【推荐1】Wang Yaping, the first Chinese female spacewalker, offered people on Earth a zero-gravity（零重力）musical performance to celebrate the Lantern Festival.

The space show was shared at Lantern Festival Evening Party on CCTV for the celebration. In the video, Wang was seen floating（漂浮）in the space station while playing the guzheng, or Chinese zither. She played a popular Chinese traditional song “Jasmine Flower”.

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar. People usually hang colorful lanterns, guess riddles（谜）and express their wishes and hopes for the future.

The staff members, who traveled to the space station on the Shenzhou-13 task, kept some joyful traditions alive as they continued to move around the earth. Zhai Zhigang wrote riddles on red paper with a brush pen. He showed the calligraphy together with astronaut Ye Guangfu and made festival greetings to the people in front of the TV. They also sent wishes to sportsmen at the Beijing Winter Olympics. “We wish that you all get success, friendship and enjoy your best Olympic experience.”

The video of the space performance got tons of attention after it was shared on the Internet. It drew nearly 2 million hits in one hour on Sina Weibo.

The Lantern Festival also marks the last day of the lunar New Year celebration. Though far from home, the cheerful feelings in space were the same. Wearing new clothes, the staff members enjoyed the traditions of eating dumplings and posting spring couplets（春联）on walls.

1. How did people enjoy the musical performance?

A．By watching the Spring Festival Party on TV.

B．By watching a show coming from the TV program.

C．By going to Wang Yaping’s music concert in person.

D．By watching a video posted online by Wang Yaping.

2. What does the underlined word “They” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A．Astronauts.

B．Greetings.

C．Sportsmen.

D．Olympics.

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Wang Yaping shared some riddles on red paper.

B．Zhai Zhigang showed the calligraphy on his own.

C．The video of the space performance became a hit.

D．2 million people watched the video on Sina Weibo.

4. The astronauts did the following activities to celebrate the Lantern Festival EXCEPT（除了）________.

A．

B．

C．

D．

5. Which is the best title of the passage?

A．Offering the musical performance	B．Making progress in the outer space
C．Sending good wishes to the sportsmen	D．Keeping traditions alive on the space station

【推荐2】Playing mahjong is a traditional Chinese game. Now it becomes popular in the US.

Four Chinese Americans started a mahjong club in New York City to bring Chinese Americans together. It teaches its members (成员) how to play mahjong once a month in China Town. But now the game is popular outside the Chinese American community (群体). Many New Yorkers have fun in the mahjong club.

Alex, a college student in New York City, joined the club. “Playing mahjong can help us get away from our computers and talk to other people face to face.” said Alex. “Everyone in the club is very nice. It’s the coolest way to make friends.”

New Yorkers also play mahjong outside their houses. In some parks, it’s easy to see four people sitting around a mahjong table. They have great fun playing the game and enjoy the fresh air in parks.

Gregg Swain is an American mahjong lover for about 10 years. She wrote a book called Mah Jong: The Art of the Game. “I think mahjong is one of the most popular games in the US because we are all looking for ways to run away from our worries,” Gregg Swain said. “It’s also a better way for young people to get out of their houses and build new friendships.”

1. Who started a mahjong club in New York City?

A．Chinese	B．Americans
C．Chinese Americans	D．American Chinese

2. How many people are needed to play mahjong?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

3. Both Alex and Gregg Swain think playing mahjong can ________.

A．make a lot of money	B．help to make friends
C．be an exciting experience	D．help people to relax

4. We may find the article in ________.

A．a story book

B．a science magazine

C．a dictionary

D．a newspaper

【推荐3】What would you paint if someone asked you to tell them about China?

12-year-old Mao Mofei (毛墨飞) is a student from Chengdu Xichuan Middle School. Her painting, Future Is Coming, is on show at the International Youth Art Invitation Exhibition in Florence, Italy.

“My picture shows my opinion of what my hometown of Chengdu will be like in the future: there are skyscrapers (摩天大楼) and robots (机器人) everywhere, as well as green forests, clean rivers and wild animals; scientists are sending rockets into space, while artists are performing Sichuan opera,” said Mao. “I want to show the beauty of China to the world.”

Mao started to learn painting at an early age. The paper and brushes have helped her to build friendships. When she was in second grade, she visited an Indonesia n school. There, Mao used fun pictures to tell Indonesian students the meanings of different Chinese characters. The students really enjoyed her paintings. She even made close friends with one of her “fans”.

“People around the world speak different languages. However, ________ and we can all understand it,” said Mao. “To improve understanding and share ideas—that’s what I love most about art.”

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。
1. From the second paragraph, what can’t we know?

A．Mao’s age.	B．Mao’s school.
C．Mao’s birthday.	D．the name of Mao’s painting.

2. In Mao’s opinion, what will happen in the future?

A．Chengdu will be crowded and polluted.

B．Wild animals in Chengdu will live in the city.

C．Robots will perform Sichuan opera for people.

D．People in Chengdu will lead a comfortable life.

3. What does the underlined sentence mean in the fourth paragraph?

A．Mao loves collecting paper and brushes.

B．Paper and brushes are Mao’s best friends.

C．Paper and brushes are very useful for Mao.

D．Mao made many friends through painting.

4. Which of the following is the best to fill in the ________?

A．art is an important subject	B．art is a common language
C．it’s difficult to understand others	D．it’s hard to learn a new language

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

A．A Girl Paints China	B．The Natural Beauty of China
C．Art is Easy to Understand	D．the Bright Future of Chengdu

【推荐1】For a baby, to be born on a plane might be a lucky thing. Just a few days ago, a mother gave birth to a baby boy on a plane of Buraq Air and the new baby didn’t need to pay for the air tickets from the air company for a lifetime.

The new mother was on flight from Libya to Niger. For some people, being born on a plane sounds a bit strange and even a bit dangerous. But luckily, the child was healthily born with the help of the flight’s workers. To thank the workers on the plane, the excited mother decided to give her baby the same name as the captain (机长). Buraq Air is in Libya and the air company offers flights to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

This wasn’t the first time a baby was born on a plane and got such a lucky prize. Also, a baby was born on a flight from Dubai to Manila before. The air company celebrated the birth of the baby and gave her a gift of one million miles free flight.

1. The mother on a plane of Buraq Air wanted to get to ________.

A．Libya

B．Niger

C．Dubai

D．Manila

2. ________ helped the baby boy be born healthily on the plane.

A．The mother

B．The tourists

C．A doctor

D．The flight workers

3. The writer thinks it’s ________ for a baby to be born on a plane.

A．lucky

B．strange

C．easy

D．interesting

4. The underlined word “free” might mean “________” in Chinese in the passage.

A．自由的

B．空闲的

C．免费的

D．轻松的

5. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．A Great Mother

B．A Lucky Baby

C．A Special Flight

D．A Friendly Captain

【推荐3】Now DIY is very popular all over the world. People like to make something new for their houses or just for fun. In China, sewing (缝纫) was a traditional DIY skill for most women in the past. They sewed for their parents, husbands and children. I always think that sewing is such a wonderful art form. My grandma is a gentle old lady. She is good at sewing. She made all my childhood clothes with her skillful hands.

       As a baby girl, I didn’t like playing outside with my friends. Instead, I liked to stay with my grandma to help her sew. I really enjoyed getting the thread (线) through the eye of a needle. I tried to make something, but I couldn’t do very well.
       Later, instead of making clothes, my grandmother would sew other things for me. The love from her needle and thread always warms me. Grandma let me love sewing and taught me how to show love and care. Almost a year ago, I thought about finding a birthday present for my friend.
       Then I decided to make her a pencil case. The final result wasn’t as pretty as I imagined (想象), but it was the best pencil case I could make. I sent it to my friend and wished her a happy birthday.
       Just yesterday, she called me and said, “Every time I see the pencil case, I think of you and get a warm feeling.” Sewing is a wonderful art form, which can also show our love and care.
根据短文内容，选择最佳选项，并在答题卡上将选定答案的字母标号涂黑。
1. Sewing was a ________ DIY skill for most women in the past.

A．traditional	B．interesting
C．modern	D．tiring

2. My grandma sewed ________.

A．all clothes for my family

B．all my clothes when I was a child

C．my best friends’ birthday presents

D．my family’s clothes and pencil cases

3. As a baby girl, why did the writer like to help her grandma sew? ________

A．She was interested in sewing and she did very well in it.

B．She was lonely and didn’t have any friends to play with.

C．She liked getting the thread through the eye of a needle.

D．She wanted to learn to sew a birthday gift for her friend.

4. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refers to ________.

A．a needle	B．a warm feeling
C．my love	D．the pencil case

5. What does the writer want to tell us about sewing? ________

A．Children should learn sewing now.

B．Sewing is a moving and wonderful modern art.

C．Sewing can help us show our love and care.

D．Sewing will make the best birthday presents.

【推荐2】Fred Astaire was born in Nebraska in 1899. Fred and his sister, Adele, learned to dance when they were very young. Their mother took them to New York to study dance. They performed in their first professional show when Fred was ten years old and Adele was twelve. Later, as teenagers, the two danced in many shows throughout the United States. Their first big success was on Broadway in 1917.
The Astaires -- as they were known --- became Broadway stars. However, in 1932, Adele Astaire married a British man, and stopped performing. But Fred did not give up his dream. He would go on alone, in the movies.
Fred said, “Dancing is a sweaty job. You cannot just sit down and do it. You have to get up on your feet. It takes time to get a dance right, to create something memorable. I always try to get to know my dance so well that I do not have to think.”
In 1949, Fred Astaire won a special award for his film work from America’s Motion Picture Academy. He also won awards from the television industry for a number of his television programs.
Fred stopped dancing in 1970. He was more than seventy years old at the time. He said a dancer could not continue dancing forever. He said he did not want to disappoint（使失望） anyone, even himself. He danced again in public only once after that. It was with another great male dancer, Gene Kelly, in the movie “That's Entertainment, Part Two”.
Fred Astaire and his first wife, Phyllis, had three children. Phyllis died in 1954. Twenty-five years later, Fred married race horse rider Robyn Smith. Fred Astaire died on June 22, 1987. He was eighty-eight years old. He was called the greatest dancer in the world. His dancing was called perfect. And moviegoers everywhere will remember him as a great performer whose work will live forever in his films.
1. The first paragraph is mainly about_________.

A．Fred Astaire’s first success

B．Fred Astaire’s education

C．Fred Astaire’s early life

D．Fred Astaire’s family

2. When did the Astaires become Broadway stars?

A．In 1899.

B．In 1917.

C．In 1932.

D．In 1949.

3. What Fred Astaire said in Paragraph 3 shows that ___________.

A．he knew his dance was wonderful

B．he thought dancing was not difficult

C．he had ways to make people remember him

D．he devoted much time and effort to dancing

4. What is the correct time order of the following events?
a. Fred Astaire’s first wife died.
b. Fred’s sister Adele stopped performing.
c. Fred Astaire performed with Gene Kelly in a movie.
d. Fred Astaire won an award from America’s Motion Picture Academy.

A．abcd

B．bdac

C．cbad

D．dcba

【推荐3】Duke Ellington is known as one of the most important composers of his time, and his work has been enjoyed for more than 80 years by music lovers all over the world. During his lifetime Ellington turned musical sounds into many compositions, mostly in the style known as jazz.

The Early Years

Duke Ellington was born in 1899 in Washington D.C. It wasn’t until Ellington was a teenager that his interest in music grew. He taught himself to play the piano by listening to local piano players. Sometime around 1916 Ellington began playing the piano at high school parties. Ellington realized that he enjoyed entertaining people with his music. He soon became a very popular musician playing at parties and other events in the Washington area. Young adults seemed especially to love the modern pieces he composed.

Success in New York

In 1923, when Ellington was almost 24 years old, he joined The Washingtonians, a five-piece group of musicians in Washington, and became the group’s leader in early 1924. In 1927 Ellington and his orchestra (管弦乐队) won an engagement (雇佣期) at Harlem’s famous Cotton Club. For the next three years, his orchestra played at the Cotton Club nearly every night.

The Influence of the Cotton Club

Working at the Cotton Club encouraged Ellington’s creativity. Since the shows changed every six months, he was challenged by the need to develop new material. He had to compose lots of music for the Cotton Club shows.

By 1928 the club began to cover the shows live on the radio. From the live shows, Ellington and his orchestra gained a national reputation (名声).

On the Road

As Ellington’s popularity increased, he realized that his orchestra could do well on concert tours. They left the Cotton Club in 1931 and toured America and Europe almost continually for the next 43 years. During his trip, Ellington made recordings and continued to compose music.

Duke Ellington played the piano, composed music, and led his famous orchestra for more than 50 years, until his death in 1974. Music lovers all over the world agree that his music will be enjoyed for many years to come.

1. What do we know about Ellington from the first two paragraphs?

A．He preferred young adults to elder audience.

B．He could sing as well as he played the piano.

C．He had a natural gift for composing music.

D．He learnt to play musical instruments from a very young age.

2. Which of the following can show us Ellington’s leadership ability?

A．Ellington was very popular at parties in the Washington area.

B．Ellington did live radio shows at the Cotton Club in Washington.

C．Ellington made the orchestra popular and successful for a long time.

D．Ellington continually developed new material and composed more music.

3. What can we infer (推断) from the passage?

A．Ellington loved traveling around the world.

B．Ellington could compose a large number of songs.

C．Ellington’s career became successful just in one night.

D．Ellington made a great difference to the world of music.

4. Which of the following shows the order in which the events happened in the passage?
a. Ellington joined a five-piece group of musicians in Washington.
b. Ellington’s orchestra played at the Cotton Club.
c. Ellington’s orchestra went on concert tours.
d. Ellington began playing the piano at high school parties.

A．d-a-b-c

B．d-c-a-b

C．a-d-b-c

D．d-b-a-c

【推荐1】Like most parents, mine spent much time asking me to take part in activities outside school. However, they never forced (强迫) me, and I never found anything I was interested in. Then one day a friend at school told me about a local dance group and asked if I wanted to go with her. So after school we went to talk to the dance teacher. She explained everything to us and we both decided to join.

My parents were really happy to hear I finally chose dancing. They think if you develop an interest in doing something yourself, it will be easier to succeed.

3 years ago I attended the dancing class and I really enjoy it. We are organized into age groups, and now at 16 I’m in the oldest class. There are classes of swing dance, ballet (芭蕾舞), street dance and folk dance. I practice street dance and I’m quite good at it. I also help out leading some of the younger children.

We also take part in events like local and even national dance shows, and relatives (亲戚) turn up to see their children perform. My parents are proud of me as they tell me all the time.

Now I’ll be too old to continue dancing with the group. However, I have already made plans to continue with them. The dance school has become very successful and is opening new classes. The director (管理者) has asked if I’d like to be one of the group leaders and of course I said “yes”！

— By Julie, 16

1. Who made Julie decide to join the local dance group?

A．Her parents.

B．Her friend.

C．Herself.

2. According to Julie’s parents, what is more important to be successful?

A．Interest.

B．Hard work.

C．Courage.

3. When did Julie attend the dancing classes?

A．When she was 3 years old.

B．When she was 10 years old.

C．When she was 13 years old

4. What kind of dance is Julie good at?

A．Swing dance.

B．Street dance.

C．Folk dance.

5. How does Julie feel about her future development?

A．Clear.

B．Unhappy

C．Worried.

【推荐2】On the night of August 24, 2001, everything changed when my friend’s car hit a wall with me inside.

I lost most of my right leg. At the hospital, although my body was weak, my mind was still very clear. I just kept telling myself to hold on. A week later, I made a deal with the doctors that once I could move, I would leave. One more week passed, and I was allowed to go home. I left the hospital, but the fight was far from over. Soon, more of my right leg had to be removed. This made it harder to wear my artificial limb (假肢), so I gave it away to a nurse who couldn’t afford to buy one for herself. To my surprise, I felt greater joy after providing this gift for someone else.

In fact, after I left the hospital, I promised myself that I would always live life to the full. A few months later, I carried the Paralympics torch (残奥会火炬), and a year later I taught myself to run. What’s more, I have been a model since 2014.

I hope a little girl can see me in a magazine and say, “Wow, she’s beautiful, and she only has one leg. I can do that too someday, even though I have a physical disability (残疾).”

1. The writer stayed in the hospital for ________ after the accident.

A．about one month

B．over 20 days

C．about two weeks

D．only one week

2. The third paragraph mainly tells us how the writer ________.

A．overcame the difficulties in her life

B．dealt with different jobs

C．did physical activities

D．led a meaningful life

3. Which word can best describe the writer according to the passage? ________

A．Lucky.

B．Strong.

C．Strict.

D．Independent.

4. Which of the following is NOT true? ________

A．The car accident happened at night.

B．The nurse was also disabled.

C．The writer learnt to run in 2014.

D．The writer is a model now.

【推荐3】Jean is a bright young woman who comes from a rich and famous family. She goes to a good university and has everything that money can buy, well, almost everything. The problem is that the people in Jean’s family are so busy that they can hardly find time to be with her. In fact, Jean is quite lonely.

So Jean spends a lot of time on her QQ. She likes being anonymous(匿名), talking to people who do not know about her famous family and her rich life. She uses the name Linda on QQ and has made a lot of friends who she keeps in touch with quite often.

Last year Jean made a very special friend on QQ. His name was David and lived in San Francisco. David was full of stories and jokes. He and Jean had a common(共同的) interest in rock music and modern dance. So it always took them hours to talk happily on QQ and sometimes they even forgot their time. Of course, they wanted to know more about each other. David sent a picture of himself. He was a tall, good-looking young man with a big happy smile. As time went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other.

When Jean’s father told her that he was going on a business trip to San Francisco, she asked him to let her go with him so that she could give David a surprise for his birthday. She would take him the latest DVD of their own rock singer. But when she knocked on David’s door in San Francisco, she found that her special friend was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim.

1. Jean spends a lot of time on QQ because she is ________.

A．rich

B．famous

C．young

D．lonely

2. Jean thought “David” was special because he ________.

A．made her quite happy on QQ

B．was from San Francisco

C．sent her a picture of himself

D．was tall and good-looking

3. When Jean and “David” met and introduces themselves to each other, who felt surprised?

A．“David”

B．Both “David” and Jean

C．Jean

D．Neither “David” nor Jean

4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Don’t believe those you get to know on QQ so easily.

B．People don’t use their real names on QQ so often.

C．Don’t go to meet those you get to know on QQ.

D．People should tell their real names to others on QQ.