Do you know why different animals or insects have their own special colors? Colors in them seem to be used mainly to protect themselves.
Some birds like eating locusts (蝗虫), but birds cannot easily catch them. Why? It is because locusts change their colors together with the change of the colors of crops. When crops are green, locusts look green. But as the harvest time comes, locusts change to the same brown color as crops have. Some other insects with different colors from plants are easily found and eaten by others. So they have to hide themselves during the day and appear only at night.
If you study the animal life, you’ll find the main use of color is to protect themselves. Bears, lions and other animals move quietly through forests. They cannot be easily seen by hunters. This is because they have the colors much like the trees.
Have you ever found an even more strange act? A kind of fish in the sea can release a kind of black liquid (液体) when it faces danger. While the liquid spreads over, its enemies can’t find it. And it immediately swims away. So it has lived up to now though it is not strong at all.
1. Locusts change their color to match the color of crops to avoid being eaten by birds.2. Insects that look different from plants are active both during the day and at night.
3. Animals that have colors different from trees would be more easily noticed by hunters.
4. Some fish release a black liquid to kill their enemies when they are in danger.
5. The text mainly discusses how animals and insects use colors to protect themselves.
2 . The elephant-foot drum is a very special instrument for the Dai people. The drum-making skill was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2011.
The elephant-foot drum dance is very popular among the Dai people. It can be danced by one or two people or a group of people. It is often performed during festivals. This form of dance was at first used to scare off evil and welcome the new year. Now it is a way for the Dai people to show their joy as well as their village culture. It also shows that the Dai people are kind, friendly and inclusive (包容的).
Xie Wenping, who is 32 years old, learned how to make these drums from his grandfather. “I was determined (下定决心的) to make more and better drums when I grew up,” Xie said.
But making an elephant-foot drum is no easy task. “Making an elephant-foot drum takes about 30 steps and one month,” Xie explained. First, Xie needs to choose the right wood and shape it like an elephant’s leg. Then he needs to hollow out the inside and cover it with cowhide (牛皮). The cowhide needs to go through many steps before it can be used on the drum. After that, Xie paints the drum with special patterns and adds a protective layer (保护层) on top. The last steps are tuning (调音) the drum and making it look nice. “A good elephant-foot drum should sound loud and strong when you beat it,” Xie said.
Even though making these drums can be repetitive (重复), Xie always feels encouraged when he sees his grandfather’s smile while making them. “Over the years, the number of craftspeople (工匠) skilled in making elephant-foot drums has gone down,” Xie said. “I feel like it’s my job to keep this tradition alive.”
To make it easier for people to enjoy the elephant-foot drum outside of Yunnan, Xie came up with the idea of making a smaller version (版本) of the drum and designing key chains that look like the drum.
1. What is the purpose of the elephant-foot drum dance now?| A．To compete with other villages. | B．To show their sadness and losses. |
| C．To show their friendliness and culture. | D．To scare off evil and welcome the new year. |
| A．easy | B．challenging | C．creative | D．the most exciting |
| A．The number of craftsmen is increasing. |
| B．The number of craftsmen is going down. |
| C．Its place has been taken by modem drums. |
| D．The tradition is no longer popular among the Dai people. |
| A．thought out | B．listened to | C．paid attention to | D．gave up |
| A．An Elephant-Foot Drum Maker | B．Making the Elephant-Foot Drum |
| C．Elephant-Foot Drum: A Cultural Treasure | D．The Art and Culture of Elephant-Foot Drum Dance |
3 . Each country and culture has its own set of public (公共的) holidays and festivals. Some of these holidays and festivals are common across the world. But there are many other holidays that are unknown.
Blessed Rainy Day
Life in a county where it rains a lot can be hard. In Bhutan, Blessed Rainy Day is the holiday marking the end of the rainy season. On this day, everyone is encouraged to enjoy a bath out of the house to wash away bad luck.
Punch Your Neighbor Festival
The cities of Potosi and Macha in Bolivia hold the festival in the Bolivian Andes Mountains in May every year. It is celebrated by thousands of people and it is based on (基于) the Quechuae word “Tinku” that means “meeting”. The meaning of the word has become worse as it is celebrated with beatings (殴打) that can really hurt people now.
Melon Day
Turkmenistan’s Melon Day is a celebration of their national fruit. It takes place (发生) in August. Thousands of mouth-watering melons will be sent to the county’s capital Ashgabat on Sunday to celebrate the holiday.
Haxey Hood
It is on January 6th in England. The Haxey Hood game in England has a big group of people trying to push a small leather tube (皮管) towards one of the four pubs (酒馆) in town, where it will stay until the following year’s game. When a person has the tube, he can’t run with it. He has to pass it to people in his team.
1. How do people celebrate Blessed Rainy Day?| A．By playing in the rain. | B．By throwing water on people. |
| C．By taking a bath outdoors. | D．By having a shower in the bathroom. |
| A．In December. | B．In August. | C．In May. | D．In January. |
| A．It can be dangerous. | B．Most people hate it. |
| C．It encourages people to love each other. | D．It is the most interesting festival. |
| A．Dance with a leather tube. | B．Run with a leather tube. |
| C．Push a leather tube towards a pub. | D．Drink with a leather tube. |
| A．In a novel (小说). | B．In a poster (海报). |
| C．In an advertisement (广告). | D．In a newspaper. |
Have you ever heard of Weifang, Shangdong Province? What is it known for? There is an international kite festival every April in Weifang that is a modern city with many traditions. People from all over the world compete in the kite flying. There are also competitions for the best kites. The kites in the competition are all made by hand.
Most people have flown a kite. It makes people happy. It’s easy to make it. It’s made of bamboo and paper. But not so many people know that kites were first made in China thousands of years ago. The ancient Chinese made and flew kites even before they could write.
A long time ago, the Chinese made kites to use in wars. They would fly these war kites in the dark. The kites were fixed and they made strange sounds in wind. Men who were at war against them would hear these sounds and run away. They thought those strange sounds were made by gods in the sky.
The ancient Chinese also flew kites to bring good luck and to make their crops grow rich and tall. Sometimes they tied long strings and hooks (钩子) to their kites. Then they would fly the kites over water, letting the hooks hang down to catch fish.
The Chinese use sticks, string (线) and paper for their kites. Some of these kites look like animals or trees and others look like houses.
1. Chinese made and flew kites before they could write.2. In ancient China, kites could be used for helping people fly.
3. The ancient Chinese used kites in wars because the kites could bring good luck.
4. Sticks, string and paper are used for making kites by the Chinese.
5. The passage mainly talks about the kite festival in Weifang.
Life in the future will be different from life today. Between then and now many changes will happen. But what will the changes be?
The population (人口) is growing fast. There will be more people in the world and most of them will live longer than people live now.
Computers will be much smaller and more useful, and there will be at least one in every home. And computer studies will be one of the important subjects in schools then. People will work fewer hours than they do now and they will have more free time for sports, watching TV and traveling. Traveling will be much cheaper and easier. And more people will go to other countries for holidays.
There will be changes in our food, too. More land will be used for building new towns and houses for all the people. Then there will be less room for cows and sheep, so meat will be more expensive. Maybe no one will eat it every day. Instead, they will eat more fruits and vegetables.
Maybe people will be healthier. Work in the future will be different, too. Robots will do dangerous and hard work. Because of this, many people will not have enough work to do. This will be a problem.
1. In the future there will be more people.2. Every family will have at least a robot in the future.
3. In the future people don’t have to work long hours.
4. People may not eat fruit as much as they do today.
5. One big problem in the future is that many people will not be able to find work.
6 . Of the twenty-four Solar Terms（节气）in China, Chun fen is the fourth. People in different places in China have different traditions（传统）to celebrate Chun fen.
On Chun fen, people often go out to take part in many kinds of activities to enjoy the good weather. Flying kites on Chun fen is a tradition in China. People usually go outdoors to fly kites on that day. The wind isn’t too strong or too weak, so kites can soar easily. “It was a really happy time,” a kite lover Yang Liping says.
Chinese people also have the tradition to cook special vegetables on Chun fen. During Chun fen, it’s the best time to cook wild（野生的）vegetables. They are very popular but people cook them in different ways. In Fujian and Guangdong, people living in villages cook wild vegetables in soup to clean their stomachs. People hope that they would have a healthy and strong body. Just like the plants in spring, Chun fen means hope and to grow up.
1. Of all the Solar Terms in China, which one is Chun fen?| A．The first one. | B．The fourth one. |
| C．The fourteenth one. | D．The twenty-fourth one. |
| A．Go outdoors to fly kites. | B．Get up early in the morning. |
| C．Stay indoors all day. | D．Go shopping in cities. |
| A．高飞 | B．膨胀 | C．制作 | D．折断 |
| A．Jiaozi. | B．Noodles. | C．Wild vegetables. | D．Soup. |
| A．Solar Terms in China. | B．Traditions on Chun fen. |
| C．Activities on Chun fen. | D．Foods on Chun fen. |
7 . Have you wondered how the three Chinese astronauts of Shenzhou ⅩⅢ spend their 6 months’ life in space? The following will explain astronauts’ daily life in space to you.
If you go camping for more than a week with some friends, you’ll make sure you have plenty of food and keep it properly. As the end of your camping trip, you would deal with your rubbish properly before the ride home.
Astronauts almost do the same things when they go to space. Preparations change with the food types. Some food can be eaten in their natural forms, such as chocolate cakes and fruit. Other food requires adding water, such as cheese. Of course, an oven is provided at the space station to heat the food. But there is no fridge, so space food must be kept properly.
After a long day at work, nothing is better than a good night’s sleep! Just like on the earth, in space astronauts go to bed at a certain time, then get up and prepare for work again. When going to sleep, they have to attach themselves, so they don’t fly around or hit their bodies against something. They usually use sleeping bags located in small crew cabins (乘员舱). Each crew cabin is big enough for one person. Generally, astronauts have an eight-hour sleep each day when they finish their task.
Exercise is an important part of every astronaut’s daily life to prevent muscle loss (肌肉萎缩). Commonly, astronauts exercise two hours every day. Lifting 200 pounds on the earth may be a lot of work. But lifting that same object in space would be much easier. That means exercise equipment needs to be special, so astronauts can receive the exercise needed.
Living in space is not just all work and no play. Fun plays an important role in the quality of their life.
1. Which kind of space food requires adding water before eating according to Paragraph 2?| A．Cheese. | B．Chocolate. | C．Fruit. | D．Bread. |
| A．放松 | B．固定 | C．旋转 | D．加热 |
| A．sleep | B．eat | C．lift heavy things | D．play sports |
| A．Two hours. | B．Three hours. | C．Four hours. | D．Five hours. |
| A．Something about Shenzhou ⅩⅢ. | B．How astronauts go to space. |
| C．Three Chinese astronauts. | D．The astronauts’ daily life in space. |
8 . More and more people in China are now showing parts of their lives to the world by videos on their phones. Some people send videos of personal events like holidays and weddings.
Using live streaming (网络直播) is particularly popular among the people aged from 18 to 35. Even the teachers give lessons by live streaming. Besides leaving reviews (评论) on the screen, they can also communicate directly with the hosts by buying virtual (虚拟的) gifts such as flowers, toys and cars for them online. The most recent famous example was the Olympic swimmer Fu Yuanhui. She did one-hour live streaming which attracted more than 11 million viewers.
What’s more, live streaming lets users communicate with strangers and express themselves. A 19-year-old college student called Nic Li says she spends three to four hours each week chatting and singing with viewers (观众) through one App called Ingkee. “Sometimes I feel lonely and want to talk to people,” she says. “I feel nice when viewers are paying attention to me.”
However, there are worries about the misuse (误用) of live streaming. Papi Jiang promised to correct her unsuitable and impolite language after she was warned by the officials. As there are more than 80 Apps and 300 websites for live streaming in China, the Internet regulator (监管机构) can hardly monitor the contents (内容) all the time.
“We support the use of live streaming. But people should be aware of the two sides of it.” One of the officials said.
1. Who may use live streaming most according to Paragraph 2?| A．An 8-year-old student. | B．A 15-year-old teenager. |
| C．A 32-year-old adult. | D．A 65-year-old man. |
| A．For 1~2 hours. | B．For 3~4 hours. | C．For 5~6 hours. | D．For 7-8 hours. |
| A．Nic Li felt nice when viewers were paying attention to her. |
| B．It is hard for the Internet regulator to monitor the contents all the time. |
| C．People can communicate directly with the hosts by buying real gifts for them online. |
| D．Fu Yuanhui did one-hour live streaming which attracted more than 11 million viewers. |
| A．travel | B．history | C．cooking | D．life |
| A．The importance of using live streaming | B．Two sides of using live streaming |
| C．How to do live streaming | D．Personal events of some important people |
9 . With the sound of bamboo strips, Yang Ziqi, 17, from Xi’an Qujiang No. 1 High School, listens to interesting stories in Shaanxihua. She sometimes laughed or dropped in thought other time.
In May, 2021, Shaanxi kuaiban was regarded as an intangible cultural heritage (非物质文化遗产). It’s widely believed that the art form started from the late Qing Dynasty (1644). According to its performers, the art was first used by farmers to share their knowledge and make money. But now, more people perform Shaanxi kuaiban on different situations—for example, at festival celebrations, parties and art shows.
Yang Jinlong, a 45-year-old Shaanxi kuaiban artist, has continued Shaanxi kuaiban for more than 30 years. Since 2003, he has taught the art form to young people. When he tells modern stories, Yang takes off the traditional clothes and wears smart clothes. He has also mixed his kuaiban performance with dancing or playing pop music. His stories notice more fashion topics, like the Chinese Olympic team.
“Art education is important for students in China. Luckily, more people learn traditional Chinese folk arts, including Shaanxi kuaiban,” Yang Jinlong said.
判断正误（正确“T”，错误“F”）1. Yang Ziqi is from Shaanxi Province.
2. Shaanxi kuaiban started from the early Qing Dynasty.
3. Yang Jinlong has taught Shaanxi kuaiban to young people for about 19 years.
4. Yang Jinlong added modern art forms to his performance.
5. The passage mainly talks about how students learn Shaanxi kuaiban.
10 . Ordering takeouts is very popular nowadays because it is convenient. More than 60 percent of the people in China order takeout food at least twice a week. If people don’t want to eat out, they can just order takeouts on the smartphone and wait for it to be delivered (送达). What about people living in ancient times? Did they eat takeouts?
In fact, there was takeout as far back as the Song Dynasty. According to history books, Emperor Xiaozong (1127—1194) liked to order takeouts late at night. His servants then went around the city to pick up the dishes and bring them back to the palace.
Ordinary (普通的) people also ordered takeouts. Restaurant waiters would go out into the streets and shout out which dishes could be ordered that day. After hearing the waiters, people could then place an order. Later, delivery workers would bring food to their homes. In the famous Song Dynasty painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival (《清明上河图》), a takeout worker can be seen on a delivery with food in hand.
People at that time even had a special meal box for takeout dishes. It was a long wooden box with several layers. People also used warming plates made of two layers of porcelain (瓷). Hot water could be put between them to keep dishes warm.
1. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Eating out. | B．The smart phone. | C．Takeout. | D．A phone call. |
| A．900 | B．1100 | C．1500 | D．2000 |
| A．Many people like to order takeouts nowadays because it is very cheap. |
| B．Only the Emperor could order takeouts in ancient times. |
| C．People can see a takeout worker in Along the River During the Qingming Festival. |
| D．People used special plastic boxes for takeout dishes in ancient China. |
| A．hot water | B．fire | C．plastic plates | D．special paper boxes |
| A．the emperor who liked takeouts | B．takeouts in Ancient China |
| C．the advantages of ordering takeouts | D．the way to order takeouts in ancient China |
