阅读下面短文，从A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项使短文意思完整、通顺。

I have invented robots which improve the work of cars. My love of making things began when I was a kid. I really became ________ about inventing after I learned about Thomas Edison.

One day in fourth grade, our teacher gave us a project in class. We had to write to a company and learn about the products（产品）. I thought and thought. ________ I chose the Thomas Edison Company. Soon after, the company sent me a book about the life of Thomas Edison. I enjoyed reading and reading again about his ________! I like the recorded sound and the electric light most and kept the inventions in my heart.

My dad found that I was interested in inventing and ________ me. He showed me how to turn my ideas into ________ and then into new things. Once, I made a model plane and my dad was very surprised. Later, we found a similar model plane in a store. I learned that different inventors often invent similar things. It is usual for this to happen. I also learned that not all great ideas ________ . Failure（失败） is a ________ part of the inventing.

As my father and I worked together, I began to ________ that my dad was quite an inventor himself. He was always ________ a better way to do an easy job. His ________, together with my interest in inventing, led me to become an engineer and an inventor. Of course, I also thank Thomas Edison. He is my hero.

16.

A．surprised

B．excited

C．bored

D．worried

17.

A．Finally

B．Suddenly

C．Hardly

D．Probably

18.

A．products

B．feelings

C．inventions

D．knowledge

19.

A．allowed

B．discussed

C．replied

D．encouraged

20.

A．plans

B．homework

C．advice

D．introduction

21.

A．win

B．depend

C．work

D．create

22.

A．comfortable

B．successful

C．funny

D．common

23.

A．promise

B．realize

C．decide

D．imagine

24.

A．looking up

B．taking in

C．looking for

D．giving up

25.

A．guide

B．order

C．rule

D．career

A young man went to an expert on gems（宝石） and wanted to learn from him. The expert shook his head. He worried that young men wouldn’t have the patience to learn. In his opinion, they were always in a hurry.

The young man asked the expert many times to let him have a try. Finally the expert said, “Be here tomorrow.”

The next morning the expert put a jade stone in the man’s hand and told him to hold it. The expert then went about his work, cutting, weighing and setting gems. The man sat and waited excitedly. The following morning the expert again placed the jade stone in the man’s hand and told him to hold it. On the third, fourth, and fifth day the expert repeated the action.

On the sixth day the young man still had to hold the jade stone, but he could no longer stand the silence.“Sir, ” he asked,“ when am I going to learn something?”

“You will learn, ”the expert replied.

Several more days went by. The man became more and more impatient.

However, when the expert placed a stone in his hand one morning, the young man shouted without looking at it, “This is not the same jade stone!”

“You have begun to learn, ” the expert said with a smile.

26. What do we know about the expert at first?

A．He got angry with the young man.

B．He didn’t want to teach the young man.

C．He played a joke on the young man.

D．He made friends with the young man.

27. Why did the expert ask the man to hold a stone for days?

A．It was a way of learning.

B．He was too busy to teach the man.

C．It was all that he could give the man.

D．There was no other work for the man to do.

28. How did the young man’s feeling change?

A．worried→unhappy→nervous.

B．worried→nervous →unhappy.

C．excited→nervous →worried.

D．excited →unhappy→surprised.

29. What is the best title of the passage?

A．A real expert on gems.

B．Some good learning habits.

C．The importance of patience.

D．The secret to learning quickly.

What would the world be like if cars could drive themselves? Imagine seeing an empty car passing by on its way to pick up its owner, or a car full of passengers who are reading, listening to music or even sleeping. But none of them is worried about the road ahead.

Well, all of these could be the future of driving. There are several companies, for example, Google, working on driverless cars. So far, no Google self-driven car has got a traffic ticket, but some of them have been in accident when other cars hit them.

These cars are now still in the testing stages. If the tests are successful, these electric, self-driven cars could be available（可使用的） very soon. But how is it possible for a car to drive itself? Cars already have many features（特征） allowing them to take the place of drivers during certain situations. Some features include cars being able to park themselves, or slow down when they notice other cars close by. They can also control the speed if there are dangerous conditions（状况）.

Scientists believe that with the help of wireless signals, cameras and GPS, it is possible to create a safe self-driven car very soon.

The cause of deadly road accidents is usually careless drivers or dangerous conditions. The self-driven car may be able to stop this. However, some people do not like the idea. American lawyer Whit Drake, for example, doesn’t believe these cars are safe. He thinks that technologies can also be mistakes.

30. The main purpose of the first paragraph is to ________.

A．get readers to pay attention to road safety

B．tell readers the danger of self-driven cars

C．ask readers to keep away from heavy traffic

D．make readers be interested in self-driven cars

31. From the passage, we know that the testing self-driven cars can already ________.

A．stop any accident on the road

B．turn around when getting near other cars

C．control the speed in dangerous situations

D．park themselves with the help of the drivers

32. What is Whit Drake’s attitude（态度） toward the safety of the self-driven cars?

A．He has doubt about it.

B．He believes it completely.

C．He doesn’t care about it.

D．He dislikes new technology.

33. Where can we read this article?

A．In a magazine.	B．In a travel guide.
C．In a storyboard.	D．In an advertisement.

Professor Stephen Hawking was born on 8th January, 1942 in Oxford, England. When he was eight, his family moved to St. Albans, a town about 20 miles north of London. At the age of eleven, Hawking went to St. Albans School and then went to University of Oxford in 1959, where his father once studied. Hawking wanted to study maths although his father asked him to learn medicine. Since maths was not a choice at that university, he chose to study physics instead. Three years later, he won a very important prize in natural science. In 1963, Hawking suffered from a serious disease and was told that he couldn’t live more than two years. In fact, he lived for another fifty-five years, until he died in March, 2018, but he had to use a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

Hawking was also a famous writer. His first book, A Brief History of Time, came out in 1988 and became an international best seller. He also wrote a children’s book, George and the Big Bang, with his daughter, while he was on a visit to Hong Kong for the first time over 10 years ago. Hawking said the book would be a bit like Harry Potter but without the magic. “It explains the wonderful universe (宇宙),” said Hawking.

In 2014, a movie called The Theory of Everything was shown in cinemas. It was based on (以……为根据) Hawking’s life. Hawking liked the film and said it made him think over his own life. “Although I’m disabled, I have been successful in my scientific work.” Hawking wrote on Facebook in November, 2014. “I have traveled widely and I hope to go into space one day.”

34. What does the underlined word “It” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．George and the Big Bang.

B．A Brief History of Time.

C．Harry Potter.

D．The Theory of Everything.

35. In what order did the following events take place in Stephen Hawking’s life?   
a. His first book came out.
b. He got a serious disease.
c. He went to University of Oxford.
d. A movie based on his life was shown in cinemas.
e. He moved to a town about 20 miles north of London.

A．b-c-d-a-e	B．c-b-a-e-d
C．e-c-b-a-d	D．e-b-c-a-d

36. What is TRUE about Hawking?

A．He won a very important prize in match.

B．His father was a student of Oxford before.

C．He chose to study medicine because his father wanted him to.

D．He suffered from a serious disease in 1963 and died soon.

37. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Stephen Hawking’s lifetime.

B．Stephen Hawking’s hard work in science.

C．How Stephen Hawking fought against his disease.

D．Why Stephen Hawking’s books are sold well.

Where did these numbers come from?

Eleven and Twelve The number “eleven” comes from the German word “ainlif”, which means “one left” in English. Twelve follows the same rule. It comes from “twalif”—“two left”. Why did people use “teen” instead of “lif” from 13 to 19? We still don’t know.

42,195 kilometres in a Marathon（马拉松） The story began with an ancient Greek soldier Pheidippides. Once his country won a big war（战争） and he carried the good news from Marathon to Athens. He ran so fast that he died after telling people the news. To remember Pheidippides, people held the first modern marathon in the first Olympic Games in 1896. It was about 40 km from Marathon to Athens. But race organizers for the 1908 Olympic Games in London wanted to add something special. They made it 42,195 km. And since 1924 the number 42,195 has been kept in marathon.

28 Days in February Before the calendar（历法）we use today, one of the first Roman calendars had only 304 days and ten months（March through December）, with six months of 30 days and four of 31 days. The second king of Rome changed the old calendar. He added 50 days for January and February. To make the new months longer, he took one day from each of the 30-day months, and then made 56 days to divide between, January and February（28 days each）. Later January was given one more day to add up to 355 days a year, but February still had 28 days. That’s how it became the shortest month and it stayed that way ever since.

38. The marathon became longer at London Olympic Games because ________.

A．the British was bad at Maths

B．the British didn’t like the Greek story

C．the British wanted to run longer

D．the British wanted to make the race different

39. How many days were there in each month after the second king changed the old calendar?

A．28, 29 or 31.

B．28, 30   or 31.

C．28, 29 or 30.

D．29, 30 or 31.

40. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．We don’t know why the numbers from 13 to 19 didn’t follow the rule of twelve.

B．There used to be 304 days a year according to the first Roman calendars.

C．The Greek soldier ran from Athens to Marathon to carry the good news.

D．After changing the old calendar, February became the shortest month in a year.

You have lots of things you'd like to do. But sometimes it's hard to get to the finish line-just like your goal. How can you break your bad habits and develop good ones?     41     Here are a few opinions we often get from kids, followed by ideas that might help.

● I can't get away from screens.

    42     If you usually spend time lying on the sofa and watching TV programs or a video when you're bored, go somewhere else instead. Take a book to your room or your violin to the backyard. Or ask if you can help cook in the kitchen.

●     43    

Start with "showing up. " Then take one small step or do one tiny task, followed by another and another. For example, how do I practice the piano? First sit at it. Then play one note at a time.

Starting with a super-simple step often helps. Why? It's easy, quick, and gets you in action.     44    

● I have no time.

Take a look at the choices you make about how you spend time. Do those choices show what's important to you? Can you spare 10 minutes a day to work on a goal? Let's suppose you want to be singer.     45     Talk with a parent about why your goal counts. Discuss whether you can let go of something less important to free up time to achieve it.

A．Then keep taking steps.

B．I can't start such a huge goal.

C．And how can you try to reach your goals?

D．To change a habit, try changing where you spend your time.

E．Is it more important to practice singing than play video games?