2 . Have you astonished by the amazing dance “The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting”（《只此青绿》）on the Chinese Spring Festival Gala. Along with its perfect performance, the background music which was played by the ancient instrument—Qin was also a highlight.

One cannot discuss Chinese music without mentioning the Chinese seven-string zither（弦）, also known as the guqin, one of the four arts—along with go, calligraphy and painting. It first appeared over 3, 000 years ago and represents China’s solo musical instrument tradition.

At first, the guqin had only five strings, representing the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Later, in the Zhou dynasty, King Wen of Zhou added a sixth string for his son. King Wu of Zhou, added a seventh string to encourage his army to fight with the Shang.

Ambience was important in playing the Chinese zither. Usually, it was practiced in quiet setting and never for public performance.

Ancient artists enjoyed performing by a stream in the mountains. The sound of the guqin mixed with the echoes（回音）from the mountains, until the musician found himself at one with nature. Playing it in snow was also a favorite pastime for ancient artists, who believed the instrument was the purest of its kind in the world. Also, a night with moonlight was considered ideal（理想的）for playing the guqin. Wang Wei（701—761）, a highly talented man of the Tang dynasty, liked playing it in a bamboo forest on nights with moonlight most.

Guqin pieces are usually around three to eight minutes long, with the longest being Guangling Verse, which is 22 minutes long. Other famous pieces include Plum Blossoms in Three Movements（《梅花三弄》）, Wild Geese Landing on the Sandbank（《平沙落雁》）and Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute（《胡笳十八拍》）.

Now, there are fewer than one thousand well-trained guqin players and perhaps no more than fifty living masters. The original number of several thousand pieces has greatly reduced to only a hundred works by today. The guqin and its music was added to the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity（人类非物质文化遗产）in 2003.

1. Today, the guqin has _________ strings.

A．four

B．five

C．six

D．seven

2. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “Ambience” in paragraph3?

A．演奏技巧

B．环境氛围

C．天气状况

D．弹奏曲目

3. According to the passage, playing the guqin _________ is a right choice.

A．at a quiet restaurant	B．at a welcome party
C．in a peaceful yard with flowers	D．on a dark night with rainstorm

4. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A．The guqin has a history of less than 3000 years.

B．The strings mean metal, wood, water, fire and stone.

C．The longest guqin piece is Guangling Verse.

D．The guqin is very popular and many people can play it.

5. What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The guqin and its music.	B．The guqin and its players.
C．Four Chinese traditional arts.	D．The development of guqin music.

6 . In the past ten years, great progress has been made in technology. It seems like everything has been greatly improved. But there is one thing unlike them. It was invented over 100 years ago but remained unchanged until now. I’m talking about a blind walking stick.

The white stick has been used by many blind people for a long time. However, it hasn’t really been improved, until a blind engineer named Kursat decided to do something to change that. He hoped his invention would help the blind.

He invented a smart stick called the WeWalk. The smart stick uses built-in speakers and different sensors (传感) to warn about possible dangers. It helps blind people in navigating (航行) around their environment. It makes their travel much easier. The stick is priced at around $500. It is less than half the price of most smart phones. Most people can afford it. This invention is going to change life a lot for the blind.

Kursat well understands the difficulties that the blind face. That’s because he is blind himself. He decided to put his knowledge of technology into inventing something. It would not only change his life, but also the life of many others.

“In these days, we are talking about flying cars. But the blind have been using just a simple stick. As a bind person, when I am at the bus stop, I don’t know which bus is coming or which stores are around me. Now, that kind of information can be provided by the WeWalk,” he said, “I believe life of the blind will be much easier and safer.”

1. Kursat invented the WeWalk to ______.

A．become an engineer	B．help the blind
C．change everything	D．open a store

2. What’s the third paragraph mainly about?

A．The name of the smart stick.	B．The reason for inventing the WeWalk.
C．The introduction of the WeWalk.	D．The future of the WeWalk.

3. Which words can we use to describe Kursat?

A．Creative and caring.	B．Smart and thankful.
C．Healthy and lucky.	D．Rich and outgoing.

4. Which one is Kursat’s idea?

A．Flying cars are more important than the WeWalk.

B．The blind shouldn’t take the bus.

C．With the WeWalk, the blind can find their way more easily.

D．The WeWalk can solve all the problems for the blind.

5. Where may this text be taken from?

A．A magazine about cars.	B．A magazine about health.
C．A magazine about teaching.	D．A magazine about science.

7 . Everyone gets sad. Being sad can happen pretty often. More than half of teenagers go through a period of sadness at least once a month. When you’re sad, it feels like it will last forever. The world seems dark and unfriendly. You might feel like you have nothing to look forward to. Many times, you cry, and it’s hard to stop. However, your feeling of sadness usually doesn’t last very long—a few hours, or maybe a day or two.

When sadness starts to go away, it feels like a big stone is being lifted from your body. If sad feelings go on for too long, it’s called depression (抑郁症). Children who have depression may not know it. Often, it’s a parent or teacher who notices children’s changes.

When depression happens, it’s very important for children to receive treatment. When they do, they can get better quickly. Sometimes treatment includes talking to someone who knows all about depression. Sometimes it means taking medicine. Sometimes both of these things are used. If you think you have depression, or you just have sadness that simply will not go away, it is important to talk to an adult about it first. This person can help you find the right kind of treatment. Many cities also have mental health hotlines (心理健康热线) that are listed in the phone book. There is always somebody who can help.

1. What might you look forward to at the time of sadness?

A．Sadness.

B．Nothing.

C．Depression.

D．A stone.

2. According to the passage, we know the feeling of sadness may last for ________.

A．a few days

B．a few weeks

C．a few years

D．a few months

3. If we have depression, who probably first notices that we have been different?

A．We ourselves.

B．Our parent or teacher.

C．Our classmate.

D．Our friend or neighbor.

4. Children who have depression are advised to ________ first.

A．talk to an adult

B．go to hospital

C．take medicine

D．call their friends

5. On which part of a newspaper can we find this text?

A．Culture.

B．Travel.

C．Health.

D．Education.

8 . The 24th Winter Games is from February 4th to 20th. This is the first time that China has held the Winter Games, and Beijing has become the first city in the world to hold both the Summer Games and the Winter Games.

Emblem (会徽)

The emblem is called “Winter Dream”. The idea comes from the Chinese character “dong (winter)”. The emblem shows the movements of skaters and skiers. The pattern has the same colors as the Olympic Rings, including red, yellow, green, black, and blue. Below it are the words “BEIJING 2022” written in traditional Chinese calligraphy (书法). The emblem shows winter sports are becoming passion all over the world. More and more people join in winter sports and have great fun.

▲

In 1980, China joined for the first time in the Winter Games in New York, the United States. At the 1992 Winter Games in France, Chinese players won medals for the first time: Ye Oiaobo won two silver medals and Li Yan won one silver medal. At the 2002 Winter Games in the United States,Yang Yang won the first gold medal in Chinese history, At the 2014 Winter Games in Russia, China won three gold medals, four silver medals, and two bronze (铜) medals.

1. How long does the 24th Winter Games last?

A．15 days.

B．17 days.

C．19 days.

D．21 days.

2. It’s clear that the emblem ______.

A．is written in Chinese	B．is colorful with six colors
C．looks much like the Olympic Rings	D．has something to do with Chinese culture

3. The underlined word “passion” means ______.

A．much-loved activity	B．wonderful dream
C．big change	D．traditional sport

4. At which Winter Olympic Games did Chinese players win medals for the first time?

A．The 1980 Winter Olympics.	B．The 1992 Winter Olympics.
C．The 2002 Winter Olympics.	D．The 2014 Winter Olympics.

5. Which of the following sentences can be best put in the “ ▲ ”?

A．Modern Olympic Games

B．China and Winter Olympic Games

C．The development of Winter Olympic Games

D．Famous Chinese players in the Olympic History

9 . We teenagers like to feel that we are special. Unluckily, many of us grow up believing that we’re not special at all. We wish that we could be better at sports or more popular. We wish we had nicer clothes or more money. Like the Scarecrow or the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz(绿野仙踪), we believe we’re not good enough. In the movie, the Scarecrow wishes that he had a brain. The Tin Man wishes he had a heart. In the end, they each realize that they already have what they want.

Most parents want us to be the best we can be. They sometimes try to encourage us to do better by comparing us to others. They mean well, but the message we often get is that we’re not good enough. We begin to believe that the only way we can be special is by being better than someone else. But we are often frustrated, because there will always be someone who is better at something than us.

Like the Scarecrow or the Tin Man, we all hope what we believe will make us better people. But we don’t realize that we already have the very things we want inside us. Parents sometimes forget to tell us that we are special and that we are good enough. Maybe no one told them when they were growing up, or maybe they just forgot. Anyway, it’s up to us to tell them from time to time that each of us, in our own way, is special. And we are all good enough.

1. We can know that the writer ________ from the passage.

A．is a movie fan	B．is a teenager
C．gets on well with his parents	D．wants to be the best he can be

2. In the writer’s opinion, it’s not proper for the parents to ________.

A．put no pressure on their children	B．often tell their children they are special
C．ask their children to do much housework	D．compare their children with others sometimes

3. What does the underlined word “frustrated” in Paragraph 2 mean in Chinese?

A．惊讶的

B．沮丧的

C．幸运的

D．激动的

4. By discussing the characters(人物) in The Wizard of Oz, the writer mainly wants to show________.

A．the movie is very successful

B．the movie is quite educational

C．we often already have inside what we want

D．it’s impossible for us to be always better than others

5. What does the writer believe?

A．Not everyone can be famous.	B．It’s important to be like others.
C．We are all good enough in our own way.	D．Nothing is difficult to the man who will try.

10 . 阅读下面短文，完成表格。

It is easier to have a good conversation with our friends or loved one. While starting a conversation with someone we don’t know can make most of us feel nervous. But the ability to talk with strangers can be developed with practice.

Prepare before the conversation. Think about some common topics (话题) before the talk, such as your interesting experiences, TV shows and website news. And prepare a list of questions you could ask. These questions may include asking others about their job, classes, interests and hobbies.

Introduce yourself. It doesn’t need to be clever when you introduce yourself. Simply be honest and friendly. Give the other person a warm smile and clearly say your name. Explain why you want to have the conversation.

Start the conversation. Bring up a general topic to begin the conversation. Avoid talking about uncomfortable topics, such as personal questions, religion (宗教) and politics (政治). Then give the person enough time to reply and listen carefully when he speaks.

End the conversation. When you run out of things to say or need to do something else, prepare to end the talk. You may say that you need to use the bathroom or go for a friend. Let the other person know you enjoy talking with him and hope to talk with him again.

How to develop the ability to talk with strangers
1	▲ Think about some common topics. ▲ Prepare a list of questions you could talk.
Introduce yourself	▲ Simply be honest and friendly     2     being clever. ▲ Explain why you     3     having the conversation.
Start the conversation	▲ Bring up a general topic to begin the conversation. ▲ Choose     4     you can talk about.
End the conversation	▲You can prepare to end the talk     5     you don’t want to continue the conversation. ▲ Let the other person know you enjoy talking with him and hope to talk with him again.