One of the most surprising trees in the world is known as the baobab. This kind of tree mainly grows in South Africa and Australia.
Sometimes, it is hard to tell what the name of a tree is because they look like each other. But this is not a problem with the baobab. Its appearance is quite different, so people can’t mistake it for another tree. The baobab is very wide, people often enjoy the shade under it. One Australian baobab was so large that people were able to turn part of the tree into a small room. The tree itself was so strong and wide that it could hold a large group of people. The strongest tree in the world is over 1,835 years old now.
People also call it the “giving tree”. The tree’s fruits are very delicious and a tasty treat in many African countries. The fruits are also very healthy and people make porridge and soft drinks from the fruits. Since the tree grows in dry environments, it has to store water. The tree soaks (浸泡) in water when it is wet. During dry seasons, the baobab tree can use the stored water. Some baobabs can store thousands of gallons (加仑) of water and people can get the water from the trees when they need it.
Sadly, in recent years, the baobab trees are dying because of climate change. Scientists are trying hard to take action to save them.
1. Where does the baobab tree mainly grow?2. Can people mistake the baobab for another tree?
3. How old is the strongest tree in the world?
4. When can the baobab tree use the stored water?
5. Do you agree to call the baobab tree the “giving tree”? Why or why not?
相似题推荐
【推荐1】You may know about “junk food” like French fries. But do you know about “junk sleep”?
A British survey shows that there are many electronic products in teenagers’ bedrooms. They are influencing teenagers’ sleep badly.
The survey was done among 1,000 British kids from 12 to 16. It is found that 50% of them got just 4 to 7 hours’ sleep every day. But doctors say they need 8 to 9 hours.
25% of the kids said they often fell asleep while they were listening to music or using other electronic products.
“This is very worrying,” said Dr. Chris, a British professor. “We call it ‘junk sleep’. It means you don’t get enough sleep and the quality (质量) of the sleep is low, too.” The survey found that quite a few of the kids felt tired each day because of the junk sleep. Nearly all the teenagers have a phone, music player or TV in their bedrooms. And lots of them even have all the three.
To avoid junk sleep, Dr. Chris suggested that parents should help their children keep away from electronic products, and that teenagers should spend less time on the electronic products.
根据短文，内容回答问题。
1. Where are many electronic products according to a British survey?When looking at the terracotta warriors, you may be amazed at first. Then, lots of questions may come to your mind. Who are the warriors? How were they made? Why do they have different poses? Let’s discover their secrets.
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The warriors used to be colorful. Most of them had black hair and pink faces. They wore purple, red and green clothes. But the colors faded when the warriors were dug out. The colors faded in 15 seconds after the warriors were dug out. So fast! Most of the colors came from minerals. For example, the color red came from vermilion (朱砂).
Mystery of hands
Look at their hands. The warriors are holding something. But the things are missing. Scientists think they were holding weapons (武器), such as swords or spears.
| Why are the weapons missing? •The weapons may be broken during the years. •Thieves may have stolen them. •Maybe craftsmen (工匠) didn’t have time to make the weapons. |
Ordinary warriors have their hair styles. They don’t wear caps (发冠). Officers wear different types of caps. For example, generals wear bird-shaped caps. Each warrior stands for a real warrior from the Qin army. So no two clay warriors have the same face. They are as tall as real people. Many of them are over 1.8 meters tall.
Mystery of bringing the terracotta warriors back to life
Step 1 Piecing | Step 2 Repairing | Step 3 Sticking | Step 4 Drawing |
| The restorers (修复者) try to put all the pieces they have in the right places. If some important pieces are missing, they can go back and look for them. It’s like doing a “jigsaw puzzle” (拼图游戏). | People wrap up the pieces and send them to the “hospital”. There, “doctors” give them a checkup. The “doctors” repair them with different tools. For the colorful pieces, the “doctors” use some materials to protect their colors. | When sticking the pieces of a warrior together, the restorers start from the feet and finish with the head. When sticking a horse, they start with its body. | The restorers draw some pictures of the warriors and horses as a record. The pictures show how the warriors and horses are damaged (被毁坏) and repaired. So, people can better study and protect them. |
1. How many people feel at first when looking at the terracotta warriors?
2. What is the subtitle (小标题) of Paragraph 2?
3. Why are the weapons missing? (One example is OK.)
4. What does each warrior stand for?
5. What is the second step of bringing the terracotta warriors back to life?
6. Have you seen the terracotta warriors before? What do you think of the terracotta warriors?
【推荐3】If we want to grow as people, we can’t just depend on our own ideas of how we’re doing. We also need to know what other people think about our performance. Receiving feedback (反馈) from others can help us see the larger picture and show us a way forward to success. However, someone has to give that feedback, and sometimes, that someone will be you. How should you deal with this?
First things first—if you notice a situation in which some feedback would be helpful, give it as soon as you can. If you wait until the problem disappears from the person’s mind, they might not understand what you’re trying to tell them. Take the person to a safe, comfortable place and offer your advice in private.
When you’re giving feedback, it’s important to keep in mind that no one likes to be told they’re doing a bad job. Make sure you also give some good feedback after telling something bad. I think they can accept your feedback in this way. Like the saying goes, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.”
Finally, all good feedback shares something in common. It should help achieve a goal and look toward the future. You can’t change what’s already happened, but you can stop it from happening again. Tell your friends they should take more notes in class instead of talking about how they should have studied harder for the big history exam they failed.
I believe that you are halfway to giving someone feedback in a proper way by taking my advice. Of course, you can ask some other experts for more information.
1. Can we just depend on our own ideas without thinking about others’ feedback?2. Why is it important to give feedback in time?
3. If we need to give someone feedback, how should we do that well?
4. Do you think feedback is necessary for our improvement? Why or why not?
Chinese runner Su Bingtian made history by becoming the first Asian athlete (运动员) to compete in the men’s 100m final at the World Athletics Championships (世界锦标赛). Su set a national record in the semi-final with a time of 9.99 seconds to become one of the nine fastest men in the world.
“In my dreams, I never expected to reach the final of the World Championships and now that I’ve done it, I still can’t believe it has happened and I want to thank my coach (教练) because he helped me a lot. I can hardly succeed without his help.” Su said after the semi-final.
However, his coach said Su did not have the talent of a runner. Su is only 172cm tall. Besides, compared with other countries, China’s running career (事业) starts later, and few runners choose sprint (短跑) as a lifelong career.
Although it was a challenge for Su to start his career when he was 15, which is quite late for a runner, Su overcame all the difficulties because of his spirit (精神) of never giving up. His coach said, “I think that’s one of the reasons for his success.”
What’s more, to make his dream come true, he kept on training for a long time every day. He felt worried every time he had to stop training because of his injuries (伤病), but Su strongly believes that only through hard work can one get success.
1. When did Su Bingtian start his career? (不超过10个词)2. What are the reasons for Su Bingtian’s success? (不超过15个词)
3. What can you learn from Su Bingtian? (不超过10个词)
【推荐2】Almost every Chinese person can recite the two lines of the famous poem, "Every grain on the plate comes from hard work." But sadly, many of us don't actually get the real meaning of these lines: Don't waste food.
A CCTV program, News One Plus One, reported that the food Chinese people throw away every year is enough to feed 200 million people for a year.
Do we have too much food? Of course not. According to the UN World Food Program, there were 925 million hungry people around the world in 2010, especially in developing countries. Six million children die of hunger every year.
Chinese people are well known for being hospitable(好客的) and generous. Many even feel that they lose face if their guests eat all the food on the table.
Luckily, a number of people have realized the importance of saving food. Li Hong, a waitress in a restaurant in Nanjing, got fired(开除) because she took some leftover(剩余的) food home for her son. Many people stood by her side and criticized(批评) the waste of food.
What should we do in our daily lives to waste less food? Here are some tips:
1. Do not order too much in a restaurant. Only order as much as you want to eat. If you cannot eat all the food you ordered, take the rest of it home.
2. Don't be too picky(挑剔的) about food. Some food may not taste great, but your body needs it.
3. Keep an eye on what food you have at home. Don't buy too much, especially for vegetables and fruit.
根据材料内容简要回答下列问题。
1. How many people is reported that the food Chinese people throw away every year is enough to feed for a year? (根据短文内容回答)
2. When were there 925 million hungry people around the world according to the UN World Food Program? (根据短文内容回答)
3. What do you do if you cannot eat all the food you ordered? (根据短文内容回答)
4. 从短文中找出与下面句子划线部分意思相近的单词
Chinese people are well known for being hospitable(好客的) and generous.
5. In the passage, the underlined word "she" refer to(指)
Reading and writing are some of the most important communication skills a person can have.After all, you use them every day in your school and at home.Here are some tips for you to improve your reading and writing skills.
Take time to read daily
By spending some time reading every day, you will quickly find yourself full of creative ideas.Bill Gates manages to read about 50 books a year (or about one book a week),in order to get as much information about a number of different themes as possible.
Take online writing courses
There are hundreds of online courses that you can take.Those courses are designed to improve your writing.And while some may be better than others, the value that you will take away from an online course is directly related to the amount of effort that you put in.By joining a class like this, you are also joining a community of other people who want to improve their writing.
Find a talented teacher
This may sound difficult at first, but with the help of the Internet, you are more connected with talented writers than ever before.It's always worth reaching out to bloggers, authors, or screenwriters that you admire and ask for some tips on writing well.You'd be surprised by how often these people will reply you.By learning from the best, you can get some of their writing habits.
Write, write, write
Whether you take part in a course, or have a teacher, there is still one thing that you must do in order to improve your writing ability.Luckily, the task is quite simple-- write, write, and write some more.Often times, this is the only way to truly improve your writing skills.
*1、2题完成句子；3题简略回答问题；4题找出并写下全文主题句；5题将文中画线句子翻译成汉语。
1. If you spend some time reading every day， you will quickly find yourself full of
2. There are hundreds of online courses that are designed to
3. What is the best way to improve your writing skills?
4.
5.
What’s the end of the world for a chocolate lover? Somewhere with no chocolates! Experts said the world would run out of chocolate within 40 years. It is because global warming (全球变暖) is bad for cacao (可可) trees.
The trees can only grow within 20 degrees north and south of the equator. Besides, they like rich rain. However, the warming weather can make the air dryer. It also makes the land less fit for growing cacao. It could also make tree illnesses spread faster.
Although warming weather is making trouble for cacao planting, we’ll still have it in the near future. The world is trying to do what it can to save chocolate. Scientists are working to make the cacao plants strong against illnesses by using gene editing (基因编辑) to change the DNA of cacao.
Another way to save chocolate is the Brazilian (巴西的) growing method. It lets cacao grow without changing its genes. This method plants more rainforest trees to provide cacao trees with shade (阴凉). It can cool the cacao down and keep the land soil (土壤) wet.
1. The reason why the world would run out of chocolate:2. Two factors (因素) that are good for cacao trees to grow: ①
3. The bad results of warming weather for cocao trees: ①
4. The way that scientists help to save chocolate (no more than 10 words):
5. The Brazilian growing method to help save chocolate (no more than 10 words):
【推荐2】Bamboo is a wonderful plant for many people around the world. There are over 1,000 uses for it. People make tables, clothes, medicine, and musical instruments with it. Pandas may eat bamboo every day, and people can also eat it.
The fastest growing plant in the world is bamboo. Some bamboo grows so quickly that people say they can watch it grow. The speed of growth depends on the type of bamboo, the earth and the season. Normal bamboo grows 3—10 cm a day. It usually grows in tropical (热带的) areas. It can also be found in other parts of the world. Bamboo plants are found in Asia, Australia, parts of Africa, and South America.
One of the world’s oldest building materials is bamboo. Like today, people use it because it’s very strong. They use it to build houses, boats, and bridges. The Chinese made a bamboo bridge over the Min River in Sichuan, China almost 1,000 years ago. You can still visit it today. Also, bamboo is still used to build houses today, especially in China and Philippines.
As a part of history, bamboo is very important. The great scientist Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb (灯泡), but he made it perfect. He wanted the material inside to burn for a long period of time. He tried over 1,000 different types of materials. However, none worked very well. One day, he tried to use a piece of bamboo and the light bulb lit up for over a thousand hours. This invention helped other scientists to make the modern light bulb we use today.
根据短文内容，请用完整句子回答下列问题。
1. How many uses are there for bamboo?
2. Which plant is the fastest growing plant in the world?
3. What does the speed of growth depend on?
4. Why do people use bamboo today?
5. How long did the light bulb light up when Edison used a piece of bamboo to burn?
Rebecca wants to know more about trees in our daily lives. She is interviewing Dr Jones about trees.
Rebecca: (A) ________ do trees help us, Dr Jones?
Dr Jones: They help us in many ways. They keep the air cool and clean. They (B) (吸收有害气体) from the air and produce oxygen for us to breathe. They’re major fighters (C) ________ air pollution.
Rebecca: I know trees also make our lives (D) more convenient. Many of the things in our daily lives come from trees. For example, paper and pencils.
Dr Jones: You’re right, Rebecca. (E) In fact, we get a lot more from trees. We get fruit and oil from them. (F) Tea also comes from the leaves of trees. Look around this room. A lot of the furniture is made of wood. Trees are really important in our daily lives.
1. 在文中(A)和(C)的空白处填入适当的单词：
2. 写出文中画线部分(D)和(E)的同义词或近义词：
3. 将文中画线部分(F)改写为：Tea also
4. 将文中画线部分(B)译成英语：
5. 从文中找出我们日常生活中来自树的两种文具
