On May 18th, 2023, the China-Central Asia Summit (中国—中亚峰会) was held in Xi’an. President Xi Jinping made a speech on “the Belt and Road Initiative (倡议)”. It has been 10 years since President Xi announced the initiative.
The great initiative has offered the chances to do business between countries. It helps products from other countries enter Chinese market. At the same time, all kinds of products made in China are sold to other countries, too. It leads to a win-win situation. Besides international trade, China has built plenty of high-speed railways for neighboring countries. The China-Laos Railway (中老铁路) is a typical project of the Belt and Road Initiative. It is more convenient to send products to Laos and visit Laos for the Chinese.
The Belt and Road Initiative is based on the ancient Silk Road. However, it is very different. It focuses on the Asian, European and African countries, and is also open to all the other countries. It’s not only the name of trade roads but also a bridge of culture between China and many other countries. China also works more closely with the countries in languages, science and education. There is even a Silk Route Museum in Jiuquan, China. It has over 30,000 objects from all along the Silk Road.
1. China announced the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013.2. The initiative only helps products from other countries enter China’s market.
3. A lot of products are sent to Laos through the China-Laos Railway.
4. “The Belt and Road Initiative” is the same as the ancient Silk Road.
5. Silk Route Museum has over 30,000 objects from all over the world.
Bats search for food in the dark using echolocation (回声定位), but that doesn’t mean that they can’t see, though they’re often wrongly thought to be blind. Research shows that many bats actually have good eyesight (视力) and use it to help them find food.
There are over 1,300 different kinds of bats in the world. Some feed on flowers, others on insects, and a few even feed on blood. Different kinds have developed different visual (视觉的) abilities. Many bats use both eyesight and echolocation when looking for food. Fruit bats, for example, don’t echolocate at all and actually have better eyesight than most humans. Even bats that eat insects prefer using eyesight when possible. Far from being useless, bats’ eyes are used to the dark environment to better help them look for small animals. Also, the eyes are improved by their great hearing power.
In a word, bats are not blind. They have different degrees of visual abilities and use them along echolocation to look for food. So now, being “as blind as a bat” doesn’t sound so bad, does it?
1. Which type of bat does NOT use echolocation?| A．Fruit bats. | B．Blood-feeding bats. | C．Insect-eating bats. | D．Flower-feeding bats. |
| A．Smell. | B．Eyesight. | C．Temperature. | D．Echolocation. |
| A．There are about 1,200 kinds of bats. | B．All bats have the ability to echolocate. |
| C．Some bats use eyesight and echolocation together. | D．Only fruit bats have good eyesight, while others do not. |
| A．Why are Bats Special? | B．Are Bats Really Blind? |
| C．What Great Powers Do Bats Have? | D．Are Men as blind as a bat? |
3 . Bottle gourd pyrography (葫芦烙画) is an art of burning pictures on the surface of the gourds. The skill known as pyrography dates back more than 2,200 years ago to the Qin Dynasty.
The gourd has long been considered to bring good luck, because in Chinese the word for “gourd” sounds like the words for “blessing and wealth”. It was often used to store food, ladle water or hold water when people went out. Its shape made it a perfect tool in the past. In ancient times, many doctors used it to hold medicine and hung it in front of their clinics (诊所).
Skilled artists can turn common gourds into artworks. The first step is to pick a golden gourd. Then the artist draws a creative picture on the gourd. Finally, he usually takes advantage of the natural shape of the gourd, burning the pictures with electric cautery pens. This is the most difficult step. If there is any mistake in this step, all the work will go back to the beginning.
Zheng Xiaoliang from Anhui has been working on the gourd art for more than 40 years. “The gourd pyrography is difficult with a pyrography brush to create a wonderful picture and it requires skills in painting,” Zheng said. “If you want to learn this kind of art, you need to ...”
1. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to?| A．The medicine. | B．The bottle gourd. | C．The clinic. | D．The picture. |
| A．Picking. | B．Drawing. | C．Burning. | D．Copying. |
| A．Doctors didn’t like gourds in the past. |
| B．The gourds had different uses in the past. |
| C．The first step of pyrography is to draw a picture. |
| D．People hung gourds to enjoy their beauty in the past. |
| A．The future of the bottle gourd pyrography. | B．The value of the bottle gourd pyrography. |
| C．How to spread the bottle gourd pyrography. | D．How to learn the bottle gourd pyrography. |
4 . Would you like to make more friends and be a better person in high school? Here is some advice for you to be such a person of good character (性格).
First, people with a good character do not tell a lie. They always tell the truth and keep their promises. For example, if a child promises his parents to be home on time, he keeps his word, so his parents will trust him next time.
Second, being responsible means being glad to take on duties or tasks. It also means being willing to accept the mistakes you have made. A responsible person accepts the results of his or her actions and decisions, whether they are good or bad.
Third, learn how to listen to others’ ideas without trying to make them accept yours. Be kind to others like the way you expect others to treat you.
Finally, caring means treating others with understanding. Caring people are kind and they care the feelings of others. Try to help others when you can. Change your ways of helping others.
A good character is not something you feel or show once in a while. It will last for a long time. By having a good character, you feel good about yourself and are able to make responsible decisions.
1. What do the people with good characters always do according to Paragraph 2?| A．Be friendly and warm-hearted. | B．Consider the feelings of others. |
| C．Tell the truth and keep their promises. | D．Be good at communicating with others. |
| A．Listening to others’ ideas. | B．Keeping your promises. |
| C．Helping others as you can. | D．Accepting your own mistakes. |
| A．Honest people always help others. |
| B．Being fair means treating everyone differently. |
| C．It’s best to talk about your failure with friends. |
| D．Good characters can last for a long time. |
| A．To encourage people to be more caring. |
| B．To give information about being responsible. |
| C．To explain the methods to develop a good character. |
| D．To describe the importance of developing a good character. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
Have you ever heard about “Survival (生存) Holidays”? “Survival Holidays” is for children to go into the lonely place for exciting activities. Now about 1,100 companies are asked to take children into the great outdoors. However, their parents can’t go with them.
The reason why people like “Survival Holidays” is that they think it is good for children to be close to nature. Many children in big cities spend lots of time watching TV. Playing computer games also takes them a lot of time. “Survival Holidays” gives them an important change.
Is “Survival Holidays” a wonderful idea? Maybe it is. Children need more free time to play. So parents sometimes should leave them alone. Parents care too much about their children. They like to see the children being busy with activities that are controlled by adults, but children don’t know what to do when they are in danger. Even something like crossing a small river seems like a hard challenge (挑战). Children are not comfortable with danger. Even small danger like getting their feet wet or falling down seems very terrible to them.
Many people think the survival activities are good for children. Even years later, they will still remember what they have learned. Some have learned to stay calm in different times. Some have learned how to keep safe. Others have learned how to work in a team. All these useful skills will help them a lot in their lives.
It is an exciting activity for children to get into the lonely place |
| 7. How many companies are asked to take children into the nature? 8. Why do people like “Survival Holidays”? 9. Are children comfortable with danger? |
During the Labour Day holiday, many people want to find dazi (搭子) or activity partners (活动伙伴) for travelling, eating or other activities. The activity of finding dazi is a new way of social contact (社交交往) for young people.
The idea of this activity is easy to understand. It helps people to find someone who has the same hobby as them and it doesn’t take much time. With one or a few dazi, people have more fun in the activities they are interested in.
A girl called Zhang Li, is a high school student from Shandong. She likes talking with her meal dazi when she is having lunch. “We love to share our ideas on the food,” said the girl. “If my meal dazi doesn’t come to school one day, I will be sad.”
“It takes a lot of time to make friends with others. But it doesn’t need much time to have a dazi,” said another girl Shi Zhimin, a student from Shanxi. Zhang Li also has the same idea. She doesn’t want to spend too much time making friends, so having a dazi is good for her. She can feel relaxed and then has more time to study.
Also, ________. “Once, my game dazi and I did something wrong when playing a game, but we worked together to turn the tide (扭转局势). By playing the game together, I find I like working with others now!” Shi Zhimin said.
Dazi is usually helpful but it can be dangerous. People may lie on the Internet. For example, a young and beautiful girl on the Internet may be an old, short, and heavy man in real life. So think twice when finding dazi.
1. According to the passage, people like finding dazi because ________.| A．they have the same idea about food |
| B．they want to spend more time with others |
| C．it helps people make friends from different places |
| D．it doesnt take much time to find friends with the same hobbies |
| A．happy | B．bored | C．sad | D．relaxed |
| A．dazi sometimes may play games better than you |
| B．dazi sometimes may give you some big surprises |
| C．dazi sometimes may have different ideas about games |
| D．dazi sometimes may ask you to talk with others |
| A．Dazi: The New Way of Finding Activity Partners |
| B．Know the Culture (文化) of Dazi in China |
| C．Having a Dazi: More Fun, More Time |
| D．Dazi: A Dangerous Way to Make Friends |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
Red is the color of China. Among all the colors, red is the easiest one to see in China. People call it China Red. Chinese people are attracted by the color red not only because it makes people excited, but also because it means a lot in Chinese culture and history.
No other country in the world has ever used a color in the way that China uses red. In the past, red meant dignity (尊严) and mystery in Chinese culture. Even today, Chinese people love the color more than any other people around the world. It can be said that China Red is an everlasting (永恒的) theme for China. It is easy to find red-colored objects in China, as the color can be seen everywhere. All traditional red things have played special roles in China. Things like the walls of ancient palaces, the national flag, Chinese knots, lanterns, and even tanghulu are all red.
All in all, in Chinese culture, red is more than just a color. It stands for luck, health, happiness, peace, wealth and much more. It carries the ancient history and culture of the Chinese nation. Come to China and experience the richness of China red!
Red is the color of China. Among all the colors, red is the |
7. Do Chinese people call the color red “China Red”?
8. What are the traditional red things mentioned in the passage?
9. What does the color red stand for in Chinese culture?
8 . Do you know why different animals or insects have their special colors? They mainly use colors to protect themselves.
Some birds like eating insects, but birds cannot easily catch them. Why? It is because some insects can change their colors with the colors of crops (庄稼). For example, there is a kind of insect. When crops are green, it looks green. As the harvest time comes, it changes to the same brown color as crops have. But some other insects can’t change their colors. So birds or other animals can easily find and eat them. So they have to hide themselves and come out only at night.
If you study the animal life, you will find the main use of coloring is for animals to protect themselves. Bears, tigers and some other animals move quietly through forests. People can’t easily see them because these animals have the colors much like the trees.
Sea animals also have their own way of protecting themselves. Octopus (章鱼) can send out a kind of very black liquid (液体) when it faces danger. So no one can find it, and then it can swim away at once. That’s why it isn’t strong at all, but it can still live up to now.
1. What do some birds like eating according to the text?| A．Grass. | B．Insects. | C．Flowers. | D．Crops. |
| A．The crop. | B．The bird. |
| C．A kind of insect. | D．A special color. |
| A．It swims to the deeper sea. |
| B．It changes its color. |
| C．It fights with other animals because it is strong enough. |
| D．It can send out a kind of very black liquid and then swim away. |
| A．How to face danger | B．How to grow crops |
| C．Special colors for animals | D．The animals in the forest |
Dragons are not real animals, but look like a combination (组合体) of many animals such as snakes (角) and a long moustache (胡子) . With fantastic (极大的) , they fly in the sky or swim in the sea. They can make rain, too. The Chinese dragon is a symbol of strength and good luck. The emperors of ancient China loved dragons. Their clothes were covered with pictures of dragons.
We are proud to call ourselves the “descendants (传人) of the dragon”. In Chinese, “excellent” people are often called “dragon”. A number of Chinese sayings and idioms (习语) talk about dragons, for example, “Hoping one’s child will become a dragon.” which means he or she will be successful.
It is said that people born in the Year of the Dragon have certain characteristics (特质). They are creative, confident, brave and quick-tempered (脾气). There are some famous “dragons” who have done excellent things, for example, and the famous businessman Li Jiacheng. They are all successful.
There are also some traditional festivals about dragons in China, such as Dragon Head-Raising Day and the Dragon Boat Festival. We have different kinds of activities to celebrate them. These two festivals come every year, but the Year of the Dragon comes every twelve years.
The dragon is very important in Chinese culture. As the “descendants of the dragon”, it is necessary for us to know the views on dragons in our culture. It can help us understand why our parents always want us to be “dragons”.
The year 2024 is the Year of the Dragon. Good luck to you!
1. What does the Chinese dragon symbolize (象征)?| A．A combination of many animals. | B．Chinese sayings and idioms. |
| C．Traditional festivals. | D．Strength and good luck. |
| A．Creative, confident, brave and powerful. |
| B．Creative, confident, brave and quick-tempered. |
| C．Lovely, confident, brave and quick-tempered. |
| D．Lucky, confident, creative and successful. |
| A．1988. | B．1998. | C．2008. | D．2018. |
| A．Dragons are real animals. |
| B．There are many Chinese sayings and idioms about dragons. |
| C．People born in the Year of the Dragon must be successful. |
| D．The “descendants of the dragon” are often called “dragons”. |
Asking for advice can be scary? In a recent study, 74 percent said they were afraid to ask for advice. But people who ask for advice are easier to succeed at a task.
Be specific ( 具 体 的 ) in your questioning.
The key is: Don’t be afraid to ask for advice.
| A．Think about when to ask. |
| B．So how do you ask for advice? |
| C．Imagine you want to own a business someday. |
| D．Ask somebody for a second opinion. |
| E．Look for the best person to give you advice. |
