【推荐1】When concert pianist Paul Barton moved to Thailand, little could he have expected where life would take him. Instead of performing for classical music lovers on stage, Barton’s audience are old and injured elephants. He spends his time playing everything from Bach to Beethoven to these huge animals.

The idea first came to Barton while he made a YouTube video in Thailand. It was there that the elephant-lover found out about ElephantsWorld. This sanctuary（保护区）cares for old, injured and disabled elephants. After contacting the manager, Barton decided to give his first concert. What happened was something he would never forget. “The first time I played the piano at ElephantsWorld, a blind elephant called Plara was having his breakfast. But when he heard the music, he suddenly stopped eating his food and stayed still all through the music. Plara was not the only one,” shares Barton.

The piano “concerts” are held in the open. Elephants are not forced to listen. In fact, Barton notes that the music itself appears to attract them, as many come closer for a listen. Some move slowly to the song. Some hold their trunk in their mouth as they listen, and others even put their thunk on the piano and begin to sing along.

For Barton, this work is part of an effort to care for these huge animals. Their stress and pain will disappear as they listen to music. “All I can think of is that we work to make the lives of elephants better in the ways we can,” explains Barton. “Elephants are emotional animals. There’s a special connection between us. We’re communicating with each other in a different language.”

Barton has posted videos of these amazing moments to his YouTube, which has over 300, 000 followers. Each of the videos is a moving look at how music influences these animals. Barton’s work is a bridge that brings together humans and animals.

根据短文内容，回答下列问题。
1. Who did Barton perform for in Thailand?
2. Where did Barton give his concert in Thailand?
3. What does Plara look like?
4. How does Barton’s music help the elephants?
5. What do Barton’s followers think of Barton’s videos?

【推荐3】阅读下面材料，从下列所给的A~E五个选项中选择正确的选项（其中一项为多余选项）将其序号填入1-4，并回答第5题。

Reasons Why Pets Are Good for Children

For many of us, pets are part of everyday family life. But more than that, pets can actually aid childhood development in many ways. Veterinarian Dr. Katrina Warren says children who keep pets can benefit a lot. Here are some advantages.

1 Children often share their secrets with pets because pets don’t get cross at them and don’t judge. Pets are loyal, kind and they provide a gentle shoulder to cry on. Children love to include their pet in household events and celebrations such as birthdays and weddings.

2 When looking after a pet, children learn how to care for another living being as well as the importance of routine（常规）. Depending on the age of the child and the different pet, children can finish some tasks like feeding or walking the dog.

3 Most children may sit in front of TVs or computers, spending their weekends with the technology if they have nothing to do. However, playing safe games with pets or walking the dog keeps kids away from screens and get them outside to play.

4 Visits to the vet（兽医）can help children learn the importance of providing good health care to all living beings. Pets are also the first experience a child may have with birth and death. They can learn how to deal with the illnesses and how to face losses in life.

Pets help children grow as a person. Animals help children learn empathy（同情心）and respect, as well as develop social skills. Children who enjoy reading out loud to their pets may become more confident and improve their reading skill, too.

A. Pets can act as friends.
B. Teach important life lessons.
C. Help children make more friends.
D. Children may join in more activities.
E. Children can learn how to look after others.
1. ________
2. ________
3. ________
4. ________
5. Write down one more reason why pets are good for children.（回答不多于10个单词）
___________________

【推荐3】阅读下列短文，根据短文信息完成文后表格，每空一词。

There are all kinds of festivals all over the world. Some of them are about people, while others are about seasons. They always have different meanings and celebrations.

Festivals about people

Some festivals are to honour the ancestors（纪念先辈）. For example, on Tomb-sweeping Day in China, people show their miss to their ancestors and national heroes in the past. In some Western countries, people think the soul of the ancestors may come back on Halloween. Now it becomes a children’s festival, and they can dress up in special clothes or play “trick or treat” with their neighbours for sweets.

Other festivals are to honour famous people. The Dragon Boat Festival in China honours the famous ancient poet, Qu Yuan. In the USA, Columbus Day honours the coming of Christopher Columbus in the New World.

Festivals about seasons

In autumn, harvest festivals like Thanksgiving Day can be very happy days because people have enough food for the cold winter. China has Mid-autumn Festival. People get together with family members, watch the full moon and enjoy moon-cakes.

In spring, some Western countries have exciting carnivals （狂欢节）in February. During these carnivals, people usually march, sing and dance. Japan’s Cherry Blossom Festival （樱花节）comes a little later. The country, with lots of cherry tree flowers, looks like a place full of pink snow.

In most of the festivals, people get together to eat, drink and have fun with each other. Festivals give us time to enjoy life and relax ourselves. That may be the meaning of festivals.

Festivals around the World
Kinds		1
Festivals about people	To the ancestors	• On Tomb-sweeping Day in China, people show their miss to the ancestors and even national     2     in the past. • At Halloween, children     3     special clothes and ask neighbours for sweets.
	To famous people	• The Dragon Boat Festival in China honours Qu Yuan. • Columbus Day in     4     honours Christopher Columbus.
Festivals about     5	Festivals in autumn	• On Thanksgiving Day, people are     6     because they have enough food to spend the winter. • At Mid-autumn Festival, family members get together, watch the full moon and enjoy moon-cakes.
	Festivals in     7	• The carnivals in some Western countries usually have many activities, including marching,     8    and dancing.      • At Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan, the country is the colour of     9     because of the flowers.
The     10     of festivals is that they give us time to enjoy life and relax ourselves.

【推荐1】请阅读下面的非连续性文本，根据其内容回答问题，并将答案写在答题卡相应的位置上。

Chang’an (《长安三万里》) is an animated film (动画电影) that brings to life the Tang Dynasty, a fascinating period in Chinese history. The story begins with Gao Shi’s memories of Li Bai, and then takes us on a journey through Li’s life and the ups and downs of the Tang Dynasty. This movie is the longest Chinese animated film, running for 168 minutes, and has received a high rating (评分) of 8.3 out of 10 on Douban.

Information from Douban Title: Chang’an Directors: Xie Junwei, Zou Jing Release date: July 8, 2023 Genre: Animation/ History Runtime: 168 minutes Language: Chinese Rating: (At present, 4,190,000 people have watched it. And 391,000 people gave their ratings.)

Reviews and comments: Cealar: The friendship between Gao Shi and Li Bai, who supported each other in troubled times, made me feel the warmth of the film. I understood the true reasons why Chang’an is more than just the name of a capital city but a cultural symbol. So I gave it a five-star rating!

Reviews and comments: Feng Nian: While watching it, my daughter recited (背诵) many poems along with the characters. It’s without doubt a very educational film. Children may get interested in more Chinese poems after watching it.

To make Chang’an an excellent film—being translated properly and culturally meaningful, the creators invited an Australian expert named Linda Jaivin for the dialog translation. They also visited the real historical sites (遗址) to understand how the characters felt in difficult situations.

However, recently, some experts said that some plots (情节) in this film deviated from (偏离) historical facts. Zhuiguangdonghua, the company that made this film, said that they still hoped through this movie, more people, even from other countries, would appreciate (欣赏) wonderful Chinese poets like Li Bai and Du Fu.

1. How long is the film Chang’an?
____________________________________
2. In the rating chart, how many people gave a four-star rating to Chang’an on Douban?
____________________________________
3. What did Chang’an help Cealar understand?
____________________________________
4. What does Feng Nian think of Chang’an ? Why does she think so?
____________________________________
5. According to the material, how did the creators try to make Chang’an excellent?
____________________________________
6. What rating do you want to give Chang’an? Why?
____________________________________

【推荐2】根据短文内容完成鱼骨图。每空一词，含缩略词。

Sam is my cousin. He likes eating lots of junk food (垃圾食品) every day. And he doesn’t like sports. His mom thinks he is unhealthy. And she asks me for help. So I write a letter to him.

Dear Sam,    It’s very important for us to be healthy. First, let me tell you how to eat well. You can eat some fruit every day, like bananas, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” And you should have tomatoes and carrots often. That’s because fruit and vegetables are good for your health. You can’t always eat hamburgers or ice-cream. They can make you fat. Second, you can walk (散步) after dinner. And you can play basketball with your friends on weekends. If you follow my advice (遵循建议), you will be healthy very soon. Hope my letter can help you a lot. Yours, Frank

1. ________
2. ________
3. ________
4. ________
5. ________

【推荐3】先通读下面的短文，然后根据短文内容，在文章后表格的空格内填入一个最恰当的单词。每个空格只能填一个单词。

The Zisha teapots produced in Yixing city in east China’s Jiangsu Province are considered to be the best tool for making tea. According to literature, the first Zisha teapot was created during the Song Dynasty in the 10th century.

Different types of clay used for making Yixing teapots, mainly purple clay, red clay, green clay and mixed clay, are collectively called Yixing clay. Yixing clay is referred to as “zisha” in Chinese because purple clay is most commonly used. To make a Zisha teapot, the material should be carefully selected and processed before it can be used. The most important step to make Yixing teapots is to keep pounding (拍打) the clay with a special wooden stick. They are not produced in factories by machine.

The Zisha teapot is considered as the best tea pot that the tea made in it tastes especially nice. And the tea can be stored overnight in it without going bad even in summer. The clay is highly porous (多孔的), but water cannot leak (渗漏) from it. This is the biggest specialty of Zisha clay.

Another famous characteristic of Yixing teapots is that they can absorb tea flavors (吸收茶香) with each brewing. Over time, Yixing teapots can smell aromatic even without tea in it.

The production technique of Yixing Zisha teapots was listed among China’s Intangible Cultural Heritages in 2006. Many people collect Zisha teapots, since it is not only a daily necessity, but has come to be considered as a work of art.

Title: Yixing Zisha Teapot

When was it created?	It was created during the Song Dynasty in the 10th century.
How is it made?	It is made of Yixing clay which     1     different types.
	It can only be made by     2     using a special method.
What’s     3     about it?	It makes the tea taste much better.
	It has the     4     to absorb tea flavors into itself.
It has become a work of art which is     5     collected.