1 . We know many musical instruments well, such as pianos, violins, drums and so on. What about the erhu? The erhu is a traditional Chinese instrument. It is the most popular of the huqin family, and it has a long history.
The modern erhu developed from the xiqin, which was played by many ethnic minorities during the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, musicians began to use the erhu to perform different kinds of music, and it became quite a popular instrument. With the rise of some forms of folk art, the art of the erhu developed quickly during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It became an important accompanying instrument in different folk music. At present, it is used in both traditional and modern music, such as in pop, rock and jazz. It has even become a solo instrument. One of the most famous musical pieces played on the erhu is Erquan Yingyue.
As the erhu was mainly played by common people and the playing skills were passed down in oral form, so there are few written records about the erhu that can be found. To study the history and the development of the erhu, historians usually turn to ancient paintings. The earliest pictures of this instrument were found in Yulin Caves and Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves in Gansu Province, where five erhu pictures were discovered on murals.
1. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?| A．Pianos. | B．Violins. | C．The huqin. | D．The erhu. |
| A．In the Tang Dynasty. | B．In the Song Dynasty. |
| C．In the Ming Dynasty. | D．In the Qing Dynasty. |
| A．Listening. | B．Spoken. | C．Reading. | D．Written. |
| A．play Erquan Yingyue | B．listen to different kinds of folk music |
| C．get help from ancient paintings | D．read some books about ethnic minorities |
| A．The history of erhu. | B．The form of folk music. |
| C．The development of Chinese instrument. | D．The rise of different dynasties. |
2 . Knowing how to stay safe at home is just as important as knowing the family rules. Again, this is something you need to talk over with your mum, dad, or both of them. Go over safety rules for the kitchen if you’ll do any cooking while you’re home alone. It’s a good idea to practise what you would do in a real emergency, just in case something terrible happens.
Kids who are home alone might worry that someone could break into the house and hurt them. The good news is that this is very unlikely. But keeping the doors and windows locked will help you stay safe.
Decide with your mum or dad what to do if the phone rings or someone knocks at the door. It’s never a good idea to tell someone that you’re home by yourself. And when you get home and find the door is open or a window is broken, don’t go inside. Instead, go to a neighbour you trust and ask for help.
Other kinds of emergencies could come up too, like a fire, or you or a brother might get sick or hurt. Just in case, you’ll need to know:
◆how to dial 911
◆your address and phone number
◆the name, address, and the phone number of the place where your mum or dad works
◆the name, phone number, and address of a trusted neighbour
1. The underlined word “emergency” in the first paragraph means “________” in Chinese.| A．急救 | B．紧急事件 | C．导火索 | D．情况 |
| A．in the neighbour’s house | B．at home |
| C．in the kitchen | D．in the neighbourhood |
| A．Dial 911 right away. |
| B．Tell him that you’re home alone. |
| C．Do as your parents tell you to. |
| D．Open the door for him at once. |
| A．It’s a good idea to practise what to do in an emergency. |
| B．Staying safe is important. |
| C．It’s necessary for you to know safety rules for the kitchen. |
| D．It isn’t important to know the phone number of the place where your parent works. |
| A．how to stay safe at home | B．how to cook in the kitchen |
| C．how to ask for help | D．how to remember phone numbers |
3 . Fraser Island is in Queensland, Australia, about 200 kilometers north of Brisbane. It is about 120 kilometers long and 240 kilometers wide. It is a very important island because it is completely made of sand. In fact, it is the largest sand island in the world. There is no airport on the island, but there is a long beach along the east coast. Planes arrive and leave from here.
The sand makes unusual shapes. There are hills made of sand called sand-blows. Nothing grows on them. They move one or two meters a year from the northwest towards the southeast of the island, getting bigger and bigger. At other places on the island, such as Rainbow Gorge, the Cathedrals and Red Canyon, the sandy rocks have different colors. Sometimes the rocks are so brown that they turn the sea brown, like coffee.
Surprisingly, the sandy island has a lot of different plants and animals. There are dark forests-eucalyptus woods, beautiful flowers and over a hundred lakes. There are many kinds of birds, like owls and curlews. There are many animals there, too, such as crocodiles, flying foxes and wild dogs called dingoes.
About 500, 000 people visit the island every year to see the island’s beauty and nature. People enjoy camping and hiking there. Unluckily, the visitors create problems. They damage plants and frighten animals. Their sun cream (防晒霜) makes the water dirty. So it is necessary to manage the visitors. For example, people may not use motor boats or go fishing in the lakes, and they need official papers to drive there.
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．Shape of Fraser Island. | B．Nature on Fraser Island. |
| C．History of Fraser Island. | D．Daily life on Fraser Island. |
| A．how large Fraser Island is |
| B．what is special about Fraser Island |
| C．how many people live on Fraser Island |
| D．where planes arrive and leave on Fraser Island |
| A．The unusual shapes. | B．The sandy hills. |
| C．The sandy rocks. | D．Different plants. |
| A．the eucalyptus | B．the owl | C．the curlew | D．the dingo |
| A．camp and hike | B．go fishing in the sea |
| C．wear sun cream | D．drive without official papers |
4 . 
If you see people looking like a drowned rat (落汤鸡), don’t be surprised! It is the Water Splashing Festival! Many people from Yunnan in China, Thailand (泰国) and Myanmar (缅甸) celebrate this festival on April 13th—15th every year.
The Water Splashing Festival usually lasts three to seven days. During these days, people splash water on one another to clean off their dirt and bad luck from the last year.
There are also some other celebrations among those countries. For example, people in Thailand not only splash water, but also mix flour with water to paint it on their faces. They think flour and water together can completely clean your soul and body.
In Myanmar, traditionally water splashing was much gentler—they used cherry tree branches (树枝) to splash water. But now, they splash water as passionately as those in other countries. In Yunnan, the Dai people also organize dragon boat races for this festival.
阅读以上材料，根据其内容回答其后各个小题。1. How long does the Water Splashing Festival usually last?
| A．One day. | B．Two days. | C．Three to seven days. | D．Two weeks. |
| A．To cool down in the heat. | B．To celebrate the harvest season. |
| C．To clean off bad luck from the past year. | D．To show off new clothing. |
| A．Salt. | B．Flour. | C．Sugar. | D．Milk. |
| A．With cherry tree branches. | B．With pear tree branches. |
| C．With orange tree branches. | D．With apple tree branches. |
| A．In some places, people regard April 16th as the start of a new year. |
| B．Thai people do not splash water to protect the earth. |
| C．Water splashing is much gentler now in Yunnan. |
| D．The Thai people believe mixing flour and water can completely clean the soul and body. |
5 . Most American families are smaller than the families in other countries. Most American families have one or two parents and one or two children each. Children in the USA will leave their parents’ home when they grow up. They usually live far from their parents because they want to find good jobs. They often write to their parents or telephone them. And they often go to visit their parents on holiday.
Parents usually let their children choose their own jobs. Americans think it is important for young people to decide on their lives by themselves. Children are asked to do some work around their house. And in many families, children are paid for doing some housework so that they can learn how to make money for their own use.
1. How many children are there in most American families?2. Why are children paid for doing housework in many American families?
3. 翻译文中画线处句子。
4. 从文中找出与下面画线部分意义相近的短语。
My home is not close to the library.
5. In the passage, the underlined word “They” refers to
There is a traditional toy called taiping nijiaojiao. It is a clay toy and also a whistle (哨子) in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu. It has a history of over 1,000 years.
Taiping nijiaojiao is made of the mud (泥) from the local mountain. It takes more than ten steps to make the clay toy, and the key step is to knead (捏) it with your hands. You can knead the clay toy into anything, like animals and plants. The blowhole is the most difficult part to make, for the size of the blowhole makes a difference to the sound. While coloring, you can use traditional cultural elements (元素) that carry good meanings. It’s hard to make taiping nijiaojiao. But when you finally make it, you will feel proud of yourself.
Zhou Baokang, a lover of folk art, learned how to make the clay toy from local artists about 20 years ago. He wants more people to know about it, so he has opened a museum to introduce the clay toy. He teaches kids how to make the clay toy, too.
There are many traditional art forms in China, but some of them have been lost. Luckily, the traditional clay toy taiping nijiaojiao is kept to this day.
任务一：回答问题。1. What is taiping nijiaojiao?
2. What is the key step when you make taiping nijiaojiao?
3. Who does Zhou Baokang teach to make taiping nijiaojiao?
任务二：根据第二段补全下面句子。
4. We can use traditional cultural elements
任务三：太平泥叫叫可以被捏成什么，用英文列举。（至少一条）
5.
7 . 
Every school day, we use schoolbags to carry all of our things to school. They are a big part of our lives. But have you ever thought about the history of the schoolbag?
In the Han Dynasty, students in old-style private schools used bamboo boxes to carry books to school. People consider the bamboo boxes to be the earliest schoolbags. There were usually two or three layers (层) in the box. Kids put different things like books, brushes, ink stones and paper in the boxes.
Hundreds of years later, people developed a new kind of schoolbag called the “budai”, or the “hip-pocket”. The budai was lighter than the bamboo box. With the founding of China, military rucksacks（军用帆布包）became popular. Many people carried them when they were in school. Ask your grandparents or parents about these bags. Maybe they can tell you about their experiences of carrying them when they were in school.
A new style of schoolbags has appeared in recent years. Many of them have colorful and fashionable designs on them, such as pictures of cartoons or pop stars. Some students pull wheeled bags filled with heavy textbooks and others carry backpacks because they are more comfortable to use.
Schoolbags are still changing. Can you imagine what future schoolbags will be like?
阅读以上材料，根据其内容回答其后各个小题。1. The underlined words “ink stones” in the passage mean “ ________ ” in Chinese.
| A．绿矾 | B．砚台 | C．石头 | D．剪刀 |
| A．Schoolbags have changed a lot. |
| B．The budai was heavier than the bamboo box. |
| C．Military rucksacks were popular in the 1950s. |
| D．Schoolbags are still changing. |
| A．wheeled bags | B．military rucksacks | C．the “budai” | D．cartoon bags |
| A．many of them have colorful designs on them |
| B．they are lighter |
| C．they are more comfortable to use |
| D．they are fashionable |
| A．To introduce the importance of schoolbags. |
| B．To explain why we use schoolbags. |
| C．To ask us to use new schoolbags. |
| D．To introduce the development of schoolbags. |
8 . Dumplings are one of the Chinese people’s favorite traditional dishes. According to an ancient Chinese legend: dumplings were first made by the medical saint (医圣)——Zhang Zhongjing.
There are three steps in making dumplings:
1 ) make dumpling wrappers out of dumpling flour (面粉);
2) prepare the dumpling stuffing (饺子馅);
3) make dumplings and boil them.
There’s an old saying, “Nothing could be more delicious than dumplings.” During the Spring Festival and other holidays, or when treating relatives and friends, Chinese people like to follow the auspicious custom (吉祥的习俗) of eating dumplings.
Having dumplings is an essential (基本的) part of welcome the new year in many parts of China.
阅读以上材料，根据其内容回答其后各个小题。1. Who first made the dumplings?
| A．Qin Xiaogong. | B．Zu Chongzhi. | C．Li Bai. | D．Zhang Zhongjing. |
| A．Make dumplings and boil them. | B．Prepare the dumpling stuffing. |
| C．Make dumpling wrappers out of dumpling flour. | D．Prepare some vinegar. |
| A．Treating relatives and friends. | B．On Thanksgiving. |
| C．They don’t make it. | D．Not many times. |
| A．教诲 | B．谚语 | C．说话 | D．课程 |
| A．Newspaper. | B．Food magazine. | C．Storybook. | D．Bookstore. |
Pizza is the world’s favorite fast food. We eat it everywhere—at home, in restaurants, on street corners. About three billion pizzas are sold each year in the United States alone, that’s about 46 slices each person.
The word “pizza” means “pie” in Italian. First “pizzas” were made on flat stones. These were large pieces of bread called focaccia bread. Focaccia is still popular in Italy as a snack. When Europeans came to America and discovered tomatoes, which they then took back to Europe. The Italian people were the first to put tomatoes on focaccia bread. At first, people did not want to use tomatoes because they thought this vegetable was harmful for their health. In 1899, the Italian Queen asked a local restaurant to create a special pizza for her. The clever shop owner wanted to use the colors of the Italian flag, so he added tomatoes, white cheese, and some fresh green vegetables in the special pizza. The queen was very happy with this new kind of pizza, and it was also quite healthy. From then on, pizza got more popular.
Later, people got more creative, they started to put more and more things on the focaccia bread. Gradually, it has become the pizzas we know today. In 1905, pizza found its second home—America, the first pizza restaurant was opened in New York City and it is still there today.
阅读以上材料，根据其内容回答其后各个小题。1. How many pizzas are sold in the US each year?
| A．3,000,000. | B．30,000,000. | C．3,000,000,000. | D．30,000,000,000. |
| A．It was small. | B．It is still popular. |
| C．It means “pie” in Italian. | D．It is harmful for people. |
| A．Red, white and green. | B．Green, white and black. |
| C．Red, yellow and green. | D．Green, yellow and black. |
| A．Italy. | B．Europe. | C．America. | D．New York City. |
| A．the history of Italy | B．the history of pizza |
| C．the history of tomato | D．the history of focaccia |
10 . With the development of science and technology, our daily life is becoming more colorful and more convenient.
| The Book-less Library Can you imagine walking into a library and finding all books have turned into computers? The first book-less public library is planned to open in San Antonio, Texas. Computers will take the place of books soon. |
| Google Glass Google Glass is a pair of glasses with a battery (电池) hidden inside the frame (边框). It can carry out many of the same tasks as smart phones. The glass has a hidden camera and a tiny screen. It is designed to take hands-free photos or videos of anything people are doing. |
| A New Kind of Shirt Hate washing clothes? You’re going to love this kind of shirt made by an American clothing company, Wool & Prince. This shirt can be worn for 100 straight days without washing! The Wool & Prince shirt never needs ironing (熨烫). |
| An Underwater Hotel It looks like a spaceship but it is actually a picture of an underwater hotel. A company plans to build a hotel in the sea which is about 18 meters below the surface. The whole building is underwater and you can get to it by swimming and diving. |
阅读以上材料，根据其内容回答其后各个小题。
1. What can a Google Glass do?
| A．It can be used for watching a movie. | B．It can read a book like a man. |
| C．It can take photos and videos. | D．It can be used for drinking. |
| A．The Wool & Prince shirt. | B．The Nike Clothes. |
| C．The traditional clothes. | D．A coat with a battery. |
| A．You don’t have hands at all. | B．Your hands don’t cost money. |
| C．You don’t need to use your hands. | D．You can use one hand. |
| A．By taking a boat. | B．By driving a special car. |
| C．By walking into it. | D．By swimming or diving. |
| A．New Research | B．New Problems | C．New Discoveries | D．New Inventions |
