【推荐1】阅读短文，根据题目要求完成各小题。

In early spring, the changing temperature usually makes a number of Chinese people uncomfortable. Cold air, bringing rain or even snow, easily tears up(破坏) the warmth of the spring within a night(一夜之间).
However, with the coming of Guyu-the Grain(谷物) Rain, the blue sky and gentle winds would finally stay. Falling usually on or around April 20 every year, Guyu is the sixth of the 24 solar terms(节气). It means the beginning of a lively summer and people get busy from now on.
Sow(播种) grains
This is an important period of the growth of grains. The ancient Chinese already knew that as Guyu comes, the weather will become warm enough for sowing. The farmers usually catch the chance to plant rice, corn and beans.
Hope for safety and harvest
For those living near the sea, they will hold some ceremonies(仪式) on Guyu, hoping for safety as well as harvest during the coming fishing season.
Watch the peony
It’s also a great time to see the peony(牡丹), which is known as “the Queen of All Flowers” in Chinese culture. As a result, watching peonies becomes one of the most enjoyable activities for many. The flower is said to be the favourite of Empress(女皇) Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty, who was the only woman ruler in Chinese history.
Pick tea leaves
Tea leaves picked before Guyu are among the best tea leaves. People believe that the tea leaves picked on the day of Guyu can make eyes clear and drive away bad luck. So the habit of drinking tea at this time of year has become a tradition in some places of China.
1. When does Guyu usually come every year?
_________________________
2. Why is Guyu an important time for sowing grains?
_________________________
3. Translate the underlined sentence into Chinese.
_________________________
4. List(列表) activities on Guyu according to the passage (at least two).
_________________________
5. Give a proper title to the passage.
_________________________

【推荐1】Our world is shaped by design

Nearly everything you use in daily life requires thoughtful design.

A book cover that interests you to read, an app that keeps you exercising, a search engine （引擎）that is easy to use ... these all require good design. Good design makes our lives easier and better. But what makes good design?

Fortune magazine recently listed the 100 greatest designs of modern times. The list shows a clear change in design philosophy（理念）over the past decades（数十年）, according to Fortune.

In the 1950s, design mostly meant the aesthetics （美学） of a product, such as the sleek（造型优美的）design of a sports car. But today, the focus is on how it can solve problems and change society in a positive way.

One example is Google Search. No.3 on the list, the search engine is seen as a great design not because its pages look pretty, but because it organizes a huge amount of information in a smart way and allows people to find anything they want just by typing in one simple box. Its value lies in bringing knowledge and information to everyone.

The top design, Apple’s iPhone, was not chosen because of its physical appearance. People were more impressed（印象深刻的）by how the iPhone has made life easier for its users.

“The iPhone is a flexible（灵活的）...design that becomes whatever each user wants it to be,” said Kathleen Brandenburg, a world famous designer. In Apple’s App Store, people from all walks of life can create their own apps for different purposes. By providing a platform（平台）for people to be creative, the iPhone provides users with great possibilities.

The Chinese app WeChat is also on the list. It offers many kinds of functions（功能）, including messaging, video calling and online payment. It’s a “one-stop shop that makes our life much easier,” Fortune wrote.

根据上文内容，用英语回答问题。
1. According to Fortune, what did design mostly mean in the 1950s?
________________________
2. Why is Google Search engine a great design?
________________________
3. Why is Apple’s iPhone Top 1 design?
________________________
4. How does the iPhone provide users with great possibilities?
________________________
5. According to the passage, what functions can WeChat offer?
________________________

【推荐2】What's going to happen in the future

What's going to happen in the future？Here are some things that scientists say is most likely to happen 10to 30 years from now.

1 Digital money

We used to pay with cash for everything we bought. In fact，we are already using one type of digital money，when we swipe（刷卡）our bus pass or use a credit card to shop online.

You have to admit that using a card is much easier than searching your pocket for change. It is also safer than carrying a lot of cash on your person. People in Sweden completely stopped using cash last year and the US might be next.

2 Bionic（仿生的）eye

People who are blind may have a chance to get their sight back-by wearing bionic eyes. A blind eye can no longer sense light，but a bionic eye can use a camera to “see” the environment and send data into the brain.

Although the bionic eye that's out now only allow patients to see lights and unclear shapes，a high resolution（分辨率）version could be just a few years away.

3 Self-driving car

Unlike a human driver，a self-driving car won't be distracted（分神）by a phone call，the radio or something outside the window. Sensors（探测器）and cameras on the car would allow it to keep strictly to the rules of the road and keep a safe distance from other cars. This would greatly reduce the number of road accidents Many vehicle companies are now planning self-driving cars. By 2040，driverless vehicles will be the main vehicles on the road.

根据短文内容完成表格（每格限填一词）。

Thirty years in the     1
Digital money	Advantages	Using cards is much easier and     2     than using cash.
	The future	Sweden stopped taking cash last year and America may follow its     3     .
Bionic eye	4	A bionic eye can use a camera to "see" the environment and send data directly to the brain so the     5     may have a chance to get their sight back.
	The future	Although now blind people wearing a bionic eye can only see lights and unclear shapes, there could be     6       ones in just a few years.
Self-driving car	How it     7	Sensors and cameras make it possible to keep a safe distance from other cars.
	Advantages	A self-driving car will strictly keep to the     8     rules and the number of road accidents will be greatly           9     .
	The future	Many vehicle companies are planning self-driving cars. Driverless     10     will no longer be science fiction in 30 years.

【推荐1】阅读短文，完成下面各小题

There are a lot of overhead bridges in Singapore. In the places where traffic is very heavy and crossing the road is not safe. These bridges can make people cross roads safely. Overhead bridges are used in very much the same way as zebra crossings.

The overhead bridges are more useful, though people have to climb up a lot of steps. When people use an overhead bridge, they do not hold up traffic. But when they cross a busy road using a zebra crossing, traffic is held up. This is why the government has built many overhead bridges to help and keep traffic moving at the same time.

The government of Singapore has spent a lot of money building these bridges. Some overhead bridges even have traffic lights on them. For their own safety, people should use them. Old people may find (A) it a little difficult to climb up and down the steps, but it is still much safer than walking across the road with all the moving traffic.

Overhead bridges are very useful. People, old and young, should always use them. This will help stop accidents from happening.

1. What can overhead bridges help people do?
_____________________________________________________
2. 从文中找出与下列句子意思相同或相近的句子。
If people use overhead bridges, they will do something good to the traffic.
_____________________________________________________
3. Why don’t old people like using overhead bridges?
_____________________________________________________
4. 将文中划线句子翻译成汉语。
The overhead bridges are more useful though people have to climb up a lot of steps.
_______________________________________________________
5. (A)处划线部分it 指代的是_________。
6. 为这篇文章拟一个合适的标题。_________________

【推荐2】Strange things were happening in the countryside of northeast Hebei. For three days the water in the village wells(井)rose and fell, rose and fell. In the farm yards, the chickens and even the pigs were too nervous to eat. Mice ran out of the fields looking for places to hide. Fish jumped out of their pools. At about 3: 00 a m, on July 28, 1976, some people saw bright lights in the sky. The sound of planes could be heard outside the city of Tangshan even when no planes were in the sky. But the one million people of the city, who thought little of these events, were asleep as usual that night.

At 3: 42 a.m. everything began to shake. It seemed as if the world was at an end! One of the greatest earthquakes of the 20th century had begun. It was felt in Beijing, which is more than two hundred kilometers away. One-third of the nation felt it. Thousands of families in Tangshan were killed and many children were left without parents. The number of people who died or got hurt reached more than 400,000.

All hope was not lost. Soon after the earthquake, hundreds of thousands of people were helped. The army organized people to dig out those who were buried (埋葬), Workers built camps for survivors. Fresh water was taken by volunteers to the city. Slowly, the city began to breathe.

1. Before the earthquake, was everything as usual?
________________________________________________________
2. How many people died or got hurt in the earthquake?
________________________________________________________
3. In order to help people in the earthquake area, what did people do?
________________________________________________________
4. Imagine your home begins to shake and you must leave at once, what will you take Why?
________________________________________________________

【推荐3】One cannot discuss Chinese music without mentioning the Chinese seven-string zither (七弦琴) , also known as the guqin, one of the four arts - along with go, calligraphy and painting. It first appeared over 3, 000 ago and represents China's solo musical instrument tradition.

At first, the gugin had only five strings, representing the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Later. in the Zhou dynasty, King Wen of Zhou added a sixth string for his son, King Wu of Zhou, added a seventh string to encourage his army to fight with the Shang.

Ambience (环境气氛) was important in playing the Chinese zither. Usually, it was practised in quiet setting and never for public performance.

Ancient artists enjoyed performing by a stream in the mountains. The sound of the quqin mixed with the echoes (回音) from the mountains, until the musician found himself at one with nature. Playing it in snow was also a favorite pastime for ancient artists, who believed the instrument was the purest of its kind in the world. Also. a night with moonlight was considered ideal for Playing the guqin. Wang Wei (701-761), a highly talented man of the Tang dynasty, liked playing it in a bamboo forest on nights with moonlight most.

Guqin pieces are usually around three to eight minutes long, with the longest being Guangling Verse, which is 22 minutes long. Other famous pieces include Plum Blossoms in Three Movements, Wild Geese Landing on the Sandbank and Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute.

Nowadays, there are fewer than one thousand well-trained gugin players and perhaps no more than fifty living masters. The original number of several thousand pieces has greatly reduced to only a hundred works by today. The guqin and its music was added to the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (人类非物质文化遗产) in 2003.

Title: The Guilin and Its Music
Main Parts	Detailed information
Introduction to the guqin	       As one of the four arts, it has a     1     of 3, 000 years and represents China's solo musical instrument tradition.
The strings	       At first, there were five strings, which represented five elements.        Later, kings in the Zhou dynasty added     2     more strings to them.
The ambience	       In quiet setting, not for public performance. 1. By a stream in the mountains. The     3     sound of the guqin and its echoes could make musicians find themselves –at one with nature. 2. In snow. It was believed to be the purest instrument in the world. 3. On a night with moonlight. Wang Wei's     4     was to play the guqin in a bamboo forest on a night full of moonlight.
The present     5	       Not many players, masters and works-are alive nowadays.        The guqin and its music entered the list the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2003.