1 . “Tina, there’s a school talent show in three weeks,” I shouted to my best friend. My older brother had been teaching me juggling (杂耍), and he would help me.
Tina ran over to the bulletin board. “Maura, what’s our act going to be?”
“Our act?” I said, holding my books tightly.
Tina smiled and said, “It says acts can be individuals, partners, or small groups.”
My grip (紧握) on my books became uncomfortably tight.
“It’ll be fun,” Tina said.
I thought for a second before continuing. “I’ve got an idea and...”
Tina interrupted me, “Yeah, me too. Let’s talk at lunch.”
During math, I tried to think of how I would tell Tina. After all, we are best friends.
We should be able to see eye to eye about this. The problem is Tina always takes charge.
I really wanted to win, but I wanted to win on my own—with an act that was all mine.
At lunch, Tina started talking, “I have it all planned out. We can sing along to a song and dance, and my mom can make costumes (服装).”
“But I had another idea.” I told her about my juggling act.
Tina considered it. “Nah, I don’t think I can learn to juggle in three weeks,” she said. “You don’t want us to feel stupid, right?”
When my grandmother picked me up, she drove a few minutes and finally said, “Cat got your tongue?”
I explained as she listened.
“Well, you weren’t respectful of your own ideas. I understand that you’re friends, but you’re still responsible for your own actions,” said my grandmother.
“Tell the truth,” she added.
When we got home, I took 12 deep breaths and called Tina.
The next day, she described her act and her costume like nothing bad had happened. I know everything worked out fine. But the biggest surprise came at break, when we played a game that I chose, not Tina.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。1. How did Maura feel when saying “Our act?”?
| A．Bored and tired. | B．Calm and relaxed. |
| C．Curious and excited. | D．Surprised and worried. |
| A．Do juggling. | B．Act in a play. | C．Play a game. | D．Sing and dance. |
| A．She is always in control of things. | B．She is not the best kind of friend. |
| C．She doesn’t want to respect Maura. | D．She always helps Maura solve problems. |
| A．Stopped. | B．Refused. | C．Comforted. | D．Promised. |
| A．Tina was still her best friend. | B．She won with the juggle show. |
| C．The game they played was fun. | D．She got to make her own decision. |
2 . For a long time, we had a fat, black, stray cat (流浪猫) in our neighborhood. Sometimes I saw her sitting at my door. Sometimes I saw her hiding under my car. Sometimes she even walked under my house. Each time I walked close to her, however, she ran away. She even didn’t notice my care. Finally, I gave up and decided to give her some independence.
Recently, though, something strange happened. I couldn’t imagine that this independent cat decided to make friends with my daughter, Beth. I noticed some things that surprised me so much. Each time Beth walks over to my house from her place up the road, she is welcomed by the cat. The cat walks between her legs, meows (喵喵叫) until she gets noticed.
It happened day after day until this morning when Beth left her a bowl of cat food. I guess that ended the cat’s poor life because Beth even started calling the cat “Alice”. She treated her just like a close friend. I doubt Alice will ever want to become an indoor cat, but she seems to have made Beth her forever friend. Beth has the kindness and love that draws all kinds of animals to her from dogs to cats, to birds. She is always welcomed by different kinds of animals.
Isn’t it amazing how love works its way into our hearts and lives? We are minding our own business and suddenly we have a new pet, or a new friend, or find a moment to share in an act of kindness. Let your love pass onto the lives of others, because to love is to truly live and to live is to truly love.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。1. How did the cat treat the writer’s care?
| A．The cat hated it. | B．The cat valued it. |
| C．The cat avoided it. | D．The cat welcomed it. |
| A．The cat became impossible to see. |
| B．The cat changed behavior suddenly. |
| C．The cat wanted to make friends with the writer. |
| D．The cat got along well with the writer’s daughter. |
| A．Kind and caring. | B．Brave and friendly. |
| C．Patient and lovely. | D．Outgoing and honest. |
| A．The cat may like her name, “Alice”. |
| B．The cat would want to be an indoor pet. |
| C．The cat may see Beth as a forever friend. |
| D．The cat may want to eat the bowl of food. |
| A．Stay away from any stray animal. |
| B．Share kindness and pass love on. |
| C．Look after yourself while outside. |
| D．Take care of your own business. |
3 . 
Once upon a time, there was a boy with a very bad temper (脾气). He often lost his temper over unimportant matters. One day, his father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he would hammer a nail into the backyard fence (篱笆).
On the first day, the boy had hammered 37 nails into the fence. And in the following days, there were more and more nails hammered each day.
But after a few weeks, the boy found that it was easier to control his temper than to hammer those nails. And the day the nails were spread all over the fence, the boy no longer lost patience and lost his temper as easily as before. He ran to his father happily and told him about it. The father nodded and told him that from then on, whenever he wanted to lose his temper but successfully controlled it, he would pull out a nail.
Time passed day by day, and finally the boy told his father that he had finally pulled out all the nails. The father took his hand and led him to the backyard, pointing to the hole-ridden fence and said, “You did a good job, my son. But look at those holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same again. When you lose your temper with others, it’s like hammering a nail into their hearts, leaving a scar (伤疤) forever. If you hurt someone with a knife, no matter how many times you say sorry, even if the wound can be healed (治愈), the scar will always be there. Sometimes, the pain of words is just as irreparable as the pain of real injury (伤害).”
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。1. What does the writer mainly want to tell us in Paragraph 2?
| A．How the boy began to hammer nails. | B．How bad the boy’s temper was. |
| C．How many nails the boy hammered. | D．How long the boy hammered nails. |
| A．Because he knew how to hammer nails. |
| B．Because he had hammered all the nails. |
| C．Because he no longer lost his temper as easily as before. |
| D．Because he really realized his father’s good intention (意图). |
| A．不可弥补的 | B．不能忽视的 | C．无法重现的 | D．无可奈何的 |
| A．Caring and brave. | B．Honest and warm-hearted. |
| C．Active and hard-working. | D．Wise and patient. |
| A．Unimportant Matters | B．A Boy with a Bad Temper |
| C．The Nails and the Fence | D．The Pain of Words |
4 . Isaac Newton was born in Lincolnshire, England in 1643, where he grew up on a farm. When he was a boy, he made lots of great inventions like a windmill (风车), a water clock and a sundial. However, Isaac didn’t get good marks at school and he always failed his tests.
When he was 18, Isaac went to study at Cambridge University. He was very interested in physics, mathematics and astronomy (天文学). But in 1665 the Great Plague, which was a terrible disease, was transmitted in England, and Cambridge University had to close down. Isaac returned home to the farm. Isaac continued studying and experimenting at home.
One day he was drinking a cup of tea in the garden. He saw an apple fall from a tree. “Why do apples fall down instead of up?” From this, he formed the theory of gravity (地球引力). Gravity is an invisible (无形的) force which pulls objects towards the Earth and keeps the planets moving around the Sun.
Isaac was attracted by light. He discovered that white light is in fact made up of all the colors of the rainbow. Isaac also invented a special reflecting telescope (望远镜), using mirrors. It was much more powerful than other telescopes. Isaac made another very important discovery— the Three Laws of Motion (运动定律). These laws explain how objects move. Isaac’s laws are still used today.
Thanks to his discoveries, Isaac became famous. However, he had a bad temper (坏脾气) and often argued with other scientists. Sir Isaac Newton died in 1727 aged 85. He was buried along with English kings and queens in Westminster Abbey in London. He was one of the greatest scientists and mathematicians (数学家) who has ever lived.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。1. Which word is close to the underlined phrase “was transmitted”?
| A．Left. | B．Stole. | C．Spread. | D．Divide. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．How objects move. | B．Why objects have gravity. |
| C．What pulls objects to the Earth. | D．What keeps the planets move around the Sun. |
| A．Wise and friendly. | B．Proud and smart. |
| C．Creative and hard-working. | D．Bad-tempered and funny. |
①He went to study at Cambridge University. ②Isaac Newton was born in England.
③He formed the theory of gravity. ④He died in 1727.
| A．①②③④ | B．②①③④ | C．①②④③ | D．②①④③ |
5 . On the top of a tree, an old eagle raised her young. She got her food from the ocean, but this tree stood ten miles from the beach. It had long been known as the “Old Eagle Tree”.
On a warm, sunny day, the workmen were working in the fields. At a certain hour of the day, the old eagle was known to leave for the seaside to get food for her young. As she returned with a large fish, the workmen stood around the tree, shouting and throwing stones. They scared the poor bird. So she dropped her fish, and they carried it off.
The bird soon returned to her home without food. The babies at once started to cry for food. The parent bird seemed to try to comfort them, but the babies were so hungry that she couldn’t calm them down. She then stood near the babies, and looked down into the home in a manner that seemed to say, “I don’t know what to do next.” A minute later, she spread her wings and was away again for the sea.
She was away for nearly two hours, about double her usual time for a trip. When she again returned on slow, weak wings, she flew uncommonly low to have more air to support her with another fish in her claws. On nearing the field, she flew around it to see if her enemies were again there. Finding the field clear, she once again reached the tree. Again the baby eagles began to cry. But soon they became quiet, busy having their big meal.
What a great bird! We can learn a lesson from her. Others might give up, but this bird, at once recovering (恢复) from the loss, has tried her best to finish her task.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。1. How did the workmen get the fish?
| A．They happened to meet the eagle with fish by accident. |
| B．They shouted and threw stones to frighten the eagle away. |
| C．They followed the eagle to the seaside and returned with her. |
| D．They worked in the fields and waited for eagle at the same time. |
a. The workmen scared the eagle away and got the food.
b. The eagle flew to the seaside to get food for her young.
c. The babies were disappointed and cried for food at once.
d. The eagle flew to the sea again and returned with another fish.
| A．b-c-a-d | B．b-a-c-d | C．a-c-d-b | D．c-d-a-b |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．Because she wanted to wait until the workmen left. |
| B．Because it was so hard for her to find another fish. |
| C．Because she was too tired to finish the trip as usual. |
| D．Because she didn’t know how to avoid the workmen. |
| A．The hard time in life can make one wise and strong. |
| B．Don’t cry over spilt milk and try your best to get what you want. |
| C．The most important thing for a parent is to raise the young babies. |
| D．Love for babies can encourage one to overcome all the difficulties. |
6 . During the summer vacation, Lin Ling, a 14-year-old girl, made a good friend. He is not a person, but a giant panda! His name is Jingke. Lin spent three weeks with him, learning how he ate, slept and played.
Lin worked as a volunteer at the Wolong China Giant Panda Garden in Sichuan that summer. Every year, volunteers go to the garden to take care of the pandas. People aged 14 and above can join in the volunteer program. Each volunteer should work for at least 60 hours.
Lin cleaned the panda’s home every morning while she was volunteering. “We have to collect the pandas’ feces (粪便), as it can tell us what the pandas have been eating and whether they are healthy or not,” she said. “The panda keepers analyze (分析) the feces every day.”
The experience also helped the volunteers understand pandas better. When Lin fed Jingke, she touched its fur. “It was not soft, but hard. It seemed that I was touching needles (针)!” Lin said.
Fu Rong, a 22-year-old friendly volunteer, is very interested in pandas. So she found lots of information on pandas and studied them carefully. She worked very hard and found pandas not only cute, but also dangerous. “Their teeth and claws (爪子) are so sharp. Pandas like to be alone. They may fight to protect their home,” said Liang.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。1. What do we know about Lin Ling and the panda?
| A．She saw the panda grow up. |
| B．She named the panda Jingke. |
| C．She studied the panda for three weeks. |
| D．She lived together with the panda. |
| A．For 50 hours. | B．For 55 hours. |
| C．For 58 hours. | D．For 65 hours. |
| A．To see how they eat. |
| B．To keep their home clean. |
| C．To find out if they are dangerous. |
| D．To learn about pandas’ physical health. |
| A．Kind and hard-working. | B．Polite and strict. |
| C．Shy and friendly. | D．Brave and friendly. |
| A．A Special Garden | B．Experiences with Pandas |
| C．Young Volunteers | D．A Smart Girl |
7 . I was sitting in a Beijing cafe drinking a coffee with my friend. We were at a table looking out a window into a hutong. Many people were walking past us, but one Chinese couple stopped and stared. I smiled and waved back. Then, to my surprise, they took a photo of us! The lady even came up to the window and posed in front of us for another photo. It was very funny and we were all laughing.
A few weeks later, I was visiting the beautiful coastal (海滨) city of Qingdao with two friends. People stared at us and wanted to say hello everywhere we went. It was like we were famous people!
So why were we getting so much attention? I think it’s because even though there are many foreigners, like me, living in China today, they are still kind of “rare (罕见的)”. This is especially the case in smaller cities, where there are fewer foreigners. This is probably why we were so popular in Qingdao, but didn’t get as much attention in Beijing.
But China is not the only place this happens. I have traveled to India, Brazil, Per and even the United States and been treated differently, too. Brazilians and US people always want to chat with you, but Indians are by far the most curious (好奇的). When I visited, children and adults were always staring and taking pictures. The best way to deal with it is just to smile, laugh and enjoy it!
1. Where is the writer probably from?| A．Brazil. | B．India. | C．The USA. | D．We don’t know. |
| A．He became famous. | B．He caught the attention of many people. |
| C．He said sorry to everyone. | D．He missed the last train. |
| A．Because Qingdao sees fewer foreigners. |
| B．Because people in Qingdao are more friendly. |
| C．Because many foreigners work in coastal cities like Qingdao. |
| D．Because there aren’t many foreigners in Beijing. |
| A．聊天 | B．核对 | C．查询 | D．对待 |
| A．Travelling in China |
| B．A Foreigner’s experience in China |
| C．A Foreign Traveler’s Feeling |
| D．Traveling in foreign countries can make you popular. |
8 . Over 50 years ago, there was a really interesting experiment (实验) with kids, aged between three and six years old. Scientists were curious (好奇的) about something called “self-control.” That’s like when you really want to do something, but you decide to wait.
In the experiment, each kid sat at a table and a scientist put a delicious marshmallow (棉花糖) in front of them. The kids had a choice to make. They could eat the marshmallow right then, or if they waited for 15 minutes without eating it, they would get a second marshmallow when the scientist came back. It was a difficult choice!
Some kids decided to eat the marshmallow right away because it looked so tasty. But others waited, thinking about getting two marshmallows instead of just one. They tried different things to distract themselves, like singing songs or playing games in their minds.
Many years later, the scientists checked on these kids, who were all grown up by then. They noticed something really interesting. The kids who waited for the second marshmallow were more likely to have done well in school and in their jobs. This little test seemed to show that being patient and controlling yourself can help you succeed in different parts of life.
So, if you were in that test, what would you do? Would you eat the marshmallow right away, or would you try to wait for two? It’s a fun thing to think about! Remember, sometimes waiting a bit can bring you even better things.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。1. What was the main purpose of the experiment over 50 years ago?
| A．Studying self-control in young children. |
| B．Checking how long kids can sit at a table. |
| C．Understanding kids’ preferences in sweets. |
| D．Testing kids’ knowledge about marshmallows. |
| A．Those who finished eating it soon. | B．Those who were good at singing. |
| C．Those who waited for 15 minutes. | D．Those who were much younger. |
| A．Develop their ability. | B．Take their attention away. |
| C．Strengthen their body. | D．Remember something important. |
| A．They checked on the same kids. | B．They did the experiment again. |
| C．They wrote a research paper. | D．They tested on different age groups. |
| A．To eat less sweet food. | B．To enjoy what we have right away. |
| C．To join in the experiment. | D．To practice patience and self-control. |
9 . Encouraged by the 13th-century book “The Travels of Marco Polo”, Italian physicist (物理学家) Alessandro Codello started his own Silk Road journey a few years ago from Italy. He traveled through countries including Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and finally China. During his trip, Codello carried “The Travels of Marco Polo” with him. “Every time I reached a new area, I tried to find ideas or places that matched Polo’s words...The most interesting thing was finding what he wrote in the book was right in front of my eyes.” he shared.
Codello is very interested in the markets along the way, as lively trades and exchanges took place in those places. From time to time, he was invited to give speeches and attend meetings at universities. He mentioned that as a physicist, he couldn’t wait to find anything related to science along the way. He talked about his trip to Khiva in Uzbekistan. It is the hometown of mathematician Al-Khwarizmi（780﹣850）, from whom the word “algorithm (算法) ‘gets its name’. It’s closely related with Shenzhen today,” he said. “It is very important to many problems and technologies that engineers in Shenzhen meet.”
When Codello finally arrived in China at the end of his journey, he felt the same curiosity as Marco Polo. “When I first arrived in China, I was not used to paying with a phone. I was amazed that banknotes were not commonly used. However, when Marco Polo was here, he was amazed that people in China were using paper money. Once again, I shared the same feeling with Marco Polo,” Codello said.
1. Where did Codello begin his journey?| A．Iran. | B．Italy. | C．Greece. | D．Turkey. |
| A．Funny. | B．Clear. | C．Difficult. | D．Encouraging. |
| A．He had a meeting with Al-Khwarizmi. |
| B．He wanted to visit the market of that city. |
| C．He was interested in a local mathematician. |
| D．He hoped to improve Shenzhen’s technology. |
| A．Chinese no longer use paper money. |
| B．Codello spends many days in China. |
| C．Codello enjoys the new way of paying. |
| D．Great changes in China surprise Codello. |
| A．Rediscover Silk Road | B．Going on a Long Journey |
| C．The Travels of Marco Polo | D．Lively Business from the Past |
10 . The Silk Route Bike Tour: is it the greatest trip in the world? Cyclists call it “the longest, hardest, highest, hottest, coldest bicycle tour in the world”. In eighteen weeks you travel over 12,000 kilometers through seven different countries and have the most exciting ride of your life.
“A thousand years ago people went by camel (骆驼) and did about twenty-five kilometers a day,” said one cyclist, “But on a bike you do twenty-five kilometers in an hour.” And along the way you see some of the most beautiful places in the world.
From Shanghai, you go across Asia, through Iran and arrive in Istanbul, Turkey, at the end. You travel across the deserts (沙漠) of China and cycle the Pamir Highway to over 4,600 meters across the “Roof(屋顶) of the World” in the mountains Tajikistan.
On the way there are villages, markets and ancient (古老的) buildings. At night, you stay in ancient roadside hotels or in camps. A chef cooks dinner for about half of the 133 days; on other days cyclists can eat in local restaurants or shops in local markets for their food. One cyclist said, “The best thing was the friendliness of the people.” And the worst things? “The snow and the cold in the Pamirs.”
So is it the greatest trip in the world? Cyclist Miles MacDonald thinks so. “The Silk Route is a true expedition (探险). It is long and difficult, but it’s such an amazing experience that you arrive in Istanbul a completely changed person.”
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。
1. Which one is true about The Silk Route Bike Tour?| A．It is exciting and relaxing. | B．It is twenty-five kilometers. |
| C．It covers seven countries. | D．It will start in eighteen weeks. |
| A．The history of the tour. | B．The danger on the way. |
| C．The beauty along the way. | D．The speed of cycling. |
| A．introduce an activity | B．solve a problem | C．explain an idea | D．tell a story |
| A．Japan. | B．Turkey. | C．China. | D．Iran. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
