1 . 
At Hangzhou Dinglan Experimental Middle School in Zhejiang, an exciting event took place earlier this year. The students weighed a pig!
Since 2017, the school has built a small ecological farm for pigs. Every year, teachers and students work together to brainstorm and use scientific knowledge to weigh the pigs. They have used methods like levers (杠杆) and Archimedes’principle. This time, students chose to use Magdeburg hemispheres.
First, the students used a pump (泵) to get the air out of the hemispheres, and then connected them to a cage where the pig was. When they turned on a switch to let air in, the pressure inside the hemispheres increased. With a loud “bang”, the hemispheres pulled apart, showing a pressure difference. Then, they calculated the pig’s weight with a special formula (公式) , using the preșsure difference.
Getting the pig to the test site was quite challenging. The pig was much larger than it was last year, making it harder for the students to deal with. “As the pig was about to enter the cage, it suddenly lay down and didn’t move at all,” 13-year-old Liu Nian told Teens. In the end, they managed to push it into the cage.
After experimenting a few times and averaging (求……的平均值) the results, the students found that the black pig weighed 165.3 kilograms, very close to its known weight of 154.5kg.
Apart from the fun of the task, the students also deepened their understanding of science through the activity. “We use what we learn in textbooks to solve real problems. This helps us know the concepts better and makes science even more engaging,” said 14-year-old Hu Yulin.
1. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?| A．How students did the experiment. | B．How difficult the experiment was. |
| C．What difficulty the students faced | D．What Magdebůrg hemispheres are |
| A．It shows the pig’s known weight exactly. | B．It is very close to the exact weight. |
| C．It is far from the known weight. | D．The result of each experiment is quite different. |
| A．important. | B．useful. | C．interesting. | D．careful. |
| A．It helped them find fun in life. | B．It taught them how to raise pigs. |
| C．It helped them enjoy science better. | D．It taught them to love animals. |
2 . The Seine (塞纳河) is a beautiful river which goes through France. However, the Seine has been seriously polluted. There are even laws that do not let people swim in the water. 11-year-old Raphael wants to clean the river. He wants people to swim in the Seine by 2024. That is when the city will host the Olympic Games.
Cleaning the river is a big job, Raphael fishes rubbish out of the river. He has done it nearly every weekend for the past two years. He fishes with his dad. They can catch a ton of rubbish in a single day. They have caught anything from phones to scooters (滑板车). The biggest thing Raphael found was a motorcycle (摩托车).
Raphael learned about cleaning rivers from YouTube. In 2019, he found a video. People were fishing metal (金属) objects out of rivers. They used ropes tied to magnets (磁铁), Raphael asked his parents for supplies. He wanted some ropes, a hook (鱼钩), and a powerful magnet. The magnet was very strong. It could attract metal objects weighing more than a ton (吨).
When he began, fishing for metal was just a lazy weekend activity. But Raphael soon saw just how much rubbish there was at the bottom of the river. He wanted to do more. “It became like a full-time job,” he said.
Last October, Raphael won an award for his efforts. He received the Medal of Paris. Raphael is confident about his progress in the last two years. A section of the Seine is clearer than the rest of the river. That is where he first started fishing for metal.
Raphael cannot clean the river just by his dad and himself by 2024, but he won’t give up. He hopes he is one of the first to swim in the water once it is safe.
1. Raphael cleans the river in order to _________.| A．learn from YouTube |
| B．win the Medal of Paris |
| C．join in the 2024 Olympics |
| D．let people swim in the Seine |
| A．Paragraph 1. | B．Paragraph 2. | C．Paragraph 3. | D．Paragraph 4. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．The Seine will become cleaner by 2024. |
| B．More people will fish for fun. |
| C．Raphael always cleans the river alone. |
| D．Raphael will stop fishing for metal. |
There was a very arrogant peacock (傲慢的孔雀) in an animal city. One morning the peacock wanted to go to a park but he got lost.
Then he went to a river and saw a cat and an elephant there. The cat asked, “Excuse me, Uncle Elephant. How can I get to the supermarket?” The elephant said with a smile, “
The peacock walked to the elephant and asked, “Hey! How can I get to the nearby park?”
From then on, the peacock began to be polite to others and slowly became popular.
| A．The elephant didn’t look at him |
| B．The face of the peacock turned red |
| C．Go this way to the end and turn left |
| D．He was worried |
| E．He wondered whom he could ask for help |
| F．but he didn’t say anything |
| G．why don’t you tell me the way |
4 . Long time ago, there were two talented boys, John and Joey. They showed great talents from an early age, and they did better than others around.
They grew up but they chose different ways. John used all of his talents to find a good job. He joined in many activities and visited the most important people and places. Everyone thought that he would be the most important person in the world.
But the second young man, Joey, was different. He always took a heavy responsibility (责任). He thought he should help others. He was always busy looking for ways to help others.
One day, bad things happened (发生) and they met many problems. John didn’t know what to do. But Joey always tried his best to solve all kinds of problems. He thought some good ways and didn’t let the bad things affect the people in his town. From then on, he was more famous than John.
John then knew that our best talents are not only for ourselves. He learned from Joey that we should always help other people.
1. John used his talents to _______.| A．make others happy | B．find many problems |
| C．find a good job | D．help others |
| A．影响 | B．感动 | C．压迫 | D．逃避 |
| A．Two Talented Girls |
| B．What We Should Do with Our Talents |
| C．The Most Important People in the World |
| D．How to Help Others |
In China, the twelfth month of the lunar calendar is called “Layue”. The month is full of interesting festivals and customs. Here are some festivals for you.
Laba Festival, which is on the eighth day of Layue, is the first festival in this month. From this day on, people begin to get ready for the Chinese New Year.
On Laba Festival, people often eat hot Laba porridge. There are usually eight things in the porridge: rice, red beans, peas, dried lotus seeds (干莲籽), dates and three different kinds of fruits and nuts. The porridge is not just good for your health, but a blessing for the coming of the Chinese New Year.
Another important celebration before the Spring Festival is Xiaonian. It is usually on the 23rd or 24th day of the last lunar month. It is an important day. People offer sacrifices (祭祀) to the Kitchen God who looks after the family.
Don’t forget to clean your home. This is also an important thing to do to prepare for the Chinese New Year. Because it means sweeping away the bad things of the old year and welcoming a new start. Now, the last thing for you to do is to wait for the coming Spring Festival.
1. When is Laba Festival?It’s on
2. What do people often eat on Laba Festival?
People often eat
3. Which English word in Paragraph 3 mean “祝福”?
It’s “
4. What do people do on Xiaonian?
People offer
5. Why do people clean their homes before the Spring Festival?
Because it means sweeping away the bad things of the old year and
6 . Every culture around the world has different customs and ways of communicating.
In China, people are used to saying “sorry” to show that they regret doing something wrong. But it’s very proud for American people to have polite manners towards one another in public. They often use the word “sorry” —— even when they don’t really mean it! Usually, if they want to ask a stranger for the time, they will start by saying “Sorry to trouble you”. If they’re five minutes late for the appointment (约定), they will greet the person by saying “Sorry, I’m late!”. It’s quite different in China. They use the word “sorry” in so many different situations that the meaning of the word has changed a little over time. The two main definitions of “sorry” in the dictionary are: feeling sad for someone else because of their problems or bad luck; feeling regret because you’ve done something wrong.
So what does “sorry” really mean? And why do Germans use it so much? Well, in Germany, saying “sorry” is a way to be polite. It’s also a very clever way to get what they want. If you want to borrow something from others, you’d better say “sorry” to them about something. Or it’s hard for you to get what you want. So maybe saying “sorry” is not only just being polite, but also a good method to get what you want!
1. When do people in China say “sorry” in the passage?| A．When they regret doing something wrong. | B．When they ask strangers for help. |
| C．When they greet people for the first time. | D．When they arrive at a place early. |
| A．meanings | B．copies | C．collections | D．addresses |
| A．Japan. | B．Korea. | C．Germany. | D．China. |
| A．How to Say “Sorry” Correctly | B．The Different Meanings of “Sorry” |
| C．Why Western People Say “Sorry” | D．Why Chinese People Say “Sorry” |
7 . Feng Boyao is a 14-year-old student at No. 37 Middle School in Taiyuan. He often goes to the library to read books. One day, he noticed that there weren’t many Braille (盲文) books provided for the blind and that most of those books were outdated (过时的).
At the same time, Meng Shuqi, Feng’s classmate, knew that one of her relatives couldn’t read the latest books because of the same reason. They then teamed up to help the blind by fixing the problem.
One year later, the two teenagers succeeded in inventing a new kind of Braille reader. In July, their work won first prize in a national competition. When connected to a computer, their Braille reader can turn words into raised dots (凸起的点). Blind people can then read by touching the dots.
“After doing market research by comparing different Braille readers, we’ve found that most Braille readers are very hard to use and expensive. Each of them sells for over 10,000 yuan,” Feng said. “So we decided to develop a user-friendly product especially for young blind children from Grade 1 to Grade 3. Moreover, it only costs about 2,000 yuan. ”
To make the invention, the team gained (获得) lots of knowledge and skills by reading online materials and asking their teachers for help.
After making their first device (设备), Feng and Meng visited a school for the blind to get advice. They then improved their device. For example, they changed the size of the screen and the amount of space between the dots. “We hope the invention will be widely used in the future to help those blind people who can’t afford expensive Braille readers,” Meng said.
1. Feng and Meng invented the new Braille reader in order to ________.| A．make money | B．learn Braille |
| C．help the blind | D．enter a competition |
| A．By reading books aloud. |
| B．By helping the blind touch the dots. |
| C．By changing words into raised dots. |
| D．By making raised dots on blind people’s computers. |
| A．The Braille reader’s screen is very small. |
| B．The Braille reader has become popular at a school. |
| C．Feng and Meng gave away their devices to a school. |
| D．The Braille reader has been improved according to users’ advice. |
| A．The development of Braille readers. |
| B．A new way for the blind to read. |
| C．An invention competition. |
| D．Tools for the blind people. |
8 . Bandile and Kojo were close friends. They promised they would be friends forever.
The two boys lived across from each other and there was a path (小路) between their houses. Every day after school, the boys would run from one side of the path to the other or kick a ball across the path.
Their neighbor Obasi liked nothing better than causing trouble. One day, he put on a two-colored coat. Its left side was blue and right side was red. Obasi said to himself, “Now for some fun.”
The boys were sitting opposite each other when Obasi walked down the path between them. He coughed to make sure both boys noticed him.
After he passed by, Bandile called out to Kojo, “Obasi was wearing a fine red coat.”
Kojo laughed, “Do you mean a fine blue coat?”
“No,” said Bandile with surprise. “It was a red coat.”
“His coat was blue, like the sky,” said Kojo.
“The coat was red-blood red,” cried Bandile.
Bandile and Kojo grew so angry that they started to fight.
“Our friendship is over!” shouted Bandile.
“I cannot believe we promised to be friends forever!” replied Kojo.
Suddenly, Obasi appeared, standing directly in front of the boys. They could see the coat was half blue and half red.
“You did that on purpose!” cried Bandile. “You tricked us into fighting!”
“It’s all your fault (过错) we argued with each other,” said Kojo angrily.
“I didn’t ask you to fight,” said Obasi. Then he walked to a park nearby, leaving the two boys feeling silly.
1. After school, Bandile and Kojo usually played ________.| A．in a park | B．at their school |
| C．around their houses | D．outside Obasi’s house |
| A．They shouted to Obasi. | B．They left Obasi alone. |
| C．They fought with Obasi. | D．They hugged each other. |
| A．We should always help our friends. |
| B．We should always believe our friends. |
| C．We should avoid arguing with our close friends. |
| D．We should see things from different points of view. |
9 . All students have to face their own problems and worries when they are growing up.
There are three girls in the Smith family, Amanda, Theresa and me. I am the youngest. We live in a small town in Pennsylvania, the US. People often said things to me, like “Oh, the three of you, you’re such nice girls. Your sisters are so pretty and so thin! You’re really nothing like them.” That made me really upset.
At school, all of my teachers had taught my sisters. On the first day of school, they said, “Oh, the youngest of the three! I hope you’re just like your sisters. They’re such wonderful students.”
People always compared(比较) me with my sisters. So I couldn’t help comparing myself with them. Theresa was smarter, and Amanda was prettier. I began to work hard to be more like them. What my sisters did, I did, too. At last, I became the lead drummer(首席鼓手) of our school’s marching band(仪仗队). Both Amanda and Theresa had been lead drummers.
But last year, Amanda went to college, and Theresa went to high school. Now everyone knows me, because I’m the lead drummer.
Now I don’t feel like a Smith girl any more; I feel like myself. I’m proud(骄傲) of doing all of the same great things that my sisters did. But the best thing I did was to learn to stop comparing myself with them.
1. When people compared(比较) the writer with her sisters, she felt ________.| A．uncomfortable | B．angry | C．unhappy | D．both A, B and C |
| A．had the same teachers as her sisters | B．had different teachers from her sisters |
| C．was taught by some of her sisters’ teachers | D．was taught by herself |
| A．To be yourself. | B．To stop working hard. |
| C．To learn from the old. | D．To do what others say. |
10 . How does success taste? The answer of 17-year-old Sunny Beatson can be: it tastes sweet.
Sunny Beatson lives in Australia. Although Sunny had little interest in cooking, he started making doughnuts (甜甜圈) just to make the time pass more quickly during the COVID-19 lockdown (封锁). He found the recipes online and his doughnuts tasted great. Everyone in the family liked them, so he thought he would try selling some.
“At first, I just put a message online,” said Sunny, “I didn’t think much of it. I thought I might only get one or two orders. But I didn’t think I would make any money by selling them.”
To Sunny’s surprise, he got lots of replies. Soon his doughnuts were sold in local supermarkets and his family members helped sell his doughnuts across the city.
Sunny remembered being excited when he sold 30 doughnuts in one day. Now he is selling up to 700 doughnuts in one day from his shop, Beadoughts Donuts, which he opened in January this year. The shop opens six days a week. Sunny wakes up at 3:30 a. m. and reaches the shop by 4:00 a. m. to start making doughnuts and get ready for the 9:00 a. m. opening time.
As his business grows quickly, Sunny opens his second shop in September. His doughnut productions has doubled since then. But the doesn’t want to stop there. The young-man is confident of his business and hopes to have it worldwide someday.
1. Why did Sunny start making doughnuts?| A．Because he is interested in cooking. |
| B．Because he could get help from his family. |
| C．Because he felt bored during the lockdown. |
| D．Because he wanted to make money. |
| A．didn’t have any recipes at all |
| B．thought much of his doughnuts |
| C．could know that his doughnuts would sell well |
| D．didn’t know his doughnuts could be so popular |
| A．is always interested in cooking |
| B．only has a rest for one day in a week |
| C．wants to stop his business now |
| D．set up two shops in half a year |
