【推荐1】阅读下面的短文，根据短文内容回答问题。

Starting from the coming fall term, students in primary and middle schools will have at least one lesson every week to learn simple but necessary housework skills. Labor(劳动) lessons mainly cover housework chores, productive labor and services. The lessons are good for students’ character.

Primary school students in first and second grades need to do simple but necessary cleaning, wash vegetables and peel fruit, and learn to raise one or two kinds of plants or small animals. Third and fourth graders should clean their classrooms, wash their underwear(内衣), socks and shoes, and know how to make cold dishes. Fifth and sixth graders should know the skills of cooking two or three common dishes. For middle school students, they are encouraged to cook three or four dishes by themselves, learn how to make one or two kinds of traditional handicrafts(手工艺品) and experience one or two types of new technologies, modern service or volunteer work.

People welcome such lessons and say it’s necessary to teach young students housework skills. Yang Jianping, a mother of a first grader in Beijing, says she supports teaching students such lessons, because they can help students learn some necessary labor skills. Her son’s head teacher asks the students to clean the classrooms. She likes it very much.

1. How many labor lessons will the students have every week in primary and middle schools?
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2. What do the labor lessons mainly cover?
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3. Are the labor lessons the same for the students of different grades?
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4. Why does Yang Jianping support teaching students labor lessons?
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5. As middle school students, what kind of labor activities should you do? (List 2 examples)
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【推荐2】根据短文内容，完成图表中所缺信息。

Exams are a fact of school life for most people. Almost everyone worries about exams and feels stressed, although they have prepared well for them. A little stress caused by the exams is useful as it can sharpen (变得清晰) your mind and encourage you to do well. But too much stress can stop you working to the best of your abilities, so it’s important not to let it get out of control. Here are some ideas to help you.

If you want to avoid unnecessary exam stress, you must prepare carefully for exams. Firstly, try to find a copy of the syllabus (教学大纲) for each subject. This tells you what you need to know and gives you the topics for revision (复习). Secondly, make a weekly revision timetable chart and display in your study place. Lastly, record the dates and times for each of your exams in your planner or diary and make a copy to put on your wall at home.

During your exam period, you want your brain to work at its very best, so build in relaxation time before bed, avoid staying up late to review and try to go to bed early to get enough sleep. If you have difficulty answering a question, leave it and move on to the next one—don’t spend time tying yourself to each question.

You are not alone while dealing with the stress. Call psychological (心理的) hotline to share your worries and get help from others going through the same experience. Remember that things may feel stressful right now, but it won’t last forever. And the rest of your life will still be there.

The Exam Stress
Situation	◆    1     exams is a real fact for almost everyone at school.
Problem	◆Although a little exam stress does good to you, too much may make you     2     to work as well as you can.
3     to control exam stress	◆Make     4     exams to avoid unnecessary exam stress. ①Find a copy of the syllabus for each subject. ②Make a revision timetable chart for every week. ③Prepare for exams early and remind yourself of the dates and times. ◆Make yourself     5     before bedtime and get enough sleep. ◆Remember to move on when you meet really difficult questions. ◆Turn to psychological hotline and get help from others. ◆Remember stress will disappear but your life will go on.

【推荐3】You may think that English dictionaries have been used for many, many centuries. The spelling of English has always been a problem, but it was more of a problem in the days before a dictionary. In those days people spelt words in different ways which you might find interesting. But it made reading English much more difficult. So dictionaries were invented to encourage everybody to spell the same. In fact, an English dictionary like the kind you use today wasn't made until the time of the Qing Dynasty.

The largest dictionary in the world is the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED for short. The idea for this dictionary came from an important meeting in Britain in 1857. Twenty-two years later, Oxford University asked James Murray to be the editor of its new dictionary.

Murray had not been to college. At the age of fourteen, he left his village school in Scotland and taught himself while working in a bank. Later he became a great teacher. After Oxford gave him the job, Murray had a place built in the garden behind his house to do his work. Part of it was one metre underground. In winter he had to wear a heavy coat and put his feet in a box to keep warm. Every morning, Murray got out of bed at five o'clock and worked several hours before breakfast. Often he would work by candle light into the evening.

Murray hoped to finish the new dictionary in ten years. But after five years, he was still adding words for the letter A! Then others went to work with Murray, and his two daughters were among them. He worked on the dictionary until he was very old. Forty-four years later, in 1928, other editors finished it. It had more than 15,000 words in twelve books. And you thought your English dictionary was big!

Notes on James Murray's life
Murray's early life	Born in Scotland. He left school at 14 and became a bank worker, later a great teacher.
Murray's work on OED	He became the editor of OED in the year 1879. His working     1     were bad: —he worked in a part-underground place in the garden behind his house —in winter it was terribly cold there —he often worked by candle light into the evening The time he spent on OED was much       2     than expected. Later others and his two daughters     3     him.
Other information .	OED was finished in the year 1928. It had over 15,000    4    in twelve books. It is the largest dictionary in the world. Thanks to it, people can     5    in the same way. For Murray, working on a dictionary wasn't only a task, but it was a wonderful journey.

【推荐1】Answer the questions (根据短文内容回答问题)

Scott Kelly, an American astronaut, returned to earth on March 2, 2016. He was taller by nearly 1.5 inches (3.81 cm) when he landed on Earth after his 340-day space mission on the International Space Station (ISS).
His change in height, which lasted about two days, raised the question: What are the effects of a long-term stay in space?
As you probably know, there is no gravity in space. This not only causes difficulties in everyday actions like eating, walking and sleeping, but also problems for the human body.
The first problem is the air. Without gravity, carbon dioxide cannot spread during breathing, but gathers around the body and causes headaches. More than that, human feelings of movement are affected, which could make people feel sick.
The body’s fluids(液体) don’t work well in weightlessness, making blood flow upward instead of down to the lower legs, and astronauts’ faces become fatter than normal. Gaps between bones also become larger because humans cannot stand up straight. The spine(脊柱) can also get bigger in zero gravity.
In addition, human bodies become weaker because of the lack of gravity and space to move around in. Some astronauts said that after they returned, their muscles hurt and their skin became very sensitive(敏感的). Kelly said during his first press conference, “It was almost like my body was on fire wherever I sat or lay or walked.”
However, the research into the effects of long-term space flight on human bodies and minds never stops. There are many actions that astronauts can take in space. They can take vitamin D for bone growth, wear special belts on their legs to keep blood in their lower bodies and do strength coaches’ exercises. The fans in the ISS also help spread carbon dioxide around. “We will do further research.” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said, “I believe it will be meaningful to human-being.”
1. Something occured to Kelly’s body when he finished his space mission, didn’t it?
2. People may _____________, if carbon dioxide cannot spread during breathing.
3. What will happen to astronauts’ faces in space?
4. Why did Kelly feel burned when he was sleeping according to the text?
5. What can astronauts do to keep fit in space?
6. Do you agree that the research is meaningful to human-being? Why?

【推荐2】There was a man who was going through hard times. His wife left him. He went bankrupt （破产）after only a year in business. Although he worked hard, failure was all that he had seen. Struggling（挣扎）with this, he left everything behind and went into the forest. There, he met an old man who had lived there for a long time. He shared his story with the old man. “Can you give me one good reason not to give up?” he asked the old man.

“Look,” the old man said, pointing to two plants. “Do you see that fern and bamboo there?”

“Yes,” the man answered.

“When I planted the fern and bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. In a short period of time, the fern quickly grew from the earth,” the old man went on.

“Although I watered and took care of the bamboo seed for years, it did not sprout. There was no sign of growth. But I did not give up on the bamboo seed and went on looking after it. In the fifth year, a small sprout came out of the earth. And within six months, the tree grew a hundred feet tall.

“The little bamboo tree had been growing underground for the past four years, developing a root system strong enough for its ground growth in the fifth year. If it hadn’t done this, it would not be as strong as it is now. So you know, all the time you were struggling, you were actually growing strong roots,” the old man said.

根据短文内容，回答下列问题。
1. Why did the man go into the forest?
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2. Who did the man meet in the forest?
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3. Which grew more quickly from the earth, the fern or the bamboo?
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4. When did the bamboo sprout come out of the earth?
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5. What will the man probably do after hearing the old man’s words?
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【推荐3】

Once there was a businessman who was really deep in debt. He was not able to think of any way to get out of debt. So one day, he sat down in the park, to think about how he could save his company from bankruptcy. While he was sitting there, an old man appeared, sat down next to him and said. “I can see that something is troubling you...”

The businessman was sad and depressed, so he told the old man everything about his problem. After hearing the sad story of the businessman, the old man smiled and replied, “I believe I can help you.”

The old man put his hand into his pocket, took out a cheque book and asked the businessman his name. Then, he gave a cheque to the businessman and said, “Take this money. Meet me here, after one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time.”

After giving that cheque, the old man got up and walked away. The businessman had mixed feelings. He looked at the cheque and saw that it was cheque of $500,000 signed by Warren Buffet (one of the richest men in the world). He couldn’t believe how lucky he was.

The businessman realized that with half of this he could easily get out of debt, but instead of using the cheque to pay his debt he decided to put that cheque in his safe and to use it only in case of emergency.

From then on, he started reconstructing his business and worked really hard with full zeal and enthusiasm. Over time, he even made several big deals. And, after only a few months, the businessman got out of debt and started making profit again!

One year passed since the day the businessman met the old man, and as promised he returned to the park, with the same cheque the old man gave him. As agreed, the old man also appeared. The businessman was very happy to see the old man and told him his success story.

When the businessman was about to return the cheque to the old man, however, a nurse ran over to them and grabbed the old man by his hand, while saying to the businessman, “I am so glad I caught him... I hope he hasn’t been bothering you much. He always escapes from the psychiatric hospital and tells people he is Warren Buffet.” Then, the nurse said goodbye and left, together with the old man.

The businessman was stunned…

1. The businessman stayed in the park to ________.

A．ask the old man for help	B．meet his old friend for help
C．find ways to get out of debt	D．relax himself from the bad mood

2. After he got a cheque from the old man, the businessman ________.

A．felt sad and depressed	B．felt surprised and excited
C．thought the old man was crazy	D．thought it impossible to pay it back

3. From the passage, we can infer that ________.

A．Warren Buffet made a big deal with the businessman

B．the old man knew the businessman wouldn’t succeed

C．the businessman felt angry because of the old man’s lie

D．the old man had no idea about the influence of the cheque

4. What made the businessman out of trouble?（请用约40—50词回答）
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