【推荐1】Carnival (狂欢节) is one of the most important national holidays in Brazil. It is not held to celebrate a big historical event, but it is a time of friendship and freedom (自由). Besides this, it’s also a time when Brazilians don’t have to work. People can choose to hold parties or just have a good rest instead. Most people hold parties, day after day, night after night. There is a forty-day period called Lent (大斋期) before Easter. During that period, Christians (基督教徒) can’t eat meat or take part in any activities.

Carnival is held during the four days before the start of Lent. People put on their holiday clothes and go out to enjoy themselves. Also, some dance schools often hold activities to show their dances. Many people enjoy this festival. After Carnival, everything returns to the normal state, but this custom isn’t followed by some people. They always continue their parties. Like other parties, these people sing, dance and have fun. However, some people are not happy with this behavior and they feel it leaves a bad image of the holiday. I like Carnival. It’s a time for people from all over the world to get together and understand each other better. It’s a wonderful holiday and I hope more people will respect it.

1. Carnival usually starts ________.

A．4 days after Easter

B．4 days after Lent

C．44 days before Easter

2. The underlined word “image” in this passage means “________” in Chinese.

A．表演

B．来源

C．印象

3. Which of the following is TRUE about Carnival?

A．Carnival is a boring holiday in Brazil.

B．People in Brazil do not have to work during Carnival.

C．Carnival is celebrated to remember a famous person.

4. From this passage, we know that ________.

A．some people don’t respect Carnival well enough

B．the writer often holds Carnival parties

C．Carnival isn’t traditional and is liked by few people

5. Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?

A．Different Cultures

B．Christians’ Lives

C．Carnival in Brazil

【推荐2】For Liu Xiaowei, a student at a middle school in Xi'an, this summer vacation is different. His father is going to send him back to his home village.

“My father wants me to experience hard rural (农村的) life. I’d like to try it as well,” Liu said. “But I’m not sure if I can use the Internet there, so I downloaded some games. I’d like to carry them with me.”

Liu Hengmin, the boy’s father, was born in a village in Gansu. He came to Xi’an to make a living more than 20 years ago. “I worked hard and started my own business, and it became successful. But my son, although 15 years old, cannot take care of himself. He spends a lot of money every day.” Liu Hengmin said. After reading an article in a newspaper, which said that boys from well-off families were turning out “lazy and timid (胆小的)”, Liu talked with his wife and they decided to send their son to their village to experience the rough (艰苦的) side of life.

Like Liu, there are several other parents in the city who want to give their sons a special “experience” this summer. Some of the kids understand their parents, but the others just want to do the things they like. Liu Wei, a middle school teacher in Xi’an, felt parents should consult (商量) with their sons as well as their teachers before making a vacation schedule for them.

根据语篇内容，选择最佳选项。
1. Liu Xiaowei’s summer vacation is different this year because ________.

A．he will not be lazy or timid	B．he will go back to his father’s home village
C．he will read an article in a newspaper

2. According to the passage, Liu Xiaowei can ________ in the village.

A．work hard in the field

B．spend a lot of money

C．play computer games

3. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A．Liu Xiaowei can use the Internet in the village.

B．Liu Hengmin lived in Xi’an for about 15 years.

C．Liu Xiaowei likes to experience the rough side of life.

4. In the passage the underlined word “well-off” means “________”.

A．rich

B．poor

C．happy

5. What’s Liu Wei’s attitude towards making a vacation schedule?

A．He thought parents should send their sons to villages.

B．He thought parents should consult with their sons and teachers.

C．He thought kids should understand their parents.

【推荐3】Every year, we celebrate many special days─Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and New Year’s Day. In some countries, there is a special day for playing tricks on others. In North America and parts of Europe, this day is known as April Fool’s Day, and is celebrated on April 1.
Many people believe that the French started April Fool’s Day. Centuries ago, New Year’s Day in Europe was April 1. In 1582, the calendar changed and King Charles IX of France moved it to January 1.
Some people did not like this, and chose to keep April 1 as New Year’s Day. Many called these people ‘April fools’ and played jokes and tricks on them. Over time, April 1 became a day to have fun in France. It then spread to England and Scotland, and later, to North America.
On April Fool’s Day, jokes are common. In the United States, for example, a person may move a friend’s clock ahead one hour, or change the sugar and salt. In Scotland, April Fool’s Day lasts for two days. The second day is called ‘Taily Day’─for one’s ‘tail’. On this day, people might secretly put a sign saying ‘kick me’ on a person’s back or behind. Other countries have their own ‘Fool’s Day’. In Spain and Mexico, people play tricks on each other on December 28. In India, it happens on March 31.
In many countries around the world, April 1 is a day of fun. Jokes bring about a lot of laughter, and many shouts of ‘April Fool’!
1. It is said that people first celebrated ‘Fool’s Day’ in       .

A．the United States	B．France
C．Scotland	D．Spain

2. In North America, ‘Fool’s Day’ is celebrated on       .

A．April 1	B．April 2
C．December 28	D．March 31

3. People are allowed to        while celebrating ‘Fool’s Day’.

A．kick your friends in the behind

B．move a friend’s clock ahead one hour

C．play jokes and tricks on your friends

D．take a holiday from work for two days

4. Which country is NOT mentioned (提到) in the passage as celebrating ‘Fool’s Day’?

A．England.	B．India.
C．Mexico.	D．Japan.

5. Over time, April 1 became a day to have fun in France. It then spread to England …. Here “spread” means       .

A．盛行

B．流传

C．接受

D．发展

【推荐2】My friend Richard went far to work, so he asked me to take care of his yard in the mountains. He worked hard and often kept the yard clean without any grass. But I was too lazy to sweep the fallen leaves, and I never pluck（拔）, allowing it to grow rapidly. In the early spring, in March, when the leaves spread quickly, I discovered they were like wild orchids（兰花）.

As the summer came, the “grass” really flowered. The flowers looked like those forest orchids, but they were yellow, unlike those purple or brown red forest orchids. I picked one flower, then went to find a friend who studied plants. As soon as my friend saw it, he asked me where I picked it. “It’s amazing!” He excitedly explained. “This kind of orchid is hard to find. Now it is worth at least 10,000 dollars each.”

I told the good news to Richard. He was surprised. After a while he said gently, he saw the orchid in the yard every year, but he thought it was common grass, so he always plucked it. He said, “If I could wait, it would flower a few years before.” Yes, all of us might miss some rare（稀有的）orchids in our own lives. We don’t give them the time to flower to prove their value.

Give the “grass” time to flower and give everybody a chance to prove his value. Don’t pluck leave of any “grass” or negate（否定）a person rudely and how many “rare orchids” we will get in our lives!

根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。
1. Where is the yard? ________

A．In the mountains.

B．In the town.

C．In the village.

D．In the woods.

2. Which is the right order? ________
①Richard was surprised at the good news.
②The grass flowered.
③The writer did not sweep the fallen leaves and pluck grass.

A．①②③

B．②①③

C．③①②

D．③②①

3. When did the “grass” really flower? ________

A．In the spring.

B．In the summer.

C．In the morning.

D．In the afternoon.

4. What’s the meaning of the word “rare” in the third paragraph? ________

A．common

B．beautiful

C．ugly

D．unusual

5. How can we offer a chance to others to prove their values? ________

A．By writing to others.

B．By praising others.

C．By giving others time.

D．By taking pride in others.

【推荐3】Mr. Smith loved music very much when he was still a child. But he could never learn it because his family was very poor at that time. Now he has a seven-year-old son, Tom. Mr. Smith hopes Tom can be a musician some day. Tom is studying music in a school now.

Today, Mr. Smith goes to see Tom and asks him about his subjects. Tom says he does well in them. Mr. Smith is very happy to hear this, so he buys two tickets for a concert and takes Tom to the concert.

The music is so beautiful and Mr. Smith really likes it. But he finds his son is absent-minded — the boy doesn’t listen to the music at all because he often looks outsides.

So Mr. Smith asks his son, “Do you know the music?”

“Yeah!” Tom says.

“What is the musician playing then?” Mr. Smith asks again.

Tom doesn’t know how to answer it. He thinks hard and then says, “... the piano.”

1. Why didn’t Mr. Smith learn music when he was young?

A．Because he didn’t like music at all.

B．Because he didn’t have much money.

C．Because he was busy with his schoolwork.

2. What does Mr. Smith want his son to be?

A．A scientist.

B．A doctor.

C．A musician.

3. Which of the following about the concert is TRUE?

A．Maybe it’s a piano concert.

B．Both Mr. Smith and his son like it.

C．Mr. Smith doesn’t know what the musician is playing.

4. What does the underlined word “absent-minded” in Paragraph 4 probably mean in Chinese?

A．丢三落四的

B．心不在焉的

C．积极主动的

5. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Tom will be a great musician.

B．Tom can play the piano very well.

C．Tom doesn’t know the name of the music.

6. How will Mr. Smith feel after he hears what his son said?

A．Angry.

B．Excited.

C．Down.

D．Disappointed.

【推荐1】阅读短文，判断下列句子是否符合短文内容。符合的选T，不符合的选F。

There are some things amazing in the world. Have you ever watched one of these coral islands(珊瑚岛)? They teach us a lesson.

In the sea there are many islands. In its warm waters there are some little ones. We call them “coral islands”.

A coral island is very nice to look at. It looks like a ring of land with trees, grass and flowers on it. One part of the ring is open to the water. There is a little round lake inside the island.

If you look into this lake, you will see beautiful coral(珊瑚). You may think they are flowers. If you look at a piece of coral, you will see many little holes in it. A very small sea animal has lived in each of these holes. These sea animals make the coral.

They began to build under the water. Year after year, the coral grew higher and higher. At last, it grew out of the water. Then the sea brought it small trees and something else. After some years, these things changed into earth. Sometimes the wind brought seeds(种子) to this earth. Sometimes birds flew over it and brought seeds to the island. The little seeds grew. In a few years there were plants all over the island. In a few more years there were trees growing there.

So you see, these islands were built little by little. The workers were very small.

1. In the sea there are coral islands in all places.
2. A coral island looks like a round lake with trees, grass and flowers on it.
3. There are sea animals in the holes in coral.
4. The wind and birds brought seeds of trees to the coral islands.
5. From this passage, we’ve learned that small workers can do big things if they work hard and work a long time.

【推荐2】

North American black bears are shy animals. They are fearful by nature, and will usually run away if they see or hear people. Because of this, it can be difficult for scientists to learn about these animals.

In order to study black bears, researchers from New Jersey, the USA, catch bears and use drugs to help them go to sleep. Researchers then work out the size and the weight of the bear, take blood to test for diseases, remove a tooth and take it to the lab to find out its age. From these studies, researchers want to find out how many bears live in New Jersey, how long they live, and how many babies they produce. But in Minnesota, the USA, researchers study bears that are completely awake. The bears know the researchers' voices and they are not afraid of the research team. With the help of a few grapes to keep the bears busy, researchers can touch them to check their hearts, look at their teeth, and do other jobs. Researchers can also walk or sit with bears for hours and make videos to learn about their everyday lives. In both places, the main purpose is the same—to make sure there is a healthy population of black bears. But the research methods and the kinds of information that researchers are able to collect are quite different.

1. In the first paragraph, we can learn that North American black bears are 　　    .

A．shy and fearful animals	B．not found today
C．well known to scientists	D．not afraid of people

2. The word “remove” in the second paragraph probably means________  in Chinese.

A．拔下

B．移植

C．清洗

D．修补

3. Which of the following may NOT be included in the New Jersey studies on bears?

A．The age.	B．The way of their communication.
C．The weight.	D．The number of babies they produce.

4. In the Minnesota studies, researchers ________.

A．can never get close to the bears

B．study the bears while they are asleep

C．use grapes to make the bears full

D．learn a lot about the bears' everyday lives

5. What do the two studies have in common?

A．Research places.	B．The main purpose.
C．Research methods.	D．Collected information.

【推荐3】My parents used to tell me how important school was to me, but I didn’t think so. I paid little attention. But one thing let me realize what my parents meant.

On a sunny afternoon, when I walked past a mobile phone store, I saw an advertisement (广告) on its door. It was hiring (雇佣) new workers!

“Sir, are you hiring people?” I went into the shop and asked. “Yes, but are you the one we need?” the owner replied. He looked at me for a few seconds from head to foot. “Do you have a high school diploma (文凭)?” he continued. “Or do you have any work experience?”

I felt so ashamed (惭愧) and I just turned around and left.

I could not fall asleep that night, and I thought a lot about my future. “I must go to school to continue my study because I can’t do anything without a good education,” I said to myself silently (默默地).

I never went back to the store again until I finished my studies and got a diploma. Everything looked the same when I returned to the store: the same people and the same design (设计).

However, compared with last time, I had more confidence. The owner told me they needed new workers, so it was a great chance for me.

I showed my diploma to the owner. He looked at it and said, “Great! You are in.”

Education helps us have a bright future. Now I am not worried about my future because I’m still learning in my free time.

根据短文内容判断正误，正确的写（A），错误的写（B）。
1. At first, the writer thought what his parents told him was right.
2. The writer saw the advertisement when he went to buy a mobile phone.
3. The owner of the mobile phone store didn’t hire the writer at first because he had neither a high school diploma nor any work experience.
4. The writer often went back to the mobile phone store, and at last he had a chance to work there.
5. From the passage we know that we should study hard to get a bright future.