These days I found that mail delivery (邮件投递) is a little different. I still got my mail from my mailbox. I got a notice of its arrival through e-mail from a friend of mine. I went to the mailbox after the time the mail usually arrived. Nothing, but my neighbours’ mail. I thought that was unusual.

I decided to take my neighbours’ mail to them. I was going to put the mail in their mailbox when a tall man came and shouted at me, “Hey! What are you doing?” He snatched (夺过) the mail from my hand.

I shook my head, “No, believe me. I got this mail by mistake in my box today. I was just bringing it to them.” He gave me a funny look with uncertainty and went back into his house.

I got the knock on the door the next morning by two very polite officers. The angry tall man had phoned the police and told them I was a crazy old woman going around mixing up everyone’s mail. Before I could finish telling them about what was going on, the officers had watched a dog coming near my mailbox with mail in his mouth. He took out the mail that was in my box and put letters in. He pushed the door closed with his nose, picked up the new pile of mail he had got from my box.

The dog had belonged to a postman who had died. No one thought to check on the man’s dog (the postman lived alone). The dog had been trained to put mail in and take mail out of the boxes. After his owner died, he still carried on with his duties.

I went by to talk to the tall man to describe what had happened. He was very pleased when he realized I was not a mail thief. He did, however, adopt (领养) the little guy.

4. Why did the tall man give the writer a funny look? ________

A．To show his doubt.	B．To express his love.
C．To control his happiness.	D．To hide his sadness.

5. How did the police discover the truth? ________

A．By asking the writer questions.

B．By seeing what happened for themselves.

C．By asking the tall man for help.

D．By discussing the stolen mail together.

6. Which of the following shows the right order according to the passage? ________
a. The police officers found out the truth.
b. The postman died and left the dog alone.
c. The tall man became the new owner of the dog.
d. The writer’s mail and her neighbours’ were mixed up.
e. The dog was trained to put the mail in and take the mail out of the boxes.

A．b-e-c-d-a

B．e-b-a-c-d

C．d-a-b-e-c

D．e-b-d-a-c

7. What is the best title for the story? ________

A．A Strange Man

B．A Dog’s Tale

C．Special Delivery

D．New Mail

Reading and writing don’t come naturally to people. Although it takes some effort, eighty-six percent of the world’s population have learned how to read and write, and the number has been increasing for centuries. Literacy（读写能力）makes it possible for us to navigate the world filled with books, websites, text messages, and more. But the world of information is changing. Why send a long letter or text when you can share photos or videos instead? Why learn from a book when you can learn from a video? Why read magazines when you can listen to podcasts（播客）?

Could people join today’s world without the abilities of reading or writing? ▲ Most of our devices（设备）now talk to us and take spoken orders. Smart cars ask for where you go and then give directions. Smart virtual assistants, like Siri, play a song, set a timer and much more. Some apps can also read text aloud or turn speech into text. These devices aren’t perfect—the apps still make silly mistakes. But they’re getting better and better. So in the future, it’s possible that all of our communication with our devices and each other is spoken.

But reading and writing are powerful tools. For one, most people read faster than they speak. A podcaster speaks at around 150 to 160 words each minute, while a strong reader can look through a text at 300 to 400 words each minute. That’s twice as fast! Research has also found that when people read, they can remember more information and stay more interested than when they listen. Learning to read also creates new connections in the brain. With the invention of reading, our brain has been changed, which developed the ways we were able to think, which changed the intellectual evolution（智力进化） of humans. Would we really choose to give up that progress?

What do you think? Do you hope people keep on reading and writing, or will technology make literacy useless?

8. What can we learn from Paragraph 1? ________

A．People like magazines better than podcasts.

B．The world of information is becoming different.

C．People become better at reading and writing nowadays.

D．Less than 80% of the world’s population can read and write.

9. Which of the following can be the best to fill in “▲” in Paragraph 2? ________

A．It’s still a dream.	B．Technology makes it possible.
C．Scientists believe it is difficult.	D．Some people are not sure about that.

10. In Paragraph 3, how does the writer show most people read faster than they speak? ________
①By making comparisons
②By telling stories
③By listing numbers
④By asking questions

A．①②

B．②③

C．①③

D．②④

11. Which of the following might the writer most probably agree with? ________

A．It’s easy for people to learn to read and write.

B．Making all communication spoken is impossible.

C．Reading can slow down the evolution of our brain.

D．Humans had better keep on reading and writing.

As the days are getting colder, you might wish you could magically turn into a bear and spend the winter sleeping. In fact, scientists are looking for ways to let humans hibernate, too!

During hibernation, an animal’s heart rate and breathing slow down. They can save energy when there is little food in the winter months.

Japanese researchers have found the secret behind hibernation—the “Q neurons”. These neurons in animals’ brains can put them into a hibernation state. The researchers also did operations on mice after turning on the mice’s “Q neurons”. It turned out that during hibernation, the operations do less harm to the mice.

According to the team, humans’ “O neurons”cannot be turned on and off as easily as the mice’s. But they are confident in copying the mice’s hibernation in humans. That means we could let people “hibernate”when having operations, causing less damage to their bodies.

In recent years, more scientists are getting to realize the benefits of hibernation. US scientist Katherine Grabek found that when the thirteen-lined ground squirrel hibernates, it cleans out harmful brain plaques that are related to Alzheimer’s in humans. They hope to design some medicine for humans based on this finding. Besides, some studies in bats show that, during hibernation, their bodies age more slowly. This also provides new ideas for making humans live longer in the future, according to New Scientist magazine.

At the same time, scientists have found a lot of fun facts on animals. For example, a bat’s heart rate drops to 25 beats per minute during hibernation—down from 400 when it’s awake. Its breathing slows so much that it might not take a breath for up to an hour! Also, a black bear can go without eating, drinking or going to the bathroom for 100 days. During hibernation, their wounds even heal perfectly.

12. Paragraph 2 introduces _________.

A．what is needed for hibernation	B．where animals usually hibernate
C．what kind of animals hibernate	D．what happens during hibernation

13. What have Japanese researchers found?

A．Humans don’t have “Q neurons” as mice do.

B．It’s difficult to turn on the mice’s “Q neurons”.

C．It’s impossible for humans to copy the hibernation.

D．Doing operations in the hibernation state is less harmful.

14. What will happen in the future based on the scientists’ findings?

A．People can hibernate whenever they like.

B．People may hibernate to slow down aging.

C．People may use animals to create new medicine.

D．People can go without eating or drinking for 100 days.

15. The passage is written to _________.

A．share some findings on hibernation	B．introduce fun facts on hibernation
C．show the achievements in operations	D．present a new way of doing operations

下面文章中有五处需要添加小标题。请从以下选项中选出符合各段意思的小标题。选项中有一项是多余选项。

Do you have a good habit? And do you want to be healthy?Making exercise a habit can be good for you. Here are five tips that can help you to make exercise a way of life!

    16    

Which days can you exercise?Making plans to find some time each week for your exercise will keep you heading in the right direction.

    17    

Your list should include things like making sure your sports bag is packed, and your shoes and water are ready for the activity ahead.

    18    

Choosing a form of exercise that you find enjoyable will make you more willing to do it.

When you take part in exercise that is fun, it’s more likely to become a habit.

    19    

If you don’t have a goal, you’re more likely to get bored. So why not join in a school race or a ball game?Having something to train for will keep you driven to succeed.

    20    

After a week of hard training, reward yourself with a Friday night on your favourite video game or other things you like. Whether you reward yourself once a week or once a month, having something to look forward to will keep you active.

A．Make a list

B．Reward yourself

C．Do what you enjoy

D．Train hard

E．Make plans for it

F．Set a goal

通读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后在各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中选出一个最佳选项。

I joined a band as a drummer in my middle school. I thought it would be fun playing the drum and meeting new friends. At first it was easy, but a month later, it got _________. I was the only one who couldn’t catch up with the other _________.

Our teacher, Angie, singled me out to keep practicing _________ everyone else got to relax. I felt ashamed as my teammates watched me _________ so many times. Finally I got so tired of practicing that I didn’t care about doing it right.

“Are you giving up on me, Steve?” Angie asked.

“Yes, I am,” I _________ and ran away. Angie sent me inside the music room and said, “Don’t be sad. I believe you can make it!” She told me never to _________. She added, “Remember, it’s okay to make mistakes. That’s _________ we learn and grow as musicians.” Then she left me alone and I realized Angie was right—by giving up, I not only gave up myself but also the _________.

With her comfort, I decided to go on practicing. However, I _________ couldn’t play well.

Knowing my difficulties, my teammates gave me a __________. They spent about three more hours practicing with me every week. Thanks to their __________, I began to keep pace with them. Later, we performed __________ in an important show.

In the whole process, I was taught that we each had our own job to do in a __________, and it would take all of us working together to make the show great. I felt __________ and made great progress. I love __________ in the band, and I can’t imagine what my school life would be like without them.

21.

A．boring

B．exciting

C．busy

D．difficult

22.

A．players

B．teachers

C．musicians

D．artists

23.

A．and

B．so

C．while

D．because

24.

A．cry

B．play

C．fail

D．perform

25.

A．laughed

B．shouted

C．continued

D．explained

26.

A．give out

B．give away

C．give in

D．give up

27.

A．how

B．why

C．whether

D．when

28.

A．class

B．team

C．family

D．classes

29.

A．also

B．even

C．still

D．only

30.

A．ride

B．hand

C．call

D．lift

31.

A．music

B．support

C．smile

D．courage

32.

A．terribly

B．wonderfully

C．carefully

D．normally

33.

A．show

B．game

C．meeting

D．chance

34.

A．hurt

B．accepted

C．received

D．refused

35.

A．everybody

B．somebody

C．anybody

D．nobody

阅读下面短文，在空白处填入一个适当的单词或用括号内所给单词的适当形式填空。

China is a nation with a rich culture in handwriting (书法). “Even though the computer is     36     (wide) used today, Chinese people should not forget the skill of writing with hands,” said a Chinese government officer.

       So far, the computer     37     (become) a very useful tool to help people to write. As people use computers more often than before, many people have forgotten how to write Chinese characters (字). People often makes plenty of     38     (mistake) in writing.

       The Chinese character test shows that nowadays, many college students’ handwriting has got even     39     (bad). Many college students do not know how to make words or sentences in Chinese character in the right way. Not only kids but also many adults have met     40    same problem. They might be able to tell the general form of a certain character. However,     41     you ask them to spell out the character correctly, they can’t. On the other hand, they can type out the character on a computer without thinking     42     (two).

       At present, China is trying its best     43    (solve) this problem. With the use of certain technologies, teachers can write their teaching contents (内容) and the students can reply by writing in the nation language teaching course. We can also write letters     44     our relatives and friends instead of sending messages. This can help     45     (we) practice handwriting. Besides, there are many ways that we can try.

46. I want to buy a house with a big g________ so that I can plant vegetables and flowers there.

47. My favorite saying is “A true friend r__________ for your hand and touches your heart.”

48. In China, the National Day falls on the first day of O________.

49. There are f_________ people in the art club, eighteen girls and twenty-two boys.

50. —Would you like to drink coffee or tea?
—Tea, please. I p_________ tea to coffee.

51. David always goes to school by bike u_________it rains heavily.

52. She must be proud of h_________ after winning the singing competition.

53. While I was waiting for the result, my heart was b________ quickly.

54. Look, there are some children f_________ kites happily in the park.

55. When you visit the museum, you can better understand the past and p________ of the city.

56. 假如你是李平，请阅读以下邮件并回复。词数 80 左右，可适当增加细节。

To: LiPing@mail. com Subject: Exchange Visit!

Hi there, Li Ping! How is it going? You know I like Chinese and I have learned Chinese in a Confucius Institute (孔子学院) in America for half a year, but I’m not good at it. I’m going to Hangzhou to enjoy the 19th Asian Games in September. How can I improve Chinese? Also, so what food do you suggest I taste? Hope to hear from you soon.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Jack

Dear Jack,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Ping