【推荐1】Planting “trees” on your screen

Do you want to help China become a more beautiful country? Now, you can do this on your mobile phone.

Ant Financial(蚂蚁金服) is an Internet financial service company. In August 2016, it started an interesting project “Ant Forest”. According to Ant Financial, “Ant Forest” can help people improve the environment.

But how does the project actually work? And what effects(效果) has it had? In “Ant Forest”, people start by planting a virtual(虚拟的) tree. The project then gives people “green energy” if they do low-carbon activities. The activities include walking, buying tickets online, taking public transportation and so on. With “green energy”, the virtual tree will slowly grow up. When there is enough “green energy”, Ant Financial will plant a real tree.

The Ant Financial company has been working with lots of green charities(慈善机构). Together, they help farmers in desert places in China plant trees.

“Ant Forest” has been very popular. More than 250 million people have planted virtual trees on their phones. And Ant Financial has planted more than ten million real trees.

Bai Xue is a member of Ant Financial. She says the company believes everyone wants to improve the environment, She and her workmates are happy that they can help people realize their wishes. According to Bai, Ant Financial will do more in the future so that we can make China a greener country together.

1. Which of the following sentences is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Ant Financial has helped all farmers in China to plant trees.

B．If you buy tickets online, you can get “green energy” from the project.

C．Because of the project, charities become more and more popular.

D．More than ten million people have planted real trees.

2. What is the correct order according to the passage?
a. Ant Financial plants a real tree.       b. You receive “green energy”.
c. The virtual tree grows up.       d. You do low-carbon activities.
e. You plant a virtual tree.

A．d-c-b-a-e

B．c-b-c-d-a

C．d-a-b-c-e

D．e-d-b-c-a

3. What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．Ant Financial believes that all the people can realize their wishes.

B．The company will become greener.

C．Ant Financial will do more in the future to make our country greener.

D．Bai Xue and her workmates want to plant trees.

4. We can learn from the passage that _________.

A．Ant Financial can help people realize their wishes of improving the environment

B．Ant Financial is a charity

C．Farmers in desert places in China often plant trees

D．The members of Ant Financial like walking, buying tickets online and taking public transportation

【推荐2】

STUDY Why not keep a diary?        Do you keep a diary? Keeping a diary is good for children’s writing skills according to a recent study by a UK organization.        The UK charity (慈善机构) National Literacy Trust did a study about children’s diary writing. It studied more than 30, 000 children aged between 8 and 16. The study found that if a child keeps a diary, he or she may be a better writer than others of that age. About 27 percent of children who keep a diary are better writers than others of that age. Only 15.5 percent of children who do not keep a diary are better writers than others of that age. You may ask, “What should I write in a diary?” Jacqueline Wilson gives some advice. Ms. Wilson is a famous children’s writer from the UK. According to her, you can write about people you love, or people you hate. You can also write about your own hopes and dreams. And if you are really interested in sports and watch a lot of matches, why not write about them in your diary? TEENS

1. In which section of the newspaper can we read the news?

A．STUDY

B．SCHOOL LIFE

C．FUN CAMPUS

D．TEACHING

2. What can we learn about the study?

A．It mainly studied how children write diaries.

B．It studied children below the age of 8 and over 16.

C．It asked every child in the study to write diaries.

D．The UK charity National Literacy Trust did the study.

3. According to the study, how many children who keep diaries have better writing skills than others?

A．27 percent of them.

B．15.5 percent of them.

C．42.5 percent of them.

D．11.5 percent of them.

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．How to write a good diary.

B．Why children should keep a diary.

C．What to write in a diary.

D．How to become a children’s writer.

5. The story is written to tell us that _________.

A．children in the UK like keeping diaries

B．keeping a diary can improve your writing skills

C．many children are good at writing stories

D．knowing some writing skills is important

【推荐3】Clothes are traditionally made of natural materials, such as cotton, leather and wool. They are all from plants or animals, but that doesn’t mean they’re friendly to the earth. For example, farmers have to use a lot of chemicals to grow cotton plants.

Scientists are now looking for new ways to make clothing materials. They hope the new materials are both comfortable and good for the earth. Scientists have worked out how to make materials out of corn husks（棉籽）, chicken feathers and rice straws.

“They used to be useless things. We always have a problem of how to deal with them.” Yang, a scientist says, “ Now, we can turn them into beautiful materials. Chicken feathers are better than other things. They have small air pockets like honeycombs. That means it will be very warm if you use them to make a jacket or sweater, and I think more and more people will like to buy these kinds of clothes.”

1. Clothes are traditionally made of __________.

A．natural materials	B．chicken feather
C．rice straw	D．corn husks

2. What are the new clothing materials?

A．Corn husks and rice straws.

B．Cotton and wool.

C．Leather and wool.

D．Bird feather and chicken feather.

3. What does the underlined word “ honeycombs” in Paragraph 3 mean in Chinese?

A．鸟巢

B．蜂窝

C．渔网

D．蜂蜜

4. Why are chicken feathers better than other materials?

A．They are from plants.

B．They are traditional clothing materials.

C．They have small air pockets like honeycombs.

D．They are new clothing materials.

5. What’s the best title of this passage?

A．New clothing materials.

B．New clothes.

C．Natural materials.

D．New ways of making clothing.

【推荐1】

Just like in any other relationship, arguments (争吵) and fights are also part of friendship. Whatever the reason is, if a person feels that he is responsible (负责的) for causing the arguments, it’s important that he should say sorry to his friend. Though you can use the email, text messages or talks to express your apology, the good old way of saying sorry to your friend through a letter will surely have the greatest effect. This will make your friend realize that you really care about him/her. Points to Remember Timing: Write the letter at the proper time. It is not advisable to put it off for too long. Words: While you are writing the letter, what matters most is that you truly feel sorry. Order: Always begin by saying sorry for your mistake. Then explain to him/her your side of the story. In the third and last paragraph, talk about what the friendship means to you and make a promise of not repeating the mistake. Delivery(投递): You should either post the letter or deliver it personally or through someone else. You can also keep it at a place where your friend will be able to find it easily. Attention: Some people may try to point out the friend’s mistake while writing the letter. Avoid this completely, as it can make matters worse. Keep patient and do not expect immediate results. It may take time for the person to forgive(原谅) and forget.

1. Who should say sorry to his/her friend?

A．A responsible person.	B．A person who stops fighting.
C．A person who needs friends.	D．A person who starts the arguments.

2. According to the passage, what is the best way to apologize to others?

A．

B．

C．

D．

3. What is the second part of the letter?

A．The importance of friendship.	B．The mistake that your friend made.
C．An explanation of your side of the story.	D．A promise of not making the mistake again.

4. How should people deal with the letter?

A．Post it by themselves.	B．Keep it at a public place.
C．Take a photo and send it.	D．Let someone else read it out.

5. What should people avoid doing?

A．Writing the letter in time.	B．Saying sorry for the mistake.
C．Waiting for the reply patiently.	D．Trying to point out the friend’s mistake.

【推荐2】Having a pen pal is fun and can be a great way to improve your writing skills. But most people have trouble knowing what to write to their pen pals.     1    

▲    2     Break the ice by telling your pen pal a little about yourself. Start with your name, age and job. Write about what you like to do or what’s on your mind that day. What you pass on will encourage your pen pal to tell you something about his.     3    

▲Ask questions.     4     This will help you get to know him and probably get you a faster answer. Make your questions into the e-mail by telling him something you like to do and then asking if he’s ever tried it.

▲Ask for advice. You may have some difficulties in your life and want to ask for advice. Your pen pal may tell you what to do.     5     Also, discussing real-world questions will promote(增进)your friendship.

A．Share you information.

B．What do you think of having a pen pal?

C．And this will be helpful to start your friendship.

D．Luckily, here are some ways to get to know a pen pal.

E．Write questions for your pen pal to answer in his next e-mail.

F．You don’t have to take all his advice, but it will give your something about his opinions.

【推荐3】When I was in Grade 9, a short and thin boy came into my classroom. He walked up to the teacher and told her, very seriously, that he was new. His name was Christian. He sat down, took a look at me and then looked away. I didn’t think he was very nice and I was sure he wasn’t the type I would like to become friends with.

During that year, I didn’t talk to him much, but he smiled at me when our eyes met, always shyly. He never ate lunch with anybody, and he never talked to anybody but me at times.

But one day I joined those unkind kids who were making fun of him. “Haven’t you got any friends?” a kid asked Christian, who had walked past us alone, head down.

“No, he hasn’t got any friends. He’s too stupid and shy,” I said. Then Christian looked up at me with the saddest dog eyes I had ever seen. I felt very sorry at that moment.

That night I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t get Christian’s face out of my mind. In the weeks that followed, he never met my eyes in class and never smiled at me. I thought I should do something.

The next day, I wrote him a note telling him how sorry I felt. About five minutes later, I saw tears (眼泪) in his eyes. “You will never realize what this note has meant to me, Jimmy,” he said to me.

We had lunch together that noon and we had the best talk I had ever had. Over the years at high school, we were close friends. When I think back, I realize that, if I had not apologized (道歉), I would never have known what a lovely person Christian was.

1. Jimmy didn’t think Christian could become his friend because he ________.

A．was short and thin

B．didn’t look very nice

C．talked to the teacher seriously

2. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Jimmy and Christian talked a little at first.

B．Christian never smiled at anyone in his class.

C．The unkind kids made fun of Jimmy one day.

3. According to the passage, the right order to the following events is ________.
①Jimmy saw tears in Christian’s eyes.
②Jimmy had lunch with Christian.
③Jimmy wrote a note to Christian.
④Jimmy had the best talk with Christian.

A．②④③①

B．③④②①

C．③①②④

4. From the underlined sentence we can infer (推断) _________.

A．Jimmy protected Christian

B．Christian hated Jimmy

C．the note worked well

5. This passage wants to tell us it’s important to _________.

A．make new friends

B．correct our mistakes

C．give help to others