【推荐1】People invented planes by looking at the shape of birds. Can you think of other amazing ideas we have got from nature? What materials did scientists develop by looking at animals and plants?

Have you ever seen geckos (壁虎) running up walls? Do you know how they do it? Well, their feet have millions of tiny hairs, which means that they can walk on or stick to almost anything. Scientists have used this idea to develop super-strong and super-sticky glues. We use them to repair planes, and at home they can even stick your TV to the wall!

Lotus (莲属植物) leaves look beautiful when they are on the water. But have you ever noticed how the water just falls off the leaves? Scientists have found that they have a very smooth surface. Water doesn’t stick to this surface, and what’s more amazing, the water cleans the leaf as it moves on the surface. Scientists have now developed materials which can do the same thing. We use them on roofs (屋顶) and snowboards. You can even get paint for the outside of houses which doesn’t get dirty!

Sharks can move very fast in the water because they have special skin. There are hundreds of little “teeth” on the skin. These little “teeth” have lines on them which help the water to flow over the sharks’ bodies more quickly so they move very smoothly and fast. Scientists have used the information they learned from sharkskin to develop the material for swimsuits and the bottom of boats.

1. Which words can describe the material developed by looking at geckos?

A．Super-strong and super-sticky.	B．Super-strong and super-fast.
C．Super-sticky and super-fast.	D．Super-sticky and super-clean.

2. Which part of the sharks helped scientists develop the material?

A．Their hairs.

B．Their skin.

C．Their tail.

D．Their teeth.

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

A．The Importance of Nature.	B．Research on New Materials.
C．Examples of the Best Inventions.	D．Ideas from Nature.

【推荐1】In most languages, a greeting is usually followed by small talk. Small talk means the little things we talk about at the start of a conversation.

In English-speaking countries, people often make small talk about the weather: “Nice, isn’t it?” “Terrible weather, isn’t it?” But there is something special about small talk. It must be about something which both people have the same opinion about. The purpose of small talk is to let both people agree on something. This makes meeting people easier and more comfortable. People usually agree about the weather, so it is a safe topic for small talk. But people often disagree about religion or politics so these are not suitable topics for small talk. The topics for small talk also depend on where the conversation is taking place. At football matches, people make small talk about the game they are watching: “Great game, isn’t it?” At bus stops, people may comment about the transport system: “The bus service is terrible, isn’t it?”

Greetings and small talk are an important part of conversation in any language. The way people greet each other and the things they talk about, however, may be different from one language to another. This shows that there is much more to learn when we learn a language than just the vocabulary and the grammar of the language. We also have to learn the social behavior of the people who speak it.

1. Small talk is ________.

A．to let people disagree about something

B．a kind of conversation with short words

C．a greeting when people meet each other

D．something we talk about to start with a conversation

2. When we say “Great game, isn’t it?” we in fact ________.

A．have a conversation

B．start small talk

C．greet each other

D．ask a question

3. What we learn from the passage is that ________.

A．in English-speaking countries we should talk about the weather

B．different languages have different grammar

C．small talk is an important part in a language

D．small talk depends on the purpose of the conversation

【推荐2】

The traditional Chinese lunar calendar (农历) divides the year into 24 solar terms (节气). It’s very useful for people’s life and work. Let’s have a look.
	Start of Spring, the first solar term of the year, falls on February 4th this year. After Start of Spring, the daytime is becoming longer and the weather is becoming warmer. And people eat spring pancakes and spring rolls on the day.
	Summer Solstice, the 10th solar term, falls on June 21st this year. Summer Solstice is not the hottest time in a year. The hottest days often come 20 to 30 days later. People have a tradition of eating noodles on the day.
	Autumn Equinox, the 16th solar term, falls on September 23rd this year. On this day, day and night are of equal length (等长). After this day, days get shorter and nights get longer in the northern hemisphere (北半球). In South China, people eat Qiucai, a kind of wild amaranth (苋菜).
	Major Snow, or “Daxue” in Chinese, is the 21st solar term, and it falls on December 7th this year. The arrival of Major Snow marks the beginning of midwinter. Daxue does not necessarily have more snowfall but the possibility of snowy days grows bigger. People have the custom to eat lamb (羊肉) and porridge.

根据材料内容选择最佳答案。
1. When is the Summer Solstice this year?

A．September 23rd

B．February 4th

C．June 21st

D．December 7th

2. What do people usually eat on Start of Spring?

A．

B．

C．

D．

3. On which solar term, day and night are of equal length?

A．Start of Spring

B．Major Snow

C．Autumn Equinox

D．Summer Solstice

4. What does Major Snow mark?

A．The end of midwinter.	B．The beginning of midwinter.
C．The end of winter.	D．The beginning of winter.

5. Where is the text most probably from?

A．A website

B．A storybook

C．A newspaper

D．A guidebook

【推荐3】Childhood is a wonderful time full of fun for us. Many old people still remember when they were young, they often played games like hide-and-seek and chess. In the past, they played games to guide children to get along well with each other. They not only make children happy, but also exercise their mind and body. But now some children spend most of their time in front of the computer, playing video games.

A recent survey found that children between 8 and 12 spend at least 13 hours a week playing video games or “gaming” in some countries. Boys of this age spend even more time, almost 16 hours a week. Although some people will say that gaming is helpful, it brings many problems as well.

One big problem is that kids who spend most of their time on games might have difficulty communicating with real people. They might have trouble sharing and resolving problems because they do not practice these skills when sitting alone at a computer.

Another problem is about health. Game players usually sit for hours without doing any exercise. And they might not eat healthily. As a result, they might be out of shape.

Next, game players might have trouble with their lessons. Some of them spend more time playing games than working on their homework. ▲ .

Finally, it is always possible that the gamers become addicted (成瘾的). Some people play four or five hours a day or even all day. This happened to a 28-year-old man. He spent about 50 hours playing an online game without sleeping or eating well. He died while gaming!

This is one example of the dangers of video gaming. It tells us that video gaming, like everything else, should not be done too much. A few hours a week should not hurt, but several hours a day just might be dangerous to your health.

根据材料内容选择最佳答案。
1. What does the underlined word “They” in Paragraph 1 refer to(指代)?

A．The old people.

B．The games.

C．The children.

D．The children’s words.

2. How long do children of 8 to 12 spend playing video games in a week?

A．At least 13 hours.

B．More than 16 hours.

C．About 26 hours.

D．About 32 hours.

3. How many problems about playing video games are mentioned in the passage?

A．Two.

B．Three.

C．Four.

D．Five.

4. Which of the following is the right sentence for the blank in Paragraph 5?

A．few days later, they might become ill.	B．Soon, they might lose their friends.
C．In a week, they might stop playing games.	D．In the end, they might get lower grades at school.

5. What does the writer want to tell us by writing this passage?

A．Video gaming has quite a lot of advantages.	B．Video gaming might be a dangerous thing.
C．Childhood is a time of fun and games.	D．Children should learn how to get along with others.