1 . A sweet art-sugar painting
In China, one can often find folk artists producing sugar paintings with liquid sugar along the streets, in the parks, and around the schools.
The artists normally sit before a wooden stand where there is a smooth rock table in the middle. On the table, there is a wooden plate with various pre-painted images such as dragons, birds, dogs and flower baskets.
Sugar painting is different from traditional painting because artists must work quickly before the hot sugar cools down. They draw the picture without stopping. To get familiar with the whole process, the painter has to do some practice of normal painting in the first place.
There are two main kinds of sugar painting: plane painting and solid painting. It is easier to do the former. When producing the later, the painter needs more knowledge and techniques of sugar painting.
According to some academic studies, sugar painting originated from the Ming Dynasty. In the Qing Dynasty, sugar painting gained more popularity. In recent years, the folk artists in Sichuan have developed this art by incorporating techniques of Chinese shadow puppet and Chinese paper cutting.
Nowadays, the number of sugar painters has decreased. A certain number of artists are making efforts to preserve it by ________ and applying for the National Non-material Cultural Heritage.
1. Where can you see sugar painting in China?2. What are the pre-painted images of sugar paintings?
3. Why must the artists work quickly to finish the sugar painting?
4. Which one is easier, the plane painting or the solid painting?
5. When did the sugar painting become more popular?
6. Fill in the blank in the last paragraph.
A certain number of artists are making efforts to preserve it by
2 . Foreign visitors are often puzzled in Japan because most streets there don’t have names. In Japan, people use landmarks instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers,“ Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is just across the bus stop. ”
In the countryside of America, usually there are not many landmarks. There are no mountains. So the land is very flat. In many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distance. In Kansas (堪萨斯州) , for example, people will say, "Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile.
People in Greece sometimes do not even try to give directions because few visitors understand the Greek language. Instead of giving you the direction, a Greek will often say, “Follow me.” Then he’ll lead you through the streets of the city to the post office.
Sometimes a person doesn’t know the answer to your question. A New Yorker might say, “Sorry, I have no idea.” But in Yucatan, Mexico (墨西哥) , no one answers “I don’t know.” People in Yucatan think “I don’t know” is not polite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A visitor can get very, very lost in Yucatan!
One thing will help you everywhere. You might not understand a person’s words, but maybe you can understand his body language. He or she will usually turn and then point in the correct direction. Go on in that direction and you may find the place where you want to go!
1. What do the Japanese use to give directions?A.Landmarks. | B.Street names | C.Big hotels. | D.Fruit. |
A.big landmarks | B.towns and buildings | C.names of the farms | D.direction and the distance |
A.Because the street names are hard to remember. |
B.Because there are too many roads there, and visitors can’t find the way easily. |
C.Because few visitors can understand their language. |
D.Because people in Greece have a lot of spare time. |
A.English | B.Body language | C.Simple sentences | D.Names often streets . |
A.All the streets in Japan have no names. . |
B.people in Greece may lead you to the place when you are asking the way. |
C.Names often streets are not always useful when you are asking the way, |
D.You can use your body language to help those who are asking the way. |
A.How the Japanese give directions. |
B.People in different countries have different ideas. |
C.People from different countries give directions in different ways. |
D.The importance of body language. |
3 . Most of the movies show our relationships and our society. What’s more important is that people love to watch highs and lows of the relationships in movies. Friendship has been the favorite subject of movie makers for a long time. Many movies are based on lovely relationships like friendship. Friendship can be between two persons or among more than two persons. Movies based on friendship make us remember that the relationship among friends is delicate (需要小心处理的). These movies also show how important it is to have a true friend in life and to own the relationship.
Friendship is described in different ways in movies. These movies show different faces of this lovely relationship including the pleasant and interesting faces. Let us discuss how friendship is described in movies.
Friends share common interests: in most of the movies, it is shown that two people become friends easily when they share some common interests. For example, two friends may be in love with the same sports, studying in the same school or living in the same neighborhood. You can see such friendship in movies such as Harry Potter or Lord of Rings. Harry Potter has two friends. All of them are interested in the use of magic.
Friends make sacrifices: in most of the movies, friends make sacrifices for each other. A good example is Sholay. In this movie, there were two friends Jay and Veeru who were there for each other till death. Jay sacrificed his life to save his friend.
Friends never run away from difficulties: in movies, it is always shown that true friends always stand up for their friends in times of difficulties.
Understanding: in movies, friends understand each other without even saying a word. A single smile can brighten up the faces of all the friends.
1. Which of the following may the author accept?A.Most movies are about relationships between friends. |
B.Most movies describe stories that happen in our life. |
C.Movies about friendship are popular with young men. |
D.Movies always show relationships in the same way. |
A.friendship needs skillful and careful treatment |
B.people should try their best to make more friends |
C.movies about friendship talk about just happiness |
D.most movie makers prefer movies about friendship |
A.友谊 | B.叛变 | C.磨练 | D.牺牲 |
A.Veeru lost his good friend. | B.Veeru died for May. |
C.Veeru was Jay’s brother. | D.Jay and Veeru hated each other. |
1) Friends have something in common.
2) Friends can give up something for each other.
3) Friends never break up (分裂) with each other.
4) Friends help each other when they are in trouble.
5) Friends understand each other.
6) Friends get along well with each other’s family.
A.2)4)5)6) | B.1)3)4)5) | C.1)2)4)5) | D.3)4)5)6) |
A.Movies about friendship | B.Friendship in movies |
C.Ways of making movies | D.Ways of making friends |
4 . Why do people travel? —To see more of the world, many people would say. But travelling abroad now means much more than that for the growing number of Chinese tourists. Of course it offers us good opportunities to meet people from other countries, learn about their culture and customs.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), more than 1 billion people travelled to another country in 2012. In 2012, Chinese people travelled abroad 30 percent more than in 2011. The prosperity of the tourism industry can also bring both our country and foreign countries in economy of great benefits. Chinese people usually join large tourist groups and visit several countries in one trip.
Chinese people don’t just travel for sightseeing, either. The China International Travel Service Company said that all their tour trips sold out a month before Christmas Day. Stores offered discounts (打折) during that time, so shopping in Europe and the United States is popular among Chinese travellers.
In December, China is going through a very cold winter. So many people like go to some countries in Southeast Asia because the weather there is quite pleasant.
The improvement of living standards means more Chinese can travel abroad. But many of them don’t have a sense of public manners. A report by Living Social website in March 2012 even listed Chinese as the world’s second worst tourists, after Americans. As Chinese, we should learn some necessary manners of foreign countries.
1. Chinese people travel abroad not to ________.A.go shopping | B.see more of the world | C.go sightseeing | D.make money |
A.30% of the people who travelled abroad are Chinese |
B.the number of people who travelled abroad rose by 30% |
C.more than 1 billion people who travelled abroad in 2012 |
D.more than 1 billion Chinese people travelled abroad in 2012 |
A.they can visit several countries in one trip | B.they want to meet people from other countries |
C.they can learn about their culture and customs | D.stores offer discount during that time |
A.Chinese people like joining large tourists groups. |
B.Many Chinese like to go to Southeast Asia in winter for shopping. |
C.More and more Chinese people can travel abroad now. |
D.Chinese people are the second worst tourists in the world. |
A.litter and spit here and there | B.jump the line |
C.have a sense of public manners | D.speak loudly and smoke as you like |
A.Travelling | B.Chinese people like travelling abroad |
C.Chinese tourists | D.Chinese people like to go shopping |
5 . Smart phones have become quite popular all over the world. They are useful and necessary to all or us. It seems that most of us enjoy the convenience.
It is true that smart phones have greatly helped us in our life. Can you imagine (想象) what life without smart phones will be like? People use smart phones to surf the Internet, update their personal micro blog, and upload their latest pictures. It seems that smart phones have already become an important part in people’s daily lives.
However, some people seem to overuse smart phones. Young people, especially teenagers, easily lose control of themselves when they own smart phones. There’re some reasons. First of all, people are too busy to relax themselves, while smart phones give people chances to comfort themselves and share their feelings. Second, there’s always something new on the phone. So people are always ready to turn on their phones, wondering what is happening around there. As a result, they lose the chance to see the real world.
I think people should pay enough attention to the problem. Staying away from smart phone needs time and patience. Let’s try to talk with others face to face and find more fun by going outside!
1. What has made our life convenient according to (根据) the massage?2. What do people usually do with smart phones? Find two examples from the second paragraph (段落).
3. Besides “People are too busy to relax themselves,” what’s the other reason for overusing smart phones according to the passage?
“
4. Is it easy to stay away from smart phones in the writer’s opinion?
5. What can people do to avoid (避免) overusing smart phones?
6 . You don’t have to raise your own cow or start growing crops in order to have a greener, more Earth-friendly lifestyle. It isn’t about changing who you are immediately. But you can change a few things you do, to help both you yourselves and the world we live in.
1 Cut your bills.
How often do you get home from the supermarket, having spent another hundred yuan to fill your fridge, only to find you’re taking back some lunch meat that never meets a fork? Make a list, stick to it and be sure to eat what you’ve bought.
2 Grow it yourself
If you have enough room outside your window or a backyard for a few plants, make 2014 the year you start growing. There are many websites with advice on what time of the year is best to plant certain things, what kind of soil (土壤) or extra care they need and how to start growing.
3 Don’t just dump it.
Rather than sending an old piece of furniture to a landfill, can someone else make use of it? Does any of your friends or neighbors like it? Is there a secondhand store where your old things can find a new home? At the same time, you might find cheap chairs, old-styled cupboards or some lovely curtains on a secondhand website.
There are many ways to make a greener living. Follow the above advice, be smart and remember that small steps can add up in big ways.
1. According to the passage, a greener lifestyle is good for ________.A.only human beings | B.only the earth itself |
C.both A and B | D.only our children |
A.you haven’t bought the lunch meat |
B.you haven’t taken the lunch meat home |
C.you will never waste the lunch meat |
D.you will never eat the lunch meat |
A.what time of the year is best to plant certain things |
B.what kind of soil or extra care the plants need |
C.how to start growing |
D.how to make a backyard more beautiful |
A.Selling is to a secondhand store |
B.Sending it to a landfill |
C.Giving it to a friend |
D.Giving it to a neighbor |
A.Sports and health |
B.The earth is crying |
C.Easy ways to a greener lifestyle |
D.No buying, no wasting |
7 . How to make your own Internet page
It’s easy to make your own Internet page. The easiest way is to use a special program called a “web editor”.
You can find these programs on the Internet.
First think about some things to put on your Internet page by looking at other people’s pages. You need to put your Internet page on a bigger computer called a “host” which stores the pages so that other people can see them.
These computers are owned by special Internet companies. Our program may be able to help you find a host computer which you can use for free, but some companies will charge money for this.
To make your Internet page, start up the program and write some text in the window, then use the signs you can see on the computer to put in pictures and make the text larger or smaller, and change the way your page looks.
You can also put photos on your Internet page. First, you need to put the photo in your computer, then use your mouse to move the photo to the place where you want it. Choose the correct sign for putting photos onto the page, then find the name of your photo in your computer. When you’ve found it, choose that one with your mouse and put your photo on your Internet page.
You can also put signs on your Internet page to join it to other people’s pages. Visitors to your page can follow these signs to find out more about a subject. For example, if your page includes some information about Jackie Chen, you could put on a sign that takes you to the page for his fan club.
When you have completed your Internet page, you can put it on the Internet. After you put your page on the Internet, anyone will be able to see it.
1. What is the first thing to do to make an Internet page according to the passage?A.To buy it from a big company. | B.To get a program from the Internet. |
C.To use another persons’ page. | D.To make a program for it. |
A.To get money from the other people. | B.To get money from Internet companies. |
C.To give more information about something. | D.To give people ideas about Internet pages. |
A.Text, photos and signs. | B.Photos and films. |
C.Text, signs and music. | D.Text and music. |
A.How to find programs on the Internet. | B.The way of making your own Internet page. |
C.How to put photos on the Internet. | D.The way of putting your page on the Internet. |
8 . The 18-year-old American author, Juliette Turner, has published her third book for student readers. With her now novel, That’s Not Hay in My Hair, she has become a new star in the publishing industry.
After Juliette finished fourth grade in New York, she moved to a farm in Cooke County. Texas, with her mother. There she started a new life working with horses and cattle as a fresh writer. “Only my mother and I were living there.” Juliette said. “We had to break the thick ice on the trough (饮水槽) so that the animals could drink.”
Juliette’s mother, Janine Turner is a famous actress in the US. Life in Cooke County was not as attractive as the life she had lived before. But for young Juliette, the country life gave her a lot of food for thought to create her works .
That’s Not Hay in My Hair is unlike Juliette’s first two books. “Everything that happens in the book actually happened in the lives of my mum and me,” she said. “The adventures are hard to believe, but they all happened exactly as they’re described in the story.”
As Juliette is considering her coming college life, she hasn’t decided where she will spend the rest of her life, in a city or in the countryside.
“I will always be a country girl at heart,” she said. “I love the country life. It is where I feel peaceful and natural. For the moment, I have no idea where life is going to take me. But I will always return to the country and to my mum. It’s where my roots are.”
1. Juliette isn’t a teenage writer, is she?2. How many novels has Juliette published up to now?
3. Where did Juliette begin her writing life?
4. What’s Juliette’s mother?
5. Are the stories in That’s Not Hay in My Hair mainly imagined or based on real life?
6. What does Juliette probably mean by the last underlined sentence?
9 . In the 1950s and 1960s, Russia and America were both very interested in space exploration. Each country wanted to be the first to send a man to the Moon.
In 1957, Russia sent the first satellite into space. The name of the satellite was Sputnik. It was only as big as a basketball, but it was the start of the space race! In 1959, the Russians sent a spacecraft to the Moon. Its name was Luna 3. It went around the Moon and took photographs, but it didn’t land on the Moon. There weren’t any astronauts on Luna 3.
In March 1961, the Russians sent an astronaut called Ivan into space. He wasn’t a real person—he was only a toy. The Russians wanted to test the spacecraft and the astronaut’s spacesuit before they sent a real person into space. Ivan returned to the Earth safely. (He’s now in a museum, and he’s still wearing his spacesuit!). In April 1961, the Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to travel into space and go around the Earth.
A month after Gagarin’s Right, President Kennedy of the USA made a famous speech. He wanted an American astronaut to walk on the Moon, and return safely to the Earth, before the end of the 1960s. When he made the speech in May 1961, Russia was ahead in the space race. However, winning was very important to the Americans. They spent a lot of money on new spacecraft. In July 1969, Kennedy’s wish came true. Two American astronauts walked on the Moon. Their names were Nell Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
1. The “space race” in the 1950s and 1960s between Russia and America was to be the first to ________.A.go into space | B.take pictures in space |
C.send a man to the Moon | D.go around the Earth |
A.no | B.one | C.two | D.three |
A.An astronaut called Ivan | B.Yuri Gagarin |
C.President Kennedy | D.Nell Armstrong |
A.used to test the astronaut’s spacesuit | B.a real person |
C.happy when he returned to the Earth safely | D.sent into space on Luna 3 |
A.sent a toy astronaut to space | B.sent a spacesuit to space |
C.did nothing | D.did experiments in the lab |
A.win the space race | B.get more money |
C.send one satellite into space | D.make astronauts return safely |
10 . Oceans cover two-thirds of our Earth. There are five main oceans which all flow into each other: the Arctic Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Southern Ocean.
What are the Layers of the Ocean?
Oceans are made of five layers or depths. Each layer has different characteristics (特点), such as the temperature and the amount of light. They have unique creatures (独特的生物) living within them.
The Sunlight Zone-up to 200m below the surface of the ocean
There is plenty of sunlight and heat in this zone although both decrease (减少) as you go deeper. There are many different living things within this layer, including seaweed, dolphins, fish, and coral reefs. Humans enjoy this warm layer for activities such as swimming and fishing.
The Twilight Zone-up to 1,000m below the surface of the ocean
Only weak sunlight reaches this deeper layer. No plants grow within this layer. It is home to sea animals which often have large eyes, including the sea cucumber, the wolf eel, the swordfish and the octopus. Humans can dive to this layer wearing protective suits.
The Midnight Zone-up to 4,000m below the surface of the ocean
The Midnight Zone is pitch-black because sunlight cannot reach this layer. Some light can be seen from creatures that make their own light, such as anglerfish, jelly fish and viperfish.
Abyss-up to 6,000m below the surface of the ocean
The sunlight cannot reach this layer at all, so it is pitch-black and near freezing. Very few creatures live here, but those that do are mainly transparent (透明的), blind invertebrates (无脊椎动物), such as lanternfish, squid and amphipod.
The Trenches-up to 11,000m below the surface of the ocean
The Trenches are narrow, underwater valleys of the ocean floor which have high pressure and near-freezing temperature. There is no natural light in this zone, but different creatures can be found, such as sea stars.
1. Which of the following pictures about ocean layers is correct?A. | B. |
C. | D. |
A.Sunscrean (防晒霜) | B.A fishing rod |
C.A strong underwater light | D.A waterproof (防水的) bag |
A.warm and bright | B.light grey | C.deep blue | D.totally dark |
A.the Twilight Zone | B.Abyss | C.the Trenches | D.the Midnight Zone |
A.Plants and living things can be found in each ocean layer. |
B.Animals with large eyes can often be found in the Midnight Zone. |
C.Humans are able to freely explore most of the ocean layers without any equipment. |
D.Neither the temperature nor the amount of sunlight is the same in each ocean layer. |
A.recommend a new kind of underwater sport |
B.introduce the structure and biology of the ocean |
C.share personal stories of deep-sea adventures |
D.compare different oceans around the world |