【推荐3】When you think of a museum, I bet you don’t think of a place where children run around. But the Science Museum is different. It’s noisy!

You can get to the Science Museum by going on the London Underground from Waterloo on the Jubilee line to Westminster. Then take the Circle or the District line to South Kensington. When you walk out, take a look around you, and you should see it.

What to bring: at least two bottles of a drink for the kids and £10 to spend in the cafes. Entrance is free!

The most interesting and exciting part of coming here is to go to the kids’ area, the Launch Pad on the 3rd floor. At busy times, you may have to wait in line, but staff (工作人员) will provide science toys for you and the kids to play with. It is great fun in there. And if you love science, it should indulge (满足) you as you will learn about science in a fun way. There are also simulators (模拟装置) on the 3rd floor, so think of Floor 3 as a “fun floor”.

If you want to learn about the museum, then go to the ground floor. They have some things which will interest you.

Overall, it’s a fun experience for the kids and you may enjoy it too. It’s also free to get in!

1. How is the Science Museum different from other museums?

A．It’s big.

B．It’s free.

C．It’s busy.

D．It’s noisy.

2. You can_____________at the Launch Pad.

A．buy your favourite drink

B．get some science toys for free

C．learn about science in a fun way

D．learn the history of the Science Museum

3. What does the underlined word “Overall” mean in Chinese?

A．另外

B．总之

C．因此

D．相反

4. The passage is most probably_____________.

A．a report

B．a piece of news

C．a review

D．an advertisement

【推荐3】Mid-Autumn Festival is the second grandest festival in China after Chinese New Year. It’s a time when families come together to appreciate the full moon and eat mooncakes during the festival. In fact, besides these two traditions, there are many others.

1. Watching the tide

In ancient times, watching the tide on the Qiantang River in East China’s Zhejiang province was another grand event of Mid-Autumn Festival. It has been recorded in detail since the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220). Many famous ancient poets, like Su Shi in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) wrote about the grand occasion in their poems.

2. Making colorful lanterns

On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, people usually make colorful lanterns to decorate th beautiful night. They also make Kongming lanterns, which can fly because the burning candles h t the air in the lanterns. Children write good wishes on the lanterns and let them fly up into the sky.

3. Burning pagodas (佛塔)

When night falls, people gather together in an empty place, and pick up broken bricks and tiles to pile up several pagodas. The pagodas are hollow and are filled with firewood. Then the firewood in the pagodas is lit, and the red flames rise and sparks explode, through which people express the joy of harvest in autumn.

4. Stealing vegetables

Among the Dong ethnic group in Central China’s Hunan province, it is the custom for young ladies to steal vegetables on Mid-Autumn Festival night. Whoever eats vegetables with sweet dew on this night will be healthy and happy. Also, women and girls express their adoration to their favorite young men by this way.

5. Drinking osmanthus-flavored wine

Osmanthus-flavored wine is a gift during this season. Drinking Osmanthus fragrance wine at Mid-Autumn Festival implies sweetness, wealth and luck, and prosperity of the family.

People gather together to appreciate the moon, on which Wu Gang, who chases Chang’e, is cutting a sweet-scented osmanthus tree outside the Moon Palace, according to a legend. They drink the sweet osmanthus-flavored wine to echo the festival atmosphere.

1. What do people usually do during Mid-Autumn Festival?

A．People in Hunan province steal vegetables on Mid-Autumn Festival night.

B．People drink Osmanthus fragrance wine to appreciate the moon and honor Chang'e.

C．People make Kongming lanterns to express good wishes and the joy of harvest in autumn.

D．People watch the tide on the Qiantang River, which dates back to the Han Dynasty.

2. Which column of a magazine does this article probably belong to?

A．Science.

B．Culture.

C．Advertisement.

D．History.

【推荐1】And I hated circuses, especially the animal acts﹣men teasing lions, girls balancing on elephants and monkeys playing football. I knew that every trick a circus animal did was unnatural, achieved through strict training and quite possibly cruelty.

Happily, circuses using wild animals are now almost extinct, and zoos have definitely evolved. When my children were young, I occasionally took them to our local zoo. The elephants were in tiny cages and the gorillas looked bored as they sat peeling bananas and staring at teasing visitors. Each cage had a sign which listed the animal's name and where it came from. But, back then, there was little information included about the environmental challenges they faced.

As a result, environmentalists and animal lovers often oppose zoos. “Animals belong in the wild,” is a common and understandable complaint. But what do the animals themselves prefer?

Generally speaking, zoo animals have a longer life. But﹣﹣you may protest﹣﹣they are not free. What? Free to be hunted and killed, free to die of hunger or thirst? Maybe sitting in a cage eating bananas isn't so bad.

Not that such conditions are acceptable in modern zoos, due to the work of BIAZA, the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums. These days every zoo requires BLAZA’s approval to operate, and the association sets the standards, observes conditions in zoos and develops animal﹣research programmes.

Consequently, today, most zoo animals are born and raised in zoos, live in large, comfortable enclosures and are cared for by well﹣trained, knowledgeable and caring zoo employees. Of course it's no substitute for living in the wild but unfortunately this isn't always possible. Meanwhile, why not visit your local zoo and decide for yourself?

1. From Paragraph 2, we can guess that the writer believes circus animals .

A．should have been placed in zoos

B．were not treated well by their trainers

C．were not as intelligent as those in zoos

D．had much shorter lives than those in the wild

2. Which of the following statements about zoos would the writer probably agree with?

A．Zoo animals should be freed into the wild.

B．Zoos are more popular now than in the past.

C．Zoo animals are more restricted than in the past

D．Zoos now provide caring living conditions for animals.

3. What is the best title for the text?

A．Zoos Are Improving

B．Zoos or Circuses?

C．Closing Down Circuses

D．Life of Animals

【推荐3】At Dulles High school in Sugar Land, Texas, the roster(候选名单)for Advanced Chinese begins with Jason Chao and ends with Kathy Zhang. In between comes an unexpected name: Elizabeth Hoffman. Hoffman, now a 12^th grader, began learning Chinese in the eighth grade, has spent a summer studying in Nanjing and plans to perfect her Mandarin next fall. When asked by her peers---why she is learning Chinese, she responds with a question: “why aren’t you?”
As China rushes toward superpower status, America’s schools and government officials are responding to Hoffman’s opinion. Earlier this year Eush Holt of New Jersey introduced legialation(立法)calling for increased money of programs for less commonly taught languages, “For reasons of economics, culture and security, we should have much better facilities(设备)with Chinese languages and dialects,” he said. The State Department has pointed out Chinese is becoming a “critical language”, but the most recent data show that only 24,000 students in Grade 7 to Grade 12 study Chinese.
Still, the number is growing. In Chicago public schools, enrollment in Chinese classes has skyrocked from 5000 students in 2005 to nearly 35,000 students this year. In the Santa Clara County, California, enrollment has quadrupled during the same period. In 2007, when the College Board first introduces advanced-placement language exams in Chinese and Italian, 2,400 high school plan to offer AP Chinese---10 times the number of students that plan to offer AP Italian.
Much of the interest can be explained by China’s increasing competiviveness. “People are always trying to judge what languages are going to be useful for the future,” says Marty Abbot, the director of education at the National Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Stephanie Wong, a student At Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, California, chose Chinese so that she could speak with her grandfather. Wong also predicted that Chinese will be important if she becomes a doctor. 80 percent of people in her hometown are Asians.
1. What does the first paragraph mainly discuss?

A．Dulles High School offers a Chinese course

B．Jason and Kathey are the top students at Dulles School

C．Elizabeth Hoffman suggests her school offer a Chinese course

D．Elizebeth Hoffman takes the lead in learning Chinese

2. According to the text, Chinese is becoming a “critical language” because ______.

A．American government has pointed it out

B．Rush Holt introduced legislation calling for opening Chinese

C．China rushes toward superpower status

D．many students in the world choose to learn Chinese

3. _______ arouses America’s schools interest in Chinese.

A．The fact that Chinese is becoming a “critical language”

B．China’s increasing competitiveness in the world

C．The beautiful Chinese traditional culture

D．The population of people speaking Chinese

4. We can infer from the passage that ________.

A．more money will be spent on facilities with Chinese languages

B．in America, more people speak Italian than Chinese

C．the number of enrollment in Chinese classes will be increasing forever

D．if a language is useful for the future it may become a critial language

【推荐1】Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced that the UK will host the first ever Global Ministerial Mental Health Summit(峰会) in London this October.This global summit aims to put mental-health care on an equal footing with the physical kind.

But there is a long way to go. One in four people will experience a mental-health problem at some point in life. In rich countries mental illnesses account for more suffering and premature death than heart disease, strokes(中风) or cancer. Meanwhile the central-African countries have just one mental-health professional per 100,000 people, a fiftieth as many as Europe has. (Less than 1% of foreign aid for health care goes towards mental health.)

As developing countries handle infectious diseases, mental health will consume a greater share of budgets and attention there. By 2020 mental-health conditions may account for 15% of the global burden of disease, but even in rich countries many people with common problems still go without treatment.

It is clear that mental illness is fast becoming one of the global health challenges of the 21st century. Until recently, this hasn’t had the profile it deserves on a global stage. The ministers gathering in London must produce new money and focus—and not just another declaration. The summit is also expected to help countries learn from each other to find the best ways to deal with increased rates of depression and anxiety among young people.

1. Which of the following best explains “on an equal footing” underlined in paragraph 1?

A．Standing up for.	B．Being as important as.
C．Standing in one’s shoes.	D．Having an advantage over.

2. What is the purpose of holding the meeting?

A．To find more foreign aid for health care.

B．To make a declaration on mental illnesses.

C．To solve the physical problems of the youth.

D．To stress the importance of mental health.

3. Which disease causes more premature death in rich countries?

A．Heart disease.	B．Cancer.
C．Mental illness.	D．Stroke.

4. What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A．Effective measures should be taken on mental health.

B．The problem of mental illness has drawn enough attention.

C．People in developed countries suffer less mental illnesses.

D．Mental-health diseases have taken up about 15% of the global illness cases.

【推荐2】At Denver there was an crowd of passengers into the coaches（车厢） on the eastbound B. & M. express. In one coach there sat a very pretty young woman dressed in elegant taste and surrounded by all the luxurious comforts of an experienced traveler. Among the newcomers were two young men, one of handsome presence with a bold, frank face expression and manner; the other a ruffled, glum-faced person, heavily built and roughly dressed. The two were handcuffed（拷上手铐） together.
As they passed down the aisle of the coach the only available seat offered was a reversed one facing the attractive young woman. Here the linked couple seated themselves. The young woman's glance fell upon them with a distant, swift disinterest; then with a lovely smile brightening her face and a tender pink tingeing（稍加染色，影响） her rounded cheeks, she held out a little gray-gloved hand. When she spoke her voice, full, sweet, and deliberate, proclaimed that its owner was accustomed to speak and be heard.
"Well, Mr. Easton, if you will make me speak first, I suppose I must. Don't you ever recognize old friends when you meet them in the West?"
The younger man aroused himself sharply at the sound of her voice, seemed to struggle with a slight embarrassment which he threw off instantly, and then clasped her fingers with his left hand.
"It's Miss Fairchild," he said, with a smile. "I'll ask you to excuse the other hand; "it's otherwise engaged just at present."
He slightly raised his right hand, bound at the wrist by the shining "bracelet" to the left one of his companion. The glad look in the girl's eyes slowly changed to a bewildered horror. The glow faded from her cheeks. Her lips parted in a vague（含糊，犹豫）, relaxing distress. Easton, with a little laugh, as if amused, was about to speak again when the other forestalled him. The glum-faced man had been watching the girl's face expression with veiled glances from his keen, shrewd eyes.
"You'll excuse me for speaking, miss, but, I see you're acquainted with（认识，熟悉） the officer here. If you'll ask him to speak a word for me when we get to the pen（围栏，监狱） he'll do it, and it'll make things easier for me there. He's taking me to Leavenworth prison. It's seven years for cheating."
"Oh!" said the girl, with a deep breath and returning color. "So that is what you are doing out here? An officer!"
"My dear Miss Fairchild," said Easton, calmly, "I had to do something. Money has a way of taking wings with itself, and you know it takes money to keep step with our crowd in Washington. I saw this opening（通道） in the West,and____well, an officer isn't quite as high a position as that of ambassador, but--"
"The ambassador," said the girl, warmly, "doesn't call any more. I needn't ever have done so. You ought to know that. And so now you are one of these brave Western heroes, and you ride and shoot and go into all kinds of dangers. That's different from the Washington life. You have been missed from the old crowd."
The girl's eyes, fascinated, went back, widening a little, to rest upon the glittering handcuffs.
"Don't you worry about them, miss," said the other man. "All officers handcuff themselves to their prisoners to keep them from getting away. Mr. Easton knows his business."
"Will we see you again soon in Washington?" asked the girl.
"Not soon, I think," said Easton. __________________"
"I love the West," said the girl irrelevantly. Her eyes were shining softly. She looked away out the car window. She began to speak truly and simply without the gloss of style and manner: "Mamma and I spent the summer in Denver. She went home a week ago because father was slightly ill. I could live and be happy in the West. I think the air here agrees with me. Money isn't everything. But people always misunderstand things and remain stupid--"
"Say, officer," shouted the glum-faced man. "This isn't quite fair. I'm needing a drink, and haven't had a smoke all day. Haven't you talked long enough? Take me in the smoker now, won't you? I'm half dead for a pipe."
The bound travelers rose to their feet, Easton with the same slow smile on his face.
"I can't deny a require for tobacco," he said, lightly. "It's the one friend of the unfortunate. Good-bye, Miss Fairchild. Duty calls, you know." He held out his hand for a farewell.
"It's too bad you are not going East," she said, reclothing herself with manner and style. "But you must go on to Leavenworth, I suppose?"
"Yes," said Easton, "I must go on to Leavenworth."
The two men sidled down the aisle into the smoker.
The two passengers in a seat near by had heard most of the conversation. Said one of them: "That officer is a good sort of man. Some of these Western fellows are all right."
"Pretty young to hold an office like that, isn't he?" asked the other.
"Young!" exclaimed the first speaker, "why--Oh! Didn't you catch on? Say--did you ever know an officer to handcuff a prisoner to his right hand?"
1. From the first three paragraphs, we know that_________

A．the two young were seated opposite to the young woman by accident.

B．it was not difficult for the woman to find the men were handcuffed

C．the young woman found she knew one of the men at the first sight of them.

D．the young woman may not be good at communicate

2. What would be the possible sentence following the underlined “and –-“

A．and it is not easy to make such a fortune

B．and I do the cheating things to collect money

C．and I tried my best to be a good officer

D．and the West is bond to be wealthy

3. When Easton uttered the underlined sentence "My butterfly days are over, I fear", his real meaning was that__________

A．he would have to focus on his work

B．he would be put in prison

C．his chance of being with butterfly is small

D．his workload as an officer was heavy

4. Why did the glum-faced man urge Easton to the smoker?

A．Because he needed a drink and tobacco badly.

B．Because he was angry that Miss Fairchild did not say any good words for him

C．Because he was bored and tired with Miss Fairchild and Easton’s talk.

D．Because he was afraid Miss Fairchild would find the truth.

5. Which of the following can NOT be inferred from the passage?

A．Miss Fairchild was an ambassador

B．Easton was an officer with his prisoner

C．the glum-faced was considerate and careful

D．Easton had been trying to make a big fortune in the West

6. What was the best title of the passage?

A．Miss Fairchild’s Trip	B．Hearts and Hands
C．The Story of a Handcuff	D．The Meeting of Two Friends

【推荐3】Sunaian’s family left India and moved to the UK when she was 13. She had to start a new school...

I remember it really well. My parents drove me to the school and said goodbye to me. I took a deep breath and walked into the school.

I didn’t know what to feel. I was excited and scared and a bit nervous, all at the same time. There were lots of other kids around. They were already in groups of friends, but none of them said hello or anything. It was a strange feeling for me, like I didn’t really belong there. I wanted to be somewhere else, but that wasn’t possible.

The first thing I had to do was register, so I went to a room in the school that had a sign saying “Administration”. Suddenly, I felt like I was some kind of criminal. They started asking me all kinds of questions. Then I went off to my first class.

My first class. Wow, that was horrible. Perhaps it was because my hair or clothes were different, but everyone just looked at me in such a strange way. And just like when I arrived, no one came to talk to me. Incredibly, that’s never happened: no one has even taken the time to get to know me or like me. I have friends because I made the first move to meet people.

Maybe the worst class that day, though, was Science. The teacher wasn’t too bad. She introduced me to the class and showed me where to sit. But the other students? Well, they looked at me like I was a guinea pig or something they were going to use for an experiment. I hated every minute.

Then there was a break and I went to sit somewhere alone, missing my mum and dad. But I thought they’d want me to keep trying, so I tried to be more positive in the next class. Not so good, though. Everyone talked to other students, but I sat by myself. At the end of the day, I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

But, as time passed, things have got better. Now I’m doing fine and I get OK grades. I’ve learned lots of things — but not what the teachers teach. I’ve learned that I’m strong and brave. I’ve learned that I will succeed even if some things aren’t the way I want them to be.

1. From the passage, we can learn that ______.

A．Sunaina was well received upon the arrival at school

B．Sunaina was treated as a criminal in the register department.

C．Nobody wanted to waste time getting to know Sunaina at first.

D．Other students’ hair and clothes were similar to Sunaina in her class.

2. What made Sunaina think Science the worst class that day?

A．The Science teacher’s quality and qualification.

B．The way the other students looked at Sunaina.

C．The way the teacher introduced Sunaina to the class.

D．The other students’ thinking of using Sunaina for an experiment.

3. Which of the following is suitable to describe Sunaina?

A．Weak and scary.	B．Tough and courageous.
C．Sensitive and shy.	D．Generous and outgoing.

4. What does the story intend to tell us?

A．What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

B．A life without a friend is a life without a sun.

C．Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.

D．A good word is warm in winter, but a bad word hurts in June.