This year’s Spring Festival falls on Jan 22, marking the ending of the year of the Tiger. In this year, many couples gave birth to their “tiger baby”, which they think has a good meaning. Do you know anyone born in the Year of the Tiger? What’s their personality like?
In Chinese culture, tigers are considered the king of all beasts. They symbolize power, energy, protection, generosity and unpredictability (难以捉摸). Tigers are regarded as fearless creatures.
But in the West, tigers are also seen as a very powerful animal.
Just like tigers serve as a symbol of protection in Chinese culture, we can only hope that in the Year of the Tiger more people can learn about tigers and help protect them and their habitats from further destruction.
根据材料内容，从下面五个选项中选出能填入文中空缺处的最佳选项，使文章意思通顺、内容完整。| A．In English, if you want someone to calm down, you can say to them, “easy tiger”. |
| B．For example, strong economies in the East—Singapore, South Korea, China’s Hong Kong and Taiwan—were called “The Four Asian Tigers”. |
| C．Are they brave, strong, tenacious (顽强的) and sympathetic? |
| D．So that’s why in China you can see images of tigers on the walls of temples and houses to ward off disasters and danger. |
| E．Instead of tigers, lions are considered as the king of all beasts in the West. |
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【推荐1】Why are dogs our best friends? Maybe because they can understand our words much better than we thought, according to a study in Hungary. It found that dogs understand not only what we say, but also how we say it. “The results were very exciting and very surprising.” said the researcher Attila Andics, the lead researcher from a university in Budapest.
For the study, the researchers first trained 13 dogs for months. The dogs had to sit quietly inside machines, so that the researchers could check their brain activity. Then the researchers put headphones on dogs and played people’s voices to them. There were four different voices. Some were of positive words, such as “well done”, or negative words like “not good”. The words were also in different tones（音调）. Some were positive, some were neutral, and some were negative.
Brain scans（扫描）showed that the dogs could recognize words, as well as the tone of words, much like people do. The positive words with a positive tone brought the strongest activity in their brain’s reward centers（奖赏中枢）. “It shows that for dogs, a nice phrase can work very well as a reward, but it works best if both words and tones match.” said Andics.
They also found that dogs deal with meaningful words with the left side of the brain and tones with the right. Human brains work in the same way.
“It gave us a new understanding of languages,” said Andics. That is, not only do humans understand the meaning in words, other species（物种）do too.
1. The underlined word “neutral” in this passage means ________.| A．积极的 | B．消极的 | C．困难的 | D．中立的 |
| A．Researchers played with the dogs. |
| B．Researchers made dogs sit inside machines. |
| C．Researchers scanned the dogs’ brains. |
| D．Researchers played people’s voices to the dogs. |
| A．the results of the study | B．the process of the study |
| C．the reasons of the study | D．the advantages of the study |
| A．Left side for both dogs and humans. |
| B．Left side for dogs and right side for humans. |
| C．Right side for both dogs and humans. |
| D．Right side for dogs and left side for humans. |
| A．Dogs are humans’ best friends. |
| B．Dogs are talented learning humans’ language. |
| C．Dogs can understand the meanings in words. |
| D．Dogs can also do what humans do. |
【推荐2】A new study shows that, of all the pet owners (宠物主人), almost 77% of them keep dogs as pets, 21% cats, and only 2% rabbits (兔子). It is not difficult to find out that in the world of pets, dogs are the most popular ones.
What’s more, the study says, over 50% of the dog owners describe themselves with the word “hard-working”, and about 30% of them say they are “sunny”, 20% of them “clean”.
How about the cat? Almost 21% of the cat owners use the word “shy” to describe themselves, 20% of them “unclean”, and13% of them “lazy”. They are really different from dog owners, but they are still cute.
And 56% of the rabbit owners describe themselves “full of new ideas”. And 28% of them “long for being free”. However, 16% of them are easier to lose their eyes for things.
What’s more, rabbit and dog owners say they can get up early, but most cat lovers like to stay up late. And as for the girls or women, the dog owners in the countryside are more likely (可能) to have husband (丈夫), but the cat owners in their twenties are more likely to be single women.
1. We can use the words “________” to describe cat owner.| A．sunny but lazy | B．hard-working and clean |
| C．unclean but hard-working | D．shy and lazy |
| A．Almost 77% of the world animals are dogs. |
| B．As pets, dogs are the most welcomed. |
| C．Dogs can work hard for their owners. |
| D．Dogs always live in the countryside. |
| A．单身的 | B．干练的 | C．时尚的 | D．大胆的 |
| A．People should have dogs as pets not cats. |
| B．There’s no difference between cats and dogs. |
| C．It’s difficult for the rabbit owners to keep their eyes on one thing. |
| D．Both the cat owners and the rabbit owners like staying up late. |
| A．Study About What Pets to Keep |
| B．Words to Describe Three Pets |
| C．The Most Popular Pets in the World |
| D．The Owners of Dogs, Cats and Rabbits |
【推荐3】Remember the story called The Thirsty Crow（口渴的乌鸦）? A smart thirsty crow succeeds in getting water by dropping stones in a bottle. A piece of news in Sweden turns out the story is true.
The news says a Swedish company called Corvid Cleaning is training wild crows to pick up cigarette butts（烟蒂）from the streets of Södertälje, a city not far from Stockholm.
Trash is bad for the environment in many ways. For example, animals (both on land and in the ocean) often mistake trash for food and eat it. Sometimes they even die because of that. Cigarettes are one of the most dangerous forms of trash.
________ Through a machine. The crows are trained to put the cigarette butts into the machine. If the machine makes sure the thing is a cigarette butt after scanning（扫描）it, the crows will get food from it as a reward（回报）. Sounds interesting, right?
According to Christian Günther-Hanssen, the founder of the company, with crows’ help, they don’t need to spend so much on the cigarette butts cleanup. “Crows are known to be one of the smartest animals in the world. They’re easier to teach. At the same time, there’s a lower risk of them eating any trash by mistake,” Christian said.
The crows for the cleaning job are still living in the wild, and they are free to stop the project at any time. If they keep coming back to Corvid Cleaning’s machine with dirty cigarettes, they must be enjoying the food there.
1. From the passage, we know that ________ might have brought problems to Sweden.| A．crows | B．smokers | C．modern machines | D．Christian’s company |
| A．getting much training | B．eating the trash by mistake |
| C．picking up the cigarette butts | D．living in a terrible environment |
| A．How did the company train the crows? |
| B．Where did Christian find so many crows? |
| C．What kind of crow is suit for the cleaning job? |
| D．How did Christian come up with the idea of working with crows? |
| A．Crows are usually good learners. |
| B．Using crows can help save money on cleaning. |
| C．Crows can be easily attracted by the food in the machine. |
| D．The chance of crows taking the cigarette butts as food is lower. |
| A．The crows choose to join or leave the project. |
| B．The crows can exchange cigarette butts for money. |
| C．There is no harm to the crows to do the cleaning job. |
| D．The crows have to collect a certain number of cigarette butts. |
【推荐1】What are different kinds of greeting ways around the world？Most people will say "Hello" or "Nice to meet you". That's right. But greeting is never just that. To be both polite and friendly, you should know something more.
In most western countries, people usually shake hands when they meet. The British only say "hello" when they see friends. That's why French people think the British are unfriendly and impolite. They kiss friends on both cheeks each time they meet and leave. However, to Americans, kiss is very strange between two male friends.
When you come to Polynesia（波利尼西亚）, you can take people's hands to touch your face. That's a way to show friendship. In Canada, people rub noses when they meet friends. In Tibet, China, you should bow and stick your tongue out. It shows you have no bad thoughts because you cannot curse（诅咒） people when your tongue’s out.
Some of the ways above to greet people might be strange for you, but do remember: when in Rome, do as the romans do.
1. Why do we need to know something more about greeting according to the first paragraph?| A．Because we need to learn "Hello" or "Nice to meet you" in different languages. |
| B．Because we need to travel to many different countries in the world |
| C．Because we need to be both polite and friendly when we meet out. |
| D．Because saying "Hello" or "Nice to meet you" is not a right way to greet people. |
| A．Americans | B．Chinese | C．the British | D．Frenchmen |
| A．they are unhappy | B．they have no bad thoughts |
| C．they want to curse others | D．they are excited |
| A．Different ways of greeting people in different countries |
| B．the differences between "Hello" and "Nice to meet you" |
| C．Different customs in different countries |
| D．Strange roman culture in foreign countries |
| A．travel magazine | B．fashion magazine | C．story book | D．dictionary |
There is a saying， “China has the best teahouses in the world and Chengdu has the best teahouses in China.” Chengdu has not only many teahouses but also the special ways of serving and drinking tea.
As soon as the visitors come into the teahouses， the waiters or waitresses will greet them with teapots and cups in their hands. The cups often have special covers and saucers(茶碟). The covers can keep the water warm.
People who go to the teahouses are not all thirsty. Retired(退休)people pay a little money to the teahouses and then sit there all day long to chat with others. Sometimes， people have parties in the teahouses. They eat fruit and sunflower seeds(瓜子)while they chat and return home when they are tired.
Teahouses are also good places for people to talk about businesses. People can tell the stories and enjoy Sichuan Opera. Sometimes when people have a quarrel(争吵)， a mediator(调解员)will bring them to the teahouse. After their problem is worked out， the person who is wrong will pay for the tea. It is interesting that as soon as the quarrelers come into the teahouse and sit down to drink tea， they have almost calmed down. With the help of the mediator， their problems can be easily worked out then. Maybe we can say the teahouses have some special social functions(功能).
1. Chengdu has the best teahouses in China because _____.
| A．the serving of the teahouses in Chengdu is very special |
| B．there are many people in Chengdu teahouses |
| C．there are many old men in Chengdu teahouses |
| D．the cups in Chengdu teahouses are old |
| A．enjoy interesting stories |
| B．watch movies |
| C．listen to Beijing Opera |
| D．quarrel in loud voice |
| A．The mediator himself |
| B．The person who caused the problem |
| C．All the persons in the teahouse |
| D．The owner of the teahouse |
| A．The sports part. | B．The news part. |
| C．The culture part. | D．The family part. |
| A．how to make tea |
| B．how to open a teahouse |
| C．the special functions of the teahouses |
| D．the special way of enjoying tea |
People all around the world celebrate the start of a new year. They do it in different ways and at different times because their calendars (日历) are not the same.
Chinese New Year is based on (基于) the Chinese calendar. It is usually celebrated in late January or early February, lasting (持续) for 15 days. People celebrate the coming of spring and wish for good luck. They put good luck sayings in their homes and eat a family dinner together. People make a special dumpling with a candy in it. If you get the dumpling with the candy, then you will have good luck in the coming year! Then people watch a special TV program and talk with their family members. Children celebrate the New Year by wearing red clothes and eating a stick of candied red berries (糖葫芦). It is said that the color red can also bring good luck.
In parts of Southeast Asia, people celebrate the New Year in late March or mid April. It’s a very hot time of year—a time for the water festival. To prepare for the New Year, they save the water. It might easily be 38℃ on New Year’s Day. Because it’s this hot, a water fight (水仗) is the best way to celebrate! Then the water is poured (倒) onto people’s shoulders (肩膀) to bring them good luck.
In America, there is often a “ball drop (落下)” celebration during the countdown (倒计时) to the New Year. The most famous one is at Times Square (广场) in New York. From 11:59 pm on December 31st, the ball at the top of the tower moves down slowly. When the ball gets to the bottom (末端) at midnight, people will make New Year’s resolutions (决心). A resolution is a promise (承诺) to end a bad habit or begin a good one.
1. According to the passage, which of the following can’t bring good luck during Chinese New Year? ________| A．Wearing red clothes. |
| B．Eating the dumpling with a candy. |
| C．Eating a stick of candied red berries. |
| D．Talking with family members. |
| A．Because it makes people happy. |
| B．Because it’s a very hot time of year. |
| C．Because there is much water there. |
| D．Because it is a time for the water festival. |
| A．They all have family dinners together. |
| B．They all have countdowns in the squares. |
| C．They all wish good things happen in the coming year. |
| D．They all celebrate the New Year in January or February. |
