1 . Fun Activities for Teens to Do in the Summer
Do you feel bored with the upcoming summer? We asked parents for ideas for things that teens can do and here are some suggestions for fun activities for you to do in the summer.
#1:______ :Visit older family members and interview them about the past of your family. You could use a smartphone to record some of the conversation. Things to ask about:
What did you eat? Who was your favorite family member? What did you do to make yourself happy? What was it like when you were a teenager?
#2 :______ : Not only will you make your parents happy, but you will find all those lost CDs/books/socks that are hidden under the bed.
You can now have a yard sale for the things you no longer want, and make yourself some pocket money at the same time.
#3:______ : Put together a memory book. It could be about primary or junior school since you’re heading to high school:
*friends made *best memories
*favorite subjects *favourite subjects
*hopes/feelings about going to high school, etc.
#4_______ : Get down and work on the farm and have a bit of fun. You never know you might love driving tractors (拖拉机) and feeding cows and horses. If nothing else, it will give you a good taste of what a hard life farming is.
1. Which may not be a good question for the interview in #1?| A．What did you do for fun? |
| B．How did you go to school? |
| C．What were your parents like? |
| D．What’s the plan for your future? |
| A．Throwing away what you’ve found. | B．Selling something that is not needed. |
| C．Asking parents for pocket money. | D．Using CDs you’ve found as presents. |
a. Clear out Your Room b. Create a Memory Book
c. Help on a Nearby Farm d. Discover Family History
| A．a-d-b-c | B．d-a-b-c | C．d-b-a-c | D．c-a-b-d |
| A．Your love for country music. | B．The interest in your future job. |
| C．The experience of farm work. | D．The fun of sharing with friends. |
Cute lion heads, deafening gongs and drums, an excited crowd—these are all part of the lion dances you often see during Chinese holidays.
The lion dance has been performed for more than 2,000 years. Chinese people believe that lions can drive away bad things and bring good luck.
Wang Rentao, 41, has been performing the lion dance for 28 years. He was born in Zhongkeng Village in Dongguan, Guangdong. Wang watched villagers perform it when he was young. “It’s a tradition with a long history here and the love for the lion dance is in everyone’s blood,”Wang said.
He is now the head of the village’s lion dance team. In 2019, the team took part in the celebration of the 70th birthday of New China at Tian’anmen Square. Wang was very proud of the team’s achievements.
The team is famous for dancing on quincuncial piles (梅花桩), one of the most difficult lion dance skills. Performers jump from one pile to another at a height of about 2.5 meters. The piles are about 1.8 meters away from each other. When performing, performers need to have enough team spirit, which can also show the unity of the people.
“The training is really hard. Performers need to have a great base of kung fu skills first. Even with that, they can fall from the piles and get hurt.” Wang said. “It can take many years to learn this skill.”
The lion dance is popular not just in China, but in overseas Chinese communities. Many overseas Chinese see the lion as a symbol of China. The lion dance reminds them of the culture of their homeland.
1. What can you see in the lion dances during Chinese holidays?2. Why do Chinese people like lion dancing?
3. What did Wang Rentao do in 2019 at Tian’anmen Square?
4. Say something about another form of celebration of Chinese culture on a traditional festival. (30 words or more)
3 . ①Researchers have used high technology to learn about a famous painting by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. The painting is called Girl with a Pearl Earring. Vermeer was considered as one of the greatest art masters during the Dutch Golden Age of painting in the 1600s.
②The researchers’ tests have found out important information about how Vermeer did the painting. He began making the work with brown and black paints on a piece of cloth. Then, he drew the girl’s outline in black before working from the green background to the foreground.
③A careful examination even showed where some of the paints came from. The white came from the Peak District in northern England. The blue was made from a valuable stone found in Afghanistan. The red was made from insects living in Mexico and South America.
④Abbie Vandivere was leader of the research project. She expressed surprise that Vermeer used so much blue in the painting, noting, “The blue paint was more valuable than gold in the 17th century.” Vermeer, however, did not travel around the world to get the paints. He most probably bought them in his hometown of Delft.
⑤The research findings do not just show information about Vermeer’s paints, but also tell us about Dutch and world trade in the seventeenth century. Sadly, the researchers failed to find out if the girl ever existed.
1. Vermeer used ________ to start working on the painting.| A．black and white | B．brown and black |
| C．blue and brown | D．red and white |
| A．people at that time didn’t like the color |
| B．the paint was too common at that time |
| C．few painters used the paint at that time |
| D．the paint was very expensive at that time |
| A．where Vermeer did the painting | B．who the girl in the painting was |
| C．how Vermeer began his painting | D．when the girl’s outline was drawn |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
4 . You’re out enjoying the city when you find a group of people on the sidewalk. They are standing around some street dancers. The dancers are young, and they’re wearing backward baseball caps, baggy pants, and sports shoes.
As the music plays, the dancers take turns showing off their movements. They slide their feet back and forth before they drop to the ground. Then, they spin around on their heads and backs. Sometimes, they even stop their bodies for a short time in the middle of a move.
The dance they perform is break dancing. The young break dancers move with lots of speed, power, and energy. You can see that they have a great deal of talent. You can also see their love for break dancing. It’s really cool to watch.
Break dancing is a form of dance full of energy. It mainly has four kinds of movements. They are toprock, footwork, power move, and freeze. Also, the music that is used has clear drum breaks.
Breaking got its start in New York City in the early 1970s. Young people fell in love with it, and thanks to TV, movies, and newspapers, the dance quickly got popular in many different cultures. By 2010, there were independent competitions around the world.
The rise of breaking isn’t over yet. In 2024, it will enter the world stage as an official sport at the Paris Olympics. There, 16 male and 16 female break dancers will go head-to-head for the gold. This is great news for breaking and break dancers everywhere!
1. The writer starts the text by ________.| A．listing numbers | B．describing a scene |
| C．raising questions | D．giving a suggestion |
| A．In the US. | B．In France. | C．In China. | D．In Brazil. |
| A．It is soft and gentle. | B．It is a traditional dance. |
| C．It is an official Olympic sport now. | D．It is popular among young people. |
| A．Where does break dancing come from? | B．How can you break dance well? |
| C．Break dancing is changing people’s lives | D．Break dancing is entering the world stage |
5 . Life can sometimes feel like it’s uncontrollably toward disasters—just like the feeling you get when you’re lost control of your moving car. It’s the feeling of complete helplessness and panic. While we may be feeling overwhelmed with everything going on in our lives right now, there are still some steps we can take to control our lives again.
The first thing we need to do is to accept. When we’re feeling overwhelmed, it only means we are living, breathing humans. Life is like a roller coaster ride with its ups, downs, twists and turns. It’s also like the change of the seasons. Sometimes we forget this.
When we accept it, no matter how much we try, we may not be able to control our reality. But we can change our expectations to match our reality. This may mean changing our goals and tasks. Changing may feel like failure and giving up at the moment, but this ability is a chance to create success in the long term. Working with reality rather than against it can give us the ability to think and hope.
Sometimes, when we’re feeling overwhelmed, we may pay no attention to the things we manage to complete. However, celebrating our small wins creates space for gratitude in our hearts. Celebrating wins (whatever size) allows us to clearly see the progress we are making.
Feeling overwhelmed may be a part of life, but if we just step back a bit, we can see the ups and downs of our roller coaster ride are just called LIFE!
1. Why did the writer describe life as a roller coaster ride and the change of the seasons?| A．To show life is full of challenges. |
| B．To suggest we should learn to get used to changes. |
| C．To suggest we should have fun sometimes. |
| D．To show feeling overwhelmed is a natural part of life. |
| A．Be against the reality. | B．Change our goals. |
| C．Try it again and again. | D．Give up our hope. |
| A．Celebrating small success can do good to us. |
| B．Small expectations are better than big wins, |
| C．Stopping dreaming helps people succeed. |
| D．Small wins make people go to wrong places. |
| A．Get away from difficulties | B．Get over the feeling of being overwhelmed |
| C．Control our life | D．Accept and get used to reality |
6 . According to the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, for every 19 years there will be seven leap months. There are some traditions during leap month in China, which are different in different places.
In some part of Central China’s Henan Province, daughters will prepare wild goose-shaped pastries for their parents before the leap month comes, wishing for happiness and luck. In some parts of East China’s Shandong Province, the married daughters will send fish made by dough to their parents, which means “wealth”. And they will also send dough-made toads to wish their parents good health.
People living near Wuyi Mountain in East China’s Fujian Province have the tradition of drinking tea during the leap month, and only women can attend. Women in the village take turns holding the tea party, and they drink tea while talking to one another.
Just like other festivals, a get-together dinner is very important among the traditions of the leap month. When leap month comes, parents will invite the married daughter to return home and have dinner together, wishing for happiness and good luck.
1. How often does the leap month happen?| A．Every 19 years. | B．Every 7 years. |
| C．Every 2 to 3 years. | D．Every year. |
| A．A goose-shaped pastry. | B．A get-together dinner. |
| C．A dough-made toad. | D．A dough-made fish. |
| A．The married son. | B．The married daughter. |
| C．The married grandson. | D．The married granddaughter. |
| A．Culture. | B．Language. | C．Environment. | D．Travel. |
7 . You must know that the PE exam has become more and more important in China. It makes up 60 points of the whole points of the high school entrance exam in Liaoning Province. But lots of students don’t care more about sports. So I’d say: Don’t begin exercising until you enter Grade Nine or before the exam! Start now!
In middle schools in America, teenagers have to run a mile if they want to pass the PE test. They are timed (计时), and many students compare their times with others’. It might be difficult for students who haven’t got enough exercise to run the complete mile. They have to finish by walking! Students who are out of shape are out of breath after running! They get poor grades and some of them even have to take the class over again!
I think you still have plenty of time to get interested in sports. There are many different sports to try. As you know, the PE exam could include football in the future. Make sure you can find some sports that interest you!
There are many advantages to get fit! You will feel better and look better. You will get ready for your PE exams early. The most important is that you won’t be trying to catch your breath while other students go quickly past you in physical situation and life!
1. If your full points are 810 including your PE points, the points of cultural courses are ________.| A．60 | B．750 | C．810 | D．87 |
| A．needn’t be timed |
| B．has to walk to the finishing line |
| C．might ask the teacher for a rest |
| D．can’t take the PE class over again |
| A．Football. | B．Walking. | C．Running. | D．Baseball. |
| A．High School Entrance Exam | B．How to Be Thin |
| C．How to Have the PE Class | D．Get Fit Early |
8 . If you’re a kid who likes to have fun and chat with friends online, here’s advice on how you can stay safe and avoid problems.
★Visit safer websites. Your parents and teachers can guide you to the best websites. Some websites have age limits (限制). It’s safer to tell the truth and avoid those websites until you’re older.
★Guard your passwords. You can set your own passwords. Passwords are your secret. It’s dangerous to tell your passwords to others. So, don’t share your passwords with anyone except your parents.
★Limit what you share. Never tell a stranger where you live or your phone number. If you’re not sure whether you should share something, ask a parent. Remember that anything you put online is there forever, even if you try to delete it. If you don’t want your class to know or see something, you shouldn’t share it with anyone online, not even your best friends.
★Be choosy about your online friends. Some websites let kids make lots of friends with people they don’t know. But online friends are not the same as real in-person friends. Never agree to meet an online friend in person or give out personal information. It’s dangerous because some people pretend to be kids online but actually are bad adults.
1. In paragraph 3, the writer advises kids to ________.| A．visit safer websites. | B．guard their passwords. |
| C．limit what they share. | D．be choosy about their online friends. |
| A．There are some websites which have age limits. |
| B．You should never tell your parents about your passwords. |
| C．You can tell strangers about your personal information. |
| D．Online friends are the same as real in-person friends. |
| A．encourage students to use the Internet more often |
| B．teach students how to make more friends |
| C．ask students to set safe passwords online |
| D．tell students how to stay safe online |
| A．Online Safety | B．Safe Websites | C．Password Su. | D．Online |
Have you visited any traditional Chinese gardens? If you compare them to some Western gardens, you may find that traditional Chinese gardens look more like natural landscape. This is one of their main features (特征).
Chinese gardens have a long history. As early as 1500 BC, there were two main types of gardens: imperial (皇帝的) gardens and private gardens. Imperial gardens were for the use of the emperor and his family. Private gardens were built by general nobles (贵族). Both types of gardens were built for hunting and resting.
The Summer Palace (颐和园) in Beijing is China’s most famous imperial garden. It covers about three million square meters. Kunming Lake takes up almost three-fourths of the garden’s total area. There are over 3, 000 ancient buildings and more than 400, 000 plants in the garden. You can also see a great deal of priceless historical treasure. With such a rich collection, the garden is known as the “Imperial Garden Museum.”
As for private gardens, the most famous one is the Humble Administrator’s Garden (拙政园) in Suzhou. It has an area of 41, 000 square meters. When you stand in the garden, it looks like a beautiful picture from any angle (角度). And the whole garden looks different in different seasons.
The traditional Chinese gardens have been designed to look naturally formed. In fact, Chinese gardens are in some ways very much like traditional Chinese landscape paintings. The two have influenced and developed alongside one another. Both of them show the importance of nature in Chinese culture.
1. According to the article, how are traditional Chinese gardens different from Western gardens?2. Why is the Summer Palace called the “Imperial Garden Museum”?
3. What do Chinese gardens have in common with traditional Chinese landscape paintings?
4. What type of Chinese gardens mentioned in the text do you like better? Give your reason(s). Write 30 words or more.
10 . In 2016, Agent, a British company, tested five-hour working days for a month. The hope was that the people in the company would feel happier with reduced working hours. However, the results of the experiment were mixed.
“Lots of good things happened,” says Agent CEO Paul Corcoran. “We looked at tasks in terms of time: Do this in 15 minutes and that in half an hour. We wasted no time. People were missing the worst of the traffic because they were coming in at 10 a. m. instead of 8:30 a. m.”
Problems, however, quickly came up. “People used to have eight hours to finish their jobs. Now, they only had five hours,” Corcoran explains. “The idea was to give people more freedom, but they ended up feeling more stressed.”
In most companies around the world, an employee works for eight hours every workday. But many researchers have looked at the links between working hours and productivity (生产效率). They found that most people could only be productive for five hours each day.
Some companies have been experimenting with shorter working days. In these companies, people work from 8 a. m. to 1 p. m. with no breaks. In order to have the afternoons to themselves, they become much more focused than before. Their productivity increases by 50 percent.
But just like Corcoran, many managers have seen problems with reduced working hours. In addition to the added pressure to complete tasks on time, people are losing something on the relationship level. Since they no longer have time for small talk, it has been harmful for team culture.
It’s hard to say how long the perfect working day should be. Reduced working hours sound great, but having to do more work in less time is tiring. Which would you prefer, five-hour working days or traditional eight-hour ones?
1. When Agent decided to test five-hour working days, it expected ________ results.| A．encouraging | B．mixed | C．lasting | D．harmful |
| A．They had much more work to do. |
| B．They suffered from the worst traffic. |
| C．They had to spend more time communicating with each other. |
| D．They were under more pressure to complete their jobs on time. |
| A．a person who receives a reward from a company | B．a person who does a research for a company |
| C．a person who is asked to learn from a company | D．a person who is paid to work for a company |
| A．Supportive. | B．Negative. | C．Neutral (中立的). | D．Uninterested. |
