【推荐1】Have you ever had the strange feeling that you were being watched? You turned around and, sure enough, someone was looking right at you!

Parapsychologists(灵学家) say that humans have a natural ability to sense when someone is looking at them. To study if such a “sixth sense” really exists(存在), Robert Baker, a psychologist at the University of Kentucky, did two experiments(实验).

In the first one, Baker sat behind unknowing people in public places and stared(盯着看) at the backs of their heads for 5 to 15 minutes. The subjects(受试者) were eating, drinking, reading, studying, watching TV, or working at a computer. Baker made sure that the people could not tell that he was sitting behind them during those periods. Later, when he questioned the subjects, almost all of them said they had no sense that someone was staring at them.

For the second experiment, Baker told the subjects that they would be stared at from time to time from behind. The people had to write down when they felt they were being stared at and when they weren’t. Baker found that the subjects were no better at telling when they were stared at and when they weren’t.

Baker concludes that people do not have the ability to sense when they’re being stared at. If people don’t believe the outcome of his two experiments, said Baker, “I advise they repeat the experiments and see for themselves.”

1. What’s the purpose of the two experiments?

A．To explain why humans have a sixth sense.

B．To show how people act while being watched.

C．To explain when people can have a sixth sense.

D．To study if humans can sense when they are stared at.

2. What sense do humans have according to parapsychologists?

A．A natural ability.

B．A looking feeling.

C．A strange thinking.

D．A natural staring ability.

3. The underlined word “outcome” in the last paragraph means ________.

A．fact

B．result

C．example

D．content

4. What can we learn from the passage?

A．People are born with a sixth sense.

B．People have a sixth sense in all places.

C．The experiments support parapsychologists’ idea.

D．The subjects do not have a sixth sense in the experiments.

【推荐2】Chinese New Year Painting, or nianhua in Chinese, is a kind of traditional paintings to be put upon walls and windows during the Spring Festival. Its bright colors and different subjects show the Chinese great expectation for happiness and wealth.

Chinese New Year Painting is an old handicraft. Its original (最初的) form was a picture of a door god during the Tang Dynasty. Later, more subjects such as the Kitchen God, women and babies were included. As the Chinese New Year arrives, every family puts up its New Year paintings in order to say goodbye to the past and welcome the future. One of the most famous woodblock(木刻版画) New Year paintings comes from Yangjiabu of Shandong Province. It covers all kinds of themes and forms. They reflect people’s everyday life.

As time went by, people found New Year paintings old-fashioned. Besides, they considered the door god too scary to hang in their homes. They wanted something more artistic. So in the middle of the 1980s, the sales of New Year paintings dropped greatly.

Usually, colorful woodblock New Year paintings are produced in four steps. Firstly, artists draw a simple sketch(素描) on the paper. Secondly, they make the simple sketch on the wood board and print a few samples(样品). Thirdly, they add color to the sample. Lastly, when the preparation is finished, the printers paint color on the color board, and then put paper on the wood board and brush the paper. Then the colorful woodblock New Year paintings are ready.

There are four main themes in the Chinese New Year paintings...

1. Which is the first form of Chinese New Year Painting?

A．A picture of babies.	B．A picture of a door god.
C．A picture of women.	D．A picture of the Kitchen God.

2. Why did fewer and fewer people buy Chinese New Year paintings in the middle of the 1980s?

A．Because they wanted something that was more artistic.

B．Because they found New Year paintings unimportant.

C．Because they thought the door god couldn’t bring good luck.

D．Because they found it hard to produce New Year paintings.

3. What will the writer probably write next?

A．The history of Chinese New Year Painting.

B．The development of Chinese New Year Painting.

C．The process of creating Chine New Year Painting

D．The introduction to main themes of Chinese New Year Painting.

【推荐3】Shopping for clothes is not the same for men as it is for women.     1     He knows what he wants, he can decide what to buy before shopping. So most men simply walk into a shop and ask someone for what they want. If the shop has it and the price is good, they often finish shopping in less than five minutes.

For a man, some problems may begin when the shop does not have what he wants.     2     He offers(提供)something that is almost the same as the thing the man wants. Good salespeople say, “    3     Sir, but would you like to try it for size? Maybe you like the color.” Most men don’t care about this and may answer, “This may be the right color and the right size, but I won’t waste(浪费) my time trying it on.”

For a woman, it is different.     4     She doesn’t decide what she wants before she goes shopping. She just goes to “have a look around”. At first, she thinks about finding something that everyone will say, “It looks good on you.”     5     A woman may easily spend an hour or more looking at dresses before deciding on the dresses she wants to try on. It is boring. And most clothes stores provide chairs for the waiting husbands.

A．I know this jacket is not what you really want.

B．It’s right to spend some time choosing clothes before buying.

C．At that time, the salesman tries to sell the man something else.

D．Most of the time, she goes shopping not because she needs something.

E．Most women are always looking for bargains(便宜商品) with their girl friends.

F．Most men don’t like to go shopping.

G．A man goes shopping because he needs something.

【推荐1】

Some scientists say that animals in the ocean are
increasingly threatened(威胁) by noise pollution caused by
human beings. The noise that influences sea animals comes
from a number of human activities. It is caused mainly by
industrial underwater explosions(爆炸) , ocean drilling, and
ship engines. Such noises are added to natural sounds.
These sounds include the breaking of ice fields, underwater
earthquakes, and sounds made by animals themselves.
Decibels (分贝) measured in water are different from those measured on land. A noise of one hundred and twenty decibels on land causes pain to human ears. In water, a decibel level of one hundred and ninety five would have the same effect（效果）.
Some scientists have proposed setting a noise limit （限度）of one hundred and twenty decibels in oceans. They have observed that noises at that level can frighten and confuse whales（鲸鱼）.
A team of American and Canadian scientists discovered that louder noises can seriously injure some animals. The research team found that powerful underwater explosions were causing whales in the area to lose their hearing. This seriously affected the whales' ability to exchange information and find their way. Some of the whales even died. The explosions had caused their ears to bleed.
Many researchers whose work depends on ocean sounds object to a limit of one hundred and twenty decibels. They say such a limit would mean an end to important industrial and scientific research. Scientists do not know how much and what kinds of noises are harmful to ocean animals. However, many scientists suspect that noise is a greater danger than they believed. It’s time for them to take action to help ocean animals.
1. Which of the following is not caused by human beings?

A．The noise of industrial underwater explosions.

B．The noise of ocean drilling.

C．The sound of underwater earthquakes

D．The noise of ship engines.

2. What does the second paragraph mainly tell us?

A．The same noise measures differently on land and in the ocean.

B．Different places may have different types of noises.

C．The noises can cause humans to lose hearing.

D．There are different kinds of natural sounds in the ocean.

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Powerful underwater explosions aren’t harmful to whales’ ears.

B．Many researchers are against the noise limit of 120 decibels.

C．Noises cannot cause whales’ death.

D．The noise limit of 120 decibels would hardly influence the industrial research.

4. According to the passage, we can infer that scientists will probably            .

A．work hard to cut down natural sounds.

B．stop industrial and scientific research in oceans.

C．try their best to make no noise.

D．protect ocean animals from harmful noises.

【推荐3】Why do we like drinking water from plastic bottles? Some people think it is healthy and clean. Others drink bottled water because it's easy — you can carry it around with you. In hot countries, like Greece, we often buy bottles of cold water in the summer.

However, making lots of plastic is not a good idea for many reasons. First of all, we need a lot of oil for plastic products. We usually use oil as a source(资源) of energy. If we reduced the number of bottles we made, we wouldn't need so much oil. Plastic bottles also pollute the environment. If we recycled all our plastic bottles, we wouldn't need so much space for rubbish dumps. But in Greece, we don't recycle much of the plastic we use. In 2006, Greeks recycled only about 10% of plastic waste. The rest became rubbish on land and in rivers and seas.

So next time you want to throw away a plastic bottle in the litter bin, stop and think. If you recycled it, you would help the environment. But what can you do when there isn't a recycling bin near you? Well, there are lots of useful ways that you can use your bottles again. For example, an empty bottle makes a great piggy bank for your pocket money, and if you cut a bottle in half, you will have a plant pot. Go green! You can make a difference.

1. What is NOT mentioned about bottled water in this passage?

A．It's healthy.

B．It's clean.

C．It's easy.

D．It's expensive.

2. Plastic products are made from ______.

A．energy

B．oil

C．rubbish

D．plants

3. ______of plastic waste became rubbish in Greece in 2006.

A．90%

B．50%

C．80%

D．10%

4. Which is the best way to deal with used plastic bottles?

A．To drop them into the river.	B．To make a piggy bank.
C．To make a plant pot.	D．To recycle them.

5. The underlined part in this passage tells us "______".

A．To make a different life, you'd better go outside.	B．To look different, you'd better wear green clothes.
C．To protect the environment, you can do something.	D．To go green, you should use plastic products.

【推荐2】The Earth is very important to us. But we don’t protect the Earth in some correct ways. Here are some easy things that you can do to protect the environment and the Earth.

Plant flowers, grass or trees. The plants can make the environment around you become beautiful. Also, more trees and plants can make the air clean.

When you visit a park or beach, take away what you bring there — keep rubbish in a bag until you can throw it into a dustbin (垃圾桶).

Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth. You can save some water by not letting it run all the time. Also, use a glass cup instead of a paper cup because this can protect forests.

Stop putting dirty water into the rivers or lakes. In this way, you can protect plants and fish in the rivers or lakes.

Ask all your friends to do the same things to help protect the Earth. You don’t have to wait for Earth Day to do these things. Make every day Earth Day.

If everyone does something good to protect the Earth, it will become more beautiful.

1. What does the underlined word “correct” in paragraph 1 mean?

A．bad

B．good

C．wrong

D．right

2. Which way to protect the Earth is NOT talked about in the passage?

A．Not throwing away rubbish anywhere.	B．Saving water in daily life.
C．Asking your friends to protect the Earth together.	D．Turning off the light when you don’t use it.

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Using paper cups can protect forests.

B．Planting trees and plants can make the air dry.

C．It is not necessary to keep rubbish in a bag when you visit a beach.

D．Many people do something to protect Earth on Earth Day.

4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Protecting the Earth is important.	B．How to protect the Earth.
C．People are polluting the Earth.	D．How to make our friends protect the Earth.

5. Where may the passage come from?

A．A storybook.	B．A cook book.
C．An environment magazine.	D．A travel book.

【推荐3】English is spoken as the first language by most people in the U.S.A., Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Canada. However, English is spoken all over the world. It is the main language in over 60 countries, including India, Singapore and many of the Caribbean and Pacific islands. In these places, English is often spoken as the second language.

English is also an international language in many other countries, like China and Japan. People in these countries use it for business, and travelers to these countries use English to communicate when they get there. Other people may learn English because they enjoy reading books in English, listening to British or American music or watching American films.

English has changed a lot over the years and still goes on changing. It is no longer right to talk about British English or American English if the speakers come or don’t come from those countries. People in Japan and Korea, for example, may use the American spelling but may not sound like American.

English has been the most widely used language in the world by the end of the 20th century. This language no longer belongs to British, American or Australian speakers. It belongs to anyone in the world. So, as a middle school student today, you should think about how you can use this language. After you leave school, you will almost certainly need it.

根据材料内容，选择最佳答案。
1. English is spoken as their ________ language in the U.S.A., Britain, Australia and so on.

A．second

B．mother tongue

C．first

D．foreign

2. According to the passage, English ________ a lot over the years and still goes on changing.

A．stays the same	B．has changed
C．has discovered	D．stays different

3. People in Japan and Korea may use the ________ spelling but may not sound like ________.

A．British; Englishmen	B．British; American
C．American; Englishmen	D．American; American

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．English is also an international language in many other countries.

B．English is the main language in over 50 countries.

C．English has been widely used by the end of 19th century.

D．Some people may learn English because they want to write books.

5. From the passage, we can know ________.

A．English is spoken only in European countries

B．some travelers must learn English when they travel to the English-speaking countries

C．the English language no longer belongs to British, American or Australian speakers

D．people in Japan and Korea may use the British spelling