Many people want to buy the newest gadget (小玩意), the fastest car and the most expensive watch—but are these things really worth?
For some people, these things give them status (地位). They’re cool because they have a cool car, or they’re better at the newest Xbox game. Lots of people say that buying new things makes them happy. They like having new, pretty and impressive things. The problem is that people don’t stay happy, and the feeling you get when you buy something new disappears. For example, there’s a new iPhone. You stop liking your old car. Your friends have Beats in a different color and they’re so much nicer! Things get old and outdated, and someone else always has something better.
So, what can you buy and stay happy with? A research suggests that the best thing to spend your extra (额外的) money on is doing things like traveling, learning to cook, speaking a language, skiing or surfing. What about going to the theater, eating at a Michelin star restaurant or climbing a mountain?
In the long term (从长远来看), people are happier with money they spend on activities than on things. You don’t remember what shoes you wore, but you remember running the marathon! When you do new things or things you enjoy, you get life experience and memories. You can share them with people. Even if you don’t enjoy the experience, you can learn something and often a little while later you see the good sides of it. At least, it’s a story to tell—maybe even a funny one.
So forget about designer clothes and fancy gadgets—a new skill or experience lasts longer!
1. The first paragraph is mainly written to ________.| A．explain the reason | B．introduce the background |
| C．give the result | D．come up with the question |
| A．out of date | B．still popular | C．always useful | D．in order |
| A．Having happiness. | B．Keeping away from pressure. |
| C．Getting status. | D．Having impressive things. |
| A．learn to cook and speak a language | B．climb a mountain and buy the fastest car |
| C．go to a theater and have the designer clothes | D．buy the most expensive watch and go traveling |
| A．Follow Fashionable Ways of Life | B．What Makes People Happy |
| C．Spend Money on Valuable Things | D．How to Get Favourite Gadgets |
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【推荐1】A series of Chinese children’s picture books about fighting COVID-19 came out in the UK in May. The book series, named Fighting the Epidemic: Staying at Home Series in the English version (版本), was made in January 2020. It was to help children go through hard times.
The six books fully show great love through different families and lives. For example, in one of the stories, A Journey of 9,000 Millimetres, a boy and his sister have to live at home by themselves because their parents are working at the hospital. While they play in their house, they find the house is 9,000 mm long and 5,000 mm wide. And they have a trip of imagination. In another story The Mask that Loved to Count, the mask counts everything it sees, and slowly learns that its role is also to bring hope to its owner.
The great books were translate (翻译) into English by Helen Wang. She said, “The six books give useful information, not only what people are doing, and how everyone can help to fight COVID-19, but also how to show feelings, and think of good ways to help each other go through the difficult times.”
Wang Yongbo, president of Phoenix Juvenile and Children’s Publishing Ltd, says that the books help many families in China talk to young children about the hard times. He hopes young readers in the UK can enjoy reading these stories and talk about their stories during the hard times.
The series’ international rights have been sold to 19 countries and the books have been translated into different languages.
1. What does the story A Journey of 9,000 Millimetres talk about?| A．Two children’s trip of imagination. |
| B．The parents’ love for their children. |
| C．Two children’s hard life in the hospital. |
| D．The doctors’ love for the patients. |
| A．How people show their feelings. |
| B．How people can help to fight COVID-19. |
| C．How people can stay away from COVID-19. |
| D．How people can help each other go through the hard times. |
| A．His love for books. | B．His love for his work. |
| C．His hope for Chinese children. | D．His hope for children in the UK. |
| A．A Journey of 9,000 Millimetres is a story of how a boy and his sister spend their life in a hospital. |
| B．The books first came out in the UK. |
| C．The books are good for children to fight the disease. |
| D．The books are very popular and children all over the world enjoy reading them. |
| A．A great Chinese writer. | B．A series of children’s books. |
| C．Books about children’s growth. | D．Great hope for children in the world. |
【推荐2】Are you thinking about some activities to make your free time fun and meaningful? Here are some suggestions that can help.
(A) Design a Garden Would you like to do a simple window box with a few pretty flowers, or even try to plant a small vegetable garden? Maybe you can eat the fruit and vegetables you grow.  | (B) Make a Movie It’s amazing that you just need a phone and some apps to make a nice movie. You also need to think about the story and find a nice place to film with friends willing to help. Even if you are camera shy, you can still have a go.  |
(C) Learn to Sew Sewing is not only a useful skill but a great way to pass the time. There are lots of things you can do with a needle and thread. Maybe you won’t keep it as a hobby, but you’ll still be able to make bags or make clothes for your pets.  | (D) Plan a Family Trip You’ll find it fun to plan a family trip. Choose a place to go, organize the activities for each day, and then make a lot of great memories for you and your family. The ability of planning will be of great help in your life.  |
1. Tony wants to learn to plant some tomatoes.
2. Mary enjoys making bags out of old clothes.
3. Jack needs to improve his planning skills.
【推荐3】The Dragon Boat Festival, often known as the Duanwu Festival, is a traditional holiday in China. The festival now is on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional lunar calendar (阴历).
There are many activities (活动) on this day. Dragon boat racing is an important part of the festival, held all over the country. Dragon boats are very long. Usually, there are many people rowing (划船). Boatmen row the boat with the drumbeats (击鼓声), and a man in the front of the boat waves a small flag to help coordinate (使协调) the rowing.. Dragon boat races are very exciting.
On the Dragon Boat Festival, people eat zongzi. In early times, it was only glutinous rice (糯米), but now there are different kinds of the fillings (馅儿)—bean paste (豆沙), ham, egg yolk and other things. Anyway, and people usually give them to their friends as presents.
Dragon Boat Festival is one of the traditional festivals in China. People all over the country like it very much.
1. When is the Dragon Boat Festival? ________| A．In winter. | B．On June fifth. |
| C．In January or February. | D．On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. |
| A．are very short and small | B．are very long |
| C．look like ducks | D．look like lions |
| A．chocolate | B．mooncakes | C．zongzi | D．noodles |
| A．Dragon boat races. | B．How to row the boat. |
| C．The Dragon Boat Festival. | D．Different fillings of zongzi. |
| A．Festivals. | B．Families. | C．Countries. | D．Arts. |
| A. Most people feel very good about themselves when they are able to offer help to others. You’re allowing others to feel good when you ask others for help. B. It is the worst thing to force(强迫) yourself to do what you hate to make friends. It may be great at first, but it’s difficult to form a healthy friendship in the long run. So show others your true self. C. Any kind of relationships needs to be carefully kept. If you are busy, you can chat online or make some phone calls. Technology has made it easy to stay in touch. D. A great way to start making friends is to be confident and say yes if you are invited to do something together. They may not all be people you will become close with but it is a great starting point. E. Most humans need friends. Without friends, we may feel lonely, because we have no one who listens to us. Without friends, it’s easier to feel bad about ourselves and to feel that our problems cannot be solved. F. You can ask open questions. Open questions encourage the other person to give a more in-depth (深入的) answer. After the other finishes talking, it’s important for you to share the same amount of information about yourself. |
【推荐2】What’s the most important thing for you to have in your life? Somebody says hard-work, others suggest knowledge, love and luck.
If you arrange the 26 English letters alphabetically(按字母表的顺序) and use numbers to mean each of them, for example, 1 for a, 2 for b, 3 for c..., you can change an English word into a number. So “hard-work” becomes 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11=98; “knowledge” is 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5=96, while “love” is 12+15+22+5=54, and “luck” becomes 12+21+3+11=47. None of these words can give one a full mark(满分). What about money? It can’t, either.
Then what else? Don’t be worried. You can always find an answer to a problem in your life, when you change your way of looking at things or doing things, or your attitude(态度). Yes, attitude is the word. See for yourself: “attitude” is 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5=100, a full mark.
Most times people hope for a better life. It is possible if you will have a change for the better after you have changed your attitude. When you change your manner and become friendly to others, you’ll meet more smiling faces towards you.
1. In the writer’s opinion, what is the most important thing in a person’s life?| A．Hard-work. | B．Knowledge. | C．Money. | D．Attitude. |
| A．Hard-work. | B．Knowledge. | C．Love. | D．Luck. |
| A．ask for help from others | B．ask your English teacher for help |
| C．change your attitude | D．ask your parents for help |
| A．Failure sometimes can bring you good if you take a positive(积极的) attitude. |
| B．Nothing is more important than love. |
| C．Hard-work has a full mark. |
| D．The writer is a math teacher so he can solve the problems easily. |
| A．10. | B．12. | C．9. | D．22. |
【推荐3】Many people can’t get good and enough sleep because of the stress of working and studying. Do you often wake up in the night? Can you get up easily on time? Do you feel tired after getting up? Can you put your heart into the class? Do you feel sleepy during the daytime? If your answer is yes, that means you get a bad night’s sleep.
But how to get good and enough sleep?
First, never drink coffee before bedtime. Second, don’t eat too much. Third, you’d better take a shower before going to bed. Fourth, go to bed and get up at the same time every day.
Another way is to count numbers(数数) in your heart. It can give you fast sleep. Lying on the bed for long doesn’t mean you will have good sleep. It’s important for us students to get good and enough sleep. Less than eight hours is not enough. Let’s keep a good sleep habit.
1. The passage shows us ________ ways to get good and enough sleep.| A．3 | B．4 | C．5 |
| A．Staying up late | B．Eating before bedtime | C．Counting numbers |
| A．6 | B．7 | C．8 |
| A．how to get good and enough sleep |
| B．when is the best time to go to bed |
| C．why don’t people have good sleep |
