【推荐1】One Sunday evening, after dinner, Mr and Mrs Holt were walking by the lake. They saw a big bird under a tree. It can’t fly. It had a broken wing. They went over to have a look at it. It was a nice parrot. It was saying some numbers. They were surprised. They knew birds could say a few words, but they didn’t know birds could say some numbers. They took the parrot home. It said numbers again. They listened carefully. The bird was saying the same numbers! Mrs Holt said, “Is the bird saying a telephone number?” Then she wrote the number down and called the number on the telephone. It was really a right telephone number. The woman was answering the telephone. She said that the bird was hers. She taught the bird to say the number every day. The woman came to Mrs Holt’s house to have the bird back. She thanked Mr and Mrs Holt very much.

Fill in the blanks according to the passage. Only one word for each blank.

After supper Mr Holt was walking near the lake with his     1    . They found a parrot under a tree. It can’t     2    . They went to the tree and caught it. The parrot was saying some numbers. Mr and Mrs Holt were surprised. When they took the parrot home, it said the     3     numbers. Mrs Holt     4     that the bird was saying a telephone number. She called the number and a woman answered. She said that the bird was hers. She taught it to say the phone number. Then she came over and got the bird back. She was very     5     to Mr and Mrs Holt for saving her parrot.

【推荐2】阅读下面短文，根据短文内容，完成下列各题。

On Thursday, Oct.11, 2012, Mo Yan won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature. Mo Yan is the first Chinese writer to win the prize, which also comes with an award of $1.2 million US dollars.

Mo Yan is fifty-seven. His real name is Guan Moye. MoYan means “Don’t speak.” He uses the name because he wants to stop himself from getting into trouble. He was born into a farmer’s family in Shandong province, eastern China in 1955. His first story came out(出版) in 1981. He has a daughter, Guan Xiaoxiao. And his daughter is also a writer. Now he lives in Beijing with his daughter. Of all his works, the Noble judges highlighted(突出) Red Sorghum, The Garlic Ballads and Big Breasts and Wide Hips.

1. When did Mo Yan win the Nobel Prize in Literature?
Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize in Literature____________________________________.
2. Is Mo Yan the first Chinese writer to win Nobel Prize in Literature?
____________________________________.
3. Why does he use the name “Mo Yan”?
He used the name “Mo Yan because____________________________________.
4. Where was Mo Yan born?
He was born in____________________________________.
5. What’s his daughter’s name?
His daughter’s name is____________________________________.

【推荐3】

It was at least two months before Christmas when nine-year-old Almie Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bicycle. As Christmas drew nearer, her desire for a bicycle didn’t seem that strong, so we bought the most popular present for little girls, Baby Sitter’s Club dolls and a doll house.          

Then, out of our expectation, on December 23, Almie said that she “really wanted a bike more than anything else”. It was just too late. With all the details of preparing Christmas dinner and buying last minute gifts, how could we have time to select the “right bike” for our little girl?

So, here we were Christmas Eve around 9:00 p.m., with Almie and her six-year-old brother, Dylan, ready for sleep in their beds. Now we could only think of the bicycle and the disappointment of our child.

“If I make a little bicycle out of clay (黏土) and write a note that she could trade (用…抵换) the clay model in for a real bike, what do you think?” her dad asked.

“Well, for now, I think this is the best thing we can do. And she is ‘such a big girl’, so I think she will like it.”

So Almie’s dad spent the next four hours working with clay to make a tiny bike. On Christmas morning, we were excited for Almie to open the little heart-shaped package with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note. Finally, she opened it and read the note aloud.

“Does this mean that I trade in this bike that Daddy made me for a real one?”

Smiling, I said, “Yes.”

Almie had tears in her eyes when she replied, “I could never trade in this beautiful bicycle that Daddy made me. I’d rather keep this than get a real bike.”

At that moment, we wanted to buy her every bicycle on the planet.

1. When did Almie first ask for a new bike? _____________.
2. What caused Almie’s parents to buy her the most popular present for little girls? ______.
3. Why was it too late for Almie’s parents to buy a bike for her on December 23? ______.
4. What kind of bike did Almie get on Christmas morning? _______________________.
5. What did Almie think of the present in the little heart-shaped package? ____________.
6. What is the implied (隐含的) meaning of the underlined sentence? _________________.

【推荐1】

Everybody knows Charlie Chaplin, a world-famous comedian(喜剧演员). While watching his films, people everywhere laugh until tears run down their faces.

Born in 1889, Chaplin grew up in a poor family. At the age of five, he began to act as a clown to make money and care for his sick mother. Despite the hard times in his early years, he had a clear goal: to become a great stage artist.

And Chaplin did become a great silent movie star years later. He knew what it meant to be poor and what it meant to be a nobody. The littletramp (流浪小子)he played in his films always has a black moustache(小胡子),wide-open eyes, a round black hat and large shoes. The tramp makes all kinds of stupid mistakes, but he never gives up his dream of becoming a great man. Even people who don't understand English can enjoy Chaplin's silent films. It isn't what he says that makes people laugh. His comedy (喜剧) doesn't depend on words. It depends on little actions, which mean the same thing to people all over the world.

That was how Chaplin became one of the greatest comedians in the world. In his book, he told us how to succeed in life: "You have to believe in yourself. That's the secret."

1. When did Chaplin begin to act as a clown?
____________________________________________________________________________
2. What was his goal in his early years?
____________________________________________________________________________
3. The little tramp doesn't give up his dream of becoming a great man, does he?
____________________________________________________________________________
4. What makes people laugh in Chaplin's comedy?
____________________________________________________________________________
5. What kind of person is Charlie Chaplin?
____________________________________________________________________________

【推荐2】阅读下面的信，按要求完成各项任务。
Dear Jenny,

Gary will have a potluck (百味餐) party after the exams! He invites all of us to come! It is a potluck party, so I think I can bring some beef noodles. As I know, Lily can bring some drinks and Gina can bring a big home-made chocolate cake. Can you ask your mom to buy us some fried chicken from the KFC? You know it is too far for all of us to ride a bike there, but your mom often drives there. We can pay the bill (账单) together.

The party begins at noon on March 25th, so be sure to be at Gary’s home around 11:30 a.m. to prepare for the party. Don’t forget to invite Amy. She is good at music. If you have any other questions, just call me or write back.

Yours,
Leo
任务一：根据以上内容，选择正确答案。
1. Who may take fried chicken to the party?

A．Leo.

B．Gary.

C．Lily.

D．Jenny.

2. There are ______ people mentioned (提到) in the e-mail.

A．5

B．6

C．7

D．8

3. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Gina will have a potluck party.	B．The party starts at 11:30 a.m.
C．Jenny has to pay for the fried chicken alone.	D．We don’t know if (是否) Amy can go to the party.

4. The underlined phrase “write back” means “______” in Chinese.
任务三：根据短文内容，回答问题。
5. Does Jenny’s mom often drive to KFC?
_______________________________________
6. When will the party begin?
_______________________________________

【推荐3】阅读短文,根据短文内容回答问题。

World Kindness Day is a celebration which takes place on 13 November each year. It was introduced in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement. It is celebrated in many countries, including Canada, Japan, Australia and some other countries. World Kindness Day is celebrated to highlight acts of kindness passing on the positive(正面的)power.

Why be kind? Few people would disagree with the idea that a kind action is good for the soul(灵魂). It is a win-win situation because it leads to a sense of well-being both for thereceiver of this kind action, as well as for the person who does the action. As a simple example,let's imagine you have a workmate who always does a very good job. How about taking a moment to mention this to them, just in conversation or perhaps by email? The effects of this will probably be quite clear: your workmate will be happy to receive some praise and, in addition, you will probably feel good about yourself for having spread a little joy.

Many organisations try to encourage people to be kind, wherever and whenever they can. Perhaps the strongest supporters of this idea are the Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) Foundation. The RAK website suggests some ways to show kindness. Generally, these fall into three categories. The first is interpersonal kindness. Some examples are giving old clothes to charity(慈善机构) or writing a good comment about a restaurant that you like. The second is environmental kindness, which could mean simply recycling or organising a group event to clean a local park or beach. The third category is less obvious: personal kindness, which means treating yourself kindly. Some examples are taking a walk in nature or setting yourself an objective to complain less. The logic is that by being kind to yourself, you will surely be kinder to the world around you.

Most experts on kindness agree that it has a sort of ripple effect. This means that one kind action is more likely to lead to more and more. So don't wait for kindness to find you today, go and start a new ripple!

1. When is World Kindness Day?
________________________________________________________
2. Why is World Kindness Day celebrated?
________________________________________________________
3. Why should people be kind?
________________________________________________________
4. According to RAK, what does"personal kindness” mean?
________________________________________________________
5. What does the passage mainly tell us?
________________________________________________________

【推荐1】Cao Chong was the son of Cao Cao.

One day, Sun Quan sent Cao Cao a present. It was a huge elephant. Cao Cao wanted to (A) ________ out the weight of the elephant.

“What a huge animal it is! Can (B) anybody tell me how to weigh it?” he asked the crowd (C) round him.

“Can we get a large scale?” asked a soldier. However, no one could find a scale large enough.

“Can we cut it up?” asked another soldier.

“No. I don’t want to kill it,” said Cao Cao.

Just then, young Cao Chong had a wonderful idea. “I can weigh the elephant!” he said.

“(D) 让我试一试.”

Cao Chong asked some soldiers to lead the elephant onto a boat. As the heavy animal walked onto it, the boat went lower into the (E) ________. Cao Chong drew a line on the side of the boat to mark how low it went. The elephant was then taken off the boat and the boat was filled with rocks until it went down again and water reached the line on the boat.

Cao Chong then weighed the rocks. He added up the weight of all the rocks and said, “(F) This is the weight of the elephant.”

Cao Cao was very happy with his son. “My son is very clever, isn’t he?” he said. Everyone agreed.

1. 在文中(A)和(E)的空白处填入适当单词：________ ________
2. 写出文中划线部分(B)和(C)的同义词或近义词：________ ________
3. 将文中划线部分(D)翻译成英文：________
4. 将文中划线部分(F)改写成：This is ________ ________ the elephant is
5. 在文中找出两个历史人物：________ ________

【推荐2】阅读短文，根据短文内容回答问题。
Think about the distance（距离）you traveled in the last six months of your life. About how many miles（kilometers）did you go？Lucid went quite a distance. On March 22, 1996，she started a journey. She traveled 188 days, 4 hours，and 14 seconds in total. This is a little over six months. So what distance did Lucid travel? She went 75.2 million miles（1,203,200,000 kilometers）!
How could Lucid go so far? How could she journey so fast? Lucid was an American astronaut and she was in space. She lived on a space station. The space station was the Russian space station Mir. She lived and worked with two Russian astronauts.
On Mir,it was hard for Lucid to know what day it was.Why?Mir did not stay in one place.It orbited the Earth.It went around the Earth.Mir’s orbit meant that darkness did not mean the day was over. Darkness fell many times during a 24-hour period.Darkness fell about every 45 minutes. Lucid did something to help her remember what day it was. She wore pink socks on every seventh day. The pink socks reminded Lucid about something else,too. The pink socks helped Lucid remember that Jell-O would be served for dinner. On Mir,Jell-O was a special treat. It was only served on Sunday.
Lucid worked hard to deserve the honor of working on Mir. She went to school for a long time.She was one of the first six women to be accepted into the astronaut-training program. She flew on several American missions. When accepted for Mir, she had to learn Russian in less than 18 months. On Mir, Lucid conducted many experiments. One experiment she conducted was with wheat. Lucid grew wheat. Growing plants in space was important, because green plants could provide oxygen and food for space travelers.

1. When did Lucid start the journey?
______________________________________________________
2. Did Lucid live on a space station?
______________________________________________________
3. How did Lucid remember what day it was?
______________________________________________________
4. Why was growing plants in space important?
______________________________________________________
5. What is the story mainly about?
______________________________________________________