【推荐1】Sometimes, it takes homeless animals a long time to find a new home. Luckily, someone is trying to help, even if it is a small thing.

Darius Brown is a 12-year-old boy from the USA. Although he is young, he has a heart of gold. He makes fashionable bow ties (蝴蝶领结) for homeless cats and dogs. Those bow ties can catch future owners’ attention and help cute animals find home faster.

At the age of 8, Darius started helping his sister make bow ties. This was when his amazing talent(天赋) began to show. He didn’t think twice to use the skills for useful changes in the world. At 11, Darius had his own pet clothing company. He has given lots of bow ties to animal shelters (动物收容所) across the USA and the UK.

As a dog lover himself, Darius decided to help homeless animals after the terrible hurricane (飓风) in 2017. He wanted to help those homeless animals catch the eye of good-hearted people. His bow ties have turned thousands of cats and dogs into cute and pretty pets.

Darius’s kindness is supported by thousands of people online. In 2018, former (以前的) US president Barack Obama praised Darius for his kindness in a letter, “As long as you continue to look for ways to help others and never give up on yourself, I’m sure our future will be bright.”

根据短文内容，选择最佳选项。
1. When did Darius start making bow ties?

A．At the age of seven.	B．At the age of eight.
C．At the age of eleven.	D．At the age of fifteen.

2. How can the bow ties help homeless animals?

A．Shelters can make money by selling them.

B．They can make homeless animals happy.

C．Homeless animals are famous with them.

D．They can catch future owners’ attention.

3. Why was Darius praised by Barack Obama?

A．Because he was brave.	B．Because he was kind.
C．Because he was smart.	D．Because he was popular.

4. What can we learn about Darius from the passage?

A．He established his own pet clothing company at 11.

B．He sold bow ties to animal shelters across the UK.

C．He had many homeless animals in his house.

D．He got a letter from US president Donald Trump.

5. Which of the following is the best title?

A．The animals after the hurricane	B．The things to do to save animals
C．Bow ties for homeless animals	D．The best way to make bow ties

【推荐2】Do you know Eskimos? Let me tell you something about their lives.
Eskimos live near the North Pole (北极). There are only two seasons there, winter and summer. There is no spring or autumn there. The winter nights are long. You can't see the sun for more than two months, even at midday. The summer days are long. For more than two months, the sun never goes down and there's no night.
Eskimos have warm clothes. They make their clothes from the skins of animals. From skins (皮毛) they make coats, caps and shoes. Near the North Pole trees can't grow, for it is too cold there. The Eskimos have to make their houses from skins, snow or stone. When they got out in storms and can't get back home, they make houses of snow. They leave these houses when the storm（风暴） is over.
Life is hard for the Eskimos, but they still like to live there.
1. Near the North Pole there are _____ in a year.

A．two seasons - winter and summer

B．two seasons - spring and autumn

C．four seasons – spring，summer，autumn and winter

D．two seasons sometimes and four seasons sometimes

2. How long does the longest day or night last (持续) near the North Pole?

A．24 hours	B．Over a week
C．A month	D．Over two months

3. There are no _____ near the North Pole.

A．days

B．nights

C．trees

D．animals

4. To protect (保护) Eskimos from storms, their houses are made of _____.

A．animals

B．stones

C．snow

D．rain

【推荐3】根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。并在答题卡上将其对应的字母代号涂黑。

On the suburb(郊区) of a town in England, there lived an old man in a nice house with a large garden.     1     He watered and fertilized(施肥) them.

One day a young man went by the garden. He looked at the beautiful flowers, imaging how happy he could be if he lived in such a beautiful place.     2     He was very surprised about this and asked, “You can’t see these flowers, why do you take care of them every day?”

The old man smiled and said, “I can tell you four reasons. First, I was a gardener since I was young, and I really like this job. Second,     3     Third, I can smell the sweetness of them. As for the last one, that’s you.”

“Me? But you don’t know me,” said the young man.

“Yeah, it’s true that I don’t know you. But I know that flowers are angels(天使) that everyone knows.     4    .”

The blind man’s work opened our eyes and pleased our hearts, which also made his life happier. It was just like Beethoven(贝多芬).     5     Beethoven himself couldn’t hear his wonderful music, but his music has encouraged millions of people to face their difficulties bravely. Isn't it one kind of happiness?

A．He took care of his flowers all the time.

B．I can touch them though I can’t see these flowers.

C．Then, suddenly he found the old gardener was blind.

D．We can enjoy the happiness which these flowers have brought us.

E．He couldn’t hear anything in his later life and wrote great musical works.

【推荐1】During the summer holiday, some students were busy with travelling, summer camps and all kinds of courses. But a special group of Chinese middle school students decided to taste the hardship(辛苦) of life outside school.

Twelve students in a big city sold vegetables at a local market together. They are all cousins in a big family. In 12 days, they made more than 1,500 yuan.

“Compared to(和……比较) travelling, such social practice connects us and makes us learn how hard our parents are,” said Dalin, aged 18, to the City Morning Post. Dalin and her 12-year-old brother Xiaolin came up with the idea.

They learned to work hard to sell their vegetables. Some of them went to the farmer’s market to buy vegetables. Some of them went to the local market to take up a temporary stall(临时摊位). To lower the cost, they learned to bargain with the sellers.

At about 6:30 am, they began to sell vegetables. After a few days, they got some experience, too.

For example, when the vegetables were too heavy, they would give customers another plastic bag.

When they finally packed up and went home, they had a small meeting. Everyone took notes and shared their feelings.

“We are tired,” said Dalin, “but we got a lot.”

1. The cousins decided to sell vegetables at a market to ________.

A．show how old they were	B．taste the hardship of life
C．learn how to make money	D．get ready for their future travelling

2. What does the underlined word “bargain” refer to(指的是)?

A．Get a lower price.	B．Share their feelings.
C．Get bigger vegetables.	D．Make more customers notice them.

3. It’s clear that ________.

A．they all went to the market to take up the temporary stall

B．they put smaller vegetables on top

C．Dalin and Xiaolin got the idea of selling vegetables

D．the elder sold vegetables when the younger took notes

4. What’s the best title of the article?

A．Summer Courses	B．Family Business
C．Students Learn from Bargaining	D．Cousins Work with Vegetables

【推荐2】Erica is a nine-year-old girl. Today is a beautiful day for Erica. Her uncle will come from Australia today. Her uncle is twenty-seven. He lives there for three years. He will bring a big surprise（惊喜）for Erica.

The school is over. And Erica puts her books in the bag and goes out of the classroom. She is running home and thinking about her uncle. She wants to know the surprise.

“Is it a surfboard? That is fun! I can learn how to surf!”

“Are they Australian nuts? Oh, I can eat nuts all day! Mum says they are good for me.”

“Or maybe he brings a kangaroo（袋鼠）? That is not good. I don’t have a place in my room for a kangaroo…”

Erica gets home at four o’clock. Her parents are there, and her uncle is there! She is very happy to see him. “Uncle, uncle,” she calls, “What surprise do you have for me from Australia?” “Well,” her uncle smiles and answers, “I have for you an Australian uncle.”

1. Erica is going home ________.

A．on foot

B．by car

C．by bike

D．on a bus

2. The Chinese meaning of the underlined word “nuts” is ________.

A．坚果

B．滑板

C．汉堡

D．饮料

3. The surprise for Erica is ________.

A．surfboard

B．Australian nuts

C．kangaroo

D．her uncle

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Erica lives in Australia for three years.

B．Erica is a student.

C．Erica’s uncle comes home after four.

D．Erica gets a beautiful gift from her uncle.

【推荐3】One day, a little girl found a cocoon. She could tell that a butterfly was going to be born. She decided to wait for the butterfly to come out of the cocoon.

She watched it for hours, suddenly the butterfly stopped moving, it got stuck (卡住了). The girl wanted to help the butterfly get out. She went home and got a pair of scissors. As she cut and opened the cocoon, the butterfly then easily came out. However, its body was swollen (肿大的) and its wings were very small. The girl still thought that she helped the butterfly. She sat there for another several hours and waited for its wings to grow. However, it didn’t happen. The butterfly was unable to fly, and for the rest of its life, it could only move around with a large body and little wings.

The girl thought she was helping, but actually she was hurting it. When the butterfly broke free of its cocoon by itself, it was time for its body to get smaller and its wings to get stronger. So it could fly soon.

It’s true that struggling (挣扎) will make you stronger. Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were allowed to go through our life without any problems, it would weaken us. We wouldn’t be as strong as what we could have been, and we could never fly.

1. What is a “cocoon” according to the passage?

A．

B．

C．

D．

2. When the butterfly got stuck, it actually meant _______.

A．its body was small

B．its wings were strong

C．it needed the girl’s help

D．it was time to break by itself

3. Which word is the best one to describe the girl?

A．Clever.

B．Cruel.

C．Kind.

D．Careless.

4. The writer thinks that struggles in life are _______.

A．not exactly needed

B．making us weak

C．necessary for everyone

D．difficult to deal with

5. What can we know from the passage?

A．Failure is the mother of success.	B．Growing up needs taking pains.
C．A good heart can earn good rewards.	D．A friend in need is a friend indeed.