【推荐1】Today we take a look at the word “smart”. If someone says you are smart, what do they mean? Is it a good thing or something bad?     1     This is because the word “smart” has many meanings.

For example, someone could say you look smart or are dressed smartly. That means they like your physical appearance or what you are wearing.

But if something smarts, it can be unkind or hurtful, either physically or mentally (精神地). If you accidentally trip over a chair and fall down, you might shout, “Ow! That smarts!” Or if a friend says something that hurts your feelings, you can say you are smarting from the hurtful words.     2    

If you are standing too close to a campfire, you could say your eyes are smarting from the smoke of the fire. Here the word “smarting” means feeling a sharp pain.

    3     If someone is “smart as a whip”, they are able to think very quickly.

    4     Some people are considered street-smart. They may not have a strong education. But they are good at dealing with people and problems in the real world. Other people might be book-smart. This means they have spent many years in school. But they may not be so smart when dealing with people or real-world problems.

And then there is a kind of “smart” that means to talk or behave disrespectfully and impolitely. If you say something disrespectful to your parents, they might say, “Don’t get smart with me!” Here, “smart” means you’re impolite and rude by saying something unkind.

The kind of smart can also be used as a verb.     5                      

根据材料内容，从下面五个选项中选出能填入文中空缺处的最佳选项，使文章意思通顺、内容完整。

A．If you smart off to the wrong people, they could hit you in the face.

B．But the most common meaning of “smart” is to be clever.

C．The answer is not as easy as you might think.

D．However, different people have different ways of being smart.

E．In fact, maybe that person is no longer your friend.

【推荐2】Guess what Facbook CẸO Mark Zuckerberg and the United States President Donald Trump’s granddaughter Aabella Kushner have in common? They all study Chinese as a second language.

Although Chinese is known as one of the hardest languages to learn, a lot of people from different backgrounds are studying it with hopes of big advantages.

More than 120 people, representing 105 countries, had a competition in the finals of the 12th Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition for foreign secondary school students on November 2. Held in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, the finals included speech contests and talent shows. The contestants also visited the Shaolin Temple, Longmen Grottoes (石窟) and other places of interest.

While reasons for learning Chinese varied (变化) among contestants, a common one was enthusiasm (热情) for the country’s rich culture and quick development.

Raissa, 17, from the Union of the Comọros, developed a strong emotional connection with China after her grandmother was cured by the doctors of the Chinese medical team in Africa three years ago. This led her to learn Chinese at a local Confucius Institute (孔子学院).

Attracted by Chinese culture, the contestant took part in activities on traditional Chinese medicine and folk arts during her first trip to China. Her dream is to study medicine in China so that she could cure patients like the Chinese doctors did.

For Marcell Zoltan Fekete, 17, from the Hungarian-Chinese Bilingual (双语的) School, studying Chinese may help him get a future job as a Hungarian diplomat (外交官) to China. After graduating from high school, he would like to go to China for further studies.

Now that a bridge has been built between the contestants and China, where will their journeys take them? Robert Davis, director of the Chinese-language program in Chicago’s public school, says, “Chinese isn’t the new French. It’s the new English.”

1. Who took part in Chinese Bridge according to the passage?

A．Marcell Zoltan Fekete.	B．Mark Zuckerberg.
C．Trump’s granddaughter.	D．Robert Davis.

2. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “contestants” in Paragraph 3?

A．Audience.

B．Competitors.

C．Tourists.

D．Teachers

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

A．Raissa has studied Chinese medicine in China.

B．Chinese medicine team saved Raissa three years ago.

C．Marcell became a diplomat after finishing high school.

D．Marcell and Raissa are of the same age, from different countries.

4. From the passage we know that ________.

A．over 105 foreign students take part in Chinese Bridge competition

B．the foreigners learn Chinese because of China’s quick development

C．the foreigners learn Chinese to find a job as a doctor in the future

D．the foreigners learn Chinese because Chinese is a difficult language

5. What does the last sentence “Chinese isn’t the new French. It’s the new English.” most probably mean?

A．Chinese is quite different from French.

B．Chinese is one of the hardest languages to learn.

C．Chinese is more important than French and English.

D．Chinese is widely used in the world, just like English.

【推荐3】We talked with June Galloway about her book Get off on the Right Foot: Don’t Let the Wrong Gesture Ruin (毁坏) Your Day.

English is the world’s international language. But in your book, non-verbal (不用语言的) communication is paid more attention to.      ▲     

June: Well, gestures (手势) and other body language can have different meanings in different places. Something that you think is friendly or polite could be considered to be very impolite in another culture. I’ve described many of these customs and cultural differences, so my readers won’t have a bad start when they meet people from places where the culture is different from their own.

Can greeting someone the wrong way really lead to misunderstanding (误解)?

June: In some places, yes. The heavy handshake that a North American expects may seem quite impolite in other places. And a light handshake―which is usual in some countries—may seem unfriendly to a North American.

What other gestures can cause misunderstanding?

June: Take the gesture for “come here” for example. In North America, people gesture with the palm (掌心) up. Well, in southern Europe, that gesture means “goodbye”. And in many Asian countries, the palm-up gesture is thought rude. Instead, people there gesture with the palm down.

Surely, there must be some gestures used everywhere, right? What about the thumb-up (翘拇指) gesture for “great”?

June: Sorry. That’s very rude in Australia and the Middle East. That is why it important to know about body language and cultural differences.

1. Which gesture should you use if you want to say “goodbye”.in southern Europe?

A．	B．
C．	D．

2. According to the passage, ________ is/are NOT mentioned in June’s book.

A．the importance of body language.	B．some common gestures
C．the development of body language	D．different meanings of a gesture

3. Which of the following can be put in the      ▲     ?

A．How is that possible?	B．Could it make readers interested?
C．Can you give us some examples?	D．why is that so important?

4. What can we infer (推断) from the passage?

A．June paid more attention to the language of English in her book.

B．A girl from Australia may be angry with you if you praise her by using the thumb-up gesture.

C．Body language is the world’s international language.

D．In many Asian countries, the palm-up gesture is thought rude.

【推荐1】

Zhang Yixing is from Changsha, Hunan. People also call him Lay. He is 27 years old this year. His birthday is on October 7th, Many people like him, He likes to sing and dance. He can make music. He is also an actor. He acts(表演) in some movies and TV plays, like Kung Fu Yoga. From 2015 to 2018, he joined(加入) the TV show Go Fighting! He is just like a lovely sheep in the show. Do you like this young man?

Jacob Tremblay is a child actor from Canada. He was born in 2006 and his birthday is on October 5th, He is young，but he acts in many movies, like The Smurfs 2(《蓝精灵2》) and Room. He acts Jack in Room. Jack is a smart boy. He lives in a small room and sees the big world. Jacob gets many awards(奖).People all like him.

1. Lay likes to ________.

A．do kung fu	B．watch TV
C．sing and dance	D．have a lovely sheep

2. Jacob Tremblay is ________ years old in 2019.

A．13

B．15

C．20

D．26

3. Which of the following is WRONG(错误的)?

A．Lay and Jacob are actors.

B．Jacob lives in a small room.

C．Lay joined the TV show Go Fighting.

D．People like Lay and Jacob very much.

【推荐3】Ink wash painting (水墨画) is an old and beautiful Chinese art. This special drawing technique is created with a brush, dipped into ink, then in water before being painted onto rice paper or silk. As you can see, the paintings are created just in black and white. It is said that the technique was invented by an artist named Wang Wei.

Ink wash paintings often feature trees, flowers, landscapes, animals, birds and people. Also, they often go with Chinese poems. The painting style does not put high importance on a precise description of a real scene or object. They are often improvised (即兴的) works from beautiful scenery (风景). Therefore, this type of painting is hard to copy. Today there are many new Chinese artists that use the traditional Chinese ink wash technique to draw new sceneries and pictures.

The first ink wash animation (动画) in China came out in 1960. It’s called Little Tadpole Looking for Mummy. All the animals, plants and rocks in the film are drawn with ink and brush. The film is about 15 minutes long. But it took lots of work. Without computers, the artists had to draw everything by hand. One second of animation needs 24 pictures! Little Tadpole Looking for Mummy won prizes at home and abroad. From then on, ink wash painting and animation becomes more popular in China. People in the world get to know more about ink wash since then!

1. What do ink wash paintings often go with?

A．Birds.

B．Flowers.

C．Poems.

2. Why are ink wash painting hard to copy?

A．Because they takes a lot of time.

B．Because they are too beautiful to copy.

C．Because they are often improvised works.

3. When did the first ink wash animation in China came out?

A．About 64 years ago.

B．About 40 years ago.

C．About 24 years ago.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．China’ s first ink wash animation.

B．How to draw ink wash paintings.

C．A beautiful Chinese art, ink wash paintings.

【推荐1】读下面的文章，然后判断文章后面1~4小题，正确的答案写T，错误的答案写F。

A little girl thought she was not as beautiful as other girls, and nobody liked her. So she was always unhappy and didn’t like to talk to others. One day, her mother gave her a beautiful hair clip (发夹). When she wore it, she looked much more beautiful than before. She decided to wear it to school.

On her way to school, she found that everyone smiled at her. Most of her schoolmates said “hello” to her, but this never happened before. She thought that the beautiful hair clip had brought her them all. She was so happy about all of the wonderful things. Although she didn’t tell classmates about her beautiful hair clip, they all wanted to know what had happened to her.

     When he went back home after school, her mother asked her, “Did you know you dropped (丢) your hair clip? I found it by the door this morning.” She knew that she didn’t wear the hair clip to school at all.
     It is not important what we wear or how we look. The most important is how we think about ourselves.
1. The little girl was not beautiful because she had no money to buy a hair clip.
2. Most of the schoolmates liked her beautiful hair clip very much on that day.
3. Her mother found the hair clip by the door after the girl went to school.
4. It is not important what we wear or how we look.

【推荐2】I'm pretty sure everyone wants to visit Europe at least once in their lifetime. Here's a list of the most amazing places to visit in Europe.
Riviera
Wow, this is such a beautiful place in Italy. The Cinque Terre is a very beautiful national park, which connects five beautiful villages. Walking paths connect the villages, follow the coastline and offer hikes through hills. The villages remain unaffected by tourism.
Tuscany
Another Italian region, Tuscany is simply attractive. The buildings there are amazing, and the culture is special. From the historical center of Florence to the Cathedral of Pisa, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Make sure you check out the nature reserves, and enjoy a few bottles of the very famous wine.
Lauterbrunnen
Since a school trip here, I've always wanted to revisit this city in Switzerland. The city always seems as if it's trapped in time. There are untouched fountains and springs everywhere, and a huge number of waterfalls and valleys. The area is very popular for skiing.
The Greek Islands
There are plenty of places to visit in Greece. But I love the Greek Islands best. White houses and beautiful churches, beaches and Aegean Sea make this a very popular place to visit. However, there is more to do here than just sunbathe. I cannot wait to go back and check out the caves and culture that make the Greek Islands one of the best places in Europe.
Venice
I am a big Italy lover, and Venice is another city that is not to be missed. It has its own share of history, art and attractive buildings. However, the attraction comes from the pedestrian （行人） — only streets and rivers filled with boats.
1. According to the passage, people who are interested in waterfalls and valleys would most probably go to _______.

A．Riviera	B．Tuscany
C．Lauterbrunnen	D．the Greek Islands

2. From Paragraph 5 we learn that the Greek Islands_______.

A．hasn't been visited by the writer yet

B．is a good place for sunbathing

C．isn't worth exploring

D．has many waterfalls and valleys

3. What will you probably see when you are visiting Venice?

A．Royal Palace.

B．The Aegean Sea.

C．Streets without cars.

D．Busy traffic.

【推荐3】If you go to visit London, you’ll see a lot of buses and cars on the road. You’ll also see many bikes because more people travel by bike. Why? There are many reasons. First, it is very cheap to buy a bike, and it is quick, too. You often need to wait for a bus for half an hour. When the bus comes, there are so many other buses and cars on the roads, so the bus moves very slowly.
I travel to work by bus for about four years. I often arrive at work late and feel tired. Then one day, a friend of mine says, “I go to work by bike. Why don’t we travel together?” “Because my bike is old, and there are so many buses and cars on the roads. I’ll feel frightened.” I answer. “Don’t be afraid, if you follow me and we ride slowly, you’ll be fine.” he says.
Later, I buy a new bike. We go slowly, but we arrive at work quickly. I spend 40 minutes going by bus, but only half an hour by bike! Now I love riding a bike. And I feel healthy. Many people think my idea is good and maybe you’ll see more bikes on the road in the future.
1. I travel to work by bus for ________.

A．one year	B．half a year
C．about four years	D．two years

2. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Buses, cars and bikes run on the roads in London.

B．We spend 40 minutes going by bike.

C．The bus moves slowly because there are so many people in it.

D．I begin to ride a bike to work because I have no bus to take.

3. Maybe you will see more ________ on the roads in London.

A．cars

B．buses

C．trains

D．bicycles

【推荐1】Library Programs
I. SATURDAY CINEMA
On two Saturdays the library will hold Saturday Cinema. Recent movies as well as classic ones will be on. We are allowed to advertise the movies we show in the library building only. Read below to learn what is planned! There is no cost and all are invited.
● Know the film in which Bai baihe plays Xiao Lan, a master who hunts monsters (妖怪)? 115 minutes. PARENT-GUIDED   You have a chance to have a good seat if you guess right. Email: sc@lib.edu. —Main Library   Saturday, November 21, 2015 2:30 p.m.
● Gene Wilder in the 1971 film based on the book by Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 100minutes. GENERAL
—South Hall   Saturday, December 5, 2015 2:30 p.m.
II. SECOND SATURDAY MUSIC SERIES
These free concerts are held at 3:00 p.m. in the East Hall.

November 21, 2015:	Sean Smith ( Singer / Songwriter )
December 12, 2015:	Dan Landrum ( Pianist )
January 16, 2016:	Chattanooga Symphony and Opera
February 13, 2016:	Sweet Georgia Sound

III. GENEALOGY(家谱) CLASSES
This one-time class is for the beginners. Children can gather family history information by looking through the records in the library and on the Internet. You can learn things like where your great-grandparent came from. Instructions are given on using the library book Ancestry Library Edition, and the website Heritage Quest Online. Below are the date and time for the scheduled (已排的) classes. The number of students in each class is limited to 20, so you need to call the Northwest Hall first by 87003636 or email edu@lib.edu.
Scheduled Classes: Saturday, December 12, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.
1. This is most probably a(n)      .

A．poster	B．timetable
C．invitation	D．advertisement

2. Where should Johnson go if he wants to enjoy the concert after he finishes the Genealogy Class?

A．Main Library	B．East Hall
C．South Hall	D．Northwest Hall

3. What can we learn from the article?

A．You can watch two foreign films in November in the library.

B．You should email sc@lib.edu to get a good seat for the free concert.

C．You can enjoy both the movie and the concert on November 21, 2015.

D．You may learn some family history information by using the library book.

【推荐3】You've probably heard of working dogs that help police officers, or horses that help farmers. Did you know that carrier pigeons can be trained to help people too? Here are some examples.

Mailman

Carrier pigeons can be trained to carry messages to people. The note is placed into a small can. The can is tied（绑）to the pigeon's leg. Then the pigeon flies off with the note.

Lifeguard

From high up in the sky, specially trained pigeons can find orange life jackets in the ocean. Sometimes it is difficult for humans to find people lost at sea, especially when the weather is bad. However, pigeons can fly quickly over a large area of water to look for people.

Spy

Many years ago, carrier pigeons were used to help our country during war（战争）—spy pigeons had small cameras that were tied to their feet. As a pigeon flew over enemy（敌人）land, the camera took photos of the land below. This would allow our soldiers to see where the enemies were and what they were doing.

So next time you see a pigeon, stop and watch it closely. What might look like an ordinary bird to most people might actually be helpful.

1. Which part of the carrier pigeon is the can tied to?

A．The pigeon's back.	B．The pigeon's head.
C．The pigeon's neck.	D．The pigeon's leg.

2. What kind of people can the carrier pigeons find?

A．The people in orange life jackets at sea.	B．The people in red jackets in the boats.
C．The people swimming in the ocean.	D．The people lost in the mountains.

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

A．A pigeon could predict what the weather would be like.

B．A pigeon was tied with a small camera around its leg.

C．A pigeon could help us to know the number of the enemy.

D．A pigeon carried the camera to take photos of the enemy land.

4. What kind of jobs are mentioned for a carrier pigeon?

A．A mailman, a lifeguard and a spy.	B．A trainer, a spy and a police officer.
C．A soldier, a police officer and a mailman.	D．A farmer, a weather reporter and lifeguard.

5. What is the purpose（目的）of writing this article?

A．To make readers like pigeons more.

B．To teach readers about the lives of wild pigeons.

C．To tell readers about real jobs held by carrier pigeons.

D．To share science fictions about pigeons helping people.