1 . There are different kinds of plants and animals on the earth and they get their food in different ways. Food chains are just used to show who eats what in a very simple way.

Here are some examples of food chains.

·A garden food chain might look like this:

·Humans can also be part of a food chain. A farm food chain could look like this:

A food chain shows how plants and animals are connected with each other based on the foods they eat. Food chains are different depending on the habitat. A habitat is the scientific name for a place where animals and plants live. Habitats can be very different from each other, so a garden food chain would be very different from a farm food chain.

Food chains usually start with a green plant, such as grass or a tree. This is because plants can directly change sunlight into energy that they can use for themselves. These plants are called “producers”, and they create or produce their own food. They use this food to grow leaves, flowers, fruit and seeds (种子).

When a food chain is broken, it may result in a bad situation. An example is over fishing. Over the years, humans have been catching too many fish at a quick speed leaving not enough to keep a healthy population. Because of this, other animals such as the turtles are endangered (濒危). So, humans should make sure our activities don’t harm the ecosystem (生态系统).

4 . 同学们，每年三月份我们都会参加学雷锋日和植树节活动。作为中学生，我们能否充分发挥想象，发现更多能表达我们爱心的公益活动呢? 阅读下面短文，将选项中的小标题 (A-E)与相应的段落匹配，其中有一项多余，并完成第5小题。

March is famous for Lei Feng Day and Tree Planting Day. Both of them are aimed to show humans’ kindness and friendship. It’s a way to show others how much they matter.

So this year, why not think about the different ways that you can show some extra kindness? Helping other people is guaranteed to make you feel happy, and here are a few easy ways to spread some love.

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You don’t have to spend money or buy gifts to show old people that they’re important. Giving your time is also really valuable. You could help at a fundraising (筹备资金) event, have a weekly video call with a grandparent and look after them when they feel lonely.

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Charities work hard to raise money so that they can help people. So dropping some spare coins into a donation box or sponsoring a friend or family member can make a big difference. Don’t forget, you can also donate clothes and toys that you've grown out of to your local charity shop.

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People always notice a thoughtful or considerate act, whether it’s sharing your sweets or making a cup of tea for your grown-ups, small acts of kindness are a great way to make people feel special.

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Sometimes we all need a few extra helping hands. Perhaps you could help a younger brother or sister with their homework, wash an elderly neighbor’s car or offer to collect up books at the end of lesson. It might only take a few minutes, but it could make a big difference to someone’s day.

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The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) took place in Las Vegas, US, between 9 and 12 January. The event shows off some of the coolest new inventions that might one day be available to the public.

◆One was a robot to help people around the house. It uses artificial intelligence (AI). The computer can learn from experience and do things with AI.

The robot is designed to control household appliances, keep an eye on pets and even check the safety of the house like a soldier.

◆A smart fridge was made by Samsung. This can tell the differences about 33 food items and suggests recipes that will use up what you have.

◆In video gaming, two companies called Nvidia and Convai used AI to create more natural non-playable characters (NPCs). Usually when you meet a character in a game, what they say to you or how they do will have been decided by the game’s creators. The creators of these new AI characters say they are different now because they can act like a real person.

◆Technology company LG showed a transparent television. It’s wireless (无线的), so it can be put anywhere in a room and because it looks like a piece of glass, it can even be put in front of a window. It also has a screensaver (屏保) that can play relaxing pictures, such as fish swimming around in a tank.

◆Finally, for children, the Droyd Venym electric scooter board (滑板车) is basically a seat, low to the ground, with legs and four wheels that you control with handles. Its top speed is three miles per hour.

Some people may worry about how AI might affect their lives. If AI can create images, music and text, one day artists, musicians and writers could be replaced. To my understanding, AI still shows a bright future and aims to create comfortable lives. It helps us study lots of information and work out what is likely to happen next. It depends on how you use this new technology.

6 . I recently read an article about how much time the average person spends doing things around the world. The statistics (数据) are changing all the time, of course—and the survey doesn’t cover every country so it may not paint a fair picture of some populations, but it was still fascinating.

The survey showed some interesting differences between countries. For example, Mexicans must have fun, because they laugh more than any other population. Germans spend the most time with friends, and surprisingly maybe, Americans play the most sports. Then there are the toe-tapping Russians: the average Russian dances 15 times a month!

When you add up the amounts for different activities in a 80-year lifespan (寿命), you get some shocking results. For example, the average person in the developed world will spend about 11 years in front of a computer, phone, or TV screen—much longer than we spend exercising. It’ one important reason why we spend about 25% of our whole lives sitting in a chair!

The other main reason is work. A working life for the most people lasts about 116, 000 hours (about 13 years), and you may be sitting down all day at a desk or factory machine. That’s bad news, since medical studies have shown that sitting down too much is very bad for your health.

Of course, we spend a lot of our lives sleeping, too—about one third of our lives. That might seem like a waste—we could do more with our lives if we didn’t sleep. But scientists say that sleep is important to our physical and mental health. And let’s face it, if we stayed up all night, we’d probably just spend the extra time checking our phones!

After reading the survey, I thought about all the time I must have wasted over the years just sitting on the sofa. From now on, I’ve decided that I’m going to watch less TV, spend less time playing video games, and play more sports. Clearly, if I increase my exercise by only 5%, I’ll do enough to run around the world twice!

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Have you ever seen capybaras (水豚)? They were thought to be a kind of pig in the past, but now we know that they are the largest rodents (啮齿动物) on the earth. Guess what? They are new stars on social media now!

Seeing them in the wild, you might be surprised at first because they look like giant guinea pigs, which are in fact one of their closest relatives. Capybaras’ bodies are covered in reddish-brown fur. When swimming around, thanks to their small eyes, noses and hairless cars which are high on their heads, they’re able to see the above-water things around them. That’s why they can protect themselves from danger easily. A capybara weighs around 50 kilograms and it can grow to 1.5 meters in length. Female capybaras are usually a little heavier than the males.

Most of them live in South America and like to stay in comfortable places with lots of water. Pantanal, the world’s largest freshwater wetland, is a perfect place for them to live. Capybaras usually eat grass. But they sometimes eat their own poop (排泄物) because it is helpful for them to get all the things they need.

Capybaras are good swimmers and love to play with water. They usually live in groups of 10 to 20 (and up to 100 during the dry season). They also like chatting with each other very much. They express themselves by making different kinds of sounds, including purring, barking, whistling, cackling and grunting. Each sound has an important meaning, from warning the group of danger to sending signals of leaving. It’s like a capybara language.

With good personalities, capybaras have become increasingly popular on social media. They get along with almost all the other animals and share their homes with birds and turtles, just like a big animal family living together peacefully. They are calm and don’t really care about what goes on around them. Other animals can do whatever they feel like if they don’t hurt the capybaras. But if capybaras are aware of a risk, they may attack others to protect themselves.

8 . During Chinese New Year, a 40-metre-long balloon loong (the Chinese pronunciation of dragon) was shown in Hong Kong. On January 24, the artwork was confirmed to have broken the Guinness World Record for being the world’s largest balloon loong.

The loong is the symbol of power, energy and liveliness in Chinese culture. The record-breaking loong is made up of 38,000 beautiful balloons. It shows a golden light and has a sense of power.

“According to Chinese legends (神话), the loong controls rain. Only good weather can produce good crops, so the Chinese have admired and respected the loong since ancient times,” the balloon artist Wilson Pang said. He added that many sayings about the loong had good meanings, which were different from those about Western Dragons.

Pang said that the artwork took him much time and the most difficult part was the eyes. He made more than 10 drafts for one eye alone before he was satisfied. The Guinness certification officer was greatly impressed, saying it was one of the most attractive balloon artworks ever.

The model of the loong caught many people’s attention. “Beautiful”, “amazing”, “fantastic” and “thanks for bringing us peace” were among many people’s messages Pang received on social media. To thank people for their support, Pang printed 5,000 postcards based on the loong and had a meeting with them at a mall.

“To send a warm, loving message to the people of Hong Kong is what I always want to do,” Pang said. “I hope to share what I have learned with young people. I have won many medals myself and I hope to support the next winners in the future.”

Growing up in Hong Kong, a place both old and modern, Pang often thinks about how to present the beauty of Eastern culture with Western balloon art. The balloon artist hopes that one day he can introduce balloon works that show Chinese culture to the world. “This is what I am doing now,” he said.

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