【推荐1】Would you like to live in a city where buildings turn the lights off for you, and self-driving cars will find the nearest parking space themselves? Although it might sound a little far from you, living in a “smart” city like this could happen sooner than you think.

Great changes have taken place in towns that we have lived in for centuries, while completely new cities are being built. One such place is the city of Songdo. Every home there will have a “telepresence system (远程遥控系统)” — allowing users to control the heating and locks, take part in video meetings, and receive education, health care and government services. Around the city, escalators (自动扶梯) will only move when someone is on them, and offices and schools will all be connected to the system.

The great mind behind Songdo is from the company Cisco. In fact, technology companies around the world such as IBM, Siemens and Microsoft are already in the business.

About 75% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050, so cities will need to be more modern to deal with the coming problems. “Making cities smarter is one way out, and I think this will in turn make cities greener,” said Dan Hill, head of a research company.

1. According to the passage, living in a “smart” city ________.

A．is not a green way	B．will be far from you
C．will soon become true	D．is completely impossible

2. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．City of the future.	B．A meeting in Songdo.
C．A plan to build a house.	D．A report on public health.

3. Dan Hill thinks that making cities smarter is one way to ________.

A．drive people out of cities	B．develop his own company
C．control the world’s population	D．solve the cities’ coming problems

4. Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．Future Houses	B．Smart Cities
C．Government Services	D．Famous Companies

【推荐2】完成表格:阅读下面短文,根据其内容,完成表格中所缺的信息。

What will life be like in 50 years? A group of experts from the UK have painted us a picture-a report on life in the future. By 2069, according to the report, the digital revolution(电子革命) will have greatly changed the world. It will be like what the Industrial Revolution did 250 years ago. What impossible things will become possible? Let's take a look.

Underwater highways

They will be built under the sea. People will travel in pods(吊舱) through underwater tubes (管道). It will take less than an hour to travel between the UK and mainland Europe.

Flying taxis and buses

To stop traffic jams, people might take flying taxis and buses .For long-distance travel, they might take super-fast rockets.Travel time between London and New York could be just 30 minutes.

Space hotels

Don't know where to go during the holiday? Outer space might be a good place. People will have fun in space hotels. These hotels will be built near the moon or the planets of our solar system.

Self-cleaning homes

Future homes might clean themselves while you're at school or work, or while you sleep. It could be as easy as pressing a button.

Insect-burgers昆虫汉堡

Insects will become our main food: They are rich in protein(蛋白质) . People can make them into burgers and biscuits. People can breed more insects in their kitchens.

Underground skyscrapers

You could call them“earth-scrapers”. They are underground buildings . During an earthquake, these buildings would not fall over like normal skyscrapers.

Topic:     1    50 years from now
Underwater highways	●A way for people to travel underwater through tubes. ●It will take less than an hour to travel between the UK and mainland Europe
Flying taxis and buses	●They can get rid of     2     ●People can use super-fast rockets if they need to travel a long way.
Space hotels	●People may go to outer space to stay in space hotels. ●These hotels will be built near the moon or the planets in our solar system.
Self-cleaning homes	●You only need to press a button to tell your home to     3
Insect-burgers	●Insects are rich in protein. ●We can male insects into foods    4    burgers and biscuits. ●In our kitchens, we can breed more insects.
Underground skyscrapers	●These buildings are deep     5     ●Earthquakes will not destroy them.

【推荐3】In the year 2070, most of you will be more than 50 years old. The good news is that travel might become smarter by that time. To catch people’s eyes and increase the numbers of passengers, European airline (航空公司) easyJet has made some predictions and released (发布) easyJet 2070: The Future Travel Report. Let’s take a look at some mind-blowing ideas.

Have a heartbeat passport. Paper passport will be a thing of the past. You will use “heartbeat passport” instead. According to experts, the machine will count how many times the heart beats in a minute, then it will tell who you are. It doesn’t work hard because everyone’s heart beats differently.

Enjoy more comfortable flight. The seats on the plane are only one size, which can’t make passengers fulfilled. But in the future you’ll be able to book a seat according to your body type. The seat might even be able to cool or warm you if you want. There will also be no more screens on the back of the seats. A special light from the seat could show the latest movies straight in front of your eyes.

Bring history back to life. If you like to visit great places of interest, the AR glasses will help you enjoy the journey. By wearing the AR glasses, you can see what happened at a historic place, such as a famous battle (战役). You may even be able to sit among the cheering people at the first Olympic Games.

Are you looking forward to having those changes in the year 2070? What other changes do you think about during the flight?

1. What’s the purpose of making easyJet 2070?

A．To develop the airline history.	B．To show the latest technology of the company.
C．To get more passengers to take the planes.	D．To change what the airplanes look like.

2. What does the underlined word “fulfilled” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Uncomfortable.

B．Worried.

C．Painful.

D．Satisfied.

3. What will Mr. Smith enjoy if he starts the travel in easyJet 2070?

A．He will check in at the airport by a paper passport.

B．He won’t be able to choose a cool seat in the airplane.

C．He is going to enjoy wonderful food and drinks for free.

D．He can watch how German started the World War Ⅱ in the world.

4. Which of the following is probably the structure (结构) of the passage?

A．

B．

C．

D．

5. What’s the passage mainly talking about?

A．When to have the comfortable travel experience.	B．What to enjoy during the travel in the future.
C．Where to take the easyJet 2070.	D．How to watch the historic events in the flight.

【推荐1】根据短文内容，判断下列句子的正误。正确的填“T”，错误的填“F”。

When you swim for a long time, you will notice there are some wrinkles (皱纹) on your fingers. Do you know why?

In fact, your skin is covered with its own special oil. It is the surface of your skin. It can protect your skin and keep the water out. When you stay in the water for a long time, the oil will be washed off. The water can then get into your skin. This makes your skin doubled (双重的) in some places but not in others. Then wrinkles appear as a result.

Anyway, there is no need to worry about the wrinkles. Once the water in the fingers has completely gone, the skin will return to normal. They may even help protect you better. The wrinkles can help you hold things and move more easily under the water.

But what can we do to avoid getting wrinkly fingers? The first is to cut down the time when your hands or feet are in the water. The second is to have less contact with soap and other similar things, which may break the outer surface of your skin. The last is to use plenty of hand cream. All of these methods will play a role in keeping your hands smooth.

1. The surface of your skin is covered with its own special oil.
2. The water getting into your skin makes some wrinkles appear.
3. Wrinkles are harmful and they make it harder to move under the water.
4. Soap can bring us some wrinkles on the surface of our skin more easily.
5. This passage mainly tells us what wrinkles are.

【推荐2】Ancient and Modern Chinese

①In the Beginning

When people write in English, they use letters. People who write in Chinese, however, use characters that stand for words or ideas. Historians believe Chinese writing began as early as 1500 BC. The earliest forms were called “oracle bones” These were animal bones marked with pictures and symbols. Besides writing on bones, the Chinese people also made marks on turtle shells(龟壳). By 1400 BC, the Chinese writing system had become more difficult. It had more than 2,500 characters. Around 200 BC, Chinese characters became standardized. This means that everyone used the same characters.

②Then and Now

Many modern Chinese characters are similar to those from 2,000 years ago. For example, the character that means “man” in the Lishu system from 200 BC is similar to the character that means “man” from the Jiantizi, or modern simplified system, of the twentieth century.

③A Simpler System

People have made efforts to change Chinese characters over the centuries. The most important changes happened in the twentieth century. The Chinese government made many characters easier so that more people could learn to read. This simpler system is used on the Chinese mainland and in Singapore. Traditional characters are used in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan of China. Even with these changes, Chinese writing from 2,200 years ago is still understood today.

1. What do the three headings(小标题) tell?

A．The topic of each part.	B．How Chinese characters changed.
C．A list of important Chinese characters.	D．Important events in the development of the Chinese language.

2. What are the earliest forms of Chinese characters called?

A．Symbols.

B．Letters.

C．Oracle bones.

D．Standardized characters.

3. Which of the following supports the idea that ancient and modern Chinese characters are related(有联系的)?

A．Animal bones were used for writing.	B．There were once more than 2,500 characters.
C．The ancient Chinese wrote symbols and characters on bones and turtle shells.	D．Many of the characters from 2,200 years ago can still be read today.

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Chinese writing uses an alphabet.	B．Few people in ancient China could write.
C．Modern Chinese characters are nothing like those used in ancient China.	D．Modern Chinese characters were developed from symbols used in ancient China.

5. Which of these would be another good heading for the third paragraph?

A．Provinces in China	B．The Language of Singapore
C．Twentieth-century Changes	D．A Language for Everyone

【推荐3】Starting April 1, many of the high buildings in Philadelphia (费城) will be going dark at night. Though the move will cut down on energy use, the main goal of the effort is to help protect migrating (迁徙) birds.

Many birds migrate twice a year. In the northern half of the world, many birds fly north in the summer and south in the winter, looking for food and better conditions.

These migrations are hard, and many birds die along the way. Some of these deaths are the result of human actions. One of the biggest troubles for migrating birds comes from things humans have built. Buildings are a great challenge for migrating birds. Experts say that as many as one billion birds may die every year in the US alone as a result of flying into buildings. The windows of buildings can reflect things like the sky or trees, causing birds to fly directly into the glass.

For birds migrating at night, bright city lights add another difficulty, confusing (迷惑) birds that might usually be guided by the stars. Philadelphia got a sad warning last October, when thousands of migrating birds were killed in one might. It may have been connected to the low clouds over the city at the time as well.

Now the city is beginning a program called Lights Out Philly. It asks building owners and people to turn off all outside lights that aren’t needed between midnight and 6:00 in the morning twice a year (from April 1 to May 31, and from August 15 to November 15). Many of the city’s best-known buildings like the Comcast towers will take part.

根据材料内容选择最佳答案
1. Why do birds migrate?

A．To avoid human actions.	B．In search of more energy.
C．To look for tall buildings.	D．For the purpose of a better life.

2. What does the underlined word “reflect” in Paragraph 3 mean in Chinese?

A．映照

B．吞噬

C．模糊

D．反对

3. What can we infer from Paragraph 4?

A．It is easy for people to kill birds at night.

B．Migrating birds prefer cloudy night to sunny days.

C．Low clouds may warn migrating birds of the bad weather.

D．Birds may easily mistake the city lights for stars on a cloudy night.

4. The program lasts for about ________ in Philadelphia every year.

A．four whole months	B．five whole months
C．six whole months	D．seven whole months

5. Which is the best title of the text?

A．Darker Philadelphia, brighter city life	B．Birds migration in winter
C．Philadelphia going dark to protect birds	D．Birds’ deaths in Philadelphia