1 . Have you ever seen lions dancing in the streets? The lions dance to the beat of a drum (鼓). Of course, they are not real lions. They are dancers in lion costumes (服饰). Lion dancing first started in China centuries ago. It is meant to bring good luck in the coming year.
Usually, a lion is made up of two dancers. One dancer controls the head. The other controls the tail.
“I think of it as a sport,” says Anthony Huang, aged 16. He is a member of the New York Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club. Anthony performs (表演) as the lion’s head. It can weigh 20 pounds. Lion dancing is important to Anthony. “This tradition really lifts me up,” he says.
In the past, lion dancing was performed mostly by men. But it is different today. LionDanceMe is a lion dancing group in San Francisco, California. There are boys and girls on its team. They dance together. “Anyone can take up lion dancing. You have to believe that you can do it,” says Ananda Tang-Lee, a 17-year-old girl.
Lion dancing will continue to evolve. But a team’s sense of community will never change. “We call it a family,” Ananda says, “It’s really great, because we always have each other’s backs. ”
1. Why do people perform lion dancing?| A．To sell lion-dancing costumes. | B．To protect the lions in the wild. |
| C．To wish for a lucky new year. | D．To show skills of playing the drum. |
| A．The lion’s head. | B．The lion’s tail. | C．The drummer. | D．The dresser. |
| A．延期 | B．模仿 | C．举办 | D．演变 |
| A．They bring happiness to the family. | B．They call lion dancing a family game. |
| C．They support each other like a family. | D．They live together in a big family. |
2 . You are running around in the park. But then suddenly, you fall and hurt yourself. “Ow!” you cry. This sound is very familiar to us all. Crying out when we get hurt is a natural reaction. But what is it about this sound that makes us shout it out?
Scientists from the National University of Singapore now believe they’ve found the answer. The effort of shouting the word “ow” actually interferes (干预) with pain messages traveling to the brain. So by shouting it out, it distracts us from the feeling of pain.
The scientists tested how long volunteers could hold their hands in very cold water. There were five rounds of the test. In the first round, they were allowed to shout “ow” when they felt pain. In another round, they had to stay silent.
The results showed that volunteers were able to keep their hands in the cold water for longer when they were allowed to shout out. They managed around 30 seconds on average, five seconds more than when they had to remain silent.
“We found that a simple vocal act such as saying ‘ow’ helps individuals deal with pain,” the report from the scientists stated.
What’s more, expressions of pain are shared among languages. While cries of “ow” or “ouch” are heard in English, South Africans yell “eina”, Italians shout “ahia” and Chinese “aiyo”.
Scientists said in the report: “Shared among these languages is a sound during which the mouth simply opens, the tongue lies flat (水平的) and the lips unrounded. It is a simple sound that requires little control while maximizing (充分利用) the volume.” So these sounds are useful to shout if we feel pain.
1. What does the underlined word “distracts” mean in Paragraph 2?| A．表达 | B．分散 | C．增加 | D．消失 |
| A．pain messages don’t travel to the brain |
| B．a simple sound such as saying “ow” makes people happy |
| C．people in different countries express pain in the same language |
| D．shouting out “ow” reduces the feeling of pain |
| A．Volunteers were allowed to shout out in every round. |
| B．Volunteers felt less pain when they weren’t allowed to shout out. |
| C．Volunteers stayed longer in cold water in the first round than in the second. |
| D．Volunteers all shouted the “ow” sound out in the test. |
| A．Any language is more exciting when we feel pain. |
| B．Shouting out is useful and helpful if you feel pain. |
| C．We should shout every day to stay healthy. |
| D．People shout to better express their feelings. |
Welcome to life in the future! You are 60 years old now. But recently you’ve had a new anti-aging treatment (治疗). Looking into the mirror, you seem like a 30-year-old lady. How magic! People could live to be 120, and being 60 is not old at all!
Science has also found amazing ways to keep people healthy. Nanotechnology (纳米技术) can help cure (治愈) many illnesses, including cancer. And if any part of your body is unhealthy, you can grow a new one in a lab.
As you get dressed, you say to your shirt, “Turn red” It becomes red. In 2045, “smart” clothes contain nanoparticles that carry electricity. So you can program clothes to change colors or designs.
On the way to the kitchen, you want to call a friend. Your cell phone is by the window because it gets its energy from the sun. But you don’t need to pick up the phone. You can just touch your jacket to make the call.
It’s breakfast time. You reach for the milk, but a voice says, “Don’t drink that!” Your fridge knows the milk is old, and tells the supermarket to replace it. Ten minutes later, it’s sent by a drone (无人机).
As you leave for work, ________. Your home goes into “sleep” mode (模式) to save energy. In 2045, cars drive themselves, so you just tell your driverless car where you want to go.
Will all this come true? Perhaps the future is much closer than we think.
1. Why does a 60-year-old lady still look young?| A．Because of a magic mirror. |
| B．Because of electricity. |
| C．Because of Nanotechnology. |
| D．Because of an anti-aging treatment. |
| A．The driver. | B．The fridge. |
| C．The phone. | D．The scientist. |
| A．the lights turn off by themselves. |
| B．the computer turns on by itself. |
| C．the washing machine starts to work. |
| D．the sweeping robot goes to work. |
| A．Clothes may change colors by sunlight. |
| B．Phones can be used without energy. |
| C．Cars may run freely without drivers. |
| D．All the patients can be cured in the labs. |
Different food can help your body in different ways. It’s easy to know what food is good for you. The five big food groups name the food you need every day.
You need six servings from the grain (谷物) group every day. Rice and bread are made from grains. Grain food gives you energy.
You also need some fruit and vegetables each day, such as carrots, green beans, peas, and apples. They are good for your eyes and skin.
You need two or three servings of milk each day. Yogurt and cheese help to build strong bones (骨头) and teeth.
You also need servings from the meat group. Eggs, fish, chicken and beans are in this group, too. You need two to three servings a day to build strong muscle (肌肉).
Try not to eat much fat or sweets. They may taste good, but they don’t help you to grow strong or stay healthy.
1. Can different food help our body in different ways?2. Which food can give us energy?
3. To build strong bones and teeth, what food do we need?
4. What food is a healthy meal made of? Please make a menu for a healthy meal. (In 30 words)
5 . ①Technology has brought ancient poets “back to life”. At the World Robot Conference 2023 in late August in Beijing, there were two robots that looked like the Chinese poets Li Bai and Du Fu. While Li Bai was holding up a cup of wine, Du Fu was sitting at a desk writing.
②These are called bionic (仿生的) robots. The robot's skin is usually made of silicone(硅胶)，The robot's skin is very soft. You can even see veins (血管) under the skin.
③Another human-like robot also attracted attention recently. It was created by US company Apptronik. Named Apollo, the robot’s head has cameras and sensors (传感器) inside.
④ The sensors can help the robot make simple movements, such as walking and waving (挥手). They also help the robot keep balance when walking on unstable (不稳定的) surfaces.
⑤The robot also has cameras inside to help it map out a 360-degree view (景象) of its environment.
⑥Nowadays, Bionic human-like robots can “strike a chord (引起共鸣) with people,” a US robotics scientist Marc Raibert told New Yorker. They mostly work with humans, as tour guides or by helping visitors at front desks. There are also robots that share the work of nurses, such as handing out medicine. This could be because people are comfortable living and working with machines that look and act like them.
⑦Technology has brought us great changes. As more human-like robots come out, safety will be the key according to the Robot Report website. When a 70-kilogram robot breaks down and falls, humans nearby may get hurt.
1. When was the World Robot Conference 2023 held in Beijing?| A．In early August. | B．In early September. | C．In late August. | D．In late September. |
| A．Listen better. | B．Walk on unstable surfaces. | C．Know your feelings. | D．Smile at humans. |
| A．The human-like robots may talk with humans. |
| B．The human-like robots look scary. |
| C．The human-like robots may cause some problems. |
| D．The human-like robots may show their emotions. |
| A．①/ ②③④/ ⑤⑥/ ⑦ | B．①/ ②/ ③④⑤/ ⑥⑦ | C．①②/ ③④⑤/ ⑥/ ⑦ | D．①②/ ③④/ ⑤/ ⑥⑦ |
6 . Becoming successful is never easy. After people set their goals, most of them will pay attention at the beginning and they will also long for the success. Also, most people can remember and keep their goal in mind for a certain time. During that time, they can make good plans and do things more carefully.
But when people are nearly at the end, some aren’t as careful as before. They start to relax. They may forget their plans or not pay much attention to the details (细节). In this way, they will be far away from their goals and even fail in the last steps.
Laozi’s understanding of success is similar to the Chinese saying “Half of the people who have embarked on a one-hundred-mile journey may fall by the wayside (行百里者半九十)”. Even if people have traveled 90 miles, that’s the same as only walking half the way. So it tells us to be careful at all stages (阶段), and never forget our goal.
1. From the passage, we know _________ is never easy.| A．setting goals | B．forgetting goals |
| C．becoming successful | D．travelling 90 miles |
| A．all | B．the first | C．the middle | D．the last |
| A．Realize | B．Wish for | C．Run after | D．Imagine |
| A．To become successful, we should start to relax nearly at the end. |
| B．To become successful, we should only walk half the way. |
| C．To become successful, we should keep trying all the time. |
| D．To become successful, we should just pay attention to the goals at the beginning. |
7 . Building a country is never easy. It takes hard work from generation (一代人) to generation. But how to make it disappear? A new report said long time of climate(气候) change can do that.
The report said Tuvalu (图瓦卢) will be the first country to be completely lost due to climate change.
Tuvalu is a Pacific island nation with nine islands and 12,000 people. It has long been at risk from rising sea levels. By the end of the century, it is believed that all the islands will be underwater, reported Reuters. So many people in Tuvalu have often moved around the country and even to other countries.
To help with the problem, the country plans to build its country in the virtual space (虚拟空间). This news made many people in Tuvalu excited. The virtual country will recreate the same scene and keep its cultural and historical records. No matter where they live in the real world, the people in this country will have their ID cards and “live” in its online cities and villages. The government hopes to manage and serve them in this virtual space.
“Though the virtual nation belongs to Tuvalu, it still brings some problems.” said Li Zuxi, director of virtual space lab of Qingbo Intelligent Technology, He gave us an example. If people from other countries enter the space of the virtual country but just show their names, how do people know if they do or do not truly belong to that country?
Li added that instead of trying our best to build virtual nations, it’s better to pay attention to saving the real world now.
1. Tuvalu will disappear because of ________.| A．climate change | B．virtual space | C．other countries | D．the Pacific |
| A．have their ID cards | B．“live” in its online cities and villages |
| C．keep their own culture | D．know who truly belongs to that country |
| A．agree to create virtual country | B．disagree to create virtual country |
| C．is a worker of virtual space lab | D．is a person in Tuvalu |
| A．①/②③/④⑤⑥ | B．①②/③④/⑤⑥ | C．①②③/④⑤/⑥ | D．①/②③④/⑤⑥ |
8 . 
Do you speak a dialect (方言) in daily life? While many Chinese people speak putonghua, some local dialects are in danger of disappearing. To save them, the Chinese government started the Chinese Language Resources Protection Project (中国语言资源保护工程) a few years ago.
This project looks at how people talk in 1,712 places. Their languages include 103 dialects that are almost gone. It has helped China to build the largest language resource library in the world. There’s an online library where people can learn dialects from over 5.6 million audio clips (音频) and over 5 million videos.
Scholar Zhang Hongming talked about his worries of the disappearing of dialects. “For about over 10 years, in the Wu dialect areas such as Shanghai and Suzhou, children aged 6 to 15 can understand but hardly speak the dialect, young people above 15 years old sometimes speak it, but not very well. If this keeps happening, the dialect might disappear,” he said.
Why is it important to protect the dialect culture? According to British linguist Harold Palmer, dialects are a key to store local cultures. Language shows the history, the beliefs and the biases (偏见) of an area, he said.
▲ A big national hard work has been put into the project to make it happen, said Cao Zhiyun, the expert on the project. Over five years, more than 350 universities and research groups joined in, along with over 4,500 experts and more than 6,000 dialect speakers.
1. The Chinese government started the project ________.| A．to public the dialects | B．to cancel the dialects |
| C．to copy the dialects | D．to save the dialects |
| A．103 | B．1712 | C．5 million | D．5.6 million |
| A．How did China protect these dialects culture? |
| B．Who started the project to protect dialects culture? |
| C．How many speakers did take part in this project? |
| D．Where was the the largest dialect library built? |
| A．China made a survey to look at how people talked in 1,712 places. |
| B．China has done a lot of hard work to protect the dialect culture. |
| C．Many universities and research groups joined in the project. |
| D．Many young people in the Wu dialect areas can’t say their dialect. |
9 . Music has become a very important part of teens’ life. How much do you like music? How do you listen to music? Teens did a national survey. Over 2,500 teenagers across the country took the survey.
| Listening time: About 37.15% teenagers listen to music every day. They listen to music while on the computer, doing housework, on the way to and from school. |
| The type of music: The survey says pop (33%) and R&B (29%). But this doesn’t mean teens don’t like other kinds of music. In fact, their tastes are diverse (多样的): hip hop, country, jazz and classical music. |
1. There were over ________ teenagers taking the survey.
| A．2,000 | B．2,500 | C．3,000 | D．3,500 |
a. on the computer b. doing housework c. on the way d. testing
| A．abc | B．abd | C．bcd | D．acd |
| A．pop | B．R&B | C．hip hop | D．classical music |
10 . Are your food and drink healthy? Fruit and vegetables are good for our health: apples, pears, bananas, tomatoes. We can also eat some chicken.
Much ice cream, many hamburgers and cola are not healthy. Cola and sugar (糖) are very sweet, and lots of them are bad for you.
Eat the right food and be healthy. Tomatoes, eggs and fish are good for your eyes (眼睛). Milk, fish and bananas are good for your teeth (牙齿). Sugar is bad for your teeth. Are you tired (劳累的)? Have lots of nice chicken soup (汤)!
Eat well, be healthy, and don’t be fat! Here are some tips (建议) for you.
●Have a good breakfast every morning.
●Drink juice, water, tea and milk, but not cola.
●Eat lots of fruit and vegetables.
1. What is good for our health?| A．Ice cream. | B．Cola. | C．A hamburger. | D．Fruit. |
| A．Milk. | B．Fish. | C．A banana. | D．Sugar. |
| A．吃. | B．喝. | C．闻. | D．看. |
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
