playing chess with friends

C．Paying too much attention to their social media “circles”

D．Sharing their interests and personal information with their social media “friends”

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．WeChat’s shake-shake function adds risks of making friends online

B．Warning students not to use WeChat’s locating function is important

C．Social media keeps students away from real life and may also bring them danger

D．Joining social media “circles” is more important than making friends in real life

【推荐2】WeRun (微信运动) is an app in WeChat. It lets users see their daily step counts. One of its most popular things is a leaderboard (排行榜) among friends that lets users see how their results compared with others.

As a growing number of people use WeRun, we wondered what we can learn about a person just from knowing their step counts. Here we take a closer look:

Fewer than 50 steps: Anyone who takes fewer than 50 steps in one day may be ill or sad. Or maybe he or she is just too lazy to get out of the bed!

50—500 steps: It’s easy to have a few hundred steps. Even going shopping on foot will be enough.

500—8, 000 steps: Most students and workers will take between 500 and 8, 000 steps a day. These step counts are often in the middle of the leaderboard. But your parents will always give your step counts a thumbs-up (It’s their job to care about you!).

8, 000—30, 000 steps: Salespeople and members of film workers are likely to take these many steps a day, as they are always on the move.

More than 30, 000 steps: Mostly, these step counts can be on the top of the leaderboard. They’re couriers, porters, cleaners and so on. They’re the people who help us live easy and comfortable lives and keep our environment nice and clean.

To some degree, a person’s WeRun data (数据) shows his or her character and personal life. But even when actions speak louder than words, we still shouldn’t jump to conclusions (结论).

1. According to the passage, what is WeRun?

A．It’s a popular game in WeChat.

B．It’s an app to make people walk more.

C．It’s an app in WeChat to count users’ steps.

D．It’s a leaderboard in WeChat to compare users’ step counts.

2. What step counts are often in the middle of the leaderboard?

A．50—500.

B．500—8, 000.

C．8, 000—30, 000.

D．Over 30, 000.

3. What does the underlined phrase “give... a thumbs-up” in the fifth paragraph mean?

A．点赞

B．转发

C．收藏

D．评论

4. What CAN’T we learn from the passage?

A．More and more people start to use WeRun.

B．WeRun data can be a way to know someone’s character.

C．WeRun data is the best way to show someone’s personal life.

D．WeRun data can be a way to know someone’s personal life.