| A. In England, seeing a single magpie is thought to bring bad luck. To avoid this bad luck, the local people salute the magpie! B. In Tajikistan, people mustn’t celebrate their birthdays in public places. They can only celebrate them at home. C. Place your hand on the edge of the table while eating with your Russian friends, the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right. D. In the UK if you are a guest, it’s polite to wait until your host starts eating. Never chew with your mouth open. Never talk with food in your mouth. E. In Thailand, a big meal is held for the monkeys living there every year. People do this to thank the monkeys for all the good luck they bring. F. In Canada, people put butter on birthday children’s noses so that they will be too smooth for bad luck to catch them. G. In Thailand restaurants, sharing food is perfectly fine. If you’re with a group, the elder usually order dishes for the table. |
2 . Do you know what astronauts eat in space? Is it the same as what we eat every day? Is it more delicious or less delicious than what we eat every day? Is it difficult for astronauts to eat in space? To get all the answers, we need to have a better understanding on food for astronauts.
On Shenzhou XII, there are more than 120 kinds of food for the astronauts. The food is in small size which is easier for astronauts to eat. There are many different kinds of food. Scientists make a research（调查）on astronauts’ taste before they are sent into space. With the research, Chinese scientists can know astronauts’ taste and make menus for them. This makes the food for astronauts both delicious and nutritious（营养丰富的）. Here is one example of their menus.
| Meals | Main dish | Side dish | Desserts and drinks |
| Breakfast | Porridge | Carrot, bread, eggs, spicy sauces（辣酱） | Chocolate, fruit, Zongzi, milk, orange juice |
| Lunch | Fried rice | Mutton, potato and hot peppers, vegetable beef soup | |
| Dinner | Rice | Spicy tuna（辣味金枪鱼）, chicken, lettuce, tomatoes |
| A．asking questions | B．giving examples | C．telling stories | D．comparing facts |
| A．They should make a research on their sleep. |
| B．They should do research on their skills. |
| C．They should tell the scientists their taste. |
| D．They should make menus by themselves. |
| A．Porridge. | B．Bread. | C．Spicy tuna. | D．Fried rice. |
| A．it is easy for astronauts to eat in space |
| B．the food for astronauts is both delicious and nutritious |
| C．there are less than 120 kinds of food for the astronauts |
| D．the food for astronauts is spicy |
| A．Sports news. | B．A storybook. |
| C．A science magazine. | D．A film guide. |
The traditional Chinese Longtaitou Festival, or Dragon-Head-Raising Festival, falls on the second day of the second lunar(阴历的) month every year. This year it falls on March 4.
Ancient people believed that after this day, rainfall increases because the rain-ringing Dragon King has awakened from his winter sleep. A well-known phrase goes, “Er yue er, long tai tou, ” meaning, “On the second day of the second month, the dragon lifts his head.”
The most famous tradition is getting a haircut. Some believe that going to the barber(理发店) on this day avoids bad luck, while others believe getting a haircut during the first month of the lunar calendar brings bad luck. Another saying warns that cutting your hair in the first month will cause your uncle to die. Although today few pay attention to it, it was once tradition to line up outside barber shops on the day of Longtaitou.
People eat toufu balls in East China’s Fujian province during the festival, and often make tofu and vegetable balls to pray for family and business. Fried beans are the traditional festival fare for people in parts of Shandong province.
1. Dragon-Head-Raising Festival falls on the second day of the second lunar month every year.2. The most famous tradition is getting a haircut.
3. Some believe getting a haircut during the first month of the lunar calendar brings good luck.
4. People eat toufu balls in East China’s Shandong province during the festival.
5. This passage is mainly about the traditional Chinese Longtaitou Festival.
4 . Greeting people can be confusing（令人困惑的）. Will a simple handshake do? Should you give a hug or offer a kiss on the cheek（脸颊）? People in different countries have their own greetings.
During the novel coronavirus epidemic（新冠病毒流行）, greeting others is becoming even more confusing. The novel coronavirus has challenged traditional greetings such as shaking hands, kissing and hugging. After all, close physical contact（身体接触）will increase the chance of spreading the virus.
Health departments（部门）in many countries have also suggested that people change their regular greetings to safer ones. Shaking hands is a common gesture to show respect around the world. Now in the US, the elbow bump（碰撞）is the new handshake. In New South Wales（威尔士） and Australia, people pat（拍）each other on the back instead of a handshake.
In France, kissing on cheek is a common greeting, even between people who have just met. French Health Minister （部长）has advised the public not to do this. Italy has made the same suggestion. They said simply looking into a person’s eyes is enough.
In the United Arab Emirates（阿联酋）and Qatar（卡塔尔）, people rub（摩擦）their noses together upon meeting. Their health departments have advised them to wave only.
In the face of such changes, how should you do about changing the way you greet people? Australian etiquette（礼仪）expert has suggested simply greeting people by looking them in the eye, smiling and saying hello.
1. How many countries are mentioned in the passage?
| A．4 | B．5 | C．6 | D．7 |
| A．Because it is confusing. |
| B．Because people don’t like traditional greetings any more. |
| C．Because they will increase the risk of spreading the virus. |
| D．Because people want to challenge. |
| A．France and Australia | B．France and Italy |
| C．America and France | D．Australia and Italy |
| A．science fiction. | B．art style. | C．sports world. | D．culture. |
| A．the elbow bump is the new handshake |
| B．safer ways to greet |
| C．the novel coronavirus epidemic around the world |
| D．greeting people is confusing |
Mars (火星) is a planet. It is the fourth planet from the sun and is more than 200 million kilometers from it. That is a very long way. Mars is also a very long way away from the earth but sometimes you can see it clearly at night. Most stars are white. Mars is a bit red. It is not a very big planet. It is about half the size of the earth.
Long ago, the only way to study Mars was just to look at it. People with good eyes could see some things but not everything.
Later on, it was easier, because scientists had telescopes (望远镜). They could see Mars more clearly. They learned much more about Mars this way. In the 20th century things got even better. First of all, we had spacecraft (宇宙飞船). They flew close to Mars and sent back information. Then, they sent spacecraft to fly in orbit (轨道) around Mars. Finally, spacecraft landed on Mars. Maybe one day a man will walk on Mars.
We can also land a rover (探测车). It is a machine that looks like a car. It can move around on Mars. It has cameras to take photos and it sends them back to the earth. It can study the rocks and air of Mars. It sends all this information back to the earth.
1. Mars is over 200 million kilometers away from the sun.2. Mars is much larger than the earth.
3. People with good eyes could see everything on Mars long ago.
4. People could know more about Mars with the development of technology.
5. The rover can study the water of Mars.
6 . Too many people want others to be their friends, but they don’t give friendship back. That is why some friendships don’t last very long. To have a friend, you must learn to treat your friend the way you want your friend to treat you. Learning to be a good friend means learning three rules: be honest, be generous (慷慨的), be understanding.
Honesty is where a good friendship starts. Friends must be able to trust one another. If a friend finds out that you aren’t honest, you may lose your friend’s trust. Good friends always ask one another to speak and act honestly.
Generosity means sharing. You don’t have to give your lunch money or your clothes to your friends. Instead you have to learn how to share things you enjoy. And naturally you will want to share your ideas and feeling. They tell your friends what is important to you. By sharing, your friends can know you better.
Sooner or later everyone needs understanding when something goes wrong. Talking about the problem can make it easier to solve. So to be a friend, you must learn to listen and understand. You must try to put yourself in your friend’s place, so you can understand the problem better.
No two friendships are ever exactly the same. But all true friendships have three things in common. If you plan to keep your friendships you must practice honesty, generosity and understanding.
1. Some friendships don’t last very long because ________.
| A．people treat their friends in a proper way |
| B．most of people are honest and generous |
| C．people don’t want to make friends with others |
| D．too many people don’t give friendship back |
| A．less important than the other two rules |
| B．not as important as the other two rules |
| C．the beginning of a good friendship |
| D．the whole of a good friendship |
| A．your clothes | B．ideas and feeling |
| C．lunch money | D．your things |
| A．Everyone does. | B．Our friends do. | C．No one does. | D．We do. |
| A．Three Important Points in Life | B．A Friend in Need Is a Friend Indeed |
| C．How to Be a Friend | D．Honesty ls the Best Habit |
Many Chinese students may want to study abroad after high school. But at the same time, more and more foreign students are coming to study in China.
According to a report from www. the Students.com, 397,633 international students came to China in 2015. China is now the third most popular country for international students, behind the USA and the UK.
In the summer of 2016, 55 students and teachers from Germany came to China and joined a summer camp. They were interested in traditional Chinese culture. They visited several schools in Beijing. They learned to make dumplings, play Chinese kung fu and do paper cutting. If they like Chinese handwriting, they can learn calligraphy (书法). By communicating with Chinese people, they could have a close relationship with their new friends, they could know about China.
In 2018, especially young people in Germany, have become more interested in learning Chinese. There are more cultural exchanges (交流) between Germany and China. German students have had chances to learn more about Chinese culture, history and its life today. Almost 400 German schools have Chinese classes. Over 8,000 German students study in China.
1. China is now the third most popular country for international students.2. 55 students from Germany came to China and joined a summer camp in 2015.
3. The German students learned to playing pingpong in China.
4. More and more foreign students come to study in China now.
5. German students have become interested in learning modern Chinese culture.
A student is studying British English (英式英语). He wonders: Can I have a talk with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask—what are the differences between British English and American English? How important are these differences?
Certainly, there are some differences between British English and American English. There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and “Have you a pen?” Americans say “in the hospital” and “Do you have a pen?” Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound the “r” in words like “car”and “farm”. Some speakers of British English do not sound the “r” in these words. There are differences between British English and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “colour” and “honour” are British English spellings. “Color” and “honor” are American English spellings.
These differences are in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary. However, they are not important. For the most part, British English and American English are the same language.
1. In American English, we can say “Have you a new book?”2. Between British English and American English, sometimes pronunciation is different.
3. Englishmen say “in hospital”, while Americans say “at the hospital”.
4. The word “color” is American English spelling.
5. British English and American English are two different languages.
9 . The art of paper-cutting in China has along history, which originated (起源) from the 6th century. As paper became cheaper, paper cutting has become one of the most important types of Chinese folk art. Later, this art form spread to other parts of the world, with different areas adopting (采用) their own cultural styles. Because the paper cuts are often used to decorate doors and windows, they are sometimes referred to as “window flowers”.
Scissors and knives are the basic tools to make a paper cut, and the subjects are different in figures (图案), such as flowers, birds, characters, familiar folk stories and fairy tales. It’s also common to see some Chinese characters on paper cuts. The most famous paper-cutting characters in Chinese are words meaning “lucky” and “double happiness”. Even these days, Chinese people love to hang paper-cutting of these two characters at their doors.
Chinese paper cuts were used for some purposes in the past. They have been buried with the dead. At the same time, paper cuts have special meaning on festivals and holidays.
Paper cuts are made in many areas through the country. In general, the northern style is bold (大胆的) and free while the southern is beautiful and smooth.
People express wishes and hopes with paper cuttings. As a national non-material culturer heritage (遗产), paper cut is really wonderful.
1. The art of paper-cutting originated ________ in China.| A．from the seventh century | B．from these days |
| C．From nowadays | D．from the sixth century |
| A．different colors | B．pencils | C．knives | D．foreign characters |
| A．The paper cuts are often used to make up the room. |
| B．Paper cuts have nothing special on festivals and holidays. |
| C．Flowers, birds, folk stories are paper-cutting figures. |
| D．Chinese people love to hang “double happiness” at their doors. |
| A．The southern style is beautiful and smooth. | B．The northern style is free and beautiful. |
| C．The northern style is free and smooth. | D．The southern style is bold and smooth. |
| A．the history of paper-cutting | B．paper-cutting experts |
| C．paper-cutting skills | D．the art of paper-cutting |
10 . Global (全球的) warming is a big problem. One of the best things we do is to plant more tree. Trees can take in CO2in the air and stop global warming. China is doing a great job of “greening” the world.
A team of scientists at Boston University has been working with NASA to study Earth’s green vegetation (植被). They used a special NASA camera and found that global leaf area had increased by 5 percent since the early 2000s. And according to the study, China was responsible for 25 percent of that gain (收获). That’s about one-quarter of the size of the entire Amazon rainforest (亚马逊热带雨林).
The growth mainly came from China’s forest protection programs, NASA said. For example, since1962, China has been planting trees in Saihanba, Hebei Province. It was once a desert. But now, China has turned the area into the country’s largest man-made forest.
The Chinese public has also joined in these activities recently. Ant Forest (蚂蚁森林) gives users points for doing eco-friendly things. Users can then use these points to water and grow their own virtual (虚拟的) trees. When the virtual trees are big enough, Ant Forest will plant real trees somewhere in the world. More than 55 million trees have been planted in this way.
1. To stop global warming, planting trees is the only thing to do.2. Scientists at Boston University found that China has greatly increased its amount (数量) of green vegetation.
3. According to the study, 25 percent of trees in Amazon rainforest were planted by Chinese.
4. Saihanba is the largest man-made forest in China now.
5. The last paragraph tells us that why Ant Forest is popular in China.
