【推荐1】We’re now used to wearing masks（口罩）in public during the novel coronavirus outbreak. About 300 million masks are used and then thrown away every day in China. Where do these used masks go? You might think that they just go in a garbage bin. But that’s just the first step on the masks journey.

After the masks are thrown in bins, garbage trucks empty the bins and take the trash to landfills. Next, the masks will be poured into garbage incinerators and burned. Burning masks might not seem to be very good for the environment. Won’t it cause pollution?   

The answer is “no”, according to People’s Daily. That’s because most masks are made of non-woven fabrics whose main material is an environmentally-friendly material. It can break down easily. After burning, it turns into water and carbon dioxide, As long as we deal with the emission（排放）correctly, burning the masks won’t cause pollution.

In fact, burning the masks can bring some benefits. The process of burning garbage can electricity.

Burning one ton of garbage can generate more than 400 kilowatt hours of electricity. Some people predict that there will be 162,000 tons of used masks in China this year. Burning all of them can generate 64 million kilowatt hours of electricity.

This is enough to allow an electric car to drive 370 million km, which is 9,250 times around the Earth’s equator.

In addition, the slag（残渣）from burning masks can be recycled to make bricks or fill roadbeds.

1. The used masks will be ________.

A．buried underground	B．turned into clothes
C．burned in incinerators	D．thrown into the ocean

2. Burning masks won’t cause pollution because ________.

A．most masks are made of water and carbon dioxide

B．most mask materials are environmentally-friendly

C．most mask materials can’t break down easily

D．burning masks won’t cause any emissions

3. The underlined word generate probably means ________.

A．produce

B．waste

C．use

D．discover

4. Burning masks used in China this year can generate about ________ kilowatt hours of electricity.

A．400

B．162, 000

C．64 million

D．370 million

5. The passage is mainly about ________.

A．how masks are produced	B．common ways to deal with trash
C．how we should throw away used masks	D．where our used masks end up

【推荐2】We can see circles, squares and triangles everywhere in our daily life. Have you thought about their meanings in films? Much like colors, different shapes can show different features of characters in the scenes.

Circles represent things that are soft and natural. The round shape reminds us of things that appear in nature, like the sun, raindrops and so on. We can also connect circles with beautiful eyes, babies’ round faces…All these things make us feel happy and warm. This is why so many cartoon characters’ bodies——heroes, good people——are round in shape, because circles represent goodness, happiness and friendliness.

Squares show things that are unnatural or man-made, or things that are boring or old-fashioned. In the cartoon film Up, Carl has a square face and wears square glasses, while Russell, an 8-year-old boy with a round face, always wears round medals. These shapes show the characters’ personalities. Carl is stubborn (固执的) and lonely, while Russell is lovely and full of energy.

The angriest shape is the triangle. Every kid who draws a monster with sharp teeth draws a row of triangles, don’t they? That’s because the shape represents fear, distrust and doubt in some way. Look at the bad guys in cartoons—they are all drawn with plenty of points and triangles, like Shengongbao in Ne Zha. And triangles are stable (稳固的) and don’t easily fall down. In films, this feature makes bad people difficult to deal with.

Not only in cartoons, but also in other kinds of films, different shapes are used for the same purpose. So, try to find the hidden shapes and you will know what the characters are like.

1. How does the writer explain the relationship between squares and characters’ personalities?

A．By telling a story.	B．By listing numbers.
C．By raising a question.	D．By giving an example.

2. Which picture does the underlined word “triangle” refer to?

A．

B．

C．

D．

3. Which of the following is the structure of the article?(①=Para 1,②=Para 2……)

A．

B．

C．

D．

【推荐3】Do you have a sleep problem? If you do, there is a simple way to help you improve your sleep. You may need to see more sunlight, especially in the morning, according to a study.

A team of researchers (研究人员) from New York, US did the study, reported Yahoo News.

The team did a study on 109 office workers across the US. They found that some of the workers saw lots of light during the morning hours, between 8 am and lunchtime. The researchers found that these workers had a better sleep than other workers. They also fell asleep more quickly at night.

Why is sunlight so important to our sleep? Researchers say it helps us set our “body clock”. When there is less and less sunlight at the end of the day, our body starts to make melatonin (褪黑素). It makes us feel sleepy so that we know it’s time to go to bed. Our body makes the most melatonin at night. But during the day, sunlight tells our body to make less melatonin so that we can stay awake (清醒的) and do our work.

Researchers suggest (建议) that we should see 15 minutes of sunlight in the morning. It can help balance (平衡) the melatonin in our bodies.

1. According to the story, what can people do to have a better sleep?

A．Go to bed earlier.	B．Eat healthier foods.
C．See more sunshine.	D．Do more exercise.

2. What can we learn about the researchers from Paragraph 3?

A．Their sleeping habits.	B．The results of their study.
C．Their problems with doing the study.	D．Their different ways of doing the study.

3. When do our bodies start to make melatonin?

A．When we set our body clock right.	B．When there is less sunlight.
C．When we get enough sunlight in daytime.	D．When we need to stay awake.

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Sunlight can help balance the melatonin in our bodies.

B．Most office workers have sleeping problems.

C．The more melatonin we make, the healthier we get.

D．Our bodies make the most melatonin in the morning.

5. What do researchers advise us to do?

A．See 15 minutes of sunlight in the morning.

B．See 15 minutes of sunlight at lunchtime.

C．See 15 minutes of sunlight in the afternoon.

D．See 15 minutes of sunlight in the evening.

【推荐1】Wang Jinyuan is an eighth-grader at Chongzhou High School, Sichuan. But thanks to an online course, he is studying with his peers (同龄人) at Yucai Middle School in Chengdu.

In every class, he and his classmates watch online course videos from the school. “It’s like I have classes together with students at Yucai,”Wang said.

Wang is not alone. Students from more than 200 schools in rural areas of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou are doing the same thing. They all use the online courses made by Yucai Middle School. The school started the online course program in 2007. It records (录制) courses, makes them into videos and offers them to other schools.

The online courses give students new ideas and broaden their horizons (拓宽视野). They can learn from their peers (同伴) studying in the city. “I remember that a topic in English class was about volunteering.” said Wan Jinyuan, “Students shared a lot about their own experiences. But it was hard for me to talk about it because I had little experience. It encouraged me to do more.”

But students don’t completely rely on online course. They still interact with (和……互动) teachers. In fact, the teachers edit (剪辑) the videos before using them. “I cut off some parts, like the discussion parts,” said Zhang Xiaomin, Wang’s English teacher. “I will let my students discuss for themselves, rather than only watch. Then, if necessary, I will show them what their peers said in their discussions. We benefit (受益) a lot from it.” Teachers further explain key points that students don’t understand.

Also, students can watch the videos again after class.

1. Which of the following is TRUE according the passage?

A．The students at Chongzhou High School have classes with those at Yucai Middle School every day.

B．The online courses were made by Chongzhou Middle School about ten years ago.

C．Students in rural areas of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou get new ideas and learn more by attending online courses.

D．The teachers don’t need to edit the videos before using them.

2. The underlined word “rural” in Paragraph 3 means .

A．far away in space	B．far from towns
C．connected with a town or city	D．connected with the countryside

3. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Online courses in cities	B．Online courses in countryside
C．Online help for rural students	D．Online help for city students

【推荐2】阅读理解。
How long are you willing to wait for a webpage to open before you start to lose your patience? Half a minute? A few seconds? Google engineers have discovered that even 400 milliseconds―as short as the blink of an eye―is too long for most Internet users.
A millisecond is one thousandth of a second. People hardly notice such a small time difference, but it does cause them to stop searching, reported The New York Times. “Without question, nobody likes to wait,” said Arvind Jain, a Google engineer. “Every millisecond matters.”
Nowadays, millions of smart-phones and computers are continually gathering and sending out information. With so many people downloading maps, sports videos, news and restaurant recommendations, you can get digital “traffic jams”. Meanwhile, users are expecting faster and faster service.
Google found that if one website is 250 milliseconds slower than another website, then people will visit it less often. This is why technology companies are now competing to be the fastest. Google said people do expect different things from different websites because they realize not all loading times are the same. For example, a person will be more patient waiting for a video to load than for a search result.
Even so, four out of five online users will click away if a video takes too long to load. This makes it difficult for video websites to choose between the quality of pictures and fast loading times.
Trying to get a higher speed has always been part of the history of the Internet. In the 1990s, when the World Wide Web first started to become popular, it was very crowded and slow; people called it the “World Wide Wait”. But engineers managed to fight the problem with new inventions. They laid a lot of fiber optic cables (光缆)for sending in high speed; they improved software so it would work more smoothly; they placed computer servers all around the world to be nearer to users; all this increased speed.
Nowadays we can enjoy much faster Internet. Famous search engines such as Google and Microsoft’s Bing usually find search results in less than a second. ____________________________________________________
1. The report from The New York Times suggests that

A．A millisecond is one thousandth of a second.

B．400 milliseconds is not so long for most Internet users.

C．A millisecond has nothing to do with the Internet speed.

D．A millisecond really makes a difference to the Internet users.

2. The engineers did something to improve the speed, including _____.
a. making software work more smoothly
b. laying a number of fiber optic cables inside
c. placing computer servers throughout the world
d. developing the quality of pictures on the Internet

A．a b c

B．b c d

C．a c d

D．a b d

3. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．The quality of pictures comes first for video websites.

B．Google is 250 milliseconds slower than other websites

C．Microsoft’s Bing is the fastest engine the world now

D．People are more likely to wait for loading films than maps

4. What does the underlined sentence mean?

A．Internet users are willing to see more search engines set up

B．Google and Microsoft’s Bing should help find the searching results

C．These companies should mind their steps, or they will break down soon.

D．These companies need to catch up with the developing needs of Internet users

5. What can be the best title of this passage?

A．Don’t make me “www.wait”.

B．Search engines work faster.

C．Traffic jams keep us waiting.

D．The WWW becomes popular.

【推荐3】Imagine you walk into a store. Strangely, you see no staff inside. You pick up things and prepare to wait in line and pay. There is no cashier at all.     1    

Well, you may have gone into Tao Cafe, a cashless store created by a Chinese company called Alibaba. In July, the public got to see the store for the first time at Alibaba’s Taobao Maker Festival in Hangzhou.

    2     It can hold up to 50 shoppers at a time. To come in and shop, people only need a smartphone with a Taobao app and an Alipay account. By scanning their Taobao QR code (二维码), shoppers are followed with cameras for facial recognition.     3     So when shoppers pick up goods, the system will be able to “watch” and “remember” their selection.

When shoppers are ready to leave, they don’t wait in line to pay. Instead, they go through two checkout doors. Then the bills will automatically be paid with a Taobao account connected to Alipay.     4     So it is almost impossible to steal things from the store.

Tao Cafe is not the only cashless store in China.     5     To go into the store, shoppers scan a QR code on WeChat or Alipay. But unlike the Tao Cafe, they have to scan another QR code to leave the store.

A．So what has happened to this store?

B．There will be more and more stores like this all over China one day.

C．The 200-square-meter store sells drinks, fast food and snacks.

D．The store has also digitalized (数字化) all goods and their placement on the shelves.

E．A 24-hour convenience store with no staff called BingoBox also opened in Shanghai in June.

F．According to Alibaba, the checkout machines can recognize goods even when shoppers put them in pockets or bags.

【推荐1】

From November 1st to December 10th in 2020, China started its seventh national population census (普查). 7 million census takers have asked each family about their name, gender (性别), age, education, job and so on. This census is different from the ones in the past. For the first time, citizens were encouraged to use smart phones to record their information.

China has a national population census every 10 years. The first one was done in 1953. At that time, there were about 600 million people in China. But China’s population has increased. It was about 1.37 billion in 2010.

For the 2020’s national population census, all residents (居民) of China were included in the census. But Chinese citizens (公民) who had settled (定居) abroad and foreign citizens who were staying in China on either business or tourist visas (签证) were not counted.

“The census is very important for every citizen, said Ning Jizhe, director of the NBS.” It will help improve infrastructure (基础建设) and public services. For example, if census results show that there are many children living in acertain area, the government will know that it should build more schools there. Scientists can also learn more about population growth from the census. In some years, the population grows faster than in others. Even in the same year, population growth is different in different places. Scientists can use the information to find out what causes growth in certain years and places.

根据短文内容选择最佳选项。
1. What may people not be asked aboutin the 2020’s national population census?

A．Name.

B．Hobby.

C．Education.

D．Age.

2. How often does China have a national population census?

A．Once a year.

B．Twice a year.

C．Every 5 years.

D．Every 10 years.

3. What were citizens encouraged to use to record their information?

A．Notebooks.

B．Smart phones.

C．Pictures.

D．Maps.

4. Who were included in the 2020’s national population census?

A．Chinese residents who live in China all the time.

B．Chinese citizens who have settled in other countries.

C．Foreign tourists staying in China for holidays.

D．Foreign citizens staying in China on business.

5. According to the last paragraph, we can know that _________.

A．the census can helpour government solve all problems

B．the census is only helpful for both government and scientists

C．the census has nothing to do with the common people

D．the census is helpful to improve people’s lives

【推荐2】Are you interested in country music? I like it very much !It will take me away for a while after I am tired . The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields. Country music usually talks of everyday life and feelings. It’s the spirit（精神） of America ,easy to understand ,slow and simple.
Country music developed in the Southern United States. It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of famers . They talk about love, crops（庄家） or death.
The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad. At first, people played the music only at family parties. But it became more popular later. In the 1920s,people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records.
When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America.
John Denver was one of America’s most famous country singers in the 1970s. His song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is well-known and people still play it today.
根据短文内容,选择正确答案，并将其字母代号填入答题卷相应空格内。 (共
小题，
1. Country music is usually about _______.

A．students’ feelings	B．farmers’s feelings
C．the lives of workers	D．crops

2. Country music developed ________.

A．in John Denver’s city	B．in the Southern United States
C．in the Northern United States	D．the United States

3. People bagan to make country song records _______.

A．in the 1920s

B．in 1920

C．in the 1970s

D．in 1970s

4. Why did Country music become popular in America?

A．Because city people liked the music.

B．Because people in the city moved to the countryside.

C．Because country music talked about city people’s lives.

D．Because farmers moved to cities with their music and it continued to change.

5. Who is famous for the song “Take Me Home,Country Roads”?

A．A farmer in the countryside.	B．A person who moved to towns
C．John Denver.	D．Denver John.

【推荐3】Almost everyone likes to eat apples. Apples grow(生长) in nearly every part of the world. The United States produces(生产) more apples than any other country except France. The states of Washington and New York grow the most apples. New York is on the east coast and Washington is on the west near Canada.
Apples are red, yellow or green. _____________________. Many people like to carry apples to work or to school to eat with their lunches. Most American people are often too busy or too tired to cook, so they often have their lunches very simply. Apple juice is also a popular drink and apple pie is the favorite dessert of many Americans. The state of Washington is proud(自豪) of its apples. The trees there produce nearly five billion(十亿) apples every year - one apple for every man, woman and child in the whole world.
1. What can we know from the underlined sentence?   (理解并判断)

A．American apples taste good.

B．We can see apples everywhere in America.

C．Americans like to eat apples.

D．Americans regard (把……视为) apples as their best food.

2. _________ produces the most apples in the world. (阅读并判断或推理)

A．The United States

B．Canada

C．China

D．France

3. Many Americans like to eat apples during lunch because they _________ at noon.

A．eat nothing but apples

B．feel it better to eat apples

C．always eat simple food

D．can get apples easily

4. The state of Washington is proud of its apples because they think _________.

A．everyone in the world can share their happiness.

B．they can produce apples for every person all over the world.

C．their apples are better than any other fruit.

D．their apple trees are the best in the world.

5. How many kinds of food made(由……制成) from apples are mentioned(提到) in the passage?

A．one

B．two

C．three

D．Four

【推荐2】

It’s long been a scientific dream: to give people a special vaccine(疫苗) before birth to prevent them from getting terrible illnesses. Gene editing(基因编辑) is one way in which we could do this. But this method has also created some discussion. In an online video posted on Nov. 26, 2019, He Jiankui, a researcher at the Southern University of Science and Technology, said that he had helped to make the world’s first genetically edited babies.

The babies are twin girls who were born in November. Their father had HIV. The twins’ genes were edited in order to prevent them from suffering from the HIV virus.

He said he chose to do this because HIV is widespread in China. “I feel such a strong duty not only to be the first to do this, but also to set an example,” he told AP.

But his actions caused many questions. Although gene editing may help to prevent disease, many people are wondering if it is safe and ethical to use it on humans.

Some believe that gene editing could be useful to HIV patients. HIV is “a large and growing public health problem”, according to Harvard Medical School genetic professor George Church. Using gene editing for HIV is “a good idea”, Church told AP.

However, others think that gene editing is still in its experimental periods and could result in terrible changes. “It could cause genetic problems later in life, including the development of cancer,” Julian Savulescu from the University of Oxford told BBC News.

Others fear that people might use gene editing technology to make “designer babies (定制宝宝)”. It would give parents the ability to choose everything from their baby’s eye color to their IQ.

“You could find wealthy parents buying the latest ‘upgrades’ for their children, leading to even greater unfairness than we already live with,” Marcy Darnovsky, director of the San Francisco Center for Genetics told BBC News.

1. What do we know about He Jiankui?

A．He was the first person to edit genes.

B．He made the twins suffer from HIV when he edited their genes.

C．He made the world’s first genetically edited babies.

2. Who agreed that gene editing could be helpful to HIV patients?

A．George Church.

B．Julian Savulescu.

C．Marcy Darnovsky.

3. The underlined word “ethical” in the passage probably means “________”.

A．合乎常情的

B．道德的

C．有价值的

4. Julian Savulescu said gene editing ________.

A．may cause terrible changes.

B．will raise ethical questions

C．may lead greater unfairness

5. According to the story, we know that gene editing ________.

A．is supported by the writer

B．is good for wealthy people

C．causes some heated argument

【推荐3】What are you going to do if you are in a burning house? How will you escape? Do you know how to save yourself? Please read the following passage.
Escaping a fire is a serious matter. Knowing what to do during a fire can save yourself. It is important to know the ways you can use and to show them to everyone in the family, such as stairways (楼梯) and fire escapes, but not lifts.
From the lower floors of the buildings, escaping through windows is possible. Learn the best way of leaving through windows with the least chance of serious injury (伤害).
The second floor window is usually not very high from the ground. An average(平常的) person, hanging by the finger-tips (手指尖) will have a drop of about six feet to the ground. It is about the height of an average man. Of course, it is safer to jump a short way than to stay in a burning building.
Windows are also useful when you are waiting for help. Be sure to keep the door closed. Or smoke and fire may be drawn into the room. Keep your head low at the window to be sure you get fresh air rather than smoke that may have leaked (泄露) into the room.
On a second or third floor, the best windows for escape are those which open onto a roof (屋顶). From the roof a person can drop to the ground more safely. Dropping onto cement (水泥) might end in injury. Bushes and grass can help to break a fall.
1. It is important to _________.

A．put out a fire in a burning house

B．know the ways to escape a fire

C．jump out of a burning house

D．keep the door closed

2. It is possible to escape through the windows _________.

A．if you are strong enough

B．if there are some bushes on the ground

C．if you live on a lower floor

D．if you have a long rope

3. .Open the window so that _________ if the building is on fire.

A．you can get fresh air	B．you can call for help
C．you can easily jump off	D．you can be seen first

4. Which of the following escaping way is NOT right?

A．You can escape though stairways.

B．You can Choose fire escape.

C．Escape from the windows that open on to a roof.

D．Use a lift to come down at once.

5. The best title for the passage is _________.

A．Escaping as fast as possible

B．Saving Yourself from a Burning House

C．Knowledge on Fire

D．Waiting for Help