1 . Narrator: There once was a pretty princess whose favorite toy was a golden ball. One day the princess tossed the ball too high, and it landed in the well. As the princess cried over her lost treasure, she heard someone ask a question.
Frog: Why are you so sad, pretty princess?
Narrator: The princess looked around and saw only a frog.
Princess: My favorite golden ball fell into the well.
Frog: I can retrieve it for you, but first, you must agree to one condition. You must promise to take me home and be my friend.
Narrator: The princess didn’t want to be friends with a frog, but she promised anyway. When the frog brought her the ball, the princess snatched it from him and hurried home.
Frog: What a selfish princess! I’m certain that she has forgotten her promise. I’ll just hop over to the castle to remind her.
Narrator: The frog hop-hop-hopped through the grass and knocked on the heavy door of the castle.
Princess: What are you doing here, you bumbling frog?
Frog: Dear princess. I am here to remind you of the promise you made.
Narrator: The princess slammed the door in the frog’s face with a big BANG.
King: I heard a door slam. What’s happening? If you made a promise, you must honor it.
Narrator: The princess was angry but obeyed her father. So, the king, the princess, and the frog enjoyed dinner together. It was mutton stew, the cook’s specially.
Frog: I was hungry, but now I’m full. Thank you for dinner. Kindly show me to my bed now.
Narrator: The princess did as she was asked, but the frog looked sad.
Frog: You have welcomed me into your home, but I can tell that you don’t want to be my friend.
Narrator: The princess’s face went red, for what the frog said was true. She bent down to kiss the frog, but ended up kissing a prince.
Frog: I am a prince who was turned into a frog, and your kiss turned me back. Thank you, dear friend.
Narrator: The prince and princess were wonderful friends from that day on and lived happily ever after.
1. The reading material above is ________.| A．a play | B．a poem | C．a survey | D．an interview |
| A．put away | B．bring back | C．carry away | D．cut down |
| A．To ask the king for help. |
| B．To enjoy dinner with his friend. |
| C．To give the ball to the princess. |
| D．To remind the princess of her promise. |
① She went back to the castle.
② She bent down to kiss the frog.
③ She got help from the frog and made a promise.
④ She obeyed her father and ate the meal with the guest.
| A．①③②④ | B．②④③① | C．③①④② | D．③④①② |
| A．We shouldn’t be afraid of making friends. |
| B．It’s a pleasure to see friends from far away. |
| C．We should ask for help when we are in trouble. |
| D．Once you make a promise, you must keep it. |
There is a kindergarten(幼儿园) in a mountain village of Tongren, Guizhou Province. Rao Si is the only teacher working there for 18 children.
Inside the kindergarten, various plants can be found in a small garden. Walking out of the kindergarten’s door, the children can see terraced fields(梯田) in the clouds. It helps them get a better understanding of nature. When she sees children’s pictures and artworks with imagination on the wall, she finds her work helpful.
“Most children in my class don’t live with their parents. Their grandparents care for them. They are like my family. We care about each other and grow up together,” Rao says.
There were no kindergartens in Tongren when Rao was born there in 1991. Things have become greatly different over the past ten years. Every village has a kindergarten now.
In order to make children’s learning interesting, Rao gets training and often visits city kindergartens. She watches how the teachers teach and shares teaching experience with them.
Though great changes have taken place, there are still some difficulties. For example, they don’t have enough musical instruments and painting materials. “We don’t have the material(物质) conditions like those in city schools, but we are close to nature. Nature is the best teacher,” Rao says.
1. How many children are there in Rao Si’s kindergarten?2. What makes Rao Si find her work helpful?
3. What does Rao Si do when she visits the city kindergartens?
4. Are there still any difficulties in Rao Si’s kindergarten now?
5. Rao says, “Nature is the best teacher.” Do you agree with her? Why or Why not?
3 . Born in 1991 in Anshan, Liaoning Province, Xu Mengtao had a hard childhood. A small room, a stove, and a small bed were all she and her parents had at that time. Her father supported the family by selling mutton skewers(羊肉串) around busy streets. After making his first money, her sports-loving father bought a television set. They watched different sports events every day.
Xu began to learn gymnastics(体操) when she was only 4 years old. To help her in training, her father picked up a small carpet(地毯) near his home, washed it clean, put the carpet on the ground, and setup a small “gymnastics field”.
Finishing sixth in her first Olympics at Vancouver 2010, Xu won the second place at Sochi 2014. Then 2018 seemed to be her time to win gold. But she finished ninth. After so many peaks and valleys, Xu finally realized her dream of winning Olympic gold in the freestyle skiing women’s aerials event(自由式滑雪女子空中技巧) at Beijing 2022.
“Looking back, I need to thank my parents, especially my strict father,” Xu said.
1. How was Xu Mengtao’s childhood?| A．Exciting. | B．Easy. | C．Hard. |
| A．Her father won a gold medal. |
| B．Her father built a large gym. |
| C．Her father loves sports a lot. |
| A．In 1995. | B．In 2010. | C．In 2014. |
| A．远近 | B．起伏 | C．山谷 |
4 . I’d give anything to draw horses the way my friend Euphemia Tucker does. They’re always running wild and free with their manes(鬃毛) flying over the paper like clouds across the sky. Euphemia’s horses look so real that you can almost feel their breath.
Today I took a piece of paper. I closed my eyes and planned to draw one of Euphemia’s horses. I could see it so clearly that I was sure I’d be able to draw it this time.
I started with a big mane. Next I drew most of the body and a long tail. It wasn’t too bad before I got to the front legs, which looked more like two noodles with wrong hooves（蹄）.
I tried again, but the hooves still didn’t seem right. I erased（擦掉） them and went on to the head. That was when I really ran into trouble. First I drew some great donkey ears, followed by sheep ears, pig ears... everything except horse ears. I erased what I drew again and again until I got a hole in the paper.
I was still upset when I got off the bus. I walked past the neighbors’ horses standing in the field. They’d been in that field for so long. Their manes never floated into the sky. Their tails hung straight down to the ground. They never be free spirits like Euphemia’s horses, but they seemed patient and strong. Their colors reminded me of chocolate.
An idea came into my mind. I started to draw a picture. The picture came out right for the first time, even the legs and ears! Drawing horses is easier when they’re right in front of you. It doesn’t look exactly like one of Euphemia’s horses, of course. But I know that when this drawing is finished, it will look great.
1. What can we know from the words “their manes flying over the paper like clouds across the sky” in Paragraph 1?| A．The manes are drawn terribly. |
| B．The manes look like they are moving. |
| C．The manes are getting mixed together with each other. |
| D．The manes look like clouds. |
| A．To show the writer’s problem. |
| B．To show the writer’s being useless. |
| C．To compare the writer’s abilities with Euphemia’s. |
| D．To show the writer’s determination（决心） to draw a nice horse. |
| A．Some situations take time to change. | B．Practice can help natural talents to develop. |
| C．New ideas will finally be accepted. | D．Ideas may come in unexpected ways. |
| A．The writer couldn’t draw well at first, but later he found a great way to draw. |
| B．The writer wanted to become an artist like Euphemia Tucker. |
| C．The writer’s neighbors helped him a lot with his paintings. |
| D．Drawing horses was so difficult that the writer couldn’t do it easily. |
5 . I’m about to begin my fifth season of tree planting. Each year, around this time, I have mixed feelings about the job. After enjoying the warmth of my home for the winter months, I begin to miss the challenges of life in the bush.
In the early hours of the morning, we join our team—normally 6 to 12 men and women. Some of us will be covered in suncream and dirt. Our trucks travel deep into the woodlands. When we step out of the trucks, we’re faced with a hillside that has just been logged (砍伐) and is covered with piles of logs (原木) and branches.
We quickly fill our bags with hundreds of tiny trees. Skilled tree-planters treat this more like a sport than a job, and competition fills the air. Once our bags are full, we jump from log to log. We fall many times, always pushing ourselves to go faster.
Daily pains get to us all. We feel uncomfortable in the heat, deal with cold at night and suffer from anger. But beautiful moments are always waiting. I remember, lying in my tent one night, listening to a pack of wolves howling in the distance. The season afterward I came across a bobcat that was sitting and calmly staring at us.
I’ve worked with a 62-year-old tree-planting legend (传奇人物) called Grant—believed to have planted seven million trees in 40 years. Once he got caught in a rockslide and broke his back. It took him years to recover, but he came back stronger than ever. His passion (热爱) for the job reminds me of what I love about it.
Tree planting is a laboratory of self-growth. You master your mind and face the worst and the best in your nature. A new version of yourself awaits at the end of the experience. And after sleeping in a tent all summer, you learn never to take your bed for granted. So value what you have had and face the challenges in your life with great passion.
1. Why does the author plant trees?| A．To be well-known. | B．To make a living. |
| C．To challenge himself. | D．To learn planting skills. |
| A．Honest. | B．Quiet. | C．Humorous. | D．Strong-willed. |
| A．You need to be yourself. | B．You can be more careful. |
| C．You should be thankful for what you own. | D．You should take your bed with you next time. |
| A．Crying in the Bush | B．Planting with Passion |
| C．A Lesson from Grant | D．A Mistake in the Wild |
6 . Kids in British schools can do many sports. In most British schools, children do two hours or more of sports every week, and they can choose from between 15 and 20 different sports. Here are several students talking about their school sports.
“I’m Craig Hopkins, and I’m in Year 11 at Park School. I love playing football and cricket. My favorite sport is rowing. There is a big lake near my school, and we go there once a week to row. I’m in the school team and two or three times a year we row against teams from schools in other parts of the country.”
“Hi, I’m Julia in Year 11 at River School. Though I’m not in any team, I can swim, play tennis and baseball at school. I love orienteering (越野识途比赛) most! In orienteering, you have to run and run—but you have to find where to go, too! You have a map and a compass, and you have to get to a place as fast as possible. It’s great fun—even when it’s raining!”
“I’m Brendan. I have played handball with Newcastle Tigers for nearly two years. It’s a very enjoyable team sport. In summer we played on the beach. This year I won the best player of the year award for my outstanding training attitude and hard work. I also joined a handball club at school and some other school sports too.”
1. What’s the favorite sport of Craig?| A．Rowing. | B．Football. | C．Orienteering. | D．Handball. |
| A．He won many competitions. | B．He had a gift for handball playing. |
| C．He joined a professional handball club. | D．He had a good training attitude and worked hard. |
| A．They come from the same school. | B．They show no interest in team sports. |
| C．They are members of the school teams. | D．They can choose many kinds of school sports. |
7 . On March 3,2023, members of a girls’ lion dance team were practicing moves of a lion dance at a community activity center in Guangzhou.
Since it was set up in July 2019, the girls’ lion dance team has won many prizes at different lion dance competitions. The team is part of the “Hexingtang” lion dance troupe (表演团) which was set up in the 1980s. Before 2018, all the performers of the troupe were male (男性的). In 2018, six girls joined the troupe.
Zhong Ziying, a middle school student is one of the team’s best lion dancers Zhong is the first girl in her family to learn the lion dance. Other girls on the team said they had watched male performers performing since their childhood, but none of them had expected they themselves could become lion dance performers one day.
The girls started to go out to put on performances on the first day of the Chinese New Year of 2019. At first, they were not acknowledged (认可) by local villagers. But they didn’t give up and practiced hard. The team began taking part in competitions in July 2021 and won first place in several competitions. With these achievements, the girls finally got the villagers’ support.
To stay in the team, the girls must receive strict training. The team once had over 20 members, but now there are fewer than 20, with the youngest one just 6 years old. Some girls give up because the training is so difficult. Sometimes they need to practice a move over a thousand times to perform it well. Those who have stayed are the best.
1. The “Hexingtang” lion dance troupe ________.| A．had only six members at first |
| B．has twenty male performers now |
| C．was set up more than 30 years ago |
| D．always wins first prize in competitions |
| A．how the girls got accepted by local people |
| B．why the girls' lion dance team practiced so hard |
| C．who trained the girls to help them win in competitions |
| D．what the girls' lion dance team did to celebrate the Chinese New Year |
| A．They are middle school students. |
| B．They are strict with themselves. |
| C．No one in their family can perform lion dances. |
| D．They dreamed of performing lion dances at a young age. |
| A．The best lion dance troupe in China |
| B．The first girls’ lion dance team in China |
| C．Girls perform a traditional dance in Guangzhou |
| D．The lion dance is being passed down in Guangzhou |
8 . What surprises us most? It is that there are still couples who keep doing things to show each other love. A Japanese farmer is famous for his act of love. He has spent nearly two years planting flowers for his blind wife.
Mr. And Mrs. Kuroki live in a large flower garden. The garden has turned into a tourist attraction (旅游胜地) recently. Around 7,000 visitors come here each year, not only for the beautiful scenery (景色), but also for the special story behind the two old farmers.
In 1956, the newly married couple first moved into the house. The house would be their home for the rest of their lives. They had two children and lived happily for years. However, as years passed, Mrs. Kuroki’s health began to decline. Her vision (视力) problems were so serious that she became blind in the end. She hid herself in her home for a long time, refusing to leave unless it was necessary.
Mr. Kuroki got an idea. He wanted to give her gifts—flowers. So he got to work on his big surprise. Mr. Kuroki took advantage of the hills around their house and he began to plant a kind of flowers with strong fragrance (芳香). He wanted to see if the fragrance would make her come outside. When he realized that his idea was going to work, he worked for nearly two years to completely cover his garden with the flowers.
Now Mrs. Kuroki goes out every day with her husband to enjoy the fragrance of the the flowers and the fresh air of a new day.
1. From Paragraph 1, we can know ________.| A．the farmer love his wife very much |
| B．the farmer has planted some trees for his wife |
| C．there is nothing wrong with the farmer’s wife’s eyes |
| D．it has taken the farmer over three years to plant flowers |
| A．好转 | B．控制 | C．恶化 | D．拒绝 |
| A．get more visitors’ attention |
| B．make his wife love flowers |
| C．enjoy the fragrance of the flowers |
| D．make his wife come out and enjoy the fragrance |
| A．A famous Japanese Farmer |
| B．A beautiful Act of Love |
| C．A large Flower Garden |
| D．A kind of Flower with Strong Fragrance |
9 . Yuan Xin, a one-armed student from Wuhan University of Science and Technology, touches many people with his story.
Yuan lost one arm at the age of 3. When he reached the school age, his mother didn’t send him to school. Instead, she taught her son at home first, helping her son learn to write with his left hand.
Yuan was born in 1995. In 2014, he started to use his only hand to program（编写程序）. Later, he won more than 30 prizes. In fact, before going to university, he has never used a computer.
“I can’t always be upset in life. There will always be successful people in life. Why can’t it be me?” Yuan said.
Yuan’s achievements did not come as a surprise to people around him. “He always comes earlier and leaves later than us,” said Xu Xin, Yuan’s teacher. “No matter who asks him for help, he is always friendly.” said Wang Shiqin, a student at the university.
Also, Yuan is glad to join in some competitions and activities. During a sports meeting, no one in the university wanted to join in the 10,000-meter race. Then Yuan volunteered and ran the race although it was raining. His act moved many teachers and students that day.
“ ________ It takes him more efforts than common people to get such a result,” said Fang Yuan, Yuan Xin’s mother. She is happy with her son’s achievements.
1. When did Yuan lose one arm?| A．In 1995. | B．In 1998. | C．In 2014. | D．In 2017. |
a. He started to use his only hand to program.
b. He won more than thirty prizes.
c. His mom taught him to write with his left hand.
d. He went to university.
| A．a﹣b﹣d﹣c | B．b﹣c﹣a﹣d | C．c﹣d﹣a﹣b | D．d﹣b﹣a﹣c |
| A．To show why Yuan could get his achievements. |
| B．To show how Yuan programmed with one hand. |
| C．To show why Yuan lost his right hand at an early age. |
| D．To show how Yuan helped people around him. |
| A．Yuan gave up the race. | B．Yuan lost an arm. |
| C．Yuan used to help others. | D．Yuan was caught in the rain. |
| A．An Old but Great University. | B．A Wonderful Sports Meeting. |
| C．A Patient and Helpful Mother. | D．A Hard-working Young Man. |
10 . This is a great story between a man and a swan (天鹅).
Recep Mirzan found Garip, the swan, 37 years ago. That morning, Mr Mirzan and his friends were taking a ride in their cars when they noticed the swan, with broken wings, in a field.
Mr Mirzan quickly took the swan into his car to protect her from other animals. The swan was friendly to Mr Mirzan, so Mr Mirzan took the swan home and named it Garip.
“Since I love animals, I said to myself that I should take her home instead of leaving her as food to wild animals,” Mr Mirzan explained why he did it that day.
Since then, Garip has lived on Mr Mirzan’s farm. Garip follows Mr Mirzan everywhere no matter whether Mr Mirzan is doing his jobs around the farm or taking his evening walks.
After her broken wings were OK, Garip kept staying with Mr Mirzan and also made friends with the cats and dogs on the farm. Garip spends most of her time out of her place and has never tried to run away from Mr Mirzan’s farm.
63-year-old Mr Mirzan lives alone and Garip is always by his side. Mr Mirzan says they love to spend time together.
According to scientists, a swan in the wild usually lives up to 12 years old. In protected environments, they can live up to 30 years. Living with Mr Mirzan is clearly good for Garip.
1. Why did Mr Mirzan put the swan into his car at first?| A．Because the swan was friendly to him. | B．Because the swan was alone in the field. |
| C．To take a ride with the swan together. | D．To protect the swan from other animals. |
| A．Mr Mirzan saved the swan. | B．Mr Mirzan noticed the swan. |
| C．Mr Mirzan named the swan. | D．Mr Mirzan went on a trip with his friends. |
| A．It does jobs on the farm. | B．It has walks in the evenings. |
| C．It lives in Mr Mirzan’s bedroom. | D．It follows dogs and cats everywhere. |
| A．A Rich Old Man | B．A Poor Wild Swan |
| C．An Unusual Friendship | D．A Boring Experience |
