1 . On a summer day in 1948, a Swiss (瑞士的) man named George de Mestral took his dog for a walk in the mountains. After they came home, George discovered that he and his dog were both covered with burrs (带芒刺的小果实).

As an engineer, George naturally began to wonder how exactly the burrs stuck to his dog and his clothes. Then he paid careful attention to looking at them under a microscope (显微镜). He found that the burrs had very tiny hooks (钩子), which allowed them to catch on to things like clothes. George realized that he could use this finding to create a new way to fasten (扣紧) things.

As so often, it is a very long journey from the first idea to the final product. It was easy to find materials that could stick together, but finding materials that would continue to do so after years of use was not easy. George tested a very large number of different materials and production methods. After years of research and work, he invented what is known today as Velcro (魔术贴). In 1955 George started Velcro Industries to turn his idea into a product. In a few years, the product became popular around the world.

Today Velcro is used everywhere. It’s used in backpacks, jackets, wallets, children’s toys, etc. It even turns up in places you wouldn’t expect. For example, Velcro has been used by NASA for astronauts’ suits. The product was also used to hold the heart together during the very first artificial heart transplant   (人工心脏移植).

Complete the summary of the passage above with one word for each blank.

George de Mestral was an engineer from Switzerland. One day in 1948, after coming back from the mountains, he found some burrs on his clothes and his dog. Then he     1     looked at them under a microscope. He found that tiny hooks on the burrs made the burrs catch on to things like clothes. Then George had the     2     of creating a new way to fasten things. It was hard to find     3     that could stick together after years of use. George managed to do that by     4     many different materials and production methods. Finally, he invented Velcro and made it a popular product. Now, Velcro is used everywhere, even in     5     places.

2 . Match the information according to what you read.
1. Ken worries that there will be less and less space on the ground if people keep on building houses. It’s bad for human to cut down so many trees for houses.
2. Cindy is interested in houses with new technology, because it takes less time and costs less to build this kind of house. And it is better for the environment.
3. Carrie lives near the sea. Sometimes her house will be blown down by the strong wind. She really hopes that her house can be kept away from the wind.
4. Mary’s son is a super ball fan. He’s crazy about ball games. He even dreams he can live in a ball.
5. Nancy is an environmental protection member. She hopes that she can build some houses with used things like plastic, bottles and so on.

A．Some scientists are trying to turn used plastic into bricks (砖). These bricks are designed well and can be used to build houses for the poor in some parts of the world.

B．Some people live in windy places. Big winds can blow houses down. A dome (圆顶) house is able to let the wind go around it. There’s no wind in a dome house, so it’s safer in a fire.

C．Scientists have made a house that can walk. The house has six legs. It can walk over any ground. When it walks, six legs are always on the ground. A walking house would be great if there’s a flood (洪水) or a fire.

D．The 3D printed houses will be made by ICON Company. They can print a 60-square-metre house in just 12 to 24 hours. The walls of the house look like cream. Each house costs $10,000．The materials can be used again.

E．A tree house doesn’t use any space on the ground. No trees have to be cut down to make room for these houses. And the house can be built in the shape of a bee nest (蜂巢). Such a house doesn’t take long to move to a new place.

F．Some houses have been made in a shape like a ball. The walls, ceiling (天花板) and floor are all in a house with this shape. The wind moves around the outside of the house. Ball-shaped houses can be hung from things or float (漂流) on water.

3 . 任务型阅读

Note-taking is a skill that can help you do well in all your schoolwork. It can make you confident when you are studying. But unluckily, .most students don’t know how to take notes.

If your teacher writes notes on the blackboard, that’s great. You can copy them or write down the most important facts of all in class. Different teachers do things differently. For example, some teachers may focus on (关注) lots of dates and facts in class, but they only write the important ones on the blackboard. Other teachers may not write anything down, but they may repeat them.

Don’t try to write down every word in class, or you might miss some important points. Some students really learn better with the help of these notes.

Don’t be afraid to ask your teacher to repeat what you’ve missed. If your teacher speaks too fast and you can’t follow what he is saying, you can ask him after class.

Comparing your notes with your classmates can be good for your learning. It can also help you and your classmates correct some mistakes.

Note-taking also needs organization. Keep notes for each subject in one place, so that you can find everything easily when a test comes.

Good note-taking takes time. If you decide to recopy your notes every evening, you’ll surely have less time to watch TV. But you’ll save time in the coming test.

1. Note-taking can help you do well in all your schoolwork and ________ when you are studying.
2. Different teachers do things differently. Some of them may ________ some important points instead of writing them down.
3. If you always try to write down every word in class, you might/will miss ________.
4. It is helpful for you and your classmates to ________.
5. What does this passage mainly tell students?     
________________________________

4 . Do you know how to do goose step (正步走)? Can you make your quilt look like a piece of tofu? You can learn all these skills in military raining (军训). Schools in other countries also have military training programs for students. What do they usually do? Let’s take a look.

South Korea

In South Korea, men between the ages of 20 and 30 must serve in the army (服役). They usually serve for two years. Children also have military training in primary school. They have different kinds of activities, such as hiking and walking through mountains at night. Sometimes, the activities are very hard. For example, students need to exercise in the snow with no shirts on.

The US

US schools don’t ask students to do military training. If children take an interest in the military, they can join military camps. The government also holds activities for children to experience military life. Children learn how to work in a team and work out hard problems themselves. For example, a group has to climb over a high wall. If even one person falls down, the whole group needs to do it again. So everyone must help each other and finish the task together.

Russia

In Russia, boys between the ages of 15 and 16 have to take part in a five-day military training program. They learn skills like shooting (射击), parachute jumping (跳伞) and cooking outside. Students also learn military history. Recently, Russia has encouraged all schoolchildren from 14 to 18 to try military training.

Complete the chart according to the passage with not more than two words for each blank.

Military Training in Different Countries
South Korea	★Elementary school students have different activities. Some of them are very hard. For example, students might exercise in the snow     1     wearing shirts.
The US	★Children can join military camps if they are     2     in the military. ★Children can learn how to work in a team and     3     hard problems. They need to help each other to finish tasks together.
Russia	★Boys between 15 and 16 need to do military training for     4    . ★They learn shooting, parachute jumping, cooking and military     5    . Russia also encouraged schoolchildren from 14 to 18 to have military training.

5 . In Canada, when you see a group of students wearing funny hats or summer T-shirts in winter, don’t get a surprise. Maybe they are enjoying their School Spirit Week.

School Spirit Week is a time for students to show their personalities and class cultures. It is a school festival. Students from primary schools to high schools can hold it in any week of a year. And students’ family and friends can go to the special festival, too.

School Spirit Week usually has a central theme. According to the theme, students wear special clothes and decorate (装饰) their classrooms. Every year, there is a different theme. And the themes for young kids are usually very simple.

Each theme has games, competitions and parties. Students can choose different activities by themselves and they always have fun.

School Spirit Week asks students to use their creativity to make their own clothes. For example, in a fashion (时装) week, students can wear different clothes made of anything on each day. Monday may be funny, followed by Shirt Day on Tuesday and Jeans Day on Wednesday. Thursday can be Sports Shoes Day, followed by School Uniform Day on Friday.

Do you want to have a look at the wonderful photos of the festival? Click (点击) “READ” you will see them.

Judge the following statements true (T) or false (F) according to the passage.
1. School Spirit Week is a time for students to show their love for Canadian culture.
2. Paragraph 3 tells us the activities of School Spirit Week.
3. The themes of School Spirit Week are the same every year.
4. School Spirit Week can help make the students creative.
5. This passage is mainly about an interesting school festival.

6 . The Ministry of Education (教育部) announced a notice in 2021 that restricts (限制) primary and middle school students from carrying mobile phones to school.

The government wants to improve students’ focus on study and fight addiction (沉迷) to the Internet and games.

According to a 2020 report by the China Internet Network Information Center, China had 175 million Internet users under the age of 18 in 2019. This is worrying, as long-time use of smartphones harms children’s eyesight, cervical vertebrae (颈椎) and even the brain, according to the World Health Organization.

Many schools in Beijing have taken action to restrict students’ phone use at school. According to Zhou Dandan, an English teacher at Beijing No. 20 High School, every classroom in her school has a box to store students’ phones during class.

Li Jisen, a student from Beijing No. 101 Middle School, agrees with the new policy. Li believes that restricting phone use at school is a good way to put the focus back on schoolwork.

However, Liu Yanping, headmaster of First Branch of Beijing National Day School, told South China Morning Post that it’s not wise to take a “one size fits all” (一刀切) method.

Kathy Chen, a parent from Shanghai, allowed her daughter to take her phone to school. Chen said it’s more important to develop kids’ ability to self-manage and develop good habits of phone usage.

Complete the chart according to the passage with not more than two words for each blank.

Notice on phone use on campus (校园)
Target (目标) group	1     and middle school students
The     2	To restrict students from carrying mobile phones to school. To improve students’ focus on study. To prevent students from getting addicted to the Internet and games.     3     students’ eyesight, cervical vertebrae and the brain.
People’s     4	Li Jisen: The rules will help put the focus back on schoolwork. Liu Yanping: We should take a method     5     instead of “one size fits all”. Kathy Chen: It’s more important to help kids develop good habits and the ability to self-manage.

7 . Somebody is calling for help in the water. You want to jump in and save them, but that might put you in danger. What do you do?

Soon this won’t be a problem anymore because a robot swimmer called Swumanoid will be on hand to help.

Scientists from Japan designed this robot to swim like an Olympic athlete (运动员). They mapped a swimmer’s body and looked at how every part of the body moves while swimming. The robot can swim just like a human does.

Swumanoid can swim the backstroke (仰泳) and the front crawl (自由泳) at a speed of 0.64 meters a second, about one-third of the world record speed for these swimming styles, according to the Daily Mail.

Motomu Nakashima, head of the team that designed the robot, hopes that robots like Swumanoid can serve as lifeguards in the future.

Besides saving lives, Swumanoid can also be used in swimming research. It can test water resistance, which makes it move more slowly. And it helps to find out how people swim. The information that is collected could help scientists find ways to improve a swimmer’s skills.

Unlike human swimmers, robots don’t get tired from doing the same stroke (泳姿) again and again, so they do not slow down. Therefore, they can collect information more efficiently (有效地).

But the robot is not yet ready to take the place of human lifeguards. Scientists say there are still certain things that need to be improved, such as its motors (引擎) and waterproofing design (防水设计).

Choose the best choice from A, B or C according to the passage.
1. Swumanoid can swim just like a human does because ________.

A．it was created by an Olympic swimmer

B．it can swim the way real swimmers move

C．it can follow directions according to a map

2. The underlined word “resistance” in the sixth paragraph means ________.

A．阻力

B．压力

C．重力

3. Swumanoid can collect information more efficiently because ________.

A．it can do many types of strokes

B．it can swim as fast as world record-holders

C．it won’t feel tired and never slows down

4. There are ________ uses for the robot swimmers mentioned in the passage.

A．one

B．two

C．three

5. The story is written to ________.

A．show how swimming robots are built

B．describe how lifeguards do their work

C．introduce the swimming robot Swumanoid

9 . You may think you cannot live through summer without air conditioners （空调）. But in ancient China, hand fans were almost the only ones to help people keep cool.

Chinese people started to use hand fans more than 2,000 years ago. The fans came in different shapes, such as round and square. They were also made from all kinds of materials. Palm （棕榈） leaf fans were cheap and easy to make. Feather fans （羽毛扇） showed the owner’s high status （地位）. Sandalwood （檀香） fans could send out sweet smell.

Later, hand fans became far more than just something that could cool you down. They developed into art works, in which Tuanshan （round fans） and Zheshan (folded fans) were the most common.

In the shape of a full moon, Tuanshan were usually made of silk.They had beautiful birds and flowers on them.Women especially those in the imperial palace （皇宫）, liked to use them. Meanwhile, men, especially the literati （文人）, used Zheshan.The literati liked them because Zheshan were usually made of paper and they could paint and write poems on them.It was a way for them to show off their ability in literature, painting and handwriting.Almost anything can be painted on Zheshan.

Today, Chinese people still use these fans.Next time when you are waving a fan, you may think of the stories behind it.

Complete the chart according to the passage with only one word for each blank.

Stories and Art of Chinese Fans
History.	1    2000 years.
The number of kinds	There are    2    kinds mentioned in the passage.
3	Palm leaf, feather, sandalwood, silk and paper.
Feathers （特征）	Palm leaf fans were cheap and made     4    . Feather fans showed the owner’s status. Sandalwood fans could send out a sweet smell. Tuanshan were enjoyed by women in the imperial palace. Zheshan were    5    or written with poems in order to show the owners were talented.

10 . In England, people often talk about the weather because they can experience (经历) four seasons in one day. In the morning, the weather is warm just like in spring. An hour later, black clouds come, and then it rains hard. The weather gets a little cold. In the late afternoon, the sky will be sunny, the sun will begin to shine, and it will be summer at this time of a day.

In England, people can also have summer in winter, or have winter in summer. So in winter, they can swim sometimes, and in summer sometimes they should take warm clothes.

When you go to England, you will see that some English people usually take an umbrella or a raincoat with them in the sunny morning, but you should not laugh at them.

If you don’t take an umbrella or a raincoat, you will regret (后悔) later in the day.

1. Why do people in England often talk about the weather?

A．Because they may have four seasons in one day.

B．Because they often have very good weather.

C．Because the weather is warm just like in spring.

D．Because the sky is sunny all day.

2. From the story we know that when ______ come, there is a heavy rain.

A．sunshine and snow	B．black clouds
C．summer and winter	D．spring and autumn

3. “People can also have summer in winter.” means “it is sometimes too ______ in winter.”

A．warm

B．cool

C．cold

D．rainy

4. In the sunny morning, some English people usually take an umbrella or a raincoat with them because ______.

A．their friends ask them to do so	B．it often rains in England
C．they are going to sell them	D．they are their favorite things

5. The best title (标题) for this passage is ______.

A．Bad Seasons	B．Summer or Winter
C．The Weather in England	D．Strange English People