【推荐1】Numbers are important in our daily life. We not only use numbers to count things, but also use them to express different meanings in our language. Here are some examples of them.

Some problems are difficult to solve, but there are a lot of number expressions(表达式) that can help. For example, if we put two and two together, we might come up with the right answer. We know that two heads are better than one. It is always better to work with another person to solve a problem.

Sometimes we can kill two birds with one stone. That is to say, we can complete two goals with only one effort or action. But we must remember that two wrongs don’t make a right. If someone does something bad to you, you should not do the same to him.

If you are going out with your girlfriend or boyfriend, you do not want another friend to go with you. You can just say to your friend: Two’s company, three’s a crowd.

When I was a young child in school, I had to learn the three Rs. These important skills are reading, writing and arithmetic(算术). These three words do not all start with the letter “R”, but they have the sound of “R”.

These are some expressions about numbers. Hope they can be useful to you.

【推荐2】"How are you?" is a nice question. It's a friendly way that people in the U.S.A. greet each other.    1    . It's a question that often doesn't need an answer. The person who asks "How are you?" hopes to hear the answer "Fine" even though the speaker isn't fine at all. The reason is that "How are you?" isn't really a question, and "Fine" isn't really an answer. They are simply the ways of saying "Hello" or "Hi".

    2    . For example, when someone asks "Do you agree?", the other person might think, "No, I disagree. I think you're wrong..." But it isn't very polite to speak out one's real thoughts so directly, so the person might say "I'm not sure", which is a nicer way to say that you don't agree.

People won't tell the truth when they want to finish talking with other people. For example, many talks over the phone finish when one person says "I have to go now." Often, the person who wants to hang up gives an excuse like "Someone's at the door. "or" Something is burning on the stove."    3    . They want to hang up simply because they don't want to talk any more, but it isn't polite to tell the truth. The excuse is more polite and it doesn't hurt the other person's feelings.

Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an idea, or finishing a talk, people don't always say exactly what they are thinking.     4    . and it's part of the game of a language.

【推荐3】根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Americans use many expressions with the word “dog”. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well.     1     However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog’s life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.

Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world.     2     They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

    3     This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

    4     People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite. Dog expressions are also used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard.     5    

You must have heard of the legend (传说) of Yu Gong, who tried to move two mountains. The Taihang Mountain was one of the two mountains.

The Taihang Mountain passes through the areas of Hebei, Shanxi, Henan and Beijing. It is about 400 kilometers long. It is one of the largest mountain ranges in North China, and it was called “the backbone (脊梁) of China” in ancient times.

Many legends about the beginning of human civilization (文明) come from the Taihang area. For example, Nvwa used stones to repair the sky to make sure that humans would have a better future; Houyi protected everyone by shooting the suns.

The Taihang Mountain is not only where the ancient stories happened, but also a place where tens of thousands of fossils (化石) were found. These fossils show how the earth has changed over time. At the same time, we can also learn about how ancient humans lived from the discoveries around the area.

Nowadays, there are natural forests around the area with beautiful colors in four seasons. In spring, the trees of Taihang Mountain will grow green leaves. In summer, the trees will grow luxuriant (挺拔的) and leaves will cover the sun. In autumn, the trees in Taihang Mountain are tall and leaves turn yellow. In winter, the trees are covered with snow, like a thick white coat. You can go there whenever you want because it is beautiful all year round.

If you want to learn different things about history, culture and other important knowledge, you can come to the Taihang Mountain and feel its greatness.

【推荐2】During the 2016 Rio Olympics, people were surprised to see the round, purple marks on the body of the famous American swimmer Michael Phelps. What happened to him? In fact, he just visited a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and had “cupping” (拔火罐). Massage (按摩) and acupuncture (针灸) are two other important kinds of TCM. Chinese massage can make you relaxed and fresh. In acupuncture, doctors put long needles (针) into the patients' heads, faces, arms… It takes away pain, though the look is funny.

TCM is an important part of Chinese culture. The earliest medical classic in China, Huangdi's Classic on Medicine, came out more than 2,000 years ago. The book is about the relationship between man and nature. In Chinese culture, yin and yang are the two parts of nature. Nature keeps balanced (平衡) if yin and yang work well together. The human body needs such a balance, too. TCM helps to do that. Quite specially, for some health problems, a doctor of TCM will not give you medicine. Instead, he may give you just a food plan and right ways to eat.

For example, it is common to eat on the way to school, at our desk, or in front of the TV. But TCM thinks it's wrong. Here are the correct ways: Sit down to eat. While eating, turn off the TV and get away from the work desk. Eat seasonal foods. Do not miss any of the three meals. Also, get your body moving often, just as the saying goes, “Running water is never stale.”

Nowadays, traditional Chinese medicine is becoming more and more popular around the world. A government report says that people in 183 countries and areas are now using TCM.

Do you have any online classes? It is possible to take classes at home. All you need is a computer and a headset.

However, most students don’t seem to like online classes. According to a recent survey, only 33 percent of the students would take such classes. Over 1,500 students from 10 cities took part in the survey.

Many students said it was hard to focus on studying while taking online classes. This was true for Lian Ruohan, 15, at the Affiliated High School of Peking University. “There are no classmates and no real teachers watching me. I can surf the Internet or do other things if I want to. It’s harder to always stay focused,” she said.

Lian prepares a lot before taking her classes to make sure she will keep her attention. She also pushes herself to communicate with teachers. Students can come up with or answer questions while taking online classes.

Wen Jiayi, 14, at Yucai Middle School Attached to Chengdu No. 7 High School, thinks online interaction (互动) isn’t enough. “The online teachers don’t really get to know me. When I don’t hand in homework, all I get is a short message instead of real concern (关心),” she said.

However, online classes still have advantages. “It saves time and money compared with taking offline classes. Also, if I don’t understand some parts of a lesson, I can watch it over again,” Lian said.