What a shiny scooter (踏板车)! Sophie couldn’t keep her eyes off it. Her dad noticed.
“Sophie, you have a scooter already, a really nice one!”
“I know, dad, but this one is so shiny and new,” Sophie said.
“It is great, but we have to go,” said her dad.
They left the store. Sophie knew her scooter was nice, and it still worked. She just couldn’t stop thinking of that new scooter!
A few weeks later, Sophie and her dad were back in the store. The scooter was just there, with a big sale sign on it! The girl ran right over to it. Her dad looked at the price.
“I know you’ve been thinking about this scooter a lot, Sophie. The sale price is pretty good, though it’s still a lot of money. I can’t just buy this for you. But what if I pay for part of it, then lend you the money for the rest, and you must pay me back?” her dad asked.
“Really?” Sophie said excitedly. “I promise I will pay you back!”
As they were walking towards the cashier desk (收银台), her dad asked Sophie if she knew what it meant to borrow money.
“Yes, it means that I have to give it back to you,” Sophie answered.
Her dad replied, “You’re right, but you can give it back to me a little at a time. Now you get five dollars a week for your pocket money and of course, you can get more if you do well in your exams or help with some housework. You could pay it back to me once a week until you pay off your part of the scooter.”
“Thank you, Dad! I promise I will pay you back everything. Please trust me!”
With a happy smile on her face, Sophie got the scooter she had always wanted.
1. Did Sophie’s old scooter still work?2. How often could Sophie pay the money back to her father?
3. How did Sophie’s father help Sophie get the shiny scooter?
4. In your opinion, why does the father in the story want Sophie to pay for part of the price? (Give at least two reasons.)
When I paint, I love using bright colors and wild lines across the paper. Last month, Ms. Robert, my art teacher, advised me to enter the school’s art contest.
“Why? ” I asked. “Most people think my art is strange.”
“Well, I don’t, Jamaal,” Ms. Robert replied.
The contest was about “The World: Its Continents (洲) and Countries.” I thought of Africa at once. Bright sunsets and patterns (图案) of wild animal hides (皮毛) rushed through my brain. Right then, I decided to take part in the competition.
I sketched (勾勒) out my ideas and worked hard on my painting. Lines of red, orange, gold, and yellow made the zebras, giraffes, and elephants come alive on my paper. Between the colors and patterns, I hid the letters AFRICA. After hours and hours of work, I stood back and took one last look I saw Africa.
During the day, I kept wondering what the judges thought of my painting. Then in the afternoon, I received the results. The judges wrote about how they liked my colors and my creative ideas. As I saw the words “Africa! I can just see the sun setting on the Serengeti Plains.” I was so surprised.
I won the second place at last! But I felt like I had won the first place because someone actually saw my Africa.
1. Did Ms. Robert think Jamaal’s paintings were strange?2. Where did bright sunsets appear at first?
3. What made Jamaal succeed according to the passage?
4. What will Jamaal probably do next?
3 . “The winter has come again.” Buck, a great golden-brown dog, thought to himself as the first piece snow touched his nose. But the cold of the winter wasn’t his biggest worry. The breath of a group of wolves was hidden in the wind blowing from the forest. “The wolves have come with winter.” Buck stood silently, waiting for them.
Suddenly, a wolf appeared and jumped at Buck. In a second, Buck broke his neck, and then stood still again. The wolf was dead behind him. Three more wolves jumped at him and were also killed. Then the group attacked Buck together. Yet not one of them could bring Buck down: he was too quick, too strong, too clever for them all. After half an hour, the group stopped.
Another hour passed. Finally, one wolf moved forward to Buck in a submissive way. The wolf walked near slowly with his head down. They touched noses. Then another wolf came forward to do the same, and another, and another. Soon the group was all around Buck, howling (嚎叫) into the sky. The call of the wild was loud in Buck’s ears. And when the wolves returned to the forest, Buck ran with them, side by side.
After a few years, the local villagers began to notice that some of the little wolves had golden brown hairs in their gray coats. They also saw a golden-brown animal that stood in front of the group of wolves. They called it the “Ghost (幽灵) Wolf”.
“And I once saw dead horses and deer killed by the teeth of a terrible animal. It was the Ghost Wolf!” Shouted one villager.
“I saw it too, in a valley which we dare not enter. What kind of animal would be brave enough to do so?” said another.
The Ghost Wolf was Buck. Though he was still in a golden-brown coat, he became like all other wolves. He would walk around the lake where the yellow gold shone in the water and howled. And he was not always alone. In the long nights, he ran in the front of the wolf group through the moonlight, and then disappeared in the darkness.
1. How did Buck know the wolves had come?| A．He saw them in the forest. | B．He heard them howling. |
| C．He caught one of them. | D．He smelled them in the wind. |
| A．Boring. | B．Scary. | C．Friendly. | D．Happy. |
| A．They wanted to catch and kill the Ghost Wolf. | B．They were afraid of the Ghost Wolf. |
| C．They wanted to be friends with the Ghost Wolf. | D．They knew the Ghost Wolf was Buck. |
| A．The wolves couldn’t beat Buck because he was too strong. |
| B．The wolves would have a fight with the villagers soon. |
| C．Buck grew grey hairs after joining the wolf group. |
| D．Buck became the leader of the wolf group. |
4 . On the side of the road in the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve (可可西里自然保护区) in Qinghai, you might see a fat wolf (狼). It wags the tail (摇尾巴) in front of the passing cars, hoping to get a meal.
However, the wolf was skin and bones a few months ago. It’s said that the old hungry wolf had to leave other wolves because it was not good at hunting (catching animals for food). But that all changed after a passing driver gave it some snacks to eat and put a video of it online. It made the wolf very popular, and a lot of people came to the reserve to provide it with food.
After that, the wolf started asking passing drivers for snacks. The snacks are high in sugar and salt. The wolf gets fatter and the change makes it look like a pet dog. Later, more wolves joined it.
People care about wild (野生的) animals, but their acts of feeding wild animals can be bad for both animals and themselves. It is hard for people to know if wild animals may hurt them or not, so it is better not to get close to wild animals.
1. What does the underlined part “skin and bones” probably mean?| A．Thin and weak (虚弱的). | B．Fat and strong. |
| C．Tired and dirty. | D．Healthy and happy. |
| A．It’s interesting. | B．It’s dangerous. | C．It’s difficult. | D．It’s necessary. |
| A．A popular fat wild wolf in the reserve. | B．Wild wolves are in danger now. |
| C．Wolves are popular animals online. | D．A wolf brings much fun to people. |
(①=Para. 1)
| A．①②|③|④ | B．①|②③|④ | C．①②|③④ | D．①|②③④ |
5 . Do you know the elephant-foot drum? Xie Wenping, 32, used to follow his grandfather who made elephant-foot drums for a living to learn how to make a drum. “I had decided to make more and better drums when I grew up,” Xie said.
The elephant-foot drum is the most typical musical instrument of the Dai ethnic group. The drum-making skill was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产) in 2011.
Elephant-foot drums carry great cultural importance. However, making an elephant-foot drum is no easy task. “Making an elephant-foot drum takes about 30 steps and one month,” Xie explained.
After picking the wood, one needs to carve (雕刻) the wood into an elephant-leg-like shape and hollow out the inside so that the drum can make a sound. The drum surface is made of cowhide (牛皮), which needs to go through several steps such as leather selection (皮料选择), cleaning, air drying and cutting. Then comes the painting. The drum is painted with patterns showing ethnic elements and covered with a protective topcoat (防护面漆). The finishing steps include tuning (调音), and polishing the fur. “A good elephant-foot drum should have a thick and loud sound when beaten,” Xie said.
The repetition of the work might not be so exciting, but whenever Xie sees his grandfather’s smile while making the drum, he feels encouraged again. “Over the years, the number of craftspeople (工匠) skilled in making elephant-foot drums has gone down,” Xie said. “I feel like it’s my responsibility to carry it on.”
Xie has innovated (创新) the form of the drum. To make it easier for the elephant-foot drum to spread to places outside Yunnan, Xie came up with the idea of making a mini kind of the drum and designed key chains shaped like the elephant-foot drum.
1. According to Xie, the process of making an elephant-foot drum is ________.| A．easy | B．challenging | C．boring | D．exciting |
| A．many young craftsmen are learning the drum-making skills now |
| B．Xie had decided to make more and better drums when he was 32 |
| C．the drum has been given new life thanks to Xie’s creative design |
| D．before painting, Xie needs to tune and polish the fur to make the drum |
| A．Helen ________ a large hole under the tree and put her box into it. |
| B．The firefighters ________ out the big fire that happened yesterday. |
| C．The little girl was only 6 when the Second World War ________ out. |
| D．Hou Yi ________ out so many delicious desserts that Chang’e liked. |
| A．The Hard Time for the Drum | B．Xie’s Innovation of the Drum |
| C．The Story between Xie and the Drum | D．The Responsibility of Xie |
6 . One day, while his mother was out hunting, the gray cub (幼兽) found the way out of the cave (洞穴). At first, he was afraid. But the need to know and understand was greater than his fear, so he went out. He soon learnt that the floor of the world was not flat like the floor of the cave. And he fell, screaming in fear.
But he soon sat up, and started walking and looking around him. He met a squirrel, and a woodpecker, both of which moved away from him. So he learned that the world had things that stayed in one place, and other things that moved.
He had beginner’s luck when he fell into a ptarmigan’s nest. In the nest were seven chicks. He realized this was meat, like his mother gave him. So he ate them all. As he walked away from the nest, the mother ptarmigan (雷鸟) attacked him. He fought back, biting her wing with his small teeth. He was excited and happy. He was fighting for meat, fighting to kill. It was what wolves did. He learnt another important lesson.
Then he left the ptarmigan free and rested. As he watched her, something rushed down from above him, picked up the ptarmigan and flew back up into the sky. It was an eagle.
He was learning. Live things were meat, but if they were big enough, live things could also hurt. It was better to eat small live things.
Later something small jumped in front of him, so he put his paw on it. It was a young weasel (鼬鼠). It made strange noises, and soon the mother weasel appeared. She jumped at his neck and bit him with sharp teeth. She wasn’t big, but he didn’t know how dangerous weasels were.
Suddenly she jumped, and bit into his throat. He tried to fight, but the weasel held on. The cub was sure to die, but luckily his mother, the she-wolf, heard his frightened calls and came to save him.
1. How many lessons did the gray cub learn in the story?| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
a. He fell down and felt quite afraid.
b. He met a squirrel and a woodpecker.
c. He was bitten in the throat and was dying.
d. He saw something pick up the ptarmigan.
e. He had a fight with the mother ptarmigan.
| A．a-b-e-d-c | B．b-a-e-d-c | C．a-b-d-e-c | D．b-c-a-d-e |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．The Law of Meat | B．The Gray Cub’s Unusual Experience |
| C．The Gray Cub in Danger | D．Mothers’ Fights for Children |
Video cameras are everywhere: schools, theaters and stores. But in recent years, they have entered our homes. Many parents set up cameras at home to watch their children’s online classes and homework. Are cameras really helpful? What do students think about it?
| Peter Earlier last year, I liked to lie in bed and watch videos instead of studying. This affected (影响) my studies and made my grades worse. So my parents set up a camera to keep an eye on me. It worked. With the camera watching, I had to do my homework first and make plans for studying at home. When I was alone at home, the camera made me feel safe because I knew that my parents were watching on the other side. My grades improved after a year. | Mary When I was in Grade 8, my parents set up a camera in my room. 4 Knowing there was a camera around when my friends came to my home, they would speak quietly and carefully. We couldn’t have pillow fights. I was sad. So I asked my parents to take the camera away. They agreed it as long as I promised to behave well. I feel happy and free now. |
2. When did Mary’s parents set up a camera in her room?
3. What happened to Peter after his parents set up a camera?
4. What happened after Mary’s parents set up a camera in her room? Finish Mary’s story in about 30 words.
8 . Long long ago, the colors of the world started to have a fight about how important they are. All said that they were the best and the most important.
Green said, “Clearly I am the most important. I am the symbol of life and of hope. Grass, trees and leaves choose me. Without me, all animals would die.”
Blue said, “Think about the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis (基础) of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea.”
Yellow said, “I bring gaiety and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow; the moon is yellow; the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile.”
Orange started, “I am the color of health and strength. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges and mangoes.”
Red shouted out, “I am the ruler of all of you. I am blood—life’s blood! I am the color of danger and of being brave.”
Purple rose up to his full height, “I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops (主教) have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom.”
Suddenly there came a heavy rain. The colors were all in fear, standing close to one another for comfort.
Rain began to speak, “You foolish colors, don’t you know that you were each made for a special purpose (目的), unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me.”
Doing as the rain said, the colors united and joined hands. And so, whenever a good rain washes the world, and a rainbow appears in the sky. Let us remember to admire (钦佩) one another.
1. At the beginning, all the colors thought they were ________.| A．interesting | B．favorite | C．lonely | D．happy |
| A．health | B．life | C．happiness | D．beauty |
| A．every color is the most important in our life |
| B．white, black are not as useful as the green and red |
| C．a heavy rain can make colors more beautiful |
| D．admiring others makes the world better and nicer |
9 . For 16﹣year﹣old Ma Yifei, the violin performance of the Beijing 2022 Olympic theme song, Snowflake, was her best present for Paralympians (残奥运动员) all over the world. Even though snowflakes are related to winter, she let others feel warmth, hope and light through her performance.
Ma went blind at the age of two because of an illness. She became interested in music when she was young. She started to learn to play the piano at five and the violin at nine, experiencing the “colorful” music through sound and emotion.
Ma’s mother Ha Chunyan, a former music teacher in a primary school, helped her memorize the music score (乐谱) before she played the piano. Ma could not see the keys and always played the wrong notes. It took her thousands of tries to play a piece correctly.
Learning the violin was more challenging. Ma needed to feel the teacher hands, arms and back to learn the movements, and listen to the strings (弦) over and over again to feel the muscles (肌肉) herself.
“After three years of learning, she still could not make any sound except terrible noises,” said Ha, who advised her daughter to give up the violin. But Ma said, “As I’ve been practising so long, it’s hard to give up I believe I will play better if I persist in practising.”
In 2018, Ma got a chance to follow Sheng Yuan and Cao Yuhan, famous musicians from the Central Conservatory of Music, to study music in Beijing. She left her home in Ningxia to follow her musical dream, though she knew there would be more challenges ahead.
Ma expressed her excitement about performing at the big event. “All my hard work has paid off. I’m proud of standing on the stage today.”
1. How does the writer describe Ma’s difficulties in learning the violin?| A．By questioning. | B．By listing numbers. |
| C．By offering advice. | D．By giving examples. |
①Ma got a chance to study music in Beijing.
②Ma performed at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games.
③Ma began to learn to play the piano.
④Ma went blind because of an illness.
| A．③②④① | B．①④③② |
| C．④③①② | D．②④③① |
| A．Keep on. | B．End up. | C．Take pride in. | D．Look forward to. |
| A．Old habits die hard. | B．There is no place like home. |
| C．Practice makes perfect. | D．A good friend is like a mirror. |
10 . Paul gets a birthday present—a car. On the evening before birthday, Paul gets out of a shop and sees a boy near his new car.
“Is this your car, sir?” the boy asks.
Paul says, “Yes. My brother gives it to me for birthday.”
“I’d like to be a brother like your brother,” the boy says. “Can you drive me home?” Paul says OK. Then he knows the boy’s name—Alex. Paul thinks Alex wants to show (展示) his car to his friends. Paul isn’t right.
Alex asks Paul to stop the car in front of a house and wait for a minute. Then he runs into it. After that, Paul sees Alex coming back with his little disabled (残疾的) brother. Alex shows the car to his brother and says, “There it is, Buddy! His brother gives the car to him for birthday. Some day, I can also give you one like it. Then you can drive to see all the beautiful things.”
Paul is moved (感动的). He lets them get in the car. They three have a great ride.
1. Where does Paul see Alex?| A．In a shop. | B．Near his house. | C．Near a shop. | D．Near Alex’s house. |
| A．He says goodbye to Paul. | B．He shows the car to his brother. |
| C．He asks Paul to visit his house. | D．He gives the car to his brother. |
| A．Paul. | B．Paul’s brother. | C．Alex. | D．Alex’s brother. |
| A．A Car Show | B．A New Friend |
| C．A Nice Holiday | D．A Special Birthday Present |
