【推荐1】Table manners are about how to behave when you eat a meal. Different countries have different table manners. Now let’s see some table manners in the following countries:

Japan

It is OK to make some noises when you eat noodles in Japan. Making some noises is not rude but is praise to the cook. The Japanese also say it tastes better if you make some noises while eating.

What else to watch: it’s important to say “Thanks” before and after a meal.

France

In France, a meal is like a ceremony. People enjoy it and make it a special event. You should never discuss money over dinner. And “going Dutch (各自付账)” is not polite.

What else to watch: you need to finish everything on your plate.

Mexico

In Mexico, whenever you catch the eyes of someone who’s eating, even a stranger, it’s good manners to say “provecho”, which means “enjoy”.

What else to watch: where you sit is important in this country. Before you get seated, look for place cards, or wait until the host seats you. And you must say “Enjoy your meal” before you leave the table.

1. ________ is a polite way to eat noodles in Japan.

A．Eating quietly

B．Eating quickly

C．Leaving some

D．Making some noises

2. What don’t people like to talk about over dinner in France?

A．Money.

B．Weather.

C．Sports.

D．News.

3. What should you say before you leave the table in Mexico?

A．Goodbye.

B．Enjoy your meal.

C．Thank you.

D．The food is delicious.

4. This passage is mainly about ________.

A．sports stars

B．dinner parties

C．eating habits

D．table manners

【推荐3】Everyone has a family name. In China, the family name is the first name, but in English countries the family name is the last name. Do you know how English people get their family names? And what do they mean? English people usually get their family name in these ways (方式).
Some family names come from the places of their homes. A man live on or near a hill, his family name may be (可能是) Hill. In England, people's names may be Wood, Lake because they live near the wood (树林) or the lake.
Some family names come from a person's job. If a person is a cook, his family name may be Cook.
And many people get their family names from their father's family names. If you hear the name "Jackson", you can know that he is the son of Jack.
1. In the passage, how many ways can English people get their family names?

A．two

B．three

C．four

D．five

2. A man lives near the lake. His family name may be ______.

A．Hill

B．Wood

C．Lake

D．Cook

3. Jack's family name is Cook. His family name may come from the ______.

A．place

B．hobby

C．job

D．country

4. A boy's family name is Jackson because he is ______.

A．Jack's father	B．Jack's best friend
C．the grandfather of Jack	D．the son of Jack

5. The passage mainly talks about ______ in English countries.

A．family names	B．English people
C．hills and lakes	D．jobs and homes

【推荐1】

In the videos posted, we can see the robot preparing dishes on its own, from cutting vegetables to breaking eggs. It’s also good at watering plants, petting cats, cleaning the floor and washing clothes, even shaking the pillow (枕头).

Sounds good? Well, another video posted by researchers may disappoint some people. Mobile Aloha isn’t good at doing housework on its own.

Instead, it learns from human actions before doing each kind of housework. When the situation changes, it can’t work well without a human “teaching” it. So, it may break dishes, bump into things and even burn a pot.

The robot can successfully move chairs 80 percent of the time, said the team after they did more research on it. For cooking dishes, it’s only 40 percent. In short, it’s far from perfect.

In fact, AI robots are good at tasks such as math and playing chess, but they face challenges when it comes to simpler actions like cleaning. And it’s the same for Mobile Aloha. For example, if its body doesn’t move correctly even just with a small deviation (偏差), its arm may move too far to pick up a glass.

“Robots are not ready to take over the world,” the team posted online.

1. Mobile Aloha is a ________.

A．video

B．robot

C．camera

D．mobile phone

2. From the passage, we can know Mobile Aloha can’t do________.

A．

B．

C．

D．

3. What’s the meaning of underlined word “disappoint” in paragraph 2?

A．Dissatisfy.

B．Regret.

C．Support.

D．Encourage.

【推荐2】We all have those moments when bright ideas hit us, but not everyone can develop such moments into the fruits of creative thinking. While we believe creative thinking is the falling apple of Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists, we seldom notice that creative thinking is in fact a process (过程) .

Let’s look at what happened in 1666.

Sitting in the garden,Newton watched an apple fall from a tree. He began to wonder if the same force that pulled the apple down also kept the moon circling the earth. Newton believed it did. He called it “gravity” (重力).

This story has become one of the most popular examples of “eureka” moments. But when we cheer for the great discovery, the whole process of creative thinking shouldn’t be forgotten.

Newton studied mathematics for long to have a better understanding of the world. He always enjoyed finding new ways to solve problems. The falling apple was only the fruit of years of hard work before. It also started the train of thought that continued for the next twenty years.

Newton began to examine “gravity” carefully. He experimented (实验). Then he studied the results and used what he had learned to do new experiments. In 1687, the greatest scientific work ever written came out.

The whole process of creative thinking works the same in our life.

In school, we prepare ourselves for the right moment. Once the moment comes, we catch it and then keep on working in the years to come. It takes much to get the fruits of creative thinking. But the sweetest fruits will be ready for those who wait the longest.

1. The underlined word “eureka” in Paragraph 4 probably means ________.

A．I’ve got it

B．I give up

C．I’ve no idea

D．I believe it

2. The writer mainly develops his idea by ________

A．raising questions

B．giving examples

C．listing numbers

D．explaining differences

3. The creative thinking process for Newton follows the order of ________.
a. He caught the right moment.
b. He did experiments over and over.
c. He saw an apple fall from a tree.
d. He studied mathematics for long.

A．a-c-d-b

B．b-a-c-d

C．a-b-c-d

D．d-c-a-b

【推荐3】

When we talk about reading, we probably think of eyes, because we do the reading by eyes. But we can do some reading by ears, too. And with the development (发展) of smart-phones, it’s getting easier and easier to do some reading by ears—by listening to news, stories and so on. This is audio (声音的) reading. We can do audio reading in many places.

Many people like doing audio reading in the bed before going to sleep. When they are in the bed, it would be a great time to do some audio reading. If you read an ordinary (普通的) book, you have to turn the pages (页) with your hands.

Some other people would like to do audio reading in the kitchen. For some people, it’s boring to cook. So they enjoy their time by listening to news or stories. For some others, it’s interesting to cook by listening to instructions (操作指南) made by famous cooks.

But be careful. Don’t make yourself and others in danger. Let’s take driving for example. If you spend much time listening, you can’t be a good driver.

Finally, audio reading is helpful for blind (失明的) people. It’s difficult for them to do reading in the past. But now, they can do some audio reading easily.

1. What is audio reading?

A．Do some reading by ears.	B．Do some reading by eyes.
C．Do some reading by mouth.	D．Do some reading by hand.

2. The second paragraph (段) is about ________ .

A．people like to do audio reading in the bed

B．an ordinary book cannot be listened to

C．you have to use your hands to turn the pages.

D．one should be in bed in the dark before falling asleep

3. It’s interesting for some people to cook by ________ made by famous cooks.

A．talking to friends	B．watching TV
C．reading a book	D．listening to instructions

4. Which of the following is TRUE in the article?

A．Audio reading is difficult for the blind.

B．Audio reading may be dangerous when you drive a car.

C．You have to drive a car when you do audio reading.

D．Ordinary reading is as easy as audio reading when you do exercise.

【推荐1】

Sydney Tower Place: 100 Market St, Sydney Phone: 02-9333-9222 Opening time: 9: 00 a.m. to 10: 30 p.m. (Saturday s to 11: 30 p.m.) Ticket: $60 (for an adult); $30 (for a child) Website: www.sydneytower.com.au. How to get there: Take a train to Town Hall Station and a short walk along Market Street How to book tickets: By phone or through the web Attraction: Sydney’s best views (风景) are just the beginning! Sydney Tower takes you to the highest point above Sydney for exciting 360° views of our beautiful city.

1. Frank wants to go to Sydney Tower with his two children, he will pay ________.

A．$60

B．$90

C．$120

D．$150

2. Last Saturday, Johnson went to visit Sydney Tower. He had to get down the tower ________.

A．after 11: 30 p.m.	B．before 11: 30 p.m.
C．at 10: 30 p.m.	D．at 9: 30 p.m.

3. If people take a train to Sydney Tower, where should they get off the train?

A．At Sydney Tower.	B．At Town Hall Station.
C．At Sydney Station.	D．At Hall Street.

【推荐2】Come and see the Indian elephants and the new tigers from America. The bears (熊) are waiting to meet you, and the monkeys from China are waiting to throw things at you. The lovely dogs from Australia are waiting to laugh at you, and the giraffes from Zambia are waiting to look down on you.

Tickets                                                                    Opening Time Adults: $2. 00                                                Monday~ Friday Children: Over 12 : $1. 00                 10:00 a. m~3:00 p. m Under 12: Free                                               Saturday & Sunday Keep the zoo clean!                                 9:00 a. m ~ 4:00 p. m Do not touch, give food or go near the animals.

1. How many kinds of animals are talked about in the passage (文章)?

A．Four.

B．Five.

C．Six.

D．Seven.

2. Now Mr. and Mrs Smith are at the gate of the zoo with their two sons. One is 14 years old, and the other is 10. How much will they spend on the tickets?

A．$5.00

B．$4.00

C．$3.00

D．$2.00

3. From the passage, we can guess the animal “giraffe” must be very ________.

A．tall

B．lovely

C．strong

D．fat

【推荐3】       Welcome to Changxing Zoo! You can see the big elephants and clever monkeys in our zoo. They are from America. The tigers and lions from Africa are very strong. The cute pandas from China are kind to you. Many animal shows are here for you, too! Come and have a look!

Animal Shows	Monkey show at 9:00 a.m.; Panda show at 9:30 a.m.; Elephant show at 10:00 a.m.; Lion show at 10:45 a.m.; Tiger show at 11:00 a.m.
Tickets	60 yuan for adults (成人) and half price (价格) for kids and students
Notice (注意)	Just see the show! Don’t give food to animals! Don’t play with these animals!

1. What time can people see the Lion Show? ________

A．At nine o’clock.

B．At half past ten.

C．At a quarter past ten.

D．At a quarter to eleven.

2. Mr. White wants to go to the zoo with his 8-year-old son. How much is it? ________

A．90 yuan.

B．75 yuan.

C．60 yuan

D．30 yuan.

3. What can we do in the zoo? ________

A．Give food to pandas.

B．See a tiger show.

C．See English monkeys.

D．Play with elephants.

4. What does the word “Tickets” mean in Chinese? ________

A．地址

B．门票

C．路线

D．网址

5. Which of the following is NOT RIGHT? (以下哪句是不正确的？) ________

A．The tigers in the zoo are from Africa.	B．The pandas in the zoo are very kind.
C．All the animal shows are in the morning.	D．Students are free to visit the zoo.