People who love Chinese calligraphic (书法的) art should know the “Four Treasures of Study”. It is an expression used to refer to the brush, ink stick (墨条), paper, and inkstone.

	The brush is soft because it is made of hair from animals such as rabbits, goats, and wolves. The brushes of the best quality made in Xuancheng, a city in southeastern Anhui Province, were only supplied to emperors in the past.
	The ink stick produced in Huizhou, Anhui Province, has a history of a thousand years. It is mainly made out of pine soot (松烟) and 20 other materials. Then they are glued together and pressed into the shape of a chocolate bar and left to dry.
	Xuan Paper, known as Xuanzhi, was named after its place of origin (起源)—Xuancheng, Anhui. It has a history of over 1,000 years.
	The inkstone is used to grind (研磨) the ink stick into powder which will be mixed with water. The She inkstone from Shexian in Anhui used to be regarded as one of the most famous inkstones in China.

根据材料内容选择最佳答案。
1. The brush is made of        .

A．animal hair

B．silk

C．leaves

D．cotton

2. From the text, we can learn the following EXCEPT         .

A．how the ink stick is produced	B．what the ink stick looks like
C．the main material of the ink stick	D．different colours of the ink stick

3. Xuan Paper got the name from its         .

A．materials

B．birthplace

C．inventor

D．popularity

4. Which of the following is NOT true about the inkstone?

A．We can put some water into it.

B．It’s used to grind the ink stick into powder.

C．The She inkstone is the best of all inkstones.

D．The She inkstone and Xuan Paper are from the same province.

5. What’s the purpose of the text?

A．To introduce the Four Treasures of Study.

B．To give facts about Chinese calligraphic art.

C．To explain why people love calligraphic art.

D．To tell people how to learn Chinese calligraphic art.

It was a hot summer day. Clara was drinking juice in the yard. Her mom was cutting the grass with a lawnmower (割草机). Clara hoped her mom would play with her. But her mom said she had no time.

Suddenly, the lawnmower stopped. Clara’s mom picked something up, and came towards Clara. Clara’s mom had a little turtle (龟) in her hand! Clara got close enough to see the turtle. One of its legs got hurt. “I think I broke its leg by mistake,” Clara’s mom said. “I’m really sorry. Will you help me nurse it back to health?” She looked so upset.

They named the turtle Philip and took it to the vet’s (兽医诊所). The vet took an X-ray of Philip’s leg and found it was broken. Then the turtle was given treatment. Clara said, “I’ll take good care of Philip until it becomes better.”

After eight weeks, they took Philip back to the vet’s. Clara was happy that Philip’s leg became healthy again. However, she was also sad because she had to set it free. After she fed Philip some meat, kissed its back and said goodbye, she put it in the grass. Clara would never forget Philip.

根据材料内容选择最佳答案。
6. What was Clara doing when her mom was cutting the grass?

A．She was helping her mom.	B．She was eating something.
C．She was drinking juice.	D．She was playing with her toys.

7. Clara’s mom looked upset because            .

A．she felt so tired	B．she had no time to play with Clara
C．the lawnmower didn’t work	D．she hurt the turtle by mistake

8. What did Clara do after Philip became healthy?

A．She took it to get an X-ray.	B．She set it free.
C．She fed it some leaves.	D．She kept it as a pet.

9. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Philip’s head got hurt.

B．The story happened in spring.

C．Clara found Philip in the grass.

D．Philip stayed in Clara’s home for two months.

10. In which part of a website can we read the passage?

A．Story.

B．Food.

C．Culture.

D．Health.

There’s no doubt that music can lift our spirits, and a study shows that it can also help deal with physical pain.

Listening to favorite songs could help people feel less pain, according to a new study that appeared in Frontiers in Pain Research last October. And the most helpful songs were found to be sad ones describing bittersweet (苦乐参半的) and moving experiences.

The study invited 63 young adults to bring two of their favorite songs. The researchers also provided seven relaxing songs and asked the participants (参与者) to choose one from them.

Each participant was asked to stare at a screen for 7 minutes while listening to their favorite songs, one of the seven relaxing songs, or a mixed version of their favorite songs and the relaxing song they chose (they were cut into pieces and then mixed up together). For another 7 minutes, they just sat in silence. All the while, the researchers stuck a hot object to the young adults’ left arms —— similar to the pain of a boiling hot teacup on your skin.

After interviewing the participants about the songs and their degrees of pain, the researchers found people felt less pain when listening to their favorite songs compared with hearing the relaxing song or nothing. The mixed songs didn’t work either. And people who listened to sad songs felt less pain than those listened to cheerful songs.

“It’s a very cool result,” said Darius Valevicius, one of the researchers. “I think it explains why so many people, including me, enjoy listening to sad music.”

根据材料内容选择最佳答案。
11. What can we learn about the study from the second paragraph?
① When it came out.                       ② Who were included in it.
③ What it has found.                    ④ Where people could read it.

A．①②③

B．①②④

C．①③④

D．②③④

12. The young adults were asked to pick           songs in total.

A．two

B．three

C．four

D．seven

13. What is the fourth paragraph mainly about?

A．The process of the study.	B．The importance of the study.
C．The purpose of the study.	D．The new findings of the study.

14. Why did the researchers stick a hot object to the participants’ arms?

A．To help them relax.	B．To test their memory.
C．To keep them awake.	D．To cause pain to them.

15. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Music’s magic power over our brain

B．Music and society: What you need to know

C．These scientists find new ways to lift our spirits

D．Certain kinds of music can help you feel less pain