1 . Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now the website Bookcrossing.com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group.
Members go on the site and register(登记) the books they own and would like to share. Bookcrossing provides an ID number to stick inside the book. Then the person leaves it in a public place, hoping that the book will have an adventure, traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it.
Bruce Pederson, the managing director of Bookcrossing, says, “The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read. Bookcrossing combines(结合) both.”
Members leave books on park benches(长凳) and buses, in train stations and coffee shops. Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it.
People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it. E-mails are then sent to the Bookcrossers to keep them updated about where their books have been found. Bruce Pederson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home.
Book Crossing is part of a trend among people who want to get back to the “real” and not the virtual(虚拟的). The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred and thirty-five countries.
1. Reading can be a ________ activity.| A．personal | B．natural | C．social | D．traditional |
| A．reader | B．managing director | C．writer | D．member |
| A．on park benches | B．on buses | C．the libraries | D．coffee shops |
| A．更新 | B．日期 | C．上传 | D．追溯 |
| A．more than one million | B．two million | C．three million | D．one million |
2 . A new emoji is getting popular among both Chinese and Western WeChat users—but for different reasons.
The “666” emoji recently came out on WeChat. It shows a smirking(得意的) face that holds up the Chinese hand sign for “6” with the number “666” shown next to it.
Most Chinese people know that this emoji is supposed to have a positive meaning. After all, the Chinese character for “six” is pronounced the same way as liu(溜), which means “smooth” as in “things are going smoothly”. There’s also the proverb liuliu dashun(六六大顺). It is used to give good wishes to one’s friends or relatives.
But in some Western countries, “666” has a very different meaning—a religious(宗教的) one. It is said to be the “Mark of the Beast”, a symbol that the devil(恶魔) forces people to wear in order to show their loyalty(忠诚) to him.
That’s why some people consider this number to be a symbol of darkness and rebellion(反叛). It is especially popular among heavy metal bands(重金属乐队) and their fans. But we all know that the devil isn’t real. No one really takes it seriously in modern times.
As a heavy metal fan who is also interested in Chinese culture, I like the new emoji for many reasons. I can send it to either my Chinese or Western friends and get different reactions. This makes it flexible(灵活的) and fun to use. Just don’t be surprised if you get a strange reaction from a Westerner if you send it to them!
1. What does the “666” emoji mean in China?| A．Happy. | B．Clever. | C．Rich. | D．Smooth. |
| A．Darkness. | B．Rebellion. | C．Darkness and rebellion. | D．Good wishes. |
| A．To give good wishes to one’s friends or relatives. | B．To disagree with one’s opinion. |
| C．To express the feeling of surprise. | D．To express bad luck. |
| A．The “666” emoji is not popular among Western users. |
| B．Heavy metal bands and their fans like this emoji. |
| C．When Chinese and Western friends receive the “666” emoji, they will have the same reaction. |
| D．Many people think that the devil is real. |
| A．He dislikes it. | B．He can’t stand it. | C．He likes it. | D．It is terrible. |
3 . Remember when you were a little child trying to learn to walk?
First, you had to learn how to balance yourself and stand. You fell down, and then got back up. You laughed sometimes and cried at other times. After much practice, you finally learned how to balance yourself. You got much pleasure from this new feeling of power—you’d stand everywhere you could. I was a happy time—you did it!
Now, the next step—walking. You’d seen others do it. It didn’t look that hard—just move your legs while you were standing. Wrong—more difficult than you ever imagined. But after you tried again and again, you understood how to walk.
If people found you walking, they always cheered, “Oh, look at what the kid is doing.” This encouraged you! But look back on those days when you were the little child—how many times did you try when no one was watching, or when no one was cheering? You couldn’t wait for someone to encourage you to take the next steps. You learned how to encourage yourself.
So, keep trying and encouraging yourself as you learned to walk if you want to succeed in doing something.
1. Balancing yourself and standing is the first step when you were a little child trying to learn to walk.2. You just need to move your legs and you could learn to walk easily.
3. People always cheered you up if they found you walking.
4. You couldn’t take the next steps until someone encouraged you.
5. If you want to succeed, keep trying and encouraging yourself as you learned to walk.
4 . Volunteering means spending some of your free time helping others.
★ Help yourself by helping others.
★ Get started.
★ Do things with parents or family members.
★ Invent your own opportunity. Kids can also come up with their own ways to raise money or provide needed services. Here are some ideas: make and sell products and give the money to the charity.
Volunteering can also help kids learn important things about themselves. So what are you waiting for? Make a plan to start volunteering today.
| A．It is very important for kids to be a volunteer. |
| B．Volunteering is a great way to have fun with your family. |
| C．You may volunteer to help other people. |
| D．School is a good place to start if you’re looking for volunteer ideas. |
| E．Volunteering helps others, but it can also help you. |
| F．Collect or earn money for charities. |
| G．A volunteer job can even help some kids decide what they want to do. |
5 . New research shows that office workers and other people who sit a lot must exercise for one hour a day. If they do that, they will increase their chances of living longer. Doctors have been telling us for a long time that sitting all day will shorten（缩短）our life.
Researchers now say that sitting in a chair all day is as dangerous as smoking or being overweight to our health. Research on over one million adults found that sitting for at least eight hours a day could increase the risk of dying early by up to 60 percent. However, there is good news for those who sit at a desk all day. An hour’s “brisk（轻快的）exercise” each day can cancel out（抵消）the risk of an early death linked to（与……有关联）sitting all day.
The research was published in time for people to read before the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Researchers hope this will encourage people to exercise more. They said being inactive increases the risk of getting heart disease, diabetes（糖尿病）and cancer. Watching TV all day is one of the worst things, because this means we get no exercise and are likely to eat unhealthy snacks. One researcher said office workers should find opportunities to get out of their seat more often. Professor UIf Eklund advised people to take a five-minute break every hour—go to the next office, go upstairs to the coffee machine or go to the printer. He added, “Build physical activity into your everyday life.”
1. If office workers and other people who sit a lot exercise for one hour a day, they will ________.| A．have more chances to live longer | B．not have chances to live longer |
| C．have to die early | D．get heart diseases |
| A．smoking | B．getting heart disease | C．dying early | D．being overweight |
| A．活跃的 | B．不活跃的 | C．寻常的 | D．不寻常的 |
| A．It will shorten our life if we sit for a long time all day. |
| B．Watching TV all day is one of the worst things. |
| C．Office workers shouldn’t get out of their seat more often. |
| D．Sitting in a chair all day is as dangerous as smoking or being overweight to our health. |
| A．How to Prevent Diseases | B．The Office Rules |
| C．Smoking is Harmful to Health | D．The Dangers of Sitting for Too Long |
6 . Sometimes choosing where to eat in Suzhou is something of a challenge. No matter how good the food tastes at a chosen restaurant, one may always wonder, “Is there anything better on the next street?” However, I’ve found the answer to this question. When I’m asked to name my favorite place to eat in Suzhou, I will reply right away, “Song He Lou Restaurant”. Why is Song He Lou so special among hundreds of restaurants? Well, for me it comes down to a perfect balance of delicious food, pleasant atmosphere（氛围）and a near-perfect location.
Before coming to Suzhou, I was warned by my friends from other cities in China that the food could be too sweet. For the first few months I chose to eat in Sichuan or Hunan style restaurants instead of eating much local food. However, after falling in love with the city, I came to realize that the food is so closely connected with its local culture. So I asked a local friend to recommend the best place to try real local style food. She came up with the suggestion of Song He Lou.
For a first-time visitor, “Song Shu Gui Yu” and “Xie Fen Tofu” are excellent choices. Suzhou has now become my home and I have a lifetime to enjoy each and every dish on the menu.
1. It’s very easy to choose a place to eat in Suzhou.2. Song He Lou Restaurant is the writer’s favorite place to eat in Suzhou.
3. The writer thinks the food in Suzhou is too sweet.
4. The food in Suzhou is quite closely connected with its local culture.
5. “Dongpo Meat” and “Mapo Tofu” are the best choices for a first-time visitor to come to Suzhou.
7 . Computers help humans with a lot of things, from searching information to math. Now, they may be able to help us in more complex (复杂的) ways. Recent research has showed a new computer program that can recognize human emotions (情感) , simply based on how they type.
Researchers from the Islamic University of Technology in Bangladesh asked a group of people to type two paragraphs from Lewis Carroll’s novel Alice in Wonderland. The participants (参与者) then chose an emotional state they felt while typing. Moods tested were joy, fear, anger, sadness, disgust (反感) , shame and guilt (内疚).
Then the researchers put the text into the computer to study. Surprisingly, the computer was right 70 percent of the time in telling the participants’ emotional states. The most correct emotions it guessed correctly were joy (87 percent) and anger (81 percent). The least accurate emotion the computer guessed was sadness (60 percent).
However, the computer program is limited in what it can do. But scientists believe that it will help humans in the future.
“If we could build any system that is intelligent enough to communicate with humans that involved emotions... then using machines could be more effective and friendly,” the researchers wrote in study. For example, when looking for a movie online, perhaps a computer program could make suggestions for films that would match your mood.
And as the researchers said, this type of computer program could also help humans in a number of ways. First, with online teaching, emotionally intelligent computers could change its teaching style or content (内容) to help students learn better. Second, with online chatting, doctors could be able to tell the emotion of a patient.
1. What did the researchers ask the people to do?| A．To search information. | B．To work out math problems. |
| C．To make a computer program. | D．To type paragraphs from the novel. |
| A．Three. | B．Five. | C．Seven. | D．Nine. |
| A．Sadness | B．Fear | C．Anger | D．Joy |
| A．Change the teaching style. | B．Learn better. |
| C．Tell a patient’s feeling. | D．Keep healthy. |
| A．Human body feels computer. | B．Computer feels human body. |
| C．Human emotions feel computer. | D．Computer feels human emotions. |
8 . There are 24 solar terms（节气）in year in China. Summer Solstice（夏至）, the 10th solar term of the year, usually begins on June 22.
On the summer Solstice itself, daylight is the longest for the whole year in the northern hemisphere（北半球）. After this day, daylight hours get shorter and shorter. The temperatures become higher in the northern hemisphere.
Summer Solstice was an important festival in ancient China. As early as the Han Dynasty, people have already begun to celebrate the Summer Solstice. Women gave colorful bags with good smell to each other on that day.
Hani is a small town of Mojiang in the southwest China’s Yunnan province. It lies in the northern part. Every year on the Summer Solstice, the sun sits directly over the Tropic of Cancer（北回归线）and returns from north to south. Then, the amazing event known as “upright pole with no shadows（立杆无影）” happens.
There is a saying which goes, “Eat dumplings on the Winter Solstice and eat noodles on Summer Solstice.” People in different areas of northern provinces eat cooled noodles on this day.
1. Summer Solstice is the eleventh solar term in a year.2. The underlined word “sits” in Paragraph 4 probably means shines.
3. Women were given gifts by their parents on Summer Solstice.
4. The sun returns from north to south on Summer Solstice.
5. The passage tells us information about 24 solar terms.
9 . We all know the dangers of fires. It’s good and necessary for a family to learn how to prepare for a fire. Here are some suggestions.
Put a smoke alarm in the house. Smoke from a fire causes the alarm to go off. The alarm makes a loud sound. The sound tells everyone to leave the house at once.
Make escape plans. We should know all the ways out of the house. If there is a fire, everyone follows the plan to get out. Part of the plan is to check all the windows to make sure they can be opened easily.
Buy fire extinguishers (灭火器) in the house. Everyone in the family should know how to use them.
Practice for a fire. We do fire practice because we teach children about fire safety. Everyone in the family should know the following fire rules:
★Don’t open a hot door! The fire can grow more quickly if you open the door.
★Stay close to the floor! Smoke can be more dangerous than fire. The best air is near the floor because smoke rises.
★What will you do if your hair or clothes start to burn? First, stop! Don’t run! The fire burns faster because of more air. Drop! Fall to the floor. Then roll! Turning over and over will make the fire go out.
There are many possible causes for fires. A wise family is ready for a fire all the time.
1. When a smoke alarm rings at home, we should ________.| A．still stay at home | B．leave the house at once |
| C．call 120 for help | D．break the window |
| A．We should practice for a fire. |
| B．We should make escape plans. |
| C．Smoke from a fire can cause the alarm to go off. |
| D．You should run when your hair or clothes start to run. |
| A．a fire policeman will stand in front of you | B．you will be safe |
| C．the fire will grow more quickly | D．the doctor will save you |
| A．Stop, run, roll. | B．Stop, drop, roll. | C．Run, drop, roll. | D．Roll, drop, stop. |
| A．Be Ready for a Fire. | B．The Causes of a Fire. |
| C．Learn to Use a Fire Extinguisher. | D．The Dangers of a Fire. |
10 . We all know that exercise is good for our physical health. In fact, exercise also has a great impact (影响) on our mental health. Thanks to exercise, people feel like they are living meaningful lives.
Exercise is good for moods (心情). People usually do sports and then feel happier. It’s reported that a number of doctors are regarding exercise as part of a treatment plan for the patients with depression (抑郁症).
Studies show that exercise can help people reduce anxiety (焦虑) and stress. These problems are bad for people’s health and make them feel down. So when exercise helps people overcome the problems, they will improve their health.
In addition, exercise can help with social relations. Want to make more friends? Try to join a sports club or go to a local running group, or take dance or swimming lessons. All these will offer you great chances to make new friends.
Finally, exercise can help people become more confident. A confident person usually feels good about himself / herself. Of course, he / she is sure to be in good health.
Many sports lovers will tell you that exercise plays an important role in improving their physical health and mental health. Exercise can make people get used to challenges of life. In a word, exercise is good for you in many ways.
1. Exercise is good for both our physical health and our mental health.2. Exercise can be regarded as part of a treatment plan for the patients with depression.
3. When you are anxious about something, doing exercise is useless.
4. Exercise can help you become more confident and make more friends.
5. Exercise is good for you in many ways, but it can’t make you get used to challenges of life.
