2 . Britain’s Smartest Kids

While other children were just starting their ABCs, three-year-old Mark Swallow was already reading Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. By the age of seven he was speaking fluent French and German and studying both Latin and Greek. Now, at the age of 12, Mark has just started a university degree in English literature.

Mark and other child geniuses will be the subject of a new documentary series which takes a look into the lives of these remarkable children and their families. In the programmes we will meet children like eight-year-old Daniel Manning, who wrote his first book when he was just five and who has just signed a f 60,000 contract with a publishing house to write three novels. Then there is 12-year-old Samantha Price, who started piano lessons when she was three. Along with the piano, she now also plays the cello, clarinet and classical guitar. She has already played with three top European orchestras. And how about ten-year-old Jordan Welsh? She first picked up a paint brush before she could talk. She has already had an exhibition of her paintings in one of London’s top art galleries and has just won a major prize for one of her paintings.

Over the next six weeks we will see what it is that makes these children so special. We will find out how and when their parents knew they were different and about the changes it made to their family life. We will hear from the children about their hopes and plans for the future. There are also interviews with former child geniuses, some who have gone on to great things and others who decided they wanted to return to a more normal life.

Join us Monday for the first documentary in this amazing series, Britain’s Smartest Kids.

1. When did Mark Swallow start reading Shakespeare and Charles Dickens?

A．When he was learning ABCs.	B．Before he started to learn ABCs.
C．When he was three years old.	D．Before he was three years old.

2. What will the new documentary mainly deal with?

A．The lives of child geniuses and their families.	B．The changes child geniuses made to their families.
C．The difficulties child geniuses have in their lives.	D．The hopes and plans child geniuses have for the future.

3. How many musical instruments can Samantha Price play?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

4. Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons why Jordan Welsh is in this programme?

A．She started painting at an early age.	B．She couldn’t talk until she started painting.
C．She has had an exhibition of her paintings in a top art gallery.	D．She has won a major prize for one of her paintings.

5. Where can you probably find this article?

A．In a storybook.	B．In an education magazine.
C．In a TV series guidebook.	D．In an English textbook.

3 . Answer the questions （根据以下内容回答问题）

Readers is a popular TV show. It invites different people to read aloud. The show also tells the moving stories behind those people. They read everything, like poems, books and letters. By reading aloud, the words on the paper come to life.

Many people are fans of the show. They begin to enjoy reading aloud at home. Now, the show gives people a special place to read across China. It is a reading pavilion（亭）. They are in many cities, like Shanghai, Hangzhou and Xi’an.

The pavilion is very small. Only one person can come into it each time. There is a microphone（麦克风）in it and it records people’s voice. Everyone can read for three minutes in the pavilion. They can read anything they like. The show will choose some of the good readers and invite them to read on TV.

People of all ages read in the pavilion. “Reading should be just like singing and talking,” said Dong Qing, the host and producer of the show. “We can show our true feelings by reading aloud.” (181 words)

1. Do people read letters in the TV show Readers?
________________, ________________________________________.
2. In which cities can we see a reading pavilion according to the passage?
________________________________________________________.
3. How long can people read in the reading pavilion?
________________________________________________________.
4. What will the show Readers do if they think some people read well?
________________________________________________________.
5. Do you want to read in the TV show Readers? Why or why not?
________________________________________________________.

4 .

A. focuses on       B. amazing       C. familiar     D. looks like       E) affects

You may have no idea about how     1     our motherland is. With a history of more than 5,000 years. China has always been a mysterious land of foreigners. In 2008, a documentary (纪录片) called Wild China was broadcast on BBC. There were six episodes (集) in all — Heart of the Dragon, Shangri la, Tibet, Beyond the Great Wall, Land of the Panda and Tides of Change. This 300-minute long documentary shocked the audience with China’s beautiful scenery.
Wild China may be the best of China. However, it is more than a travelogue. The documentary not only     2     the wildlife of China but also the way it     3     and interacts with human life. From high definition cameras, you can see the beautiful Himalayas and the Gobi desert; you can take a look at the hills of Southern China filled with rice paddies (水稻田) and the land of the panda; you can also discover how silk is collected and the history of the Silk Road.
It is interesting to see what our motherland     4     from foreigners’ eyes. If you are too busy to travel around China, you are in luck because Wild China can take you on a visual journey of our motherland.

5 . A. traditional       B.at least        C. probably        D. daytime     E. common
Watching TV is a very popular pastime（消遣）in the UK. But what kind of programs do British people like to watch? Well, the most-watched TV programs are usually on     1     four times every week. They are programs based in one neighborhood that try to describe     2     life in the UK --- we call these dreams ‘soap operas’ or ‘soaps’.
Back in the early days of TV, husbands went out to work and wives stayed at home, looking after the house and the children. Most of these     3     programs were aimed at amusing the housewives who were at home,     4     doing the washing. Companies selling washing powder（洗衣粉）would advertise their products between the programs, and sometimes those companies would even sponsor（赞助）the ‘soap operas’.