【推荐1】When I was a kid in Minnesota, watermelons were expensive. One of my father’s friends, Bernie, was a rich businessman, who owned a large store in St. Paul.

Every summer, when the first watermelons arrived, Bernie would call. Dad and I would go to Bernie’s place. We’d sit on the edge of the dock ( 码头 )and got ready for a big meal. Bernie would take his knife, cut our first watermelon, hand us both a big piece and sit down next to us. Then we’d bury our faces in watermelon, eating only the heart — the reddest, juiciest, firmest, sweetest, and most seed-free part — and throw away the rest.

Bernie was my father’s ideal of a rich man, I always thought it was because he was such a successful businessman. Years later, I realized that it was not Bernie’s wealth itself but his way of dealing with it that my father liked. Bernie knew how to stop working, get together with friends and eat only the heart of the watermelon.

What I learned from Bernie is that being rich is a state of mind. Some of us, no matter how much money we have, will never be free enough to eat only the heart of the watermelon. If you don’t take the time to enjoy life’s small pleasure, your work is probably hurting your life.

For many years, I forgot that lesson I’d learned as a kid on the dock I was too busy making all the money I could. I hope I have time left to enjoy the success of others and to take pleasure in the day. That’s the heart of the watermelon. I have learned again to throw the rest away.

1. We learn from the second paragraph the writer and his father were feeling _______.

A．hungry

B．worried

C．relaxed

D．proud

2. How did the writer and his father eat the watermelon?

A．They ate it in a polite way.	B．They only ate its best part.
C．They ate every part of it	D．They shared only one piece.

3. In the eyes of the writer's father, Bernie_______.

A．was just a rich businessman	B．worked hard all the time
C．lived a rich but healthy life	D．knew how to make money

4. The writer was too busy to________.

A．make money	B．enjoy life’s small pleasure
C．eat watermelon.	D．get together with friends

5. The underlined part “ the heart of the watermelon ” in the last paragraph refers to _______.

A．the writer’s hope of enjoying life	B．the writer’s busy life
C．the writer’s decision of making money	D．the best part of the watermelon

【推荐2】In the sea, there are many islands. In its warm water，there are some We call them "coral islands".(珊瑚岛)

A coral island is very nice to look at. It looks like a ring of land with trees, grass, and flowers on it.     1     There is a little round lake inside the island.

If you look into this lake, you will see beautiful coral. You may think they are flowers. If you look at a piece of coral, you will see many little holes in it.     2     These sea animals make the coral.

They began to build under the water. Year after year, the coral grew higher and higher.     3    

Then the sea brought it small trees and something else. After some years, these things changed into earth. Sometimes the wind brought seeds(种子) to this earth. Sometimes birds flew over it and brought seeds to the island.

The little seeds grew.     4     In a few more years there were trees growing there.

So you see, these islands were built little by little.     5     Don't they teach us a lesson? Can you think what the lesson is?

A．In a few years there were plants all over the island.

B．One part of the ring is open to the water.

C．The workers were very small.

D．At last it grew out of the water.

E．In each of these holes a very small sea animal has lived.

【推荐3】One day, a young man visited a small farm in the countryside. As he got closer to the farm, he saw many chickens and an eagle (鹰) playing together.
He then went up to the farm house and talked to the farmer, “Sir, I was just passing by and I saw that you have many chickens and an eagle.” The farmer smiled and said, “That’s not an eagle. It’s a chicken.” The young man kept saying that it was an eagle. He said to the farmer, “Sir, that is an eagle! I can proveit to you.” The farmer laughed, “Sure, go ahead.”
The young man then pulled that big bird out and climbed a high mountain. He held the bird in his hands and said, “You are an eagle, fly!” But the bird failed. The young man tried the second time. He said to the bird, “I don’t care you have been raised as a chicken for those years. But I know what you were created to be. You are an eagle, now fly!” After the young man tried another three times, the bird began to flap (拍打) its wings. Finally, it flew high and began to fly around the farm.
It is true to us. Some people around us have continued to keep us down by lying to us. Over all of those years, we were told to be a failure, not to be good enough and to accept the “reality”. They are wrong. We should try our best to reach our highest potential (潜能) to prove that we are eagles.
1. The underlined word “raised” probably has the similar meaning to the word “       ”.

A．kept	B．treated
C．trained	D．regarded

2. How many times did the young man try before the bird flapped its wings?

A．Four.	B．Five.
C．Three.	D．Six.

3. According to the passage, during all of those years, “we” were told all of the following EXCEPT      .

A．to be a failure	B．not to be good enough
C．to accept the "reality"	D．to prove that we are eagles

4. . Why did the young man pull that bird out?

A．Because he wanted to kill the bird.

B．Because the farmer asked him to do it.

C．Because he wanted to prove something to the farmer.

D．Because the farmer wanted the young man to throw the bird away.

5. What is the best title for the story?

A．You Are an Eagle	B．Chickens And an Eagle
C．How to Prove the Eagle	D．A Farmer And a Young Man

【推荐1】As we know, there are many kinds of clubs in the US middle schools, like the music club, the sports club, the chess club, the swimming club... But do you know the homework club? It is a popular (流行的) club in many US middle schools. More and more students go to the homework club after school in the afternoon. In US middle school students need a quiet place to study. But games, computers and TVs are all around kids at home. So the homework club is just for them to do their homework. Some teachers are there, too. They can help students with their homework. When students finish their homework on time, they can get snacks. They are always children’s favorite food. Then they can go home and play games or watch TV happily.

1. What can the students do in the homework club?
① Have dinner       ② Do homework
③ Play computer games       ④ Ask teachers for help

A．①②

B．②④

C．③④

2. Which of the following NOT true?

A．The homework club is popular in the US middle school.

B．It’s good for students to study in the homework club.

C．All the US middle school students like the homework club.

3. Bob finishes homework on time. How does he feel?

A．

B．

C．

4. Which of the following blanks can be filled with the underlying word “snacks” (划线单词可以被填入下面哪一个空白处).

A．Some people are afraid of       . Because they think they’re very scary.

B．Many       like ice cream and hamburgers are not good for our health.

C．I’m helping my mother wash the dirty        and my father is watching TV.

5. What is the best title(标题) of the passage?

A．The Homework Club

B．Clubs in the US Middle Schools

C．Students and Homework

【推荐2】Stephen Hawkins, one of the world’s most famous scientists, believed that humans will one day have to move into space.

Today, the United States, Russia, China, and Japan are all trying to send astronauts to the earth’s closest neighbor: the moon. Some of these countries want to create space stations there next 10 years. These stations would get ready for humans to visit and later live on Mars or other earth-like planets.

Robert Zubrin, a rocket scientist, thinks humans could colonize (开拓殖民地) space. He wants to start with Mars. Why? He thinks sending people to Mars will help us to learn a lot of things—for example, the ability (能力) of humans to live in a very different environment. Finally, we could create new human societies (社会) on other planets.

Space X is a company (公司) that builds rockets. Its CEO, Elon Musk, also believes we should colonize Mars. He hopes to put one million people on the planet if something bad happens to us here on the earth.

Not everyone thinks sending humans into space is a smart idea. Many say it’s too expensive. Also, most space trips are not short. A one-way trip to Mars, for example, would take at least six months. Also, these first people would find life very difficult in space. On the moon, for example, the sun’s rays (射线) are very dangerous. People would have to stay indoors most of the time.

Although there are still these worries, sending people into space seems certain. In the future, we might see cities or even new human cultures on the moon or other planets. First stop: the moon.

1. The writer uses ________ to lead in the topic.

A．a science report

B．a man’s idea

C．a famous saying

D．a study result

2. We can know from the passage that ________.

A．Space X is a new kind of rocket

B．there are some space stations on the moon

C．Mars has the same environment as the earth

D．Robert Zubrin and Elon Musk are interested in Mars

3. In Paragraph 5, how many reasons can we find for NOT going into space?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

4. The writer mainly shows his ________ in the last paragraph.

A．decisions

B．predictions

C．worries

D．disagreements

5. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Living in Space

B．Going to the Moon

C．Visiting a Scientist

D．Building a Rocket

【推荐3】配对阅读。左栏是五个学生的喜好，右栏是七本图书的好评。请为左栏的每个学生选出最合适的阅读的书。

1     Lily enjoys travelling and wants to learn how to make different typical dishes.     2     Jeff loves the countryside and enjoys writing. He wants to develop his writing skills.     3     Charlie loves doing sports and would like to learn how sportspeople succeed.     4     Mia takes great interest in French and she always has language lessons. She wants to improve her French.     5     Danny would like to read books about someone who is brave enough to face his challenges.

A. Night Light The writer talks about his hard life as a blind person, and describes the challenges on his way to success. B. Action Plan It’s all about famous sportspeople and includes lots of interviews about what they’ve done to succeed. C. Weather Language It tells us people in England are famous for talking about the weather, and that the weather also affects the way they speak and the phrases they use. D. Days in the Sun The writer describes his happy early life on a small farm, and how traveling around the countryside helped him to become a writer. E. Endless Day It’s about a true story of the first pilot. With lots of photos, the book brings history to life for readers. F. Crazy French It is written for the students who are learning French as a foreign language. The writer says it will be helpful to the person who reads it carefully. G. Our Lives This is a perfect book if you’re interested in cultures. It introduces recipes (食谱) for traditional dishes from different places.

【推荐1】根据短文内容从六个选项中选择五个还原到文中，使短文内容完整、意思连贯。

Many children don’t like doing chores, because they think it’s boring. Some children think they just need to learn their subjects well and there is no need for them to do chores.     1    

First, doing chores can teach children certain skills.     2     Washing clothes and doing dishes may seem boring, but knowing how to do them well will help children a lot. If children can successfully handle (处理) the chores at home,   they will live a better life.

    3     Some chores like sweeping the floor and cleaning the room are a kind of physical exercise. Children should not study all the time. A healthy life needs balance (平衡).

    4     Nowadays it’s common for both parents to work. When they get home from work, they are often tired. So they don’t have much time or energy to do chores.

    5     And children can also find great pleasure (快乐) in helping their parents.

A．If children can help their parents with some simple housework, their parents will be happy.

B．Children can learn classification (分类) skills when they pick up their toys and put them away.

C．But in fact, doing chores is good for children.

D．Last but not least, everyone in the family will be happy to share chores at home.

E．Parents often ask children to do chores at home.

F．Second, doing chores can help children keep healthy.

【推荐2】阅读短文B，根据短文内容，从短文后面的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有一项是多余。

Sometimes you might feel it impossible to get on with your parents. But in fact, it isn’t as difficult as you think.     1    

Spend more time with your parents. Your parents won’t always be around, so try to spend more time with them. This doesn’t mean just sitting in front of the TV together.

    2     By doing them, all of you will feel happy and relaxed.

Talk with your parents more often. In order to understand them better, you should talk with them more often. Try to learn more about them. For example, you could ask them about their own childhood. In this way, you will understand them better.

    3     This may seem simple, but it’s often harder than you think. Look at your parents when they are talking. Don’t interrupt them, and then speak clearly when replying to them.

Share your feelings with your parents. Sometimes your parents also want to learn more about you. Just do your best to open your heart to them. When possible, talk to them about something at school or what you really want to be in the future.

Make your parents feel proud (自豪的).     4     By working hard, you can do well at school or win prizes in games. They will think how lucky they are to have you and be more willing to talk about you in front of others.

A．Instead, you should do more activities with your parents together.

B．You are proud of your parents.

C．There are always some ways to make your parents feel good about you.

D．Follow these ways, and then you’ll improve your relationship with them.

E．Always listen to your parents.