【推荐1】Do you find that you learn things faster than your parents? You could be right!

Scientists in the US have found that school-aged children learn new things and skills faster than grown-ups. This has something to do with a chemical (化学物质) called GABA in our brains (大脑). It makes brain noise less so that we can learn things more easily. It also makes new information stay longer in our heads.

The scientists studied the brains of children (8-11 years old) and adults (18-35 years old) before, during and after doing a learning task. It turned out that when children learn new things, the amount (数量) of GABA increases (增加) quickly. But there’s little change in adults’ brains. This tells us why children are better learners than adults.

The finding is useful, the scientists said. It tells teachers and parents to let children learn anything in their childhood, from riding a bike to playing an instrument. It could also help adults learn faster by increasing the amount of GABA in their brains.

1. What’s the article mainly about?

A．Why do children learn faster than adults.	B．What should children learn in their childhood.
C．How do scientists help children learn.	D．How do parents help their children learn.

2. Why do children learn faster than adults?

A．Because children’s brains have more GABA than adults’.

B．Because there’s no change in adults’ brains when they learn.

C．Because GABA in children’s brains increases while learning.

D．Because teachers and parents help children learn faster.

3. What is NOT right about GABA?

A．It makes brain noise to make learning more easily.

B．It makes information stay longer in brains.

C．It helps children learn things in their childhood.

D．It helps adults learn faster by changing their brains.

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．You are never too old to learn.	B．Start learning as early as you can.
C．Practice makes perfect.	D．Great hopes make a great man.

【推荐2】Everyone should get enough sleep. If a student doesn't sleep well at night， he won't study well and he can’t listen to the teacher carefully in class. For a driver， it is easier for him to have an accident (事故) if he is tired. Good sleep is also important for your health. Without good sleep， a person may become ill.
It is hard for some people to sleep well. A lot of things can help you get a good night's sleep. First， doing some exercise will help you sleep. Walking， running and bike riding are good ways. Other good ways are playing ball games， such as basketball， soccer or tennis. However， you must not do these just before bedtime.
Second， before you go to bed， you shouldn't drink coffee or any soft drinks. It is also not a good idea to eat sweets. But drinking a cup of warm milk may help you to sleep.
Third， you can take a warm bath or listen to quiet music before you go to bed. Many people find that they are helpful to sleep.
Follow the advice above and have a good sleep every day. Then you can wake up happily in the morning and maintain your health.
1. The first paragraph(第一段) mainly tells us _______.

A．students should sleep well

B．sleeping well is important

C．tired drivers mustn't drive

D．How we can stay healthy

2. Just before bedtime， _______ will NOT help you to sleep well.

A．listening to quiet music

B．having a warm bath

C．drinking some warm milk

D．playing football

3. What does the word "maintain" mean in Chinese?

A．保持

B．预测

C．损害

D．担心

【推荐3】根据短文内容, 从短文后的A~F选项中, 选出5个适当的选项补全短文。

Close friends, think alike?

"What! You, too? I believed I was the only one." Have you ever said something like this to someone?     1    

It seems that similarity often helps form friendship. The Greek thinker Aristotle once said, "People regard friendship as a matter of similarity; they say that we love those who are like our-selves."     2     Scientists from University of California said friends have similar behaviors, Scientific American reported.

The scientists invited 42 university students to take part in a test. Each student watched the same set of videos, which included a comedy, a discussion and a soccer match.     3    According to their scans, friends who watched the same video reacted in similar ways. Similar parts of their brains lit up while watching the videos, especially parts that are connected with motivation(动机), learning and memory.     4    

"Seeing one's friends have similar behaviors will reinforce(强化)one's own values, opinions, and interests," lead scientist Carolyn Parkinson told Business Insider.     5     Scientists from the University of Leipzig, Germany, found that friendship is also based on how physically close you are to someone. The scientists did a test with first-year college students the first time they met in class. In this test, students who sat in neighboring seats were more likely to become friends.

A．Now, there is some science behind this idea.

B．If so, you may have ended up becoming friends with this person.

C．Friends share a lot of similarities, though there are some differences.

D．But brain similarity is not the only thing that can result in friendship.

E．However, people who weren't friends had different reactions to the same videos.

F．At the same time, scientists scanned their brains and recorded their brain activity.

【推荐1】The well－known “four new great inventions” of modern China have made our daily lives more convenient.

High－speed trains

China created its first high－speed railway line in 2008. Since then, the number of passenger trips has grown by over 30 percent every year. By 2016, more than 5 billion trips had been taken on the trains. By 2020, one fifth of the country's 150, 000km railway network will be used by high－ speed trains. This network will link more than 80 percent of major cities across China.

Mobile payment

Mobile payment is turning China into a “cashless society”. Instead of paying by cash(现金), customers now pay for their goods simply by typing a short password into Alipay app or WeChat Pay app on their mobile phones.

Shared bikes

China has surprised the world with how quickly shared bikes are widely used. Nowadays, bike users can simply pick up or park the bike on the street through GPS and smartphone apps. China's two leading bike－sharing companies, Mobike and Ofo, have been opening their overseas markets in Singapore, the UK and the United States.

Online shopping

With around 751 million Internet users, China has been the world's largest and   fastest － growing online shopping market. Because of lower costs and fewer licensing requirements(执照要求), it's easier for sellers to open an online shop in China. In 2016, more than 20 million jobs in rural areas were created, with over 8.1 million running their own online shops.

1. By 2020, ________of major cities across China will be linked by high－speed trains network.

A．more than 30%	B．one fifth
C．over 80%	D．about 20%

2. Why does Mobile payment make shopping more convenient in China ?

A．Because customers can go shopping without mobile phone.

B．Because customers needn't take cash.

C．Because customers don't have to use a password.

D．Because customers needn't pay for the bills.

3. Where can shared bikes be picked up or parked?

A．Through GPS and smartphone apps.	B．On the street.
C．In parks.	D．In Mobike and Ofo.

4. Which of the following can’t make online shopping develop so fast in China?

A．About 751 million Internet users.

B．Fewer licensing requirements.

C．Lower costs.

D．Fewer job chances.

5. What's the passage mainly about?

A．The fast－developing technology.

B．Modern China.

C．China's four new great inventions.

D．Convenient daily lives in China.

【推荐3】As the weather gets warmer, there are few things that are better to do than travel. But traveling might not be that fun for everyone, especially for those who have motion sickness(晕动症).

Motion sickness is also called travel sickness. It is a common experience for many people. Depending on how you travel, it can be called carsickness or seasickness. People with motion sickness feel very uncomfortable while they are in motion. They feel sick and dizzy(眩晕的), like the room around them won't stop turning.

It is generally believed that motion sickness happens when your senses become confused with each other, Scientific American reported.

We use different parts of our body to sense movement. Our eyes tell us if we are moving. The inner ears(内耳) contain a special liquid（液体）that helps us sense our direction and balance. Our muscles（肌肉）react to movement.

When you move around, these body parts work well together. But when you are in a car or an airplane, they get confused. Your inner ear gives off the information that you’re moving, but your eyes say you’re sitting still because you can’t see that you’re moving. This mismatch(不适配) gives us motion sickness.

But some people are less sensitive to motion sickness. This may be because they have certain genes(基因) that prevent mismatching senses, Bethann Hromatka, a genetics expert from the US, told the Atlantic.

Although there are many ways to deal with motion sickness, scientists believe that the key is to simply try to get used to it. For example, some astronauts do special exercises that give them mild(轻微的) motion sickness. After a week or two, the astronauts become used to it and don’t feel uncomfortable anymore, Sam Puma, a NASA flight doctor, told the BBC.

1. What do we know about motion sickness?

A．It is called carsickness when you travel by car.

B．It happens to only a small number of people.

C．It can make traveling more fun.

D．It causes the room to turn continuously.

2. How do people feel if they have motion sickness?

A．Worried and angry.

B．Sick and dizzy.

C．Thirsty.

D．Sleepy.

3. Why do some people have motion sickness?

A．Because their senses stop working.

B．Because they lose their sense of direction.

C．Because their eyes can't see properly.

D．Because there is a mismatch among their senses.

4. The astronauts are mentioned to show that ______.

A．it is impossible for others to deal with motion sickness

B．astronauts can easily get used to motion sickness

C．special exercises can help deal with motion sickness

D．motion sickness has something to do with genes

【推荐1】What do the following animals have in common? Pandas, tigers, whales, lions and camels (骆驼)? They are all in danger!

Animals are in danger for many reasons. Sadly, people’ s activities are some of them! Here are three reasons.

Excessive hunting (过度猎杀). For centuries, people have hunted elephants and tigers for money, and caught many other animals for their meat. So many wild animals leave the world at last.

Foreign animals. In 1505, Europeans found a beautiful island in the Indian Ocean named Mauritius. They brought dogs, pigs, monkeys, and mice with them. It was bad for dodo birds. Dodo birds did not have any natural enemies (敌人) before. They picked up fruit falling down from trees and built their houses on the ground. Shortly after people came, however, dodo birds were in big trouble—people caught them for their meat, and those animals broke their houses and ate their eggs. The number of dodo birds first became less. In the end, they all perished and the last dodo bird lost its life in 1681.

Loss of home. People cut down forests for farming. They cut down trees to build houses. They build pools to make sure that they have enough water to use. However, they don’ t pay attention to protecting the environment. When they are trying to make their lives comfortable, the land for animals to live on becomes less and less.

Animals are people’s good friends. People should learn to protect nature and get on well with animals.

1. What do pandas, lions and camels have in common?

A．They are dangerous animals.	B．They are in danger.
C．They are useless animals.	D．They all live in forests.

2. Where did do do birds live?

A．They lived in the Indian land.	B．They lived in Europe.
C．They lived in Mauritius.	D．They lived in the USA.

3. What does the underlined word “perished” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．cried.

B．jumped.

C．died.

D．arrived.

4. Why were some animals in danger?

A．They had enemies from foreign places.	B．People caught them for fun.
C．They didn’ t know how to build houses.	D．People used too much water.

5. Which can be the best title for the passage?

A．Protect Animals and Nature	B．Animals Live in Forests
C．Animals from Europe	D．Dodo Birds and Their Enemies

【推荐2】Endangered dolphins are beautiful animals that need to be saved. However, if we continue to follow the same path that we are on related to the environment, many of the wonderful creatures are going to continue to go extinct(灭绝的).

    1     Many of them are river dolphins and they are very close to being lost forever if we do not take the time to care for them. The following is the reasons why they are in danger.

    2     Dolphins can often stuck in these nets and they may die. Another problem is the fact that many people and different countries will hunt dolphins as a source of food.

    3     When the oceans and rivers are polluted, it affects the environment where these beautiful creatures are living. It may be important to also keep in mind that the dolphins are at the top of the food chain. Because of this, they are going to eat smaller animals that are in the water. If these small animals are affected by the pollution as well, there really is no safe place for the dolphins to go.

    4     You can also pay attention to the land around you. Do not litter and stop if you do. Spend time on the weekend cleaning up trash in your area and recycle what you can. You play a large role in this whether you believe it or not. So, find out what your role is related to endangered dolphins and work towards a positive change.

A．We, as humans, have to do something to protect them.

B．It may interest you to know that there are about six different types of dolphins that are endangered.

C．One problem that has caused endangered dolphins is fishing nets.

D．The pollution is becoming worse and worse.

E．The next problem is pollution.