【推荐2】Americans love cars. They have more than 250 million (百万) cars ---about one car for every 1.2 people. But these cars cause (引起) too much air pollution. Even children know that cars need gas (汽油)   to run. If there is no gas, today's cars will become tomorrow's about the cars in the future, they usually think of hydrogen (氢气) cars, electric (电的) cars and flying cars.
Hydrogen cars might be the cars of the future. They don't cause pollution and the hydrogen turns into water after it is used. The first hydrogen car was made by Honda. It was very expensive and didn't run very far.
There are some electric cars on the market, but they can't run very far or very fast. In the future, there will be a lot of electric cars on the road. When the batteries (电池) are better and cheaper, electric cars will become more popular.
There will be another kind of car --- flying cars. They will be able to run in the air. But now there is only one company, MDI, making this kind of car.
1. We can know from the text that there are about _ people in American.

A．250 million

B．300 million

C．208 million

2. Hydrogen turns into        after it is used.

A．water

B．air

C．gas

3. Which of the following is TRUE about electric cars?

A．They can run fast but not very far.

B．They are very popular with people now.

C．They are still too expensive for people to buy.

4. How many kinds of cars are mentioned in the passage?

A．Two

B．Three

C．Four

5. What is the best title for the text?

A．Cars in the future.

B．Americans and cars.

C．Air pollution.

【推荐3】What does the word “patent (专利权)” mean to you? Does it interest you? If it does, stop and think a moment about some of the common things that you use every day: the telephone, radio, television, and the thousands of other things that enrich our lives today, were once only ideas in the minds of men. If it had not been possible to patent their ideas, so as to protect them from being copied, these inventions might never have been fully developed to serve human beings.

If there were no patent protection, there would be little encouragement to invent, for once the secrets of an invention became known, those who did not experience the inventor’s risks and expenses (花费) might well fill the market with their copies of his product and steal much of the benefit (益处) of his efforts.

The most basic values in the U. S. patent system came from England. During the rule of Queen Elizabeth I in England, the growing technology was furthered by the giving of exclusive privileges (独家特权) to people who had invented new processes (程序) or tools—a step that did much to encourage creativity. Later, an important value was added: society had everything to gain and nothing to lose by giving exclusive privileges to an inventor, because a patent for an invention was given for something new that society never had before.

George Washington signed the first patent law on April 10, 1790, and less than four months later, the first patent was given to a man named Samuel Hopkins for a chemical process, an improved method in soap making.

In 1936, the Patent Office became a separate department and it has grown into an organization of over 2,500 people who every week deal with more than 1,600 patent applications, and of those, give more than 1,000. A patent may be given for any new and useful process, machine, or planning method.

The patent system has also helped to improve the pay of the American worker to an unexpected level; he can produce and earn more by using computers or adding machines, two important patented inventions. Patented inventions also help keep prices down by encouraging competition.

Our patent laws, like the Constitution from which they grew, have stood the test of time. They have encouraged creative processes, brought great benefits to society as a whole, and enabled American technology to outstrip that of the rest of the modern world.

1. From the passage, what can we learn about inventors?

A．They make a lot of money.

B．They fight against copiers.

C．They have a lot of experience.

D．They put effort into inventions.

2. Why were inventors given exclusive privileges?

A．Because their inventions made leaders happy.

B．Because their creativity is very important.

C．Because their inventions could enlarge society.

D．Because they were the smartest people in society.

3. According to the passage, the patent system is good for America because ________.

A．it helps more workers get jobs

B．it provides a first-class service

C．it produces less expensive things

D．it helps inventors find markets

4. What is the meaning of “outstrip” in the last paragraph?

A．be better than

B．catch up with

C．make better use of

D．cost more than

【推荐1】

You wake up and don’t feel well. You have a headache and don’t want to get out of bed. And you can’t breathe out of your nose. What’s wrong? You may have a cold!

Signs (迹象) of a cold •low fever •sore throat •coughing •runny nose and watery eyes •feeling cold, tired and not hungry •hard to breathe because of your stuffy (不通的) nose

•Hot drinks make you cough less, and your sore throat will feel better, so have some chicken soup. •A steamy shower (加湿器) helps your nose feel better. •Have a good rest. Go to bed a little earlier for a few nights. •If you’re stressed, you will feel worse when you have a cold, So try to relax and use the time to read, listen to music or watch a movie.

1. Which is NOT a sign of a cold?

A．Having a sore throat.	B．Having a low fever.
C．Getting a bad cough.	D．Always feeling hungry.

2. When your nose is stuffy, ________.

A．you can sleep well	B．you’ll have a high fever
C．it’s difficult for you to breathe	D．it’s hard for you to hear clearly

3. Your sore throat may get better if you ________.

A．have some hot soup	B．turn on a steamy shower
C．exercise more	D．get some sleep

4. The underlined word “stressed” means “________” in Chinese.

A．放松的

B．焦虑的

C．瞌睡的

D．精神的

【推荐2】Plants are very important to us. Humans (人类) and animals cannot live without plants. Plants can make food from air, water and sunlight. However, animals and humans cannot do that. Animals and humans can get their food by eating plants and other animals. So we need to protect the animals and plants.

There are many plants in our land. I want to talk about two kinds of plants: One is a kind of plant with flowers and fruits, and the other is a kind of plant without flowers and fruits. Most trees are plants with flowers and fruits around us. We usually call them flowering plants. Non-flowering plants can’t grow flowers. Non-flowering plants are much fewer than flowering plants.

If we look carefully at the plants around us, we will find that some plants are large and some are small. Most of them are green. Their flowers and leaves are very beautiful. They make the world colorful. They can make us happy.

1. The writer mainly talks about ________ kinds of plants in the passage.

A．two

B．three

C．four

D．five

2. The underlined word “non-flowering” means ________ in Chinese.

A．有花的

B．有果的

C．无花的

D．无果的

3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned(提及) in the passage?

A．Humans.

B．Animals.

C．Color.

D．Forest.

4. Which is the best title for this passage?

A．Plants Around Us	B．Humans and Animals
C．Flowering Plants	D．Non-flowering Plants

【推荐3】In many English homes, people eat four meals a day. Breakfast is a very big meal. They have breakfast at any time from seven to nine in the morning. They eat porridge (粥), eggs or bread and drink tea or coffee for breakfast. They have lunch at one o’clock. Lunch is a quick meal for many people. They eat all kinds of salad (沙拉) and sandwiches for lunch.

Afternoon tea is from four to five in the afternoon. Some people have afternoon tea with sandwiches, cakes and a cup of tea. Dinner is at about half past seven. First, they have soup, and then they have meat or fish with vegetables. After that, they eat some fruit, like bananas, apples and oranges. But not all English people eat like that. Some of them have their dinner in the middle of the day. So their meals are breakfast, dinner, afternoon tea and supper.

The Englishmen often eat take-away food. They buy it at a shop or a restaurant and eat it at home, because they are busy with their work.

1. According to the passage, English people may have__________ for their breakfast.

A．cakes and cola	B．hamburgers and coffee
C．tea and bread	D．eggs and fish

2. Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Many English people eat four meals every day.

B．At one o’clock, English people usually have lunch.

C．All English people eat dinner at about half past seven.

D．English people drink tea for breakfast and afternoon tea.

3. English people have all the following food for dinner except (除了) __________.

A．soup and meat	B．fish and vegetables
C．meat and apples	D．porridge and eggs

4. What does the underlined word “take-away” in Paragraph 3 mean in Chinese?

A．快速的

B．绿色的

C．外卖的

D．美味的

5. The passage mainly (主要地) talks about__________.

A．the time for English people to have meals	B．four meals of English people
C．The food for English people	D．English people’s favourite food