【推荐1】When my wife left this world, I chose to travel in Antigua looking for a peaceful place to rest my old body. Not quite old and weak, I felt I wanted something more than the usual hotel room with 24-hour room service.
I decided this year to try something completely new and booked myself a private holiday home in Antigua. This was the best decision I had ever made, as there was plenty to do, plenty to see and lots of lovely restaurants to visit. There was a private swimming pool, and a cool, wide yard where I ate my breakfast most mornings.
Antigua has to be one of the loveliest places on earth to spend a holiday. The bright blue sea and the endless blue around the beach areas proved to be an excellent place for me to spend the long afternoons.
I had to hurry to do what I wanted to do before the holiday came to an end. I managed to visit the Sugar Mill and Shirley Heights on my last two days and yet found myself wondering whether I could extend for a few more days.
I rented a boat and came home after a day’s sailing, refreshed, looking forward to dinner. Everything is so pleasant on these beautiful islands, swept by the trade winds and warmed by the sun for so many summer months. The food just tasted better to me, perhaps because I was having such a great holiday. There was always someone to have a drink with---- that’s what I liked most.
1. Which of the following statements is NOT mentioned about the private holiday home the writer stayed in?

A．It had a private swimming pool.

B．There were lots of restaurants near it.

C．The writer often had breakfast in its yard.

D．It supplied delicious seafood to the writer.

2. The word “extend” in Paragraph 4 probably means “______”.

A．make something last longer

B．make you feel happy

C．prevent from entering

D．sell goods to foreign countries

3. The most important reason for the writer to travel in Antigua was ______.

A．there was bright blue sea

B．there was endless blue sky

C．there were lots of lovely restaurants

D．there were many people to drink with

4. The passage is most likely to be taken from a part of ______.

A．a tour guide	B．a travel diary
C．a student’s report	D．a health report

【推荐2】Death Valley，one of America's great national parks，is a place of strange and silent beauty. As beautiful as this place is, its name provides evidence(迹象)of very real danger. Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous extremes. There are mountains that reach more than 3，000 meters into the sky. "There is a place called Badwater that is the lowest area of land in the Western Hemisphere. If there were water there，it would be 86 meters below the level of the ocean.
Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the Valley. The air temperature during the summer has been as high as 57℃. The sun can heat the ground so that the temperature of the rocks and soil can be as high as 74℃. The extreme heat of Death Valley has ever killed people. It will continue to kill those who do not honor this extreme climate. Death Valley does not forgive those who are not careful.
Death Valley is a good example of the violence(暴力)of nature. It contains evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge explosions. Evidence of one of these explosions is called Ubehebe Crater. The explosion left a huge hole in the ground almost a kilometer and a half wide.
In many areas of Death Valley it is easy to see where the ground has been pushed up strongly by movement deep in the Earth. This movement has created unusual and beautiful rock formations. Some are red. Others are dark brown，gray，yellow or black. Other areas of rock look as if some huge creature heavily broke and twisted the Earth to create unusual, sometimes frightening shapes.
In other parts of Death Valley there are lines in the rock that show clearly that this area was deep under an ocean for many thousands of years. Much of the alley is flat and very dry. In fact, scientists believe it is the driest place in the United States.
Death Valley, part of the Great Mojave Desert, is a huge place. It extends more than 225 kilometers across the southern part of California, and across the border with Nevada.
1. Which of the underlined word "twisted" in Paragraph 4 most possibly means       .

A．提供

B．引起

C．延伸

D．扭曲

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The water in Badwater is 86 meters below the level of the ocean.

B．The highest air temperature in summer can reach as high as 74℃.

C．There might have been sea-born lives living in Death Valley.

D．The ground has been pushed up hard by explosions of volcanoes.

3. Why were some people killed by Death Valley?

A．Because they didn't respect Death Valley and thus they were punished.

B．Because several volcanoes broke out and caused huge explosions.

C．Because they were not careful enough to take with them what they needed.

D．Because it is very hot in summer and dangerously cold in winter.

【推荐1】We usually think that garbage is useless and dirty. However, an art exhibition in 2019 proves that “useless” things can actually be helpful.

Dear Pretty Rubbish, an art event organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWFN) and digital media art company Blackbow, was held in Beijing. It looked at wasteful garbage and asked questions about the relationship between our lifestyles and our garbage.

“We hope that everyone who visited the show can think about how ‘useless things’, are produced, why they are tossed out, and whether ‘useless things’ are really useless”, said Cao Yujia, the design director at Blackbow.

Artists Zhou Yuxuan and Liu Yifan collected nylon cable ties (尼龙扎带), LED lights and plastic bottles from designers’ workshops to create a work where plastics, in the shape of cells, “grow” in a comer (有望成功的事). There, the lights blink (闪烁) regularly just like “breathing”. When people walk near it, the work responds by showing light patterns, as if communicating with the visitors.

Speaking about the work, Zhou said: “It’s like some kind of communication between humans and plastics.”

Plastic has a life longer than almost any creature, taking centuries to break down. Though people think plastics damage the environment, they are a big part of our daily lives. “So we want to ask the question: Although the damage continues, is there a way for humans to reconcile (和解) with plastics?” said Zhou.

1. What is purpose of the art exhibition?

A．To make the art company, Blackbow, popular.

B．To make people believe garbage is useless and dirty.

C．To ask questions about the relationship between our lifestyles and our garbage.

D．To make people enjoy works produced with wasteful garbage.

2. Which phrase can take the place of the underlined phrase “tossed out”?

A．worked out

B．used up

C．thrown away

D．put off

3. Which of the following might Zhou agree with?

A．Useless things are really useless.

B．Artists should make works from garbage.

C．Plastics should be left to break down on their own.

D．Humans should find a better way to deal with plastics.

4. Which word can best describe the art event?

A．Creative.

B．Wasteful.

C．Meaningless.

D．Awful.

5. Where can we read this passage?

A．In a storybook.

B．In a newspaper.

C．In a cook book.

D．In a guide book.

【推荐2】I'm a big fan of awful first drafts （草稿）. All of my writing starts with a bad first draft with grammatical mistakes and half-finished sentences. No one else sees those drafts. I tear up （撕毁）that awful first draft and start again — and that's when things start to click. That's when sentences become complete, when ideas make sense, and when the real work gets done.

Too often, when it comes to self-improvement, we create idealized plans with unnatural rules. We suppose that we will stick to our plans. Monday might be leg day in the gym, but if your kid falls off the bike and needs stitches （缝针）,your carefully made eight-week exercise plan isn't going to get a look.

Every plan starts off like an awful first draft. You make stupid mistakes, things you thought were a great idea turn out to be dead ends, and at the end you just need to start again.

When a plan fails, the solution （解决办法）isn't to give it up and try a new one next time. It's to build on what worked, cut what didn't and start straight away on a much-improved second draft. Trying to run three miles every day while eating nothing but vegetables might be a terrible idea—but running a few days a week isn't.

The benefit of an awful first draft is to use it to get everything down on the page. It doesn't matter whether you think it's good or bad, you're trying out different things to find out what works and, more importantly, what doesn't. You have to read over your first draft and make changes to write the second. The second draft is where you build on the strong points and cut the weak ones.

Sara loved running outside but hated the indoor strength training in her fitness program. How could she make changes to write the second draft? She looked back and saw which part she found fun and easy to stick with and which went wrong. By building on what worked for her, she slowly developed a health plan she could stick with.

If your second draft doesn't work out quite as planned, you tear it up and write a third. And, if needed, a fourth. But if you build on what's good and cut the rest, finally you will have something that works.

1. The underlined word "click" in Paragraph 1 means "_________________".

A．to become clear	B．to run out of control
C．to get connected	D．to get much more difficult

2. What can we learn from the passage?

A．People should make plans with strict rules.

B．The first plan is valuable although it often fails.

C．Things will go well if the plans are carefully made.

D．Giving up the first plan helps to get an improved one.

3. What might Sara do in her second plan according to the passage?

A．She only ran a few days a week.

B．She started an indoor fitness program.

C．She ran outside and took an outdoor strength training class.

D．She ran three miles every day while eating only vegetables.

4. What's the writer’s main purpose in writing this passage?

A．To offer advice on how to stick to a plan.

B．To stress the importance of writing a draft.

C．To explain why making plans is like writing.

D．To tell how to develop an achievable final plan.

【推荐3】Everyone (人人)needs to be healthy.
Do you eat healthy food every day? It’s important (重要)for your health. You need fruit, like oranges, apples and bananas. “ An apple a day can keep away（避开_______医生____.” You also need vegetables, like carrots and broccoli. Fruit and vegetables are good for our health. But don’t eat lots of chocolate. It’s not good healthy food. What about dessert? Don’t eat lots of dessert because it’s not good for your health. Many people eat lots of chocolate and dessert, so they are unhealthy. Sports can also keep you healthy. Play sports every day. Don’t be lazy. You can be healthy.
1. What are healthy food?

A．Fruit and vegetables.	B．Bananas, apples and chocolate.
C．Fruit and dessert.	D．Vegetables and dessert.

2. What keeps you healthy?

A．Food.

B．Sports.

C．Healthy food.

D．Healthy food and sports.

3. 文中划线句子“ An apple a day can keep away the doctor”的意思是________.

A．The doctor doesn’t like an apple.

B．You don’t need a doctor.

C．You bring an apple to the doctor and he runs away（跑走）.

D．You eat an apple a day and you can be healthy.

4. 猜测文中划线单词unhealthy的意思:________.

A．健康

B．不健康

C．饥饿

D．不饿

5. Which is Right? (哪一项是正确的？)

A．Everyone is healthy.	B．We need to be healthy.
C．Food isn’t important.	D．A doctor is important.

【推荐1】What is a teacher? Well, a teacher is someone who teaches. They say things, and you remember them. But it was not until I met my music teacher that I realized this definition (定义) was too shallow (肤浅).

When I first arrived at my music class at school, I had almost no knowledge of how to play the flute (长笛). I couldn’t get the basic notes right. It seemed like a dream for me to perform in front of the school. However, my music teacher, Mr. Nevola, cheered me up to work for my dreams.

He took a lot of time in finding the right flute book for me and spent even more time teaching me. When I was unable to remember the notes, he taught me the trick: FACE. F means “fa”; A means “la”; C means “do”; E means “mi”. This way I can remember the notes much more quickly.

He also tried to make music class fun. We played games that helped develop our sense of rhythm (节奏感) and shared our favorite pieces on certain days. We talked about the background of music pieces from all over the world and learned about the development of music in the US. Sometimes when we were too tired, instead of pushing us to practice our instruments, Mr. Nevola would talk about relaxing things.

Thanks to Mr. Nevola, I truly fell in love with the flute. After six months, I was able to blow seven notes in one breath. While this might not seem like a huge achievement (成就), I am still proud of it and thankful to Mr. Nevola who helped me make it happen.

1. The writer already realized that the definition of a teacher was too shallow before he met Mr. Nevola.
2. From the passage, we know that the writer was very talented in music and instrument.
3. The writer has improved quite a lot in playing the flute only because Mr. Nevola taught him what “FACE” means.
4. Mr. Nevola might think that making the class more fun is more important than knowledge itself.
5. The writer spent half a year being able to blow seven notes in one breath.

【推荐2】He was an old man who fished alone in a small boat on the sea and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish, the boy’s parents had told him that the old man was now salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone with another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boys ad to see the old man come in each day with his boat empty and he always went down to help him carry the fishing tools. The sail looked like the flag of failure forever.

The old man was thin with deep wrinkles (皱纹) in the back of his neck. His body was terribly brown because of the strong sunlight on the sea every day and his hands had the deep scars (伤疤) from dealing with heavy fish on the lines. But none of these scars were fresh. Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful.

“Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from the sea. “I could go with you again. We’ve made some money.”

The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.

“No,” the old man said. “You’re with a lucky boat. Stay with them.”

“But remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks.”

“I remember,” the old man said. “I know you did not leave me because you doubted.”

“It was papa who made me leave. I am a boy and I must follow him.”

“I know,” the old man said. “It is quite normal.”

“He hasn’t much faith (信心).”

“No,” the old man said. “But we have. Haven’t we?”

Yes, the boy said. “Can I offer you a beer on the Terrace?

“Why not?” the old man said. “Between fishermen.”

判断正（A）误（B）
1. The old man fished on the sea without taking a fish for 84 days.
2. The boy’s parents thought the old man had bad luck.
3. From the story, we could sense that old man still believed he was able to catch fish.
4. The boy left the old man because he doubted.
5. The old man was the boy’s grandfather.

【推荐3】Mrs. Black lives on Second Avenue. New Year is coming. She wants to send (寄) a card to her friend in Toronto, but she doesn’t know where the post office is. She asks her neighbor (邻居) Mary, “ Is there a post office near here? I want to send a card.”
“The post office is not near from here,” answers Mary, “but you don’t need to go to the post office to post the card. There is a mailboxin front of the supermarket. You can put your card into the mailbox”
1. Where does Mrs. Black live?

A．In New York.	B．In Toronto.
C．On Second Avenue.	D．On Green Street.

2. What does Mrs. Black want to do?

A．She wants to go to the post office.

B．She wants to go to the supermarket.

C．She wants to send a card to Mary.

D．She wants to visit her friend.

3. The post office is ________.

A．next to Mary’s house

B．not near Mrs. Black’s house

C．across from the supermarket

D．in front of Mary’s house.

4. Mrs. Black and Mary are ________.

A．friends	B．sisters
C．mother and daughter	D．neighbors.

5. What’s the meaning (意思) of mailbox？

A．电子邮件

B．信箱

C．邮局

D．信封

【推荐1】The Princess（公主）and the Frog" is a warm and enjoyable cartoon by Disney. It tells the story about a girl who makes her dreams come true through hard work.

Tiana is a waitress. She has a dream of owning a restaurant. In order to realize the dream, she works hard. She knows that it is useless to wish on a star. She never sits in a castle waiting for a prince to come and save her. Tiana's plans for success go wrong when she meets a talking frog. The frog happens to be a prince named Naveen. Hoping to become human again, Naveen regards Tiana as a princess by mistake. He tells her to kiss him. Then something worse happens. Tiana turns into a frog, too. Together they look for a way to become human again.

The story is easy enough for kids to understand and it provides us with beautiful hand-drawn pictures, songs and music. Besides, there's a great lesson here: you should look for a way to make your dream come true.

If there is any problem with the movie, it's only that it doesn't feel as splendid（华丽的） as some of Disney's other films.

1. The writer introduces _____ to us in this passage.

A．song

B．a Hollywood action movie

C．a cartoon by Disney

D．a historical story

2. Tiana's dream is to _____.

A．kiss a frog

B．own a restaurant

C．sit in a castle

D．find a prince

3. The lesson we can learn from "The Princess and the Frog" is that _____.

A．we should not kiss a frog	B．we should believe ourselves
C．wishing on a star will be helpful	D．we should look for a way to make our dream come true.

4. "The Princess and the Frog" is _____.

A．short of beautiful pictures, songs and music	B．as splendid as some of Disney's other films
C．too difficult to understand	D．educational

5. You can probably find this article _____.

A．in a science book

B．in a dictionary

C．in a newspaper

D．in a traveler's guide

【推荐2】The panda is one of the animals most in danger. There are about 1,000 pandas living in nature reserves today. Zoos and research centers look after about 160 pandas. Scientists are studying how they live and more baby pandas are born in the zoos.
Pandas live in the forests and mountains of Southwest China. They mainly live on bamboo, and each panda needs to eat a lot of bamboo every day. The area of bamboo is becoming smaller for many different reasons, so pandas have less and less land to live on. Pandas don’t have many babies, and baby pandas often die. The situation is becoming very serious.
Our government is working hard to save pandas. There are more than 30 nature reserves to protect pandas but these are not enough. The government has made a new plan to help pandas. The nature reserves will be bigger and the bamboo will grow better. Then the pandas will have enough food to eat and enough places to live in. Pandas born in the zoos may go back to live in the nature reserves.
Most people love pandas. The panda is one of the best-known animals in the world. It is the symbol for the World Wide Fund for Nature. The WWF works to protect all animals in danger, so the panda has become the symbol of all animals in danger. There is still a long way to go to save the panda. Think of other animals in danger such as tigers ,whales, turtles and elephant—we need to save the panda, and we need to save them, too.
1. Paragraph 2 is mainly about________.

A．why pandas are in danger

B．why baby pandas often die

C．how to protect all animals

D．how to plant more bamboo

2. The government is trying ________to help the pandas.

A．to build more zoos

B．to send more scientists

C．to make bigger nature reserves

D．to ask the WWF to work in China.

3. ________is the symbol for the World Wide Fund for Nature.

A．The tiger

B．The panda

C．The elephant

D．The whale

【推荐3】Mrs. King is an American doctor. She is now in China. She works in a Children’s Hospital in Beijing. She also learns Chinese medicine there. She likes Chinese medicine very much. She loves working for children. She works hard in the day and reads English books about Chinese medicine at night. She learns Chinese from the Chinese doctor and her Chinese friends. Now she can speak some Chinese. She can read some Chinese books ,too. Her husband(丈夫)Mr. King is a teacher. He works in a junior high school in Beijing. He works hard, too. He works from Monday to Friday. He teaches three classes every day. Sometimes, on Saturdays and Sundays, he teaches other English classes, too. He wants to make more money.

1. Mrs King works in a____

A．bookshop	B．primary school in Beijing
C．hospital in Beijing	D．hospital in American

2. Mrs and Mr King____

A．live in America

B．live in Shanghai

C．work hard

D．work every day

3. where does Mr King work?

A．in a junior high school in Beijing.

B．in a Children’s Hospital in Beijing.

C．in a junior high school in America

D．in a Children’s Hospital America.

4. Mrs King learns Chinese from____.

A．her teacher	B．the books
C．her husband	D．the Chinese doctor and her Chinese friends.

5. Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Mrs can speak English and Chinese

B．Mrs King knows much about Chinese medicine

C．Mrs King is from America.

D．Mr King sometimes teaches other English classes on weekends.