2 . Baseball is very popular in America now, and it has a long history. Its history can date back to (追溯到) 1744, in a children’s book A Little Pretty Pocket-Book in the UK. There was a game called baseball. Later on, people got to know much other early information about baseball game.

In 1749, Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, played “Baseball” in English. Then some students began to play with balls ruled by Princeton College in 1787. And a baseball club came into being in 1825.

The Boy’s Own Book (1828) told the rules to today’s game of baseball. People should play the baseball on a diamond-shaped infield (菱形的内场). When a player hit (击) the ball through or over the infield, he could run. If the ball hit somewhere else, which was against the rule, he could not run. Three missed batting (击球) meant the player lost the game.

In The Book of Sports (1834) by Robin Carver, he brought the baseball to the Americans for the first time. And now, the baseball is very popular all over the world. Many people like playing it for fun. It’s also a way to keep healthy.

1. How long is the history of baseball?

A．More than 300 years.	B．Less than 200 years.
C．About 300 years.	D．Almost 200 years.

2. When did people set up the first baseball club?

A．In 1744.

B．In 1749.

C．In 1825.

D．In 1828.

3. When could the player run?

A．When the ball was flying in the sky.

B．When he missed the batting for three times.

C．When he hit the ball outside the infield.

D．When he hit the ball through or over the infield.

4. Which paragraph tells the rules of baseball?

A．①

B．②

C．③

D．④

5. What’s the best title of the passage?

A．How to Play Baseball	B．Baseball in America
C．Some Books About Baseball	D．The History and Rules of Baseball

5 . Round eyes, round head, round ears, round body! What is this lovely little animal?

It looks like a bear. But it is not a bear. It’s a koala.

People in Australia love koalas and take care of them. They have set up places for them to live safely. No one can kill them for their pretty fur.

When a koala is born, it has no fur. And it is not as big as your little toe(脚趾)! The mother koala has a pouch(育儿袋) in the front of her body. The baby goes into this warm pouch. There it stays for about six months.

The koala could not live without a special kind of tree. The tree gives it both its home and its food. For most of the day the koala sleeps in the tree. At night the koala looks for food. It may go miles to find it. It likes the leaves of the tree. It eats more than two pounds each night!

How lovely the koalas really are!

1. How big is a koala when it is born?

A．It’s as big as a cat.	B．It’s as big as a bear.
C．It’s bigger than your little toe.	D．It’s smaller than your little toe.

2. Koalas cannot live without a special kind of tree because ________.

A．they have to keep cool under the tree	B．they eat the fruit on the tree
C．they stay in the tree all the time	D．they live in the tree and get food from it

3. What is the passage mainly about?

A．How people in Australia protect koalas.	B．Lovely koalas in Australia.
C．A special kind of tree.	D．The way mother koalas take care of their babies.

6 . A plant is a living thing. It uses its many parts to grow from a small seed to a large plant. Each part helps the plant stay healthy. Plants also need sunlight to grow. They get light from the sun and minerals from the soil. These things help the plant stay alive and grow.

1. Which is the missing word in the first box?

A．Leaves.

B．Grasses.

C．Dirt.

D．Water.

2. Which part might grow around the seeds?

A．The stem.

B．The flower.

C．The root.

D．The fruit.

3. Which sentence is TRUE according to the passage?

A．A plant grows flowers under the ground.	B．Flowers can grow into new plants.
C．Not all plants have fruit.	D．The stem helps hold the roots up.

4. What’s the passage mainly about?

A．Parts of plants.

B．Seeds of plants.

C．Leaves of plants.

D．Roots of plants.

5. In what subject might you learn this passage?

A．Geography.

B．Biology (生物).

C．Physics.

D．Chemistry (化学).

7 . Thirty years ago, Lake Ponkapog in Hartwell, New Jersey, was full of life. Many birds and animals lived beside the water, which was full of fish. Now there are few birds, animals, and fish. The lake water is polluted. It is in a color of dirty brown, and it is filled with strange plants. How did this happen?

First, we must think about how water gets into Lake Ponkapog. When it rains, water comes into the lake from all around. In the past, there were forests all round Lake Ponkapog, so the rainwater was clean. Now there are many homes around the lake. People often use the chemicals（化学制品）in their gardens. They use other chemicals inside their houses for cleaning and killing insects.

There are also many businesses. Businesses use chemicals in their machines of shops. Other chemicals fall onto the ground from cars or trucks. When it rains, the rainwater picks up all the chemicals from home and businesses and then carries them into the lake. They pollute the water and kill the animals.

Boats on the lake are also a problem. Lake Ponkapog is a popular place for motorboats（汽船）. But oil and gas（汽油）from boats often get into the lake. So more bad chemicals go into the water this way.

People in Hartwell are worried. They love their lake and want to save it. Will it be possible? A clean lake must have clean rainwater going into it. Clean rainwater is possible only if people are more careful about chemicals at home and at other chemicals on the ground. And they mustn’t use motorboats any more on the lake. All these may change people’s lives. Only then can Lake Ponkapog be a beautiful, clean lake again.

1. In the past, the water in Lake Ponkapog was made clean by ________.

A．forests

B．rain

C．birds

D．fish

2. Chemicals from homes and businesses ________.

A．are always clean	B．can help the animals
C．are good for the lake	D．get into the rainwater

3. Cleaner rainwater will mean ________.

A．more boats on the lake	B．more dirty things in the lake
C．a cleaner lake	D．a dirty lake

4. To save Lake Ponkapog, people need to ________.

A．be more careful about chemicals	B．use the water
C．grow fewer plants in the gardens	D．use more motorboats on the lake

5. The passage is about ________.

A．boats on the Lake Pankapog	B．why the water is dirty in Lake Ponkapog
C．clean rainwater	D．dirty lakes

8 . Community service means doing volunteer jobs for the public. It teaches valuable lessons about the duties of a citizen(公民). Today, in the United States, important services are provided through thousands of organizations created to meet needs not provided by government at the local, state, and national levels. These activities help to create a sense of great care for the public.

There are close connections between community service programs and civic(公民的) education in schools. At every level of school, students can be involved in community service projects. In the primary grades, one of the purposes for students is to learn basic civic values that include fair play, respect for the opinions of others, and the rights and duties of a citizen in our society. By taking part in community service programs, very young children can learn how to solve problems, work in groups as leaders or group members, and accept the duties for their decisions and actions. Besides, children develop knowledge of their community—its leaders, organizations, social groups, and standards of civic behavior.

Community service programs can provide the chances for students to learn social study skills. These include higher-level processes and skills of information collecting, critical thinking and decision making. Community service programs also teach processes and skills for group discussions, leadership and teamwork.

Through community service programs, children can learn how people play roles in a discussion to work out the local problems. Students can volunteer to teach young children in child care centers or help in senior citizen centers.

1. From the passage, we know ________ play a main role in community service.

A．the adult citizens	B．the volunteer organizations
C．the students at school	D．the local and state governments

2. What is the meaning of the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2?

A．Children can learn about their community at school.

B．Civic education is about knowledge of community.

C．School students can offer community service programs.

D．Communities provide chances for school civic education.

3. Which of the following must be learned in the primary grades?

A．Basic civic values.	B．Social study processes.
C．Skills for information collecting.	D．Processes of decision making.

4. What does the underlined word “These” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The students.	B．Social study skills.
C．The chances.	D．Community service programs.

5. This passage is mainly about ________.

A．how the students set up community service organizations

B．how schools get involved in community service programs

C．what students can learn by joining in community service projects

D．the volunteer jobs that the students can do in their community

9 . Street dance is an energetic and exciting type of dance. It started with people dancing in the street rather than in studio（练功房）.

Break dancing and the Melbourne Shuffle are two examples of street dance. Many of the hip-pop dances are popular street dance. Even rave dancing is a type of street dance. Street dance changes and improves all the time as people try different moves. It is a form of dancing that boys really enjoy.

A school in Britain has seen how street dance has helped its pupils. They introduced it as a subject at school. Dance teachers went to the school to teach the students how to perform. The dances were rehearsed at lunch breaks and after school. Many of the students were from homes with many problems. The students also used to behave badly. When the street dance classes started, it seemed to solve many of these problems. The students felt that they could express their feelings in dancing. If they were angry, they could do some of the dance moves and throw away those feelings. If they were angry at something, dancing helped them to be more peaceful. Another good thing was that the students felt better about themselves.

The students focused on other subjects more. They got better grades. Taking part in the street dance also taught the students to work better with others. They needed discipline（纪律）to come to practice and to learn the dance steps. They entered a dance competition and won! This was very good for them. The younger students began following them. They are active role models.

Today bands have formed that combine（结合）singing with street dance. Street dance is becoming a popular culture.

1. How many types of street dance are mentioned?

A．2.

B．3.

C．4.

D．5.

2. The school introduced street dance as a subject because ________.

A．it helped the pupils with problems	B．dance teachers liked it
C．students could achieve their dreams	D．the school was asked to do so

3. The underlined word “rehearsed” in the text means “________” in Chinese.

A．取消

B．排练

C．欢迎

D．承认

4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Street dance first started in a studio.

B．Street dances are all the same.

C．Students in Britain are only interested in street dance.

D．People can sing while doing dance moves now.

5. The writer wants to tell us ________.

A．the types of street dance	B．the history of street dance
C．the ways and time of performing street dance	D．the development and advantages of street dance

10 . People travel for a lot of reasons. Some tourists go to see battlefields (战场) or other historic remains (历史遗址). Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their pictures taken in front of famous places. Most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on.

Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money for the sun because they have so little of it. People of cities like London, Copenhagen (哥本哈根) and Amsterdam (阿姆斯特丹) spend much of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the rest of the year in the rain. This is the reason why the Mediterranean (地中海) has always attracted (吸引) them. Every summer many people travel to Mediterranean resorts (度假胜地) and beaches for their vacations. They all come for the same reason: sun!

The huge crowds mean lots of money for the economics (经济) of Mediterranean countries. Italy’s 30,000 hotels are booked without a break every summer. And 13 million people camp out on French beaches, parks, and roadsides. Spain’s long sandy coastline attracts more people than anywhere else, 37 million tourists there yearly, or one tourist for each person living in Spain.

But there are signs that the area is getting more tourists than it can deal with. The Mediterranean is already one of the most polluted seas on earth. None of these, however, is ruining (毁灭) anyone’s fun. Obviously (显然地), they don’t go there for clean water. They allow traffic jams and seem to like crowded beaches. They don’t even mind the pollution. No matter how dirty the water is, the coastline still looks beautiful. And as long as the sun shines, it’s still better than sitting in the cold rain in Berlin, London, or Oslo (奥斯陆).

1. The writer seems to imply (暗示) that Europeans travel mostly for the reason that ________.

A．they want to see historic remains

B．they wish to escape from cold, dark and rainy days

C．they would like to take pictures in front of famous places

D．they are interested in different cultural and social customs

2. According to the passage, which of the following countries attracts more tourists than the others?

A．Italy.

B．Greece.

C．France.

D．Spain.

3. The underlined part in Passage 3, “one tourist for each person living in Spain” means ________.

A．all the 37 million people living in Spain are tourists

B．every person living in Spain has to take care of a tourist

C．every year as many tourists visit Spain as there are people living in that country

D．every family in Spain is visited by a tourist every year

4. What are Northern Europeans willing to pay a lot of money for?

A．The sun.

B．The water.

C．The air.

D．The jams.

5. Which of the following might ruin (毁坏) the tourists’ fun at Mediterranean resorts and beaches?

A．Polluted water.

B．Crowded buses.

C．Rainy weather.

D．Traffic jams.