More than 10 years ago，it was difficult to buy a tasty pineapple (菠蘿)．The fruits that made it to the UK were green on the outside and，more often than not，hard with an unpleasant taste within.Then in 1996，the Del Monte Gold pineapple produced in Hawaii first hit our shelves.

The new type of pineapple looked more yellowy?gold than green. It was slightly softer on the outside and had a lot of juice inside.But the most important thing about this new type of pineapple was that it was twice as sweet as the hit?and?miss pineapples we had known.In no time，the Del Monte Gold took the market by storm，rapidly becoming the world’s best?selling pineapple variety，and delivering natural levels of sweetness in the mouth，up until then only found in tinned pineapple.

In nutrition (營養(yǎng)) it was all good news too.This nice?tasting pineapple contained four times more vitamin C (維生素C) than the old green variety.Nutritionists said that it was not only full of vitamins，but also good against some diseases.People were understandably eager to be able to buy this wonderful fruit.The new type of pineapple was selling fast, and the Del Monte Gold pineapple rapidly became a_fixture in the shopping basket of the healthy eaters.

Seeing the growing market for its winning pineapple，Del Monte tried to keep the market to itself.But other fruit companies developed similar pineapples.Del Monte turned to law for help，but failed.Those companies argued successfully that Del Monte’s attempts to keep the golden pineapple for itself were just a way to knock them out of the market.

1.We learn from the text that the new type of pineapple is________.

A. green outside and sweet inside

B. good?looking outside and soft inside

C. yellowy?gold outside and hard inside

D. a little soft outside and sweet inside

2.Why was the new type of pineapple selling well?

A. It was rich in nutrition and tasted nice.

B. It was less sweet and good for health.

C. It was developed by Del Monte.

D. It was used as medicine.

3.The underlined word “fixture” in Paragraph 3 probably refers to something________.

A. that people enjoy eating

B. that is always present

C. that is difficult to get

D. that people use as a gift

4.We learn from the last paragraph that Del Monte________.

A. allowed other companies to develop pineapples

B. succeeded in keeping the pineapple for itself

C. tried hard to control the pineapple market

D. planned to help the other companies

How to become a better student

Maybe you are an average student.You probably think you will never be a top student.This is not necessary so，however.Anyone can become a better student if he or she wants to.Here’s how：

1)Plan your time carefully.When you plan your week，you should make a list of things that you have to do. After making this list，you should make a schedule of your time. First，list your time for eating，sleeping，dressing，etc.Then decide a good，regular time for studying. Don’t forget to set aside enough time for entertainment.A weekly schedule may not solve all your problems, but it will force you to realize what is happening to your time.

2)Find a good place to study. Look around the house for a good study area.Keep this space，which may be a desk or simply a corner of your room，free of everything but study materials.No games，radios，or television！When you sit down to study，concentrate on the subject.

3)Make good use of your time in class.Take advantage of the class time to listen to everything the teachers say. Really listening in class means less work later.Taking notes will help you remember what the teachers say.

4)Study regularly.When you get home from school，go over your notes.Review the important points that your teacher mentioned in class.If you know what your teacher is going to discuss the next day，read that material.This will help you understand the next class.If you do these things regularly，the material will become more meaningful，and you will remember it longer.

5)Develop a good attitude about tests.The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject.They help you remember your new knowledge.The world won’t end if you don’t pass a test，so don’t be overly worried.

There are other methods that might help you with your studying. You will probably discover many others after you have tried these.

How to become a better student

1.When people think of factories, they think of clouds of dirty smoke or of pipes_________（傾瀉）chemical waste into rivers。

2.It also watches the river and stops the_________（非法的）hunting of animals, which has put the wild animals population at risk.

3.A healthy environment is important for our__________(生存)．

4.The efforts of the Chinese government and people to protect this much?loved river will be___________(感激) for years to come.

5.Many people b _____________this change on gases such as carbon dioxide.

6.Therefore, the more petrol and electricity we _________（消耗) , the more carbon we are to release.

7.When the teacher entered the classroom, she found the pupils were a_________ in their Maths exercise.

8.The price of oil has been on the d_________ recently.

9.The whole family arranged a party to celebrate the new a_________.

10.Teachers are supposed to give c_________ to (稱贊)students, thus inspiring students in a positive way.

WELCOME TO THE RONALD REAGAN PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM

Visit the limited-time “Interactive! The Exhibition” at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum and save more than 30% on museum admission tickets with an audio tour.

WHEN

Through June. 28, 2017

WHAT’S INCLUDED

$19 (reg. $28)… Admission for one person to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, including “Interactive! The Exhibition” with an audio tour. Please note: the virtual reality(虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí))experience will be an additional cost and participants must be 10 years old or above.

WHY WE LOVE IT

●The exhibition is a hands-on experience focusing on movies, TV, music and the arts.

●Experience virtual reality, 1980s video games, robots, 3D printing.

●Climb aboard Air Force One, view the expensive comfortable presidential car and a Marine One helicopter.

●Explore Reagan’s legacy(遺產(chǎn)): Step into an Oval Office copy and see a piece of the Berlin wall.

●The audio tour has more than 50 stops and original material not copied in the exhibits

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

This is a season-specific event. All sales are final. No refunds(退款)or exchanges. Not valid after the expiration date. Valid any regular museum operating day through June. 28, 2017. Museum hours are 10 a.m.—5 p.m., seven days a week. Valid for one person. Cannot combine with other offers. Must use in one visit. Tickets include admission to “Interactive! The Exhibition” and the entire museum’s galleries and grounds.

1.What can visitors do while visiting the library and museum?

A. Fly on Air Force One.

B. Experience virtual reality for free.

C. Approach technology of different times.

D. Learn about the president’s daily routine.

2.What does the author say about the admission ticket?

A. It can be enjoyed with other offers.

B. It allows limitless visits to the museum.

C. It isn’t accessible to children.

D. It cannot be changed once sold.

3.What type of writing is this passage?

A. A notice.

B. An official report.

C. An advertisement.

D. A tour review.

I hate Black Friday sales. It’s often a gathering of people who are here for many different reasons. Some are looking for a deal on that one item for their loved one, or perhaps themselves. Their intentions are completely unrelated to the festive time of the year.

It was several years ago when my wife asked me to meet her at the local department store on Black Friday morning. They had advertised a child’s bike that she wanted to purchase for our son. We stood with a very large crowd, waiting for the manager to blow the whistle. After a while the whistle blew, it was like throwing a bucket of small fish into a tank of sharks. I suddenly felt my wife’s hope was slim. I told her that if we obtained a bike, fine, but if we did not, I was OK with that too.

As the pile of bikes began to gradually decrease in size, I saw my polite opportunity to wrap my hands around the comer of one of the boxes. I lifted it up and suddenly felt some mild resistance. I looked up see one of the largest gentlemen I had ever seen in my life. Frightening was not the word to describe his presence. He wore lots of belts of metal studded leather around both arms and even his neck. Tattoos (紋身) were an obvious passion of his.

I started to give up the box but he gently pushed it back in my direction and back into my hands. He then directed it into my shopping cart. He looked at me, smiled, and said, “Merry Christmas.” My wife and I went to the checkout, paid for the bike and went home. All the way home I was thinking that this moment was by far the best gift I had ever received for Christmas. The kindness of a stranger broke all preconceived notions (預(yù)想) I may have had of stereotypes and prejudices.

1.How did the author feel when going into the store?

A. The crowd was like small fish. B. They might not get the bike.

C. He was excited to do the shopping. D. The whistle was blown too late.

2.What happened when the author was buying the bike?

A. He was scared by a man’s look at first. B. A gentleman bought the bike for him.

C. A stranger helped him lift the box. D. He gave up the bike he first touched.

3.What can we learn from the author’s experience?

A. Look before you leap. B. Custom is a second nature.

C. Doing is better than saying. D. Don’t judge a book by its cover.

4.What may be the best title for the passage?

A. Black Friday Sales B. My son’s best bike

C. The best Christmas gift D. A strange gentleman

Although Paris is often considered the city of romance, close to a million adults who call it home are single. Many single people say that France’s capital is one of the most difficult places to meet people. The complaints of this lonely group have inspired a new phenomenon known as “supermarket dating”. At Galerie Lafayette Gourmet, singles can shop for more than just the items on their grocery list. They can look for someone who has blue eyes，brown hair, and is 1.8 meters tall, or whatever may be on their romantic shopping list.

At this Paris location, single people of all ages can schedule their shopping for Thursday nights between 6:30 and 9:00 p.m. When they walk through the door, they pick up a purple basket to advise that they are looking for love. They try to arrive early because the baskets disappear quickly, and then they have to wait in line for their turn to wander the store aisles. With purple baskets in hand, shoppers can consider their romantic options while they pick out their groceries. When they are ready to pay, they can go to the checkout line for singles who want to chat.

Most of the people who look for love in the supermarket are skeptical of Internet dating. They know that it is easy to embellish (美化) one’s appearance or to lie about one’s age over the Internet. The supermarket, on the other hand, is considered a safe and casual environment in which to meet a potential match. In addition, what one finds in another’s grocery basket can say a thing or two about that person’s character or intentions. Buying pet food can be a man’s way of showing a potential match that he has a sensitive side. Women who fill their baskets with low-fat food show their healthy style of living. These days it’s possible to find much more than food at a grocery store.

1.What do many single people in Pairs complain about?

A. The difficulty in finding a match.

B. The idea of supermarket dating.

C. The items on their grocery list.

D. The inconvenience in shopping.

2.Which of the following can be inferred but is not clearly stated in the second paragraph?

A. The dating supermarket is located in Paris.

B. The dating supermarket is open only on Thursday evenings.

C. Only single people can shop in the supermarket.

D. The dating supermarket has very good business.

3.How do love shoppers meet one another?

A. They schedule their meeting in advance.

B. They go through a special checkout.

C. They pick out their groceries with great care.

D. They dial the phone numbers on their shopping items.

4.Why do the people prefer the supermarket dating to Internet dating?

A. The supermarket dating is more convenient.

B. The supermarket dating is more fun.

C. The supermarket dating is more trustworthy.

D. The supermarket dating is more economical.

The World Health Organization says the widespread use of sugar in food products and drinks is a major concern in many areas. So WHO officials are calling on governments to require taxes on sugary drinks in an effort to limit their usage and popularity. The officials believe the taxes also would reduce the risk of health problems resulting from obesity.

Obesity is a condition in which the body stores large, unhealthy amounts of fat. Obese individuals are considered overweight. A new report says that in 2014 more than one-third of the adults in the world were overweight, and 500 million were considered obese. The United Nations agency estimates that in 2015, 42 million children under age 5 were either overweight or obese. It says that number represents an increase of about 11 million during the past 15 years. Almost half of these boys and girls live in Asia and one-fourth in Africa.

The U.N. agency blames unhealthy diets for a rise in diabetes cases. There are 422 million cases of the disease worldwide. WHO says 1.5 million people die from it every year. It says the use of sugar in food products, like sugary drinks, is a major reason for the increase in rates of obesity and diabetes.

Temo Waqanivalu is with the agency’s Department for the Prevention on Non-Communicable Diseases. He told VOA hat taxing sugary drinks would reduce consumption and save lives. Waganivalu noted that Mexico enacted a 10 percent tax on sugary drinks in 2014. He said by the end of the year, there was a 6 percent drop in the consumption of such drinks. Among poor people, the number of people who consumed sugary drinks dropped by 17 percent.

The WHO says people should limit the amount of sugar they consume. It says they should keep their sugar intake to below 10 percent of their total energy needs, and reduce it to less than 5 percent for improved health.

1.Why are taxes on sugary drinks required?

A. To limit their use and popularity.

B. To readjust the economic structure.

C. To warn people to change their life style.

D. To ensure the market’s diverse development.

2.What do the figures in the second paragraph suggest?

A. Adult obesity is ignored at present.

B. Obesity is a severe worldwide problem.

C. Obesity can block economic development.

D. Obesity is most serious in developed countries.

3.What does the underlined word “enacted” mean in the passage?

A. Abolish B. Pass

C. Promise D. Reduce

4.What does the example of Mexico prove?

A. Tax policies are unfair to the poor.

B. Sugary drinks are a threat to health.

C. The poor consume more sugary drinks.

D. Taxing sugary drinks makes a difference.

If you’re in your 20s or even 30s, you might feel a lot of uncertainty all the time. You may be not sure what your life purpose is.1.This is normal.

We all want to have a certain life purpose. We all want to feel we’re on the right path. We all want to perfect our habits, our routines, or our productivity. We all want to feel more certain, and perfect in what we’re doing.

There is a struggle between the comfort of certainty and perfection and the fear of uncertainty and being suboptimal(不最理想的).

Let me let you in on a secret: no one is free from this struggle. Look at the most successful people you can think of —Bill Gates, Obama, Taylor Swift. 2.Do you think they have certainty and a feeling of reaching perfection? Not a chance. There is not one of us alive, not me or anyone else, who ever feels certainty about their purpose or path. If they do, they’re fooling themselves. 3.

No one ever feels they’ve found the perfect productivity routine, the perfect version of themselves. 4.

We all feel uncertainty, all day, and we all struggle with it. Some people have grown more comfortable with it than others, but in general no one likes uncertainty.

5.That’s perfectly OK, perfectly normal. Don’t run from it. Instead, stay with this uncomfortable, unappealing uncertainty. It’s here in you, a part of this moment, a part of you but not the whole of you.

A.Because it doesn’t exist.

B.Do you think they have it all figured out?

C.This uncertainty you’re feeling is unpleasant.

D.But if they’re honest, they don’t feel that certainty.

E.See if you can tell what you’re being uncertain about.

F.So focus on what you actually have right in front of you.

G.You may be uncertain about what path you should take in life.

Our family’s first hosting experience began in January of 2015 with our Italian daughter Victoria. We had so much fun with her that we could not___________to experience a new, different country, so we__________to host another World Heritage Exchange Student.

As soon as we saw Merna’s information, we knew she was_________,a YES Scholarship student, and Egyptian. We began to fall in love with our Egyptain__________right away. We Skyped, and emailed for five months________she arrived in the US. When she__________got off the plane, it was as if we were finally a(n)________family again.

My husband and I grew up believing that other cultures_______us, and hosting a foreign Exchange Student just seems so_________for us. We felt it would be a__________experience for our children to grow up seeing other cultures and learning to love others as a(n)_________. Our small children are enjoying the experience vastly, learning a new language________, and realizing that the other side of the world is not all that________our country.

Merna is small, loving, helpful, charming, caring and a real__________to our lives. She has ________us all so much. We cannot__________our lives without our Italian and Egyptain daughters. We do plan to travel to________countries because of them, and we will be sending our children as exchange students to live with our new_________families.

I want to thank World Heritage for_________a chance for our family to grow from four children to six children all in one year. We are all excited at this experience of a lifetime and will forever________it.

1.A. help B. choose C. wait D. intend

2.A. applied B. afforded C. managed D. remembered

3.A. brilliant B. ambitious C. cute D. loyal

4.A. friend B. student C. daughter D. relative

5.A. once B. after C. since D. before

6.A. even B. already C. just D. ever

7.A. big B. foreign C. free D. whole

8.A. appeal to B. stick to C. belong to D. take to

9.A. common B. natural C. apparent D. simple

10.A. normal B. personal C. promising D. rewarding

11.A. companion B. reminder C. equal D. individual

12.A. little by little B. few by few C. one by one D. side by side

13.A. amongst B. unlike C. opposite D. about

14.A. guest B. heroine C. believer D. blessing

15.A. offered B. warned C. taught D. left

16.A. live B. enjoy C. imagine D. continue

17.A. other B. another C. all D. both

18.A. extended B. increased C. formed D. loved

19.A. having B. providing C. getting D. allowing

20.A. conduct B. appreciate C. desire D. adore

My online friend Steve 1.(frequent) comments on how fathers are often not included in the conversation when 2.Comes to parenting. When someone posts an article about how moms spend a large amount of time 3.(help) with homework each night, he will comment that it isn’t just moms 4. are right there with their sleeves 5.(roll) up; fathers are doing all the same things that moms do. However, they 6.(award) none of the credit for their performance.

Of course he is right. Steve and millions 7. Other dads are there with their kids every day. They are there making a special hairstyle for Crazy Hair Day. They read bedtime stories to their kids. They volunteer at the preschool. They make sandwiches cut into funny 8.(shape).

So for Steve and those dads who do the dirty work of parenting and love it as well as those who can’t to see little faces each morning, we wish you 9.Happy Father’s Day. You are awesome. Your little kid and your wife are 10.(fortune) to have you. Enjoy your time on this special day!