【推荐3】For thousands of years, humans have explored the Earth. Nowadays, we are exploring space. Astronomers (天文学家) are modern—day explorers. Now, many astronomers are looking for new planets and new places of humans to live in the future. But where do astronomers start looking?

First of all, astronomers look for a star. That’s because our own Earth moves around a star (the Sun). More importantly, it is the correct distance (距离) from the Sun for heat and light. So when astronomers have found the star, they look at the planets around it. In recent years, astronomers have found nearly 400 new planets with stars. However, many of these planets are either too near to the star or too far away.

However, if the planet is in a good position, astronomers look for three key things: water, air and rock. Water is important because all life needs water. Humans can drink it and they can also grow plants with water. And plants produce air for humans to breathe and food to eat. Rock on a planet is also important. That’s because there is often water under the rock.

After many years of scrutinizing, astronomers have found a planet that is similar to the Earth. It’s Gliese 581g and it’s near a star. The astronomers think it has water and rock and the average (平均的) temperature is between -31℃ and -12℃. That’s cold，but not colder than Antarctica or Arctic Circle, for example, Gliese 581g is bigger than the Earth. A year on Gliese 581g is only 37 Earth days instead of 365. But astronomers do not think there are big differences and some them thing Gliese 581g will be a new Earth. However, Gliese 581g is twenty light years from the Earth.

1. What do astronomers have to find first before starting to look for a new place for humans to live?

A．A new star.

B．A new planet.

C．Some heat.

D．Some light.

2. What does the rock on a planet tell us?

A．The star is a right position.	B．We may discover water under it.
C．The planet is too near to the Sun.	D．There can be air around the rock.

3. What does the underlined word “scrutinizing” mean in the last paragraph?

A．discussing

B．waiting

C．looking

D．traveling

4. What’s the main idea of the text?

A．Gliese 581g is already a new Earth.	B．There are planets similar to our Earth.
C．Water, air and rock are important.	D．Astronomers are looking for a new Earth.

【推荐1】How can you be a healthy kid? Here are some rules.

Eat all kinds of foods

You can have your favorite food, but you must eat different kinds of foods. If you eat different kinds of foods, you are more likely to get the nutrients(营养) your body need. Eat at least five kinds of fruits and vegetables a day, two kinds of fruits and three kinds of vegetables.

Drink water and milk

When you’re really thirsty, water is the best drink. And there’s a reason why your school offers milk. Kids need calcium(钙) to build strong bones, and milk can give kids much calcium.

Listen to your body

What does it feel like to be full? When you’re eating, notice how your body feels. Sometimes, people eat too much because they don’t notice when they need to stop eating.

Limit(限制) screen time

What’s screen time? It’s a lot of time you spend watching TV, playing video games, and using a smart phone, tablet or computer. The more time you spend on these activities, the less time you do sports. Try to spend no more than two hours a day on screen.

1. We can learn ________ rules about how to be a healthy kid in the passage.

A．three

B．four

C．five

D．six

2. If children want to build strong bones, they need enough ________.

A．time

B．water

C．limit

D．calcium

3. You should eat ________ to get the nutrients your body needs according to the writer.

A．two kinds of fruits	B．three kinds of vegetables
C．your favorite food	D．different kinds of foods

4. If you spend more time on screen, you’ll ________.

A．need much more calcium	B．build more strong bones
C．have less time to exercise	D．eat less food than before

5. The passage mainly tells us ________.

A．how to be a healthy kid	B．how much food we should eat
C．why we shouldn’t watch TV	D．how much milk a kid should drink

【推荐2】It is a question that has confused parents for many years: why do children refuse to eat greens?

Now, two American experts believe they have the answer.

After studying dozens of babies as they played with different objects, the researchers noted that they were far more unwilling to touch plants than other things. They believe this is because evolution（生物进化）has biologically made children be wary of plants.

Because of susceptibility（敏感性）to illness or injury in the early years of life, the body has designed an inner defence mechanism（内部保护机制）that limits a child’s contact with plants, they think. The researchers believe this is why babies in the study were afraid of touching plants and why children turn their noses up when faced with a plate of broad beans.

The findings are published in a paper by Dr Annie E Wertz and Dr Karen Wynn, both psychologists at Yale University.

They wrote, “Throughout human evolution...plants have been important in human’s life. Yet, for all of these benefits, plants have always caused very real dangers.”

“Plants produce toxin（毒素）as defences that can be harmful, or even deadly. Some plants also produce physical defences, such as thorns（荆棘）can damage tissues（组织）and cause effects over the whole body.”

They added, “We predicted that babies may have behavioral strategies that reduce dangers caused by plants.”

To test their theory, the researchers studied how children aged eight to 18 months old reacted when presented with a variety of objects. It took much longer for children to grab plants: objects that were pretended to look like plants also caused a slow response time.

For parents attempting to spoon some peas into the mouth of their child, this finding should come as welcome relief.

1. What does the underlined word “wary” in the third paragraph mean?

A．curious

B．afraid

C．tired

D．certain

2. What did early humans probably do in order to keep away from illness or injury?

A．They choose to make more man-made things.

B．They didn’t allow their children to touch plants.

C．They chose to have little contact with plants.

D．They tried very hard to escape from the past.

3. What was plants’ role in early human’s life?

A．They were important, in spite of danger.

B．They reacted badly to human evolution.

C．They contributed to the most deaths and illness.

D．They developed human physical defences against dangers.

4. What’s the passage mainly about?

A．Why some plants are harmful.

B．How humans react to plants.

C．Why children don’t like to eat greens.

D．When children form behavioral strategies.

【推荐3】It’s important to learn things about protecting environment. Here’s a 4Rs rule for us.
·Reduce
If you want to reduce waste, you should use things wisely (明智的). A large number of trees are being cut down to make paper. If everyone uses paper carelessly and then throws it away, soon we would not have any trees left. Some other things are also being wasted, and people don’t know what to do with waste in big cities, so it’s necessary to reduce waste.
·Reuse
You should always think of reusing the usable (可用的) things before throwing them away. Give your clothes or things you don’t use to the poor. In a family, you may pass such clothes on to your younger brothers or sisters.
·Recycle
Bottles, cans and paper can easily be recycled. By doing so we save lots of time and money, for example, cola cans are sent to a factory, where they’re smashed flat（压平）and smelted (熔化), and the metal things are made into new cola cans.
·Repair
If one of the legs of your table is broken, you can repair it. If you want to change for better ones, it’s better for you to sell the old ones or give them to other people who can use them after doing some repair.
根据短文内容，选择正确答案。
1. The “Reduce” rule mainly requires us _____.

A．to use things wisely

B．to cut down many trees

C．to use paper carelessly

2. What’s the right order of recycling cola cans?
a. smash them flat
b. collect the used cans
c. smelt them
d. send them to a factory

A．a-b-c-d

B．d-c-b-a

C．b-d-a-c

3. The “Reuse” rule mainly requires us _____.

A．to throw away the old clothes

B．to give the old but usable things to the poor

C．to use both sides of paper

4. Which sentence is about the “Repair” rule?

A．When you leave a room, turn off the lights.

B．Take a cloth bag when you go shopping.

C．If your chair is broken, you can repair it.

5. Which is the best title for this passage?

A．A 4Rs Rule

B．Protect the Environment

C．Save Energy