【推荐1】You may think you cannot live through summer without the air conditioner. But in ancient China, hand fans (扇子) were almost the only help for people to drive the heat away.

Chinese hand fans have a long history. The fans came in different shapes and materials. Palm leaf fans were cheap and easy to make. Feather fans showed the owner’s high status. Sandal wood fans could send out a sweet smell.

Later, hand fans became even more popular because they were seen as artworks. At that time, tuanshan (round fans) and zheshan (folded fans) were the most common.

In the shape of a full moon, tuanshan was usually made of silk. They had beautiful birds and flowers on them. Women, especially those in the palace, liked to use them. Poets often compared a woman’s abandoned fate (被抛弃的命运) to tuanshan. Nalan Xingde wrote during the Qing Dynasty, “If only life was as beautiful as when we first met, why should the autumn wind bother to pity deserted (被舍弃的) painted fans?”

However, men, especially the literati (文人), used zheshan, or folded fans. The literati liked them because zheshan were usually made of paper and they could paint and write poems on them. It was a way for them to show their talents in literature, painting and calligraphy. Almost anything can be painted on zheshan, but the most popular ones are usually landscapes.

Today, Chinese people still use these fans. They have already become a symbol of Chinese culture and also a part of our everyday life.

1. The picture ________ is a kind of zheshan.

A．

B．

C．

D．

2. Which of the following is the Chinese translation of the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4?

A．人生若只如初见，何事秋风悲画扇。

B．银烛秋光冷画屏，轻罗小扇扑流萤。

C．相见时难别亦难，东风无力百花残。

D．奉帚平明金殿开，暂将团扇共徘徊。

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Literati loves using tuanshan best.

B．Literati usually paints landscapes on zheshan.

C．Palm leaf fans have a sweet smell.

D．There are 4 kinds of hand fans mentioned in the passage.

4. The best title of this passage can be “________”.

A．How to Make Chinese Hand Fans

B．Different Types of Hand Fans in China

C．Why Hand Fans Are Popular in China

D．The Different Uses of Hand Fans

【推荐2】

Do you know a traditional toy called taiping nijiaojiao? It is a clay toy and also a whistle（哨子）in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu with a history of over 1,000 years.

Taiping nijiaojiao is made of the mud from the local mountain. It takes more than ten steps to make the clay toy, and the key step is to knead it with your hands. You can knead the clay toy into anything, like animals and plants. The blowhole is the most difficult part to make, for the size of the blowhole makes a difference to the sound. While coloring, you can use traditional cultural elements（元素）that carry good meanings. It’s hard to make taiping nijiaojiao. But when you finally make it, you will feel proud of yourself.

Zhou Baokang, a lover of folk art, learned how to make the clay toy from local artists about 20 years ago. He wants more people to know about it, so he has opened a museum to introduce the clay toy. He teaches kids how to make the clay toy, too.

There are many traditional art forms in China, but some of them have been lost. Luckily, the traditional clay toy taiping nijiaojiao is kept to this day.

1. What is taiping nijiaojiao?

A．A plant.

B．An animal.

C．A whistle.

D．A museum.

2. What is the most important step when you make taiping nijiaojiao?

A．Coloring the clay toy.	B．Making the blowhole.
C．Kneading the clay toy.	D．Choosing the elements.

3. Who does Zhou Baokang teach to make taiping nijiaojiao?

A．Artists.

B．Teachers.

C．Masters.

D．Children.

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

A．A Traditional Clay Toy	B．Elements of a Clay Toy
C．Popularity of a Clay Toy	D．Steps of Making a Clay Toy

【推荐3】Beijing Opera is one of the Chinese traditional drama art forms and the largest Chinese opera form. Having a history about 200 years, it is developed from many other drama forms, mostly from the local drama “Huiban”. It is especially popular in south China during the 18th century.

Theatrical(戏剧的) forms in many other countries do not have singing, dancing and spoken parts together in one single drama. An opera singer, for example, neither dances nor speaks on stage; there are no singing or dancing parts in a modern play; in a dance drama, the dancer doesn’t speak or sing. Traditional Chinese drama, including Beijing Opera, is a kind of entertainment. It includes spoken parts, singing and dancing.

Beijing Opera has spread to many other places. Mei Lanfang, one of the most famous performers of all, was the first to introduce Beijing Opera to foreigners and made highly successful tours to foreign countries.

“You will doubt and sometimes be a little bored, but you will be interested gradually. You will be strongly attracted by Beijing Opera, even if you know nothing about the drama background.” This is how one traveler described his first experience in watching Beijing Opera.

Beijing Opera is China’s national opera and it is full of Chinese cultural traditions. Welcome to China and enjoy Beijing Opera!

1. Beijing Opera is ________.

A．unpopular in north China	B．only developed from the local drama “huiban”
C．a much larger Chinese opera form	D．a Chinese traditional drama art form

2. The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph means ________.

A．Beijing Opera

B．local drama

C．an opera singer

D．a modern play

3. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．Beijing Opera is a kind of entertainment.

B．An opera singer neither dances nor speaks on stage usually.

C．Only old people are interested in Beijing Opera.

D．Mei Lanfang was the first one to introduce Beijing Opera to foreigners.

4. The main purpose of writing the passage is to ________.

A．ask young people to learn Beijing Opera

B．tell us something about Beijing Opera

C．show why Beijing Opera is popular in Europe

D．introduce everything about foreign Opera

【推荐1】By 2050, the world will be urbanized (都市化的). Nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in cities. Many of them will develop into large cities with a population of more than 10 million. Moving people around each large city will be a very big challenge. The traffic speed in London will fall to about 7 miles per hour. Around the same speed it was 150 years ago, in the days of the horse and cart. But city planners are working on ways to solve the problem.

Robot Taxis	Robot taxis will play a part. It’s predicted that there’ll be over 30 million robot taxis on the road by 2040. People don’t need to drive by themselves. By 2050, there will be more than 50 million robot taxis in the city streets. We can call the taxis just at a single touch.
Buses	Public transport like buses will be highly personalized (个性化). People don’t need to look through the bus timetable. Buses will be connected on the Internet and make the way by themselves according to where the people need to go.
Bikes	Bikes will be helpful on that slow last mile of travel, too. Cities can build special roads for them high above city streets. Xiamen in southeast China already has an 8-kilometer bicycle way to protect riders like that. That may be another kind of urban transport in 2050. It will be multi-level (多层次). For many people, urban transport in 2050 might be cool.

1. Where will most people live by 2050?

A．In cities.

B．In the countryside.

C．In London.

D．In villages.

2. How can we call the robot taxis?

A．By making a phone call.	B．By writing a letter.
C．Through a single touch.	D．By scanning the QR code.

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

A．The traffic speed in London will still be fast in the future.

B．There will be many taxis on the road by 2040.

C．Buses can make the way by themselves without the Internet.

D．Roads for bikes will be high above city streets.

【推荐2】Global Vision International (GVI) is a great organization. It has sent more than 25,000 volunteers abroad on programs including animal care and education.

In South Africa

Through this project, you'll work with the local research team to record the marks of animal, study their behavior (行为), help with data entry (数据录入), and even join in community education about animal protection. You'll get started with a training program to get you to learn about the project and the types of animals you'll study.

In Fiji

On this project, you'll work with local organizations in collecting data on the types of fish, developing an environmental education program for local schools, and helping with the development of best practices in environmental protection on the island. The project will start with a training course, where you'll learn to know the types of fish.

In Thailand

If you'd like to visit Asia, GVI has an amazing chance right now in Thailand. You can work with trainers to care for the elephants that have been saved from working in the tourist industry.

1. If you are a member of GVI, you will________.

A．have a chance to study animals in South Africa

B．teach elephants trainers English in Thailand

C．help build some new schools in South Africa

D．learn about different kinds of fish in Thailand

2. Who might be the most interested in this text?

A．A woman who loves keeping pets.	B．A student who likes traveling abroad.
C．A teenager who studies education.	D．A man who often helps wild animals.

3. This text might be ________.

A．a report

B．a research

C．an introduction

D．a story

【推荐3】China began to build the Qinhuangdao-Shenyang High-Speed Railway (HSR) in 1999. It is the first HSR line in China. Now the high-speed rail network in China is the largest in the world. So far there have been about 1,700 kilometers of HSR in service, along with trains of an average (平均) speed of 220 km/h.

Chinese government had spent $300 million building the largest and fastest HSR system in the world by 2020. It’s said that the trains can run 400km/h and create new business for China and other countries through the Belt and Road (一带一路).

It’s predicted that the HSR network in China will reach 30,000 kilometers and it will be like a grid, which is mainly made up of 8 long-distance high-speed rail lines: four north-south HSR lines and four east-west HSR lines.

Except for the Qingdao-Taiyuan HSR, all HRS lines of the rail grid are longer than 1,000 kilometers.

Feng Hao, an expert (专家), says, “Many markets along the Belt and Road, especially in Central Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Eastern European countries, are planning to build HSR lines. They look forward to getting help from China”.

根据短文内容，判断正（T）、误（F）。
1. The Qinhuangdao-Shenyang HSR is the first HSR line in China.
2. By 2030, the trains will run 400 km/h faster than that now.
3. The underlined word “grid” in Paragraph 3 means “网格”.
4. The expert Feng Hao says many countries refused to get help from China.
5. We learn about how to build HSR in the passage.