【推荐1】The early years of life

A newborn baby can see, hear and feel. By the age of five, a child can talk and ride a bike. How does this development happen? We don't really understand the way language and thinking develop in the brain. Now scientists are using new technology to help them with their studies. They are discovering new information about the way a baby's brain develops.

A study in 2018 shows that the experiences a child has in their first few years are important.     1    When children receive more attention, they often have higher IQs. Babies receive information when they see, hear and feel things.This information makes connections between different parts of the brain.

     One experiment looked at how newborn babies' brains react to different sounds. The sounds were in different patterns.     2     And the sounds mu-ba-ge make the pattern ‘A-B-C'. The results of the study show that babies know the two patterns are different. Patterns are important in language. The order of words is also important to grammar and meaning. For example, 'John killed the bear’ doesn't mean the same as "The bear killed John.'       3     The experiment shows that babies start to learn grammar rules from the beginning of their life.

Language is important for child development. Babies can hear language in various ways: listening to television, audio books or the Internet and interacting with people.     4     Both groups heard Mandarin Chine(普通话) sounds The first group watched videos. In the second group, people spoke the same sounds to the babies. Then they tested the babies. The second group recognized the different sounds . The first group learned nothing. Patrica Kuhl said this result was very surprising.     5    

A．A newborn baby's brain responds to touch positively.

B．These experiences affect the development of their brain.

C．For example, the sounds mu-ba-ba make the pattern ‘A-B-B'.

D．A scientist Patricia Kuhl, compared two groups of American babies.

E．Both sentences have the same words, but they are in a different order.

F．It shows that social interaction is important to brain development in babies.

【推荐2】①Tomatoes taste great. With a lot of vitamins, they are good for you, too! People all over the world enjoy this amazing fruit.

②Not all tomatoes are red. They can be yellow, orange, pink, or white. All tomatoes are green before they are ready to be picked. Then the tomatoes turn their true color. That’s when they’re ready to eat!

③Tomatoes first grew in the Americas. The Incas (印加人) grew them over 1,000 years ago. They were brought to Europe (欧洲) in the early 16th century. The people in Spain and Italy seem to be the first Europeans to accept them as food. In France, people grew tomatoes in the garden just to enjoy their beauty. Many people there thought tomatoes would make them sick. It was years before some of them would eat tomatoes.

④Tomatoes are fruits. They grow from seeds. They won’t grow in cold weather. But with water, sunlight and warmth, tomatoes grow fast. They can grow in pots or in the ground. As the plant grows taller, people may tie it to a stick. Then the flowers come out and turn into fruit. Some kinds of tomatoes can be picked in about six more weeks. Some tomatoes are large. One kind of tomato can weigh as much as two pounds.

⑤You can eat raw (生的) tomatoes. First, wash them. Then, cut them up for salads or sandwiches. Tomatoes can be cooked, too. They can be boiled or even fried. Do you use ketchup (番茄酱)? It is made from tomatoes. Tomatoes don’t have a smell. But they taste great in foods. Many dishes around the world use tomatoes.

1. From the passage, we know that tomatoes ________.

A．come in different colors

B．grew in Europe first

C．can grow in all weathers

D．have a special smell

2. The underlined phrase “some of them” in paragraph 3 refers to ________.

A．some people in Inca

B．some people in Italy

C．some people in Spain

D．some people in France

3. Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?

A．

B．

C．

D．

4. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A．The Importance of Tomatoes	B．All about Tomatoes
C．The History of Tomatoes	D．Growing Great Tomatoes

【推荐3】There is good and bad news about the number of trees on our planet. The good news is that there are seven times more trees than we thought. A few years ago scientists believed that the world had 400 billion (十亿) trees. However, a new study from Yale University shows that there are around three trillion (万亿) trees. That’s a three followed by 12 zeroes. That means there are about 420 trees for everyone in the world today.

The bad news is that thousands of years ago, the earth had six trillion trees. Humans cut in half the number of trees on the planet. Take Europe for example, it was a large forest thousands of years ago. Now much of it is cities and towns. And another 15 billion trees are lost each year.

Dr. Thomas Crowther is one of the scientists from Yale University. He said the new number of trees from their study would change nothing. “The study only shows we need to do more to protect (保护) our forests,” he said.

1. The passage is about a study of ________ in the world.

A．the kind of trees	B．the number of trees
C．the kind of animals	D．the number of animals

2. ________ is one trillion.

A．10,000,000,000,000	B．1,000,000,000,000
C．10,000,000,000	D．1,000,000,000

3. In the past, we thought everyone had about ________ trees.

A．400

B．12

C．60

D．420

4. What can we learn from Dr. Thomas Crowther?

A．We still have enough trees to cut down.

B．We can find more trees in the future.

C．We should do more to protect forests.

D．We should stop cutting trees down now.

【推荐1】Does it really matter if we know how old animals are? To many scientists, it does.

When studying animal populations, it is of great importance to scientists to know how many animals there are and how old they are. This information can help scientists learn which animals are thriving and which ones need more care and help. Scientists usually use the following ways to tell animals’ age.

For many animals, their teeth can help scientists know their age. In some animals, some teeth don’t come in until a certain age. Take cows for example. Like humans, cows have two sets of teeth, milk teeth and permanent teeth. They normally get their first pair of permanent teeth when they’re two years old. Then they have the next pair at the age of three, the third pair at the age of four…

Hair and skin can also provide information about age. Some animals tend to get bad skin and gray hair as they get older. If you are keen on keeping a dog, you may have noticed that its nose and mouth get grayer as it gets older.

Animals’ eyes and ears might also help scientists tell animals’ age. As animals get older, their hearing often becomes weak and their eyesight might begin to fail.

Scientists are continuing to discover new and more ways of telling the age of animals. Recently, scientists have learned that ▲ . That’s really good news!

1. Which are the reasons why scientists need to know the age of animals?
a. To study animal populations.
b. To learn which animals are thriving.
c. To know which animals need more care and help.
d. To find out the differences between animals’ appearances.

A．abd

B．acd

C．bcd

D．abc

2. If a cow has 4 permanent teeth, it is probably ________ years old.

A．1—2

B．3—4

C．5—6

D．7—8

3. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “be keen on”?

A．Be crazy about.	B．Be afraid of.
C．Look forward to.	D．Get ready for.

4. Which sentence is the most suitable for the blank ________?

A．the number of some endangered animals is getting larger and larger

B．the latest operations could possibly help old dogs improve their eyesight

C．they can tell the age of the humpback whales by examining their DNA

D．hearing problems would no longer trouble aging animals with the help of new hearing aids

5. What is the best title for the passage?

A．The Ways to Tell Animals’ Age

B．The Reasons for Telling Animals’ Age

C．The Ways to Know Animals’ Number

D．The Reasons for more Animals who Need Care and Help

【推荐2】Vegetables are good for our health. They give our bodies different kinds of vitamins (维生素) and help us grow. Eating carrots is helpful (有帮助的) for our eyes, because carrots can help us see better at night. Do you want to have strong teeth?Eat some beans. Beans have vitamin K in them. Vitamin K is helpful for our teeth.

Do you like tomatoes? They look nice. Doctors call tomatoes “healthy vegetables”, because they can stop some illness. They also have vitamin P and it can keep our skin healthy. So it is important to eat some tomatoes. Don’t forget spinach. The spinach leaves have vitamin A,vitamin C and vitamin E. They can help us do our jobs better.

Vegetables are very important to us, but we can't only have vegetables. We also need other kinds of food to keep healthy.

1. ________ are good for our eyes.

A．Beans

B．Carrots

C．Onions

D．Tomatoes

2. Vitamin K can _________.

A．make our teeth strong	B．help us see better
C．stop some illness	D．keep our skin healthy

3. What vegetables can keep our skin healthy?

A．Tomatoes

B．Beans

C．Carrots

D．potatoes

4. The underlined (划线的) word spinach is a kind of ________.

A．vitamin

B．fruit

C．drink

D．vegetable

5. In this passage, the writer wants to tell us that ________.

A．there are many kinds of vitamins.

B．we should eat different kinds of vegetables.

C．vitamins are in many fruits.

D．we don’t need to eat other kinds of food.

【推荐3】Everyone needs friends. How do you find real friendship and keep it?

The American writer Sally Seaman tells young students some smart ways to find friends. Sally says finding friendship is just like planting (种) a tree. You plant it and look after it to make it grow.

What makes a good friend? It’s not because a person has money or good looks. A good friend should be friendly and patient. For example, if you have a bad day, a good friend should listen to your complaints (抱怨) and do his or her best to help you.

But things can’t always be happy. What should you do when you have a fight with your friend? You have to talk to him or her.

These steps (措施) can make you be friends again: say sorry to him or her; tell him or her how you are feeling; explain why you did this or that.

Remember that friendship is the most important thing in your life.

1. Sally wants to tell students the way to ________.

A．find friends

B．plant trees

C．get happy

2. A good friend should ________.

A．be lovely and cool

B．be friendly and patient

C．have lots of money

3. According to the passage, you should ________ your friend after a fight.

A．talk to

B．never say a word to

C．have dinner with

4. There are ________ steps to be friends again after a fight.

A．four

B．three

C．two

5. What’s the best title (标题) for the passage?

A．Teenagers (青少年) and Friendship

B．The Good Friends Around You

C．Finding and Keeping Friendship

【推荐1】As teenagers, you have many dreams. These dreams can be very big, like winning the Nobel Prize, or they can be small. You may just want to become one of the best ten students in your class.

Once you have a dream, what do you do with it? Do you ever try to make your dream come true?

Follow Your Heart by Australian writer Andrew Mathews tells us that making our dreams come true is life’s biggest challenge.

You may think you are not very good at some school subjects, or that it is impossible for you to become a writer. These kinds of thoughts stop you from achieving your dream, the book says.

In fact, everyone can make his dream come true. The first thing you must do is to remember what your dream is.

Don’t let it leave your heart. Keep telling yourself what you want. Do this step by step and your dream will come true faster because a big dream is, in fact, made up of many small dreams. You must also never give up your dream.

There will be difficulties on the road to your dreams. But the biggest difficulty comes from yourself. You need to decide what is the most important. Studying instead of watching TV will bring you better exam results, while saving five yuan instead of buying an ice cream means you can buy a new book. As you get closer to your dream, it may change a little. This is good as you have the chance to learn more skills and find new interests.

1. If you want to make your dream come true, you should ________.

A．remember what your dream is first	B．keep telling yourself what you want
C．never be afraid of the big difficulties	D．try to start with all the things above

2. From the text, we know the word “challenge” means ________.

A．something easy to decide	B．something easy to change
C．something new and exciting	D．something new and difficult

3. What should you NOT do to make your dream come true?

A．Do what you should do step by step.

B．Watch TV to get better exam results.

C．Always remember what your dream is.

D．Read more books, learn more skills and find new interests.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Make Your Dream Real	B．Teenagers Have Many Dreams
C．How to Find Your Real Dream	D．Keep Your Dream in Your Mind

【推荐2】March, 2013, the H7N9 virus (病毒)hit Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and so on. It seemed that most people who were infected(被感染) with H7N9 had the common flu. Some people suffered from a fever or a cough.

Don’t be afraid—it’s not easy to be infected with the virus. Here is some advice to help you protect(保护) yourself when it comes.

Wash your hands. You need to wash your hands with soap and hot water before you eat, after you use the toilet(厕所), and after you touch animals, because your hands may carry viruses.

Cover your nose and mouth. When someone (某人) sneezes(打喷嚏) or coughs, flu viruses can travel as far as one meter through the air, so you’d better stand a proper distance (距离) while talking to someone who has a cold. And always cover your mouth and nose with a piece of paper when you sneeze or cough, and then clean your hands.

Wear a mask(口罩). Some doctors say that masks can stop the flu as much as 80%, but if you don’t wash your hands often, it’s no use wearing a mask. And it’s necessary to wear the mask in the groups of people.

Do sports often. Exercises will help make your body strong enough to resist the virus.

1. When did the H7N9 virus hit Shanghai?

A．In 2014.

B．In 2015.

C．In 2012.

D．In 2013.

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

A．Some people who were infected with the H7N9 virus had a toothache.

B．You should cover your mouth and nose with a piece of paper when you sneeze or cough.

C．Some doctors say that masks can stop the flu as much as 100%.

D．It’s very easy to be infected with the virus.

3. How many ways to stop the virus are mentioned in the passage?

A．Four.

B．Three.

C．Five.

D．Six.

4. What does the underlined word “resist ” mean in Chinese?

A．抵抗

B．传播

C．感染

D．接受

5. What’s the main idea of this passage?

A．It tells us how to wash hands.

B．It tells us why we should use masks.

C．It gives us some advice on how to protect ourselves when the H7N9 virus comes.

D．It tells us what H7N9 virus is.