Sometimes my bad mood feels like quicksand, and the harder I try to climb out, the more stuck I get! That was true last week. I was reading a book. I had just come to the most wonderful part _______ my little brother and sister charged into my room.

“We made paper airplanes!” Grace shouted and Matthew _______ his plane directly to my head.

“Excuse me. I’m reading.” I said _______.

“Are you in a bad mood? ” Grace said, “I know _______ that will help!” She ran out of my room. A minute later, she _______ with a basket of stuffed animals. “A teddy-bear picnic!”

“Thanks, Grace, but not _______.” I got up and went to the living room.

“What’s up?” asked my dad.

“I feel terrible!” I complained.

“I like organizing things when I’m in a bad mood,” said my dad. “I’ll get you _______ on the kitchen drawer! Come on.”

“I like getting out the toolbox and fixing stuff, when I need a _______ in mood.” said my mom.

Even though I knew everybody was trying to help, every time someone suggested a way to make me feel better, I felt _______ worse!

Just then, my friend Craig stopped ________. “What happened?” he asked.

“Matthew and Grace ________ while I was reading, it made me mad,” I said. “Then everyone started offering ________ for how to cheer up. But I wasn’t asking for help.”

Right then we noticed a squirrel ________ upside down in a tree to get snacks from a bird feeder. “Whoa!” said Craig. “I bet that guy is a famous squirrel gymnast.”

“Haha! Definitely.” I laughed.

“Hey!” said Craig. “That ________ you just made sounded a lot like a laugh.”

Just when I think I’ll ________ be in a bad mood, I’m suddenly on the other side of it.

I smiled. “Possibly.”

1.

A．who

B．what

C．when

D．where

2.

A．held

B．sent

C．turned

D．opened

3.

A．angrily

B．silently

C．carelessly

D．proudly

4.

A．nothing

B．anything

C．something

D．everything

5.

A．left

B．danced

C．drove

D．returned

6.

A．today

B．tonight

C．tomorrow

D．yesterday

7.

A．hoped

B．ended

C．shared

D．started

8.

A．change

B．chance

C．secret

D．reason

9.

A．only

B．even

C．also

D．still

10.

A．in

B．on

C．by

D．for

11.

A．broke up

B．broke in

C．broke down

D．broke off

12.

A．advice

B．courage

C．surprises

D．decisions

13.

A．lying

B．sitting

C．jumping

D．hanging

14.

A．poem

B．song

C．noise

D．story

15.

A．often

B．always

C．never

D．hardly

	The year 2023 is filled with unusual holidays. Share them with your parents, teachers and friends.
	Fry An Egg On The Sidewalk Day (July 4) Have you heard the expression “It’s so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk”? It has been around for a long time, perhaps since a newspaper on June 11, 1899, according to the Library of Congress. No one knows who asked people to try this on July 4 (it is often very hot on that day). But Oatman, Arizona, takes it seriously. Each July Fourth, the Solar Egg Frying Competition in Oatman, Arizona, offers a prize for the best sun-cooked egg.
	Wonderful Weirdos Day (September 9) Austin, Texas, takes pride in being weird — doing things differently. A group of local people suggested an unofficial holiday encouraging everyone to do the same. To celebrate, be a little weird. Wear strange clothes or try an unusual hairstyle. And do it, as Austinites do, with pride.
	National Cocoa Day (December 13) People in South America started making chocolate from cocoa thousands of years ago. The drink they made was not very sweet, though. Spanish explorers later added sugar to it and brought it back to Europe. On December 13, have a cup of cocoa, and don’t forget the marshmallows.

16. Where is the Solar Egg Frying Competition held?

A．Texas.

B．Austin.

C．Arizona.

D．South America.

17. When is the day about a drink from South America?

A．June 4.

B．June 11.

C．September 9.

D．December 13.

18. What can we learn from the three titles?

A．Dates of some surprising holidays.	B．Important holidays in the US.
C．Places for celebrating different holidays.	D．Reasons to celebrate a few holidays.

Without the Internet or phones, communicating long distance is limited. Yet throughout history, cultures have developed ways to produce messages that travel miles. Morse Code is a system of communication. It uses patterns of signals to send and receive messages, often with a machine called a telegraph.

A telegraph is a machine that creates different signals from different messages. These signals are then changed into electrical current. They are sent across a wire. They can travel long distances, such as across the country or ocean. Another telegraph receives these signals. The machine changes the signals back into the original message.

In Morse Code, there are three types of signals. They are dots, dashes, and pauses. Dots (•) are the short noises or flashes of light. Dashes (━) are longer noises or flashes of light. Spaces (____) are the pauses. Patterns of these signals represent letters, numbers, and punctuation marks. In Morse Code, letter A is one dot and one dash, letter E is one dot, letter I is two dots. As for consonants, letter C is one dash, one dot, one dash and one dot, letter D is one dash and two dots, Letter T is one dash.

Morse Code was invented in the United States by Samuel Morse during the 1830s. People soon realized that the code could not transmit all messages in other languages. To fix this problem, a newer version called the International Morse Code was developed. International Morse Code is simpler and more exact. For example, the original Morse Code could only represent a few of the letters. The International Morse Code, on the other hand, is for all letters.

19. According to Paragraph 2, how does the telegraph work?
①The signals are sent across a wire.
②The signals are changed back to letters.
③Another telegraph receives these signals.
④The telegraph changes signals to electricity.

A．①④②③

B．①④③②

C．④①②③

D．④①③②

20. Look at the signals: •━   ━•━•   ━, which of the following do they mean?

A．Cat.

B．Act.

C．Eat.

D．Ted.

21. What happened after Morse Code couldn’t work in other languages?

A．It became very popular.	B．People stopped using it.
C．The telephone was invented.	D．A newer version was created.

22. What is the writing purpose of this passage?

A．To explain a secret message.	B．To introduce a type of phone.
C．To show a way to communicate.	D．To tell stories of an old machine.

Cathy Hackl’s son wanted a party for his 9th birthday. He wanted to hold the party on Roblox, a website where users can play and create games. Roblox is part of the metaverse. This is a virtual-reality space. There, users can interact with other people and digital environments. Virtual reality is a three-dimensional simulation of a real-life image or environment. “They hung out and played, ” Hackl said, “Just because it happens in a virtual space doesn’t make it less real.” The term metaverse has become popular. Today, people are spending more of their lives in virtual spaces.

The word metaverse comes from a science fiction book from the 1990s. But the metaverse has been around longer than that. Online communities have existed since the 1980s. We enter the metaverse through a screen. This could be through virtual reality(VR). It could also be through augmented reality(AR). Augmented reality covers computer-generated images on the real world. These experiences create a greater blending of our virtual and real lives. But these two worlds already cannot be separated and we don’t even need any headsets, such as VR glasses. Think about the Didi Taxi app. It uses location data to tell drivers where their cars are.

The metaverse is an expansion of the Internet. There are lots of Internet problems to solve already. Still, many people say it has real benefits. They say it can increase social networks and improve mental health. Hackl is a metaverse expert, and she’s African. She says, “You can encourage a lot more people to join and build social relations.” For those already spending part of their life in the metaverse, that building has begun.

Carrie Tatsu runs a business in the metaverse. But she wants her kids to spend time in the real world. “It’s so important for humans to be with humans in real life, ” she said, “I think as kids grow up in this space, it’s important for them to take part, go smell a flower here, walk on a trail, have a real conversation with a friend. Even though you can simulate that, the simulation is not the same. ”

23. How does the writer lead in metaverse in Paragraph 1?

A．By telling stories.	B．By listing numbers.
C．By describing people.	D．By comparing facts.

24. What does the underlined word “blending” mean?

A．Changing.

B．Entering.

C．Mixing.

D．Reaching.

25. What’s the structure of the passage?

A．

B．

C．

D．

26. Which of the following can be the title for the passage?

A．Metaverse: virtual spaces online.	B．Metaverse: a science-fiction book.
C．Metaverse: a popular computer game.	D．Metaverse: businesses on the Internet.