There are 24 solar terms (节气) in China, and the Grain Rain (谷雨) is one of them. It falls on April 19 this year.
This solar term is called the Grain Rain because it’s known for “rain”. From its name, we can guess it means a time of more rain. So if you go out in the next two weeks, you may need to bring an umbrella with you.
But this is a great time for planting crops. If you miss the time for planting during the Grain Rain, you’ll feel sorry later. So maybe you can try to plant some flowers or vegetables in your garden. When the spring rain falls, farmers begin to grow crops. Farmers often say, “Spring rain is as precious (珍贵的) as oil.” It brings farmers hope for a good year ahead.
There are also many interesting customs (习俗) during the Grain Rain. In the northern part of China, people like to eat Chinese toon. In the southern part of China, people pick the tea leaves during the time. People call them Grain Rain tea. It’s known for its freshness and sweet smell.
1. What does the underlined “It” refer to (指的是)?It refers to
2. What does Grain Rain mean?
It means
3. How long does the Grain Rain last?
It lasts
4. When do farmers begin to grow crops?
They begin to grow crops when
5. Why is Grain Rain tea known?
Because of its
2 . Have you ever seen a train that is hung in the air? Such a train has appeared in Chengdu already.
The train is powered by lithium batteries (锂电池) instead of electricity. It is not only energy-saving but also environmentally friendly compared to other trains. Each coach (车厢) will be able to carry up to 120 passengers.
The train has done its test without any problem a short time ago. But further tests will be done to check the train’s ability to turn and climb up the tracks before it can be open to the public.
Chengdu is the first city in our country to build such a train system, and Shanghai will also open one this year. Shanghai started plans for its “Skytrain” in 2015．
The “Skytrain” in Shanghai will run above the ground at a height of around six meters. The columns (柱) which will support the railway will be just 80 cm wide. The columns are so narrow that they could even be built in the green belt in the middle of the road. The train Shanghai plans to use will have just four coaches, and each coach will hold 70 passengers. The train will run at around 30 kilometers per hour. It will be a little slower than the city’s sub way trains, which run between 30 and 40 kilometers per hour.
“Skytrain” would cost about 120 to 150 million yuan to build. Developers said the train system will carry around 15,000 passengers every hour. The space-saving train system would run silently through the city.
1. What test will be done?| A．The train’s largest speed. |
| B．The train’s ability to carry passengers. |
| C．The distance the train can run without stopping. |
| D．The train’s ability to turn and climb up the tracks. |
| A．420 | B．280 | C．120 | D．70 |
① running very fast ②saving energy ③saving space ④ little noise ⑤environmentally friendly ⑥carrying more passengers
| A．②③④⑤ | B．①②③④ | C．③④⑤⑥ | D．①②⑤⑥ |
| A．the cost of building a new kind of train |
| B．the advantages of a new kind of train |
| C．a new kind of train and its development in China |
| D．the number of passengers that different kinds of trains can carry |
3 . Fights at school sometimes happen. But how can you keep away from a fight? Here’s something you can do.
◇Be calm. Sometimes, you feel so angry that you really want to teach somebody a lesson. But being angry can’t solve problems. Neither can a fight. Instead, it may bring you more problems. In the school, everyone involved in (卷入) a fight will be punished, no matter who started it. There are no winners in a fight.
◇ ★ . If you know someone is coming up behind you to attack (袭击), turn toward the person with your hands up in front of your body and loudly say “stop” before walking away. Loud voice can usually make the attacker calm down. If the person doesn’t stop, cry for help by calling out the name of a teacher whose office is nearby.
◇Learn to refuse. Your friend may ask you to join in a fight. Learn to say no. Helping him fight is not really helpful to him. If you really want to give him a hand, try to ask him to give it up. Also, you can tell him if he gets involved in a fight, he may get hurt and be punished. Then, try to learn why he wants a fight and help him find a right way to resolve the problem.
1. The underlined place “★” should be “______”.| A．Join in a fight | B．Face bravely |
| C．Shout loudly. | D．Learn from each other |
| A．look after | B．deal with | C．turn on | D．communicate with |
| A．warn students not to fight |
| B．advise students to help each other |
| C．help students keep away from fights |
| D．explain how fights at school happen |
PICKLEBALL Nowadays, more and more people like playing sports, especially ball games, such as basketball, football and so on. But do you know pickleball?Pickleball is a new sport in the USA, and it’s like tennis and ping-pong. It’s easy and fun to play. People play it on the court. There are two or four players in a game. They hit the ball over the net with special bats. The player who first gets eleven points or leads the other side by two points wins the game. Now, many people like to play it. There are several reasons. First, it’s easy to play so it’s a good way to have a social communication. Then, it’s a team game and needs to work together. People can make many friends when playing it. Besides, it can help people to relax themselves. |
1. What kind of sport is pickleball?
Pickleball is a new sport, and it’s like
2. Which English word in the passage means“球场,场地”?
It’s “
3. How can the player win a pickleball game?
The player who can
4. How many reasons why many people like pickleball games are mentioned in the passage?
5. What title can be made for this passage in no more than eight words using “pickleball, introduction”?
The title can be “
5 . “Rains fall heavily as Qingming comes, and passersby (行人) with lowered spirits go.” The Tang Dynasty (朝代) poet Du Mu tells a scene in early April in this poem. This scene takes place on Tomb Sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival. Tomb Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival. It began in the Zhou Dynasty, over 2, 500 years ago. Chinese people celebrate it to remember and honor their ancestors (祖先). This year, it falls on April 4. Tomb Sweeping Day became a public holiday in 2008. People have one day off for that day.
On Tomb Sweeping Day, families bring flowers, food and wine to worship (祭拜) their ancestors. They put cakes and fruits on the ground, and some may burn joss paper (纸钱) for the dead. After that, they sweep the tombs.
Tomb Sweeping Day gives us a chance to show respect to our ancestors and family members who have passed away and show that we miss them. This tradition shows that family values are an important part of Chinese culture. Tomb Sweeping Day is also the beginning of the time for gardening and outdoor activities in China. Families often get together for outings or to fly kites at this time.
1. Tomb Sweeping Day is celebrated by people to ________.| A．go out to fly kites | B．get together with their families |
| C．have a public holiday | D．remember and honor their ancestors |
| A．画 | B．戏剧 | C．场景 | D．照片 |
| A．Flowers, food, wine and joss paper. | B．Flowers, food, fruits and umbrellas. |
| C．Food, fruits, joss paper and kites. | D．Flowers, wine and pets. |
| A．Tomb Sweeping Day began in the Zhou Dynasty. |
| B．We have one day off for Tomb Sweeping Day. |
| C．People in the world all celebrate Tomb Sweeping Day. |
| D．Family values play an important part in Chinese culture. |
6 . World Environment Day
World Environment Day is celebrated on June 5th each year. The first World Environment Day started in 1972. If we all drive cars less, the air will be cleaner and cleaner and our environment will become better and better.
World Forest Day
World Forest Day is an international event and it is celebrated on March 21st every year. It is celebrated to make people remember the importance of forests. People often plant more trees on that day.
No car Day
No car Day started in 34 cities in France on September 22nd, 1998. It was celebrated to protect the environment. So far, more than 1,000 cities around the world have had No Car Day. The first No Car Day in China was in Chengdu in 2001. And other cities, including Taipei, Shanghai and Wuhan, also supported this festival. In Beijing, more and more people are taking part in No Car Day. It asks drivers to leave their cars at home for one day each month and walk or ride a bike to work. They really hope the air will be cleaner and cleaner day by day.
1. How many special days are mentioned in the passage?| A．2. | B．3. | C．4. | D．5. |
| A．less and less | B．more and more | C．better and better | D．cleaner and cleaner |
| A．World Forest Day is celebrated on March 21st every year. |
| B．People often plant more trees on World Forest Day. |
| C．More than 1,000 cities around the world have had No Car Day. |
| D．No Car Day asks drivers to leave their cars at home for one day each year. |
Can you know the meaning of “zero”? Can you do addition and subtraction (加法和减法)? Most people can. But do you know bees can do these things too? A study shows that bees have even greater math abilities. After some training, they can know the difference between even numbers (ending in 0. 2. 4. 6 and 8) and odd number (ending in 1. 3. 5. 7 and 9).
Some Australian scientists put up different cards with an odd or even number of triangles. They used the numbers 1 to 10. Then they trained the first group of bees to choose odd numbers and the second group to choose even numbers. If a bee flew to the right card, it would get sugar water; if not, it would get bitter water.
In a short time all the bees knew what odd numbers or even numbers were. They could fly to the right numbers most of the time. After that, the scientists added new cards with the numbers 11 and 12. The bees never saw the numbers in their training before, but they could choose rightly most of the time. Surprisingly, the bees even learned odd numbers more quickly than humans.
How did the bees learn the numbers so fast? Those Australian scientists believe that finding the answer will help them build better and faster computers. But all of them haven’t had a clear idea yet.
*The word “bitter” is an adjective (adj. ) and means having a strong, unpleasant taste, not sweet.
1. How did the writer start the passage?The writer started the passage by
2. Which English words in the passage mean “奇数”?
They’re
3. How many groups of bees did the Australian scientists train?
They trained
4. What would a bee get if it didn’t fly to the right card?
It would get
5. Who does the underlined part “all of them” refer to?
It refers to
8 . China has announced (宣布) its first group of five national parks to protect some endangered animals.
a
| Name: Sanjiangyuan National Park Location: in Qinghai Located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Sanjiangyuan is home to hundreds of wild animals. The Sanjiangyuan area is also called China’s water tower. |
b
| Name: Wuyi Mountain National Park Location: in Fujian and Jiangxi The park has the most complete, most typical, and largest area of the native forest. It is known as the birds’ fun park, the kingdom of snakes and the world of insects. |
c
| Name: Giant Panda National Park Location: in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu The park holds more than 70% of China’s wild giant pandas. Besides “the national treasures” of China, the park is also home to some highly protected animals, including the snub-nosed monkeys. |
d
| Name: Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park Location: in Heilongjiang and Jilin It is the biggest area of wild northeast China tigers and Amur leopards in China. The high-tech monitoring system (监控系统) in the park can provide real-time protection for these wild animals. |
e
| Name: Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park Location: in Hainan The park covers less than 0. 046% of the country’s land, yet it is home to almost 20% of the country’s amphibians (两栖动物) and 38. 6% of China’s birds, which are native to the island. |
1. What other animals can you see in the Giant Panda National Park besides pandas?
| A．Snub-nosed monkeys. | B．Amur leopards. |
| C．African elephants. | D．Northeast China tigers. |
| A．Park a. | B．Park b. | C．Park c. | D．Park d. |
| A．The Sanjiangyuan area is called Qinghai’s water tower. |
| B．Wuyi Mountain National Park is the world of snakes. |
| C．Giant pandas is called “the national treasures” of China. |
| D．Tropical Rainforest National Park is in Heilongjiang. |
| Making An Elephant with Copper Wires (铜线) |
Animals are our good friends. We can buy a toy animal or keep one as a pet. But how about making one out of copper wires? Let’s have a look! |
| Tools you need: ① Paper ② Copper wires ③ Pencils ④ Pliers |
(2) Put the copper wire on the drawing. Start with one leg of the elephant. Bend (使弯曲) the wire following the pencil lines. You can also make other animals in this way. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have one on your desk? (3) To make the elephant perfect, you may need to adjust it many times. |
1. We need
2. The first thing we should do is to
3. We should bend the wire following
4. The English word “
5. The text is about
10 . Northern Chinese would like to eat canned yellow peaches (黄桃罐头) when they are ill. It was “good medicine” when they were young.
In the 1970s and 1980s, canned yellow peaches were valuable food in the north. For common families, only when visiting relatives and friends, or during the Spring Festival, could they have a can. Children from common families could only taste a can of peaches on birthdays, holidays and when they were sick. When children are sick, they don’t want to eat much. And they don’t want to take medicine because of the bad taste. At this time, parents will open cans of yellow peaches to feed sick children. Over time, this generation have the habit of feeding yellow peaches to their children when they are ill.
Also, the older generation have certain superstitions (迷信) about the fruit peach. The ancients believed that peaches could mean health and long life. And “peach” has the same pronunciation as “escape” in Chinese. So, even if they know that eating canned yellow peach does not help treat the children, many parents still feed their children cans during and after their illness, and believe they can escape the pain.
Finally, the canned yellow peach belongs to the “comfort foods” of a generation more or less. “Comfort foods” is a saying that all countries have, which can provide beautiful old memories. Comfort foods can quickly lower a person’s stress. In different countries, the main comfort foods are different: Hungarians eat honey when they are sick. Pakistanis will make a porridge called khichdi. These comfort foods are different in taste, but they were fed by parents and families to their children when they were ill.
1. When CAN’T Northern Chinese children from common families eat cans?| A．On weekdays. | B．On their birthdays. |
| C．In the days of illness. | D．During the Spring Festival. |
①Giving definitions (定义) ②Telling stories ③Making comparisons (比较) ④Giving examples
| A．①②③ | B．①②④ | C．①③④ | D．②③④ |
| A．The Differences Between Some Kinds of Peaches |
| B．The Steps of Making Delicious Canned Yellow Peaches |
| C．The Introduction of Some Famous “Comfort Foods” |
| D．Northern Chinese People’s Love for Canned Yellow Peaches |
