1 . We usually think fish can’t talk. But there are a lot of sounds under the ocean. In fact, scientists believe that all sea animals—at least 250,000 kinds—can “speak”! “If we stay focused when diving (潜水), we can hear animals all around us,” a UK scientist Steve Simpson said.
In the past years, scientists used sound recorders to hear fish’s “voices”. There are now thousands of recorders in the ocean. They help scientists match sounds with sea life.
A healthy coral reef (珊瑚礁) is one of the noisiest places in the ocean. Scientists can tell if it’s healthy by listening to it. A healthy coral reef should be full of clicks (咔嚓声) made by shrimps (小虾). When some coral reefs dicd in 2015 and 2016, they became quiet. After people set up the protected areas, scientists heard the animals come back.
With the help of listening to the ocean, scientists start to understand sea animals’ languages.
Strong clown fish make short “chirp (啁啾声)” sounds when going after small clown fish. They do this to show they are more powerful. A damsel fish can create a pop sound to scare other fish by quickly opening and closing its mouth. Mother dolphins can use a special voice to talk to their babies. They are saying “I’m here” to comfort the baby dolphins.
1. What is probably Steve Simpson’s attitude towards sea animals’ languages?| A．Positive. | B．Worried. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．To protect the coral reefs. | B．To communicate with fish. |
| C．To look for new kinds of sea life. | D．To collect sounds from sea life. |
| A．Because people feed animals there. |
| B．Because many shrimps live there. |
| C．Because the coral reef can give out sounds. |
| D．Because many fishes speak in dead coral reefs. |
| A．Telling a story. | B．Using a saying. |
| C．Asking questions. | D．Giving some examples. |
| A．Sea animals can talk except fish. | B．Many recorders are in the sea. |
| C．Animals are very good at learning. | D．Dolphins can talk to the zookeeper. |
2 . Comfortable to wear in both hot and cold weather, silk is as popular today as it was first made.
The method to produce silk has changed very little since it first began 5,000 years ago. It starts with small silkworms (蚕) that eat a special kind of leaves. When they are fully grown, the silkworms create a cocoon—a protective coat made of silk. For production, workers first pick these cocoons and divide them according to their quality. They are then gently boiled in hot water in order to be softened and ready for use. At the same time, the worms inside are dead. The silk is later turned into thread (丝线). Silk thread is then coloured and finally made into cloth on the machine.
Although growing and wearing silk is very popular worldwide today, it was only produced in China at first. Actually, it was so valuable that at one time only the Chinese emperor and his family were allowed to wear it. The Chinese kept the method of silk making a secret and made strict laws against taking silkworms out of China. To smuggle them would be put to death. However, a princess in the fifth century and two monks in the sixth century managed to take some silkworm eggs out of China. And this started other countries’ silk making industry.
Before this, Europeans depended on businessmen bringing silk from East Asia. They travelled across Central Asia and the Middle East. In fact, so much silk was brought to Europe on this route that it became famous as the Silk Road. By the time of the Han Dynasty, silk had become popular in Europe.
Today, China produces around 80% of the silk worldwide. Although man-made materials are cheaper and easier to make, the silk is still hard to be replaced, and there is always a large market home and abroad.
1. Which shows the correct steps of silk making according to the passage?
| A．b-e-a-d-c | B．e-b-a-d-c | C．b-e-a-c-d | D．e-b-a-c-d |
| A．Businessmen brought silk through the Silk Road to Europe. |
| B．The emperor traded the skill for valuable objects. |
| C．Some silkworm eggs were taken out of China in secret. |
| D．The law allowed other countries to learn the skill. |
| A．Keep something a secret. | B．Take out of the country secretly. |
| C．Trade one thing for another. | D．Take something by accident |
| A．To show the development of Silk Road. |
| B．To introduce the history of silk. |
| C．To explain how to feed silkworms. |
| D．To show how popular silk is. |
3 . Is it an animal? A vegetable? No, it’s a fungus! Mushrooms share characteristics with both animals and vegetables, but they are fungi.
Some mushrooms are eatable, which improve the taste and appearance of any foods they are combined with. Fresh, dried and frozen, they can be done in many forms.
The highly prized matsutake mushroom, a fall delicious food in Japan, is one of the most expensive mushrooms in the world. It is mentioned in seventh-century Japanese poetry and has been enjoyed for thousands of years. Another high-quality fungus, the yartsa, is found in the Tibetan Plateau and sells for about US $2000 an ounce (盎司)!
Found everywhere is the more affordable shiitake mushroom. China produces over 80 percent of these tasty fungi. This delicious and healthy mushroom can reduce harmful materials in people’s blood. The reishi mushroom has been used in Asia for years to treat diseases, such as lung problems and cancer. Though developed as food, it is often hard and distasteful, so most take it in pills.
Some mushrooms contain harmful materials that can kill. In fact, Asia’s amanita exitialis is called “the destroying angel” because it is so deadly. People need to be careful when hunting for wild mushrooms. Unless one is experienced in mushrooms, it is easy to get it wrong.
1. What are mushrooms according to the passage?| A．They are fungi. | B．They are animals. |
| C．They are characters. | D．They are vegetables. |
| A．Matsutake mushroom, a fall delicious food. |
| B．Japan, mushrooms enjoyed for thousands of years. |
| C．High-quality fungi, the most expensive mushrooms. |
| D．Tibetan Plateau, the highly prized mushrooms collected. |
| A．The reishi mushroom is easy to find. | B．Shiitake mushroom is expensive to buy. |
| C．Shiitake mushroom is used as medicine. | D．The reishi mushroom is unpleasant to eat. |
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
| A．Mr. Zhang, an art teacher. | B．Mr. Li, a geography teacher. |
| C．Miss. Yang, a history teacher. | D．Miss. Chen, a physics teacher. |
Studying makes you tired. How to deal with the worries and relax yourself? Here is some advice which may add happiness to your life.
Rest on weekends
Weekends are time for a rest. After a week’s hard work, weekends are the best time for you to relax yourself. Having a nice sleep is a good idea, because good sleep makes sure of your study.
Cry out
If you feel sad, don’t try to hide your feelings. Crying out may help reduce your sadness.
Keep a diary
You can write down all that you want to say. That’s a great way to think about and remember life. You can do it on paper or on computers.
Enjoy a big meal
It’s not a good idea for a kid to lose weight, so you don’t need to eat less food. When you feel upset, enjoy a big meal. Eating delicious food will make you feel good.
Join in activities
Having a get-together is great fun. Going out with friends for a trip will make you happy. And it will also bring you a good sleep.
| Rest on weekends | A good |
| Cry out | |
| Keep a dairy | Write down all that you want to say on paper or on |
| Enjoy a big meal | Enjoy delicious food will make you feel good. |
| Join in activities | Having a party or going |
5 . At the Hangzhou Asian Games, people used new tech ideas. These technologies will keep getting better for future sports meetings. They talked about these clever ideas in the Games at a meeting on October 31.
The Games had a new idea called “One Screen Three Endpoints.” The “One Screen” is a center for events, and the “Three Endpoints” are three apps for events, sportspeople, and fans.
This idea makes it easier to control the Games. This makes it better for athletes and fans. For example, after the opening ceremony, 70,000 people left in just 40 minutes. This is very fast.
The Games also moved the most important information to the Alibaba Cloud. This means all important information is on the Internet. It’s the first cloud-based Asian Games. This made things work well and safely. There were nearly 20 new applications at the Games.
A leader from the Olympics said the 2024 Paris Olympics will also use Alibaba Cloud. For example, they’ll have a replay system with cool technology to show athletes’ moves, so people can understand them better.
1. What is the new idea introduced at the Hangzhou Asian Games?| A．One Screen Three Endpoints. | B．Alibaba Cloud. |
| C．Olympics in Paris. | D．Replay system with cool technology. |
| A．It made it easier to control the Games. |
| B．It increased the number of athletes and fans. |
| C．It raised money for the Games. |
| D．It improved security measures. |
| A．People can understand it better. | B．All important information is on the Internet. |
| C．It’s easier to control the Games. | D．It can attract millions of visitors. |
| A．athletes’ moves | B．athletes | C．replay systems | D．Olympics |
6 . Have you ever seen lions dancing in the streets? The lions dance to the beat of a drum. Of course, they are not real lions. They are dancers in lion costumes. Lion dancing first started in China centuries ago. It is meant to bring good luck in the coming year.
Usually, a lion is made up of two dancers. One dancer controls the head. The other controls the tail.
“I think of it as a sport,” says Anthony Huang, aged 16. He is a member of the New York Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club. Anthony performs as the lion’s head. It can weigh 20 pounds. Lion dancing is important to Anthony .“This tradition really lifts me up,” he says.
In the past, lion dancing was performed mostly by men. But it is different today. Lion Dance Me is a lion dancing group in San Francisco, California. There are boys and girls in its team. They dance together.
“Anyone can take up lion dancing. You have to believe that you can do it,” says Ananda Tang-Lee, a 17-year-old girl.
Lion dancing will continue to evolve. But team’s sense of community will never change. “We call it a family,” Ananda says .“It’s real great, because we always have each other’s backs.”
1. Why do people perform lion dancing?| A．To sell lion-dancing costumes. | B．To wish for a lucky new year. |
| C．To protect the lions in the wild. | D．To show skills of playing the drum. |
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
| A．The lion’s head. | B．The lion’s tail. |
| C．The drummer. | D．The dresser. |
| A．延期 | B．模仿 | C．举办 | D．演变 |
In recent years, to improve science education, several elderly scientists in China have been spreading scientific knowledge through short videos.
Liu Jiaqi from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) began to spread scientific knowledge online in November 2021. Liu has made over 100 short videos, many of which are about volcanoes (火山). “I believe that it is necessary for scientists to popularize science,” Liu said.
Wang Pinxian, a professor at Tongji University, shares his videos and even stories about science online. He is also a writer of books about science, which have been popular among readers. “A scientist should be able to explain scientific knowledge clearly and in simple words,” he said. “It can help young people to develop interest in science.”
Wang Yusheng used to work in the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing. The 81-year-old shares his knowledge on ancient Chinese science and technology, as well as stories of famous scientists, like Galileo and Newton, with people through videos. He even spreads scientific knowledge among primary and middle schools across the country and he enjoys it. “Staying with teenagers makes me feel younger,” Wang Yusheng said.
Jin Yong, who is a professor at Tsinghua University, has spent six years producing science videos about chemistry. To Jin, science popularization is of great importance. It helps discover talent (人才) earlier. Jin believes that the seeds of science are spread in the hearts of students through science popularization.
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) 中国科学院
1. When did Liu Jiaqi from CAS start to spread scientific knowledge on the Internet?2. What ability should a scientist have according to Wang Pinxian?
3. Where did Wang Yusheng use to work?
4. Why does Wang Yusheng like to spread scientific knowledge in schools?
5. Whose videos do you have interest in? Why?
8 . Does it really matter if we know how old animals are? To many scientists, it does.
When studying animal populations, it is of great importance to scientists to know how many animals there are and how old they are. This information can help scientists learn which animals are thriving and which ones need more care and help. Scientists usually use the following ways to tell animals’ age.
For many animals, their teeth can help scientists know their age. In some animals, some teeth don’t come in until a certain age. Take cows for example. Like humans, cows have two sets of teeth, milk teeth and permanent teeth. They normally get their first pair of permanent teeth when they’re two years old. Then they have the next pair at the age of three, the third pair at the age of four...
Hair and skin can also provide information about age. Some animals tend to get bad skin and gray hair as they get older. If you have an older dog, you may have noticed that its nose and mouth get grayer as it gets older.
Animals’ eyes and ears might also help scientists tell animals’ age. As animals get older, their hearing often becomes weak and their eyesight might begin to fail.
Scientists are continuing to discover new and more ways of telling the age of animals. Recently, scientists have learned that ______. That’s really good news!
1. Which is NOT the reason why scientists need to know the age of animals?| A．To study animal populations. | B．To learn which animals are thriving. |
| C．To find out the differences between animals’ appearances. | |
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. |
| A．1-2 | B．3-4 | C．5-6 |
| A．the number of some endangered animals is getting larger and larger |
| B．the latest operations could possibly help old dogs improve their eyesight |
| C．they can tell the age of the humpback whales by examining their DNA |
9 . There is a saying that “earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings do.” It seems sadly true. Thousands of people died under bricks (砖块) of the damaged (毁坏的) buildings during the recent earthquakes. Is there a way to build earthquake-proof (抗震) buildings? Engineers have some life-saving ideas.
“Lift” the house up
To prevent earthquake waves from going through the building, one way is to “lift” the building’s foundation above the ground. The building can be built on top of pads (垫状物), which are usually made up of steel and rubber. During earthquakes, only the pads move and the building stays steady (平稳的). This can reduce the strength of earthquake waves by 13 to 15 percent, according to the website Bethinking the Future.
Right materials
Earthquake-proof materials must be easy to bend (弯曲) without breaking. Some of these materials include steel, wood and bamboo. In Japan, most traditional houses are built with wood. During earthquakes, wooden buildings bend to avoid building up stress. Steel is one of the main materials of modern tall buildings because it can increase their ductility (延展性).
Dome house
A Japanese company has made dome-shaped houses with styrofoam. Styrofoam is a very light material. The whole house weighs only 80 kilograms. So when earthquakes happen, the house will not hurt people.
Besides, there are many other good ideas on building earthquake-proof buildings. For example, a company in America is developing magnetic field (磁场) technology that can raise houses above ground when earthquakes happen. We hope these ideas can be put in action and more people’s lives can be saved.
1. How does the writer lead into the passage in Paragraph 1?| A．By telling a joke. | B．By using a saying. | C．By asking a question. |
| A．Because they can stop the ground movement. |
| B．Because they can lift up buildings far from the ground. |
| C．Because they can reduce the strength of earthquake waves. |
| A．Bamboo is the most common material used for the houses. |
| B．Most are hard to bend thanks to the use of steel. |
| C．Most are built with wood which is easy to bend without breaking. |
| A．It reduces the weight of the houses. |
| B．It raises the houses above the ground. |
| C．It increases the strength of the houses. |
10 . Sharing your opinions is fun when everyone else agrees with you. But what about when they don’t? No one likes feeling like the strange one out, and these days it seems like people with unpopular opinions are more likely to get shunned (回避). Does that mean you should change your opinions to conform (符合) to the majority’s beliefs? Of course not. Here’s what you should do.
Say it, but don’t push it
We all have ideas that we want to share. But don’t try to convince (说服) other people that your opinion is the best idea or the only idea they should have. Stand your ground, but don’t be condescending (居高临下的).
Be respectful of other people’s opinions, too
It’s not only you who need to express an opinion. Everyone should have the chance, and you should give them that chance. When people share their thoughts, be open to them and don’t bring them down for unpopular opinions.
Agree to disagree
Sometimes, we have to accept the fact that we won’t agree on everything. When your opinions clash (冲突), make sure that it ends there. Don’t have any arguments or negative feelings. Agree to disagree when there’s no other way for you.
Unpopular opinions can rock the boat when it comes to conversations. But they can be the best conversation topics. Having an unpopular opinion is hard, but it doesn’t have to ruin your relationships or your self-esteem (自尊). With the right way, you can stand firm (坚定地) in your beliefs, even when you feel like others don’t share them.
You can share a different idea on the topic. Be sure not to be so surprised when someone doesn’t agree with you. It is an unpopular opinion, after all. Learning how to handle having an unpopular opinion is important if you want to be able to share your opinion respectfully and effectively, and you don’t want to feel emotionally isolated (孤立的) because of your opinion.
1. What can we learn from the passage?| A．We should use our opinions to challenge others’ opinions. |
| B．We should try our best to make our friends accept our ideas. |
| C．When we share our opinions, we should stop others from talking. |
| D．When it’s hard to accept different opinions, we should set them aside. |
| A．bring benefits | B．draw away attention | C．make trouble | D．win support |
| A．The collection of unpopular opinions. | B．Ways to deal with unpopular opinions. |
| C．The importance of unpopular opinions. | D．Benefits of having unpopular opinions. |
