1 . Progress means the act of going forward. Making any kind of progress can make us healthy and happy in life. By setting and actively working towards our goals, we can make progress in our life.
To make more progress in life, start looking at problems in a different way. Whatever happens, if we think positively, it can be useful and helpful. We need to know that problems are part of our life. After we solve problems one after another, we can make more progress and become stronger.
Having confidence (信心) is helpful for us to make progress. Confidence comes from different places, such as proper education, training or having good relationships. We should also stay with people who believe in our success and actively support us. These people can help push us towards progress.
Slow progress is still progress. Just as the old saying goes, “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” Progress usually comes a lot more slowly than we expect. Even if progress is slow, try not to be worried. One important thing is that we keep taking steps towards our goals, and another is that we clearly remember what our goals are all the time. The actual speed isn’t important.
The road to progress is not always smooth. Most progress often comes with setbacks along the way. Sometimes, maybe it feels like we’re taking one step forward and three steps back, but it won’t always be like that. Keep going towards our goals and we can much more easily make the progress we want.
Progress doesn’t always happen in a straight line. As long as we keep working, we will achieve higher levels.
1. What does progress make us do?A.Set lifelong goals. | B.Go forward easily. |
C.Live healthily and happily. | D.Think about new things. |
A.We should support different people. | B.Some people can push us to failure. |
C.Confidence helps us make progress. | D.Different schools expect the same progress. |
A.It often goes smoothly. | B.It still means progress. |
C.It sometimes stops progress. | D.It always gives us a clear mind. |
A.Prizes. | B.Advantages. | C.Excuses. | D.Difficulties. |
A.Ideas about Making Progress | B.Keys to Speeding up Progress |
C.Meanings of Having Confidence | D.Suggestions on Relationships |
2 .
Confucianism (儒家思想) has been followed by Chinese people for more than two thousand years.
To help people understand how to behave towards others, Confucianism teaches the Five Constants (五常). These are ren, yi, li, zhi and xin. They are general virtues (美德) around the world. The most important two are ren and li.
Ren is the feeling of care and love we should have for others. Confucius explained ren could best be understood as loving others. He is famous for teaching people “What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others”. It is quite similar to what is known in the West as the Golden Rule (treat others as you wish to be treated).
While the meaning of ren is easy to understand, li is a little harder to express. It can be thought of as duty or even respect. Generally, li is the way we should connect with people in our everyday life. In Confucian writings, discussions about li include the proper way to drink tea and how to remember ancestors (祖先). While ren is mostly about our opinions and feelings, li is about how we express our opinions and feelings towards others and towards the world around us.
Perhaps the most well-known Confucian virtue is xiao. This is the duty children have to their parents. Xiao means loving, respecting, obeying and taking care of one’s parents in their old age. In Confucianism, xiao is important for a harmonious (和谐的) society: Without it, the whole world would fall into a mess.
1. Which are the most important of the Five Constants?A.Ren and yi. | B.Ren and li. | C.Li and xin. | D.Yi and zhi. |
A.博学于文,约之以礼。 | B.学而不思则罔,思而不学则殆。 |
C.己所不欲,勿施于人。 | D.君子和而不同,小人同而不和。 |
A.Building a peaceful society. | B.Taking care of one’s children. |
C.Obeying rules for drinking tea. | D.Learning all through one’s life. |
A.Its general virtues. | B.Its long history. |
C.Its new challenges. | D.Its golden rules. |
3 . The Chinese pingfeng (folding screen) is an ancient invention and traditional Chinese furniture (家具). Its earliest common use dates from the Han Dynasty. The term pingfeng means protection from wind, showing its purpose at the very beginning.
As time passes, it has been made into different sizes with colourful paintings. On screens usually appears a dragon. It’s a symbol of light, growth and life-giving water. It also stands for nobility and power. The peacock, a beautiful bird, can be seen on screens, too. It’s a symbol of everlasting life. Beautiful flowers, which mean wealth and good luck, are also chosen as a popular design of the pingfeng. All the designs carry people’s beautiful wishes.
Behind the pingfeng lies an interesting story. In the past the unmarried daughter of a rich family was not supposed to see or be seen by men except her father, brothers or very close male cousins. When an admirer paid a visit however, she might take a secret look at him from a screen behind which she would be completely hidden. Her father would discuss poems with the young man and ask him to create one. If the daughter and her father were satisfied with the young man’s poem and his looks, she might agree to take him as a husband.
Today the pingfeng is back in fashion for its beauty and its practical (实际的) use as furniture. Acting as a moving wall or divider, it can be the perfect match (相配) for modern sofas and walls, which adds style to them.
The pingfeng is more than beautiful furniture.
1. What was the pingfeng used for at the very beginning?A.Protecting people from wind. | B.Dividing a room. |
C.Making a room beautiful. | D.Hiding a person. |
A.The dragon. | B.The peacock. | C.The water. | D.The flowers. |
A.By telling a story. | B.By giving examples. |
C.By comparing differences. | D.By explaining the result. |
A.The Practical Use of the Pingfeng |
B.A Beautiful Story of the Pingfeng |
C.Old Pingfeng in Modern Homes |
D.The Hidden Beauty of the Pingfeng |
4 . Presentation(展示)skills are important at school and in other areas of life. Some people don’t like giving presentations because they don’t know what to say or because they get nervous about public speaking. Here’s some advice to help you make presentations easier and more enjoyable.
1. Get organised
The best presentations are well planned and clearly organized. Think about topics(话题)and choose a proper one. In one topic, three or four main ideas will be fine. The beginning of your presentation should be interesting. For example, you can tell a short, funny story to make people laugh.
2. Use photos or videos
Try to use photos or videos. These things make your performance more exciting and help you remember what you’ re going to say. However, you shouldn’t use too many. The “star” of your presentation should be you, not your photos or videos.
3. Practice before your performance
You need to practice many times before the “big day”. Practice saying any unusual words. Then write the main ideas on small cards to help you remember. Practice in front of a mirror and time your presentation. Finally, you can record your performance or ask a friend to watch you and then make suggestions for improvements.
4. Connect with your audience(观众)
Always look at the audience when you speak. Stand up straight, but don’t stand still or move around much. Finally, be sure to thank your audience when you finish speaking. It’s a simple but good way to end any presentation.
1. How can you interest your listeners at the beginning?A.By listing your ideas. | B.By telling a funny story. |
C.By standing up straight. | D.By saying simple words. |
A.The day you prepare videos. | B.The day you get some advice. |
C.The day you visit your friends. | D.The day you make a presentation. |
A.To repeat topics. | B.To show thanks. |
C.To make suggestions. | D.To share main ideas. |
A.Did the writer try to teach us skills? |
B.Did the writer help us understand ideas? |
C.Did the writer invite us to attend a course? |
D.Did the writer ask us to be polite in public? |
5 . Why do We Yawn?
Do you yawn? There are about 20 reasons that scientists think are possible for yawning after research. They do not know exactly why yawning happens, but they do know many facts about yawning.
We know that everyone yawns in the same way. First you open your mouth slowly. Your mouth stays open for about five seconds. You take in a lot of air and then push it out. Then you quickly close your mouth. We also know that yawning is contagious. When you see someone yawn, you yawn, too.
Many people say they yawn because they are bored or tired. That might be true. People do often yawn before they sleep and after they wake up. However, we know that people also yawn when they are excited or nervous. Olympic runners, for example, often yawn before a race. Why is that? In 2007, scientists found that a yawn can help a warm brain cool down.
Some scientists believe that yawning makes you notice things more quickly. When you yawn, you breathe deeply. You also stretch (强化) the muscles (肌肉) in your face, mouth, and neck. Your eardrums stretch, too. Maybe this helps you to be quicker to notice things.
In some countries, people think yawning is not nice. People put their hands over their mouths to cover a yawn. In other countries, people think yawning is healthy. They think that opening the mouth very big can let good things in. When they breathe out, they think that bad things go out of the body with the air.
Scientists do not spend much time studying yawning. That is probably because yawning does not hurt. It is just something we do.
1. What does the underlined word “contagious” in Paragraph 2 mean?A.Able to spread quickly. | B.Able to breathe easily. |
C.Able to change easily. | D.Able to sleep quickly. |
A.They are too tired or too bored. |
B.A yawn can let good things in. |
C.A yawn can help a warm brain cool down. |
D.A yawn can stretch the muscles in their faces. |
A.Reasons for yawning. | B.Advantages of yawning. |
C.Disadvantages of yawning. | D.Different ideas about yawning. |
A.People use different ways to yawn. |
B.Scientists will do further research on yawning. |
C.It’s hard to notice things quickly while yawning. |
D.Some scientists think yawning is good for people. |
A. | B. | C. | D. |
6 . Nobody wants to lose, but we must accept that losing is a part of life. After all, we can’t win all the time. However, we can learn something valuable from every failure(失败). This may help us succeed in the future. So we must know how to be a good loser.
We must not be afraid of losing. When we lose, just take it with a smile and look on the bright side of it. Failure can’t be avoided in our life. Edison failed 10,000 times before he invented the light bulb(灯泡). When he was asked how he felt, he said that he hadn’t failed 10,000 times but had learned 10,000 things which didn’t work. We must know that history is full of examples of men and women who achieved success although they failed many times.
Losing is not very disgraceful. We must accept our failure and learn to take advantage of it. Remember that it can be helpful. Take action to walk out of it. When we lose, think about what we did and how we can improve. If someone else can help, we’ll be lucky enough. Maybe he or she has been through the same experience before. Many people enjoy helping others solve problems. This can save us a lot of time in learning how to avoid the same mistakes in the future.
We should face our failure when we lose. There is only one winner in every competition. Some win, while some lose. That is a usual way of life. If we offer our congratulations(祝贺)to the winners and share in their happiness, we won’t feel sorry for our failure.
In a word, being a good loser will help us to succeed in life. It might be painful at the beginning, but there are many advantages. Good losers set examples to us, and most importantly, they finally win.
1. What can we learn from every failure according to the text?A.A way of life. | B.A valuable thing. | C.A general rule. | D.A secret of success. |
A.He got help from others. | B.He happened to make it. |
C.He avoided possible mistakes. | D.He saw the bright side of losing. |
A.Bad. | B.Personal. | C.Dangerous. | D.Interesting. |
A.Express the regrets. | B.Forget the failure. |
C.Share in the winners’ enjoyment. | D.Join in another competition. |
A.Ideas about How to Avoid Mistakes | B.Experience in Dealing with Problems |
C.Advice on How to Be a Good Loser | D.Advantages of both Success and Failure |
7 . Do you do team projects at school? I do a lot. I enjoy team projects because I like sharing ideas with other people. Of course, team activities aren’t always easy. You need to know how to work well together. Here are some suggestions to make team work easier.
Know the goals Make sure everyone understands the goal of the project. If you’re doing a class project, you need to check the teacher’s instructions carefully and ask questions whenever something isn’t clear. There’s a popular saying: If you don’t know where you’re going, you probably won’t get there. |
Assign (指派) roles Everyone should have a role in the team. For example, there should be a leader who helps everyone make decisions. There might be a note-taker who writes down the team’s ideas during meetings, and a time-keeper to control the time. There might also be a fact-checker or a group speaker. |
Divide the work For large projects, the work can be divided into smaller tasks. Then you can choose tasks that you do well or enjoy. Of course, you shouldn’t always do the same task. It’s good to try new things, even if they’re difficult! |
Make a plan After you divide the work, write down a plan on paper. You can use a calendar to help you. List all the tasks and think about when each one must be finished. It’s important for everyone to follow the plan. And if you can’t finish your part on time, tell the others as soon as possible. |
Try to be positive (积极的). Everything is easier when you’re enjoying yourself in the team.
1. How does the writer begin the text?A.By telling a story. | B.By asking a question. |
C.By showing a saying. | D.By sending a message. |
A.Controlling the activity time. | B.Writing down the team’s ideas. |
C.Making speeches for the team. | D.Helping the others make decisions. |
A.Set a clear goal. | B.Work out a plan. |
C.Decide everyone’s role. | D.Check the teacher’s examples. |
A.Introduce the teacher’s instructions. | B.Give information about smaller tasks. |
C.Explain the method to do team projects. | D.Describe the importance of creative ideas. |
8 . The scientific method is used for simple experiments that students may do in the classroom or very difficult experiments that scientists are doing all over the world. It is a way of thinking that helps you to avoid drawing incorrect conclusions.
There are usually four steps in the scientific method, including observation (观察), hypothesis (假设), experiment, and conclusion. The steps may not always be completed in the same order, but the first step is usually observation and asking a question about your observation. For example, you had a sick stomach, and ate a candy bar. An hour later, you observed that you felt much better. Here, you can ask a question, such as, “What makes a sick stomach feel better?”
The second step is to state a possible answer to the question, or a hypothesis, such as “” A good hypothesis includes three things: The explanation for the observations, it is able to be tested, and it will usually predict new outcomes or conclusions.
The third step is the experiment, to test the hypothesis. An experiment is a test which will either challenge or support the hypothesis. The hypothesis will then be true or false.
The final step is to think about what happened when you tested the hypothesis and draw a conclusion. The conclusion will either clearly support the hypothesis or it will not. If the results support the hypothesis, a conclusion can be written and you can share it with the rest of the world. If it does not support the hypothesis, you may choose to change the hypothesis or write a new one based on what was learned during the experiment.
1. Which sentence best expresses the main idea of the passage?A.How do the four basic steps in the scientific method work? |
B.What makes a good hypothesis based on the observation? |
C.The conclusion will always clearly support the hypothesis. |
D.Learning the scientific method may help students succeed in science. |
A.A candy bar makes a sick stomach feel better. |
B.It was the medicine you took an hour earlier that made you feel better. |
C.Eat a candy bar again, and see what happens to your sick stomach. |
D.Ask people if eating a candy bar has made a sick stomach feel better. |
A.The hypothesis. | B.The conclusion. |
C.The question. | D.The observation. |
A.An experiment is a test to always support the hypothesis. |
B.An experiment does not have to be part of the scientific method. |
C.An experiment is a test to either challenge or support a hypothesis. |
D.An experiment is only used when scientists are trying to prove a hypothesis. |
9 . There are three common questions about how to improve our English.
The first question is about real English. Some students say that they want to learn real English. But they don’t know what to do. Watching English films is a good way. When we are tired after studying for a long time, we can watch an English film to relax. While watching it, we can also learn real English at the same time.
The second question is about speaking, Most speaking. Most students feel too shy to talk with foreigners. “Where are you from?” What do you think of China?” There are both good questions to start a conversation. Before we begin, take a deep breath and smile! Smiling always helps.
The third question is about vocabulary. We want to remember all the new words. The problem is that we write them down but forget them soon. Write eight or ten words on a piece of paper and put it in our bedroom. Try to remember them. Spell the words whenever we see them, and change them every day. There is another way, when you’re shopping, counting the English words or saying the English names for everything you see as much as possible.
1. According to the second paragraph, what can we do to learn real English?A.Talk to foreign friends. | B.Remember all words. |
C.Watch English films. | D.Write down words on paper. |
A.Too shy to talk to foreigners. | B.Don’t know how to learn real English. |
C.Can’t remember English words. | D.Want to watch English films. |
A.By taking a deep breath. | B.By looking at them and smile. |
C.By introducing ourselves to them. | D.By asking some good questions. |
A.search them | B.forget them | C.spell them | D.say them out |
A.Learning tips. | B.English stories. | C.Foreign culture. | D.Students’ life. |
10 . All aboard! Let’s take a ride on the world’s highest railway—the Qinghai-Tibet Railway(青藏铁路). Sit back and enjoy the journey. Get ready for the trip of a lifetime.
We’re leaving Qinghai Station. The scenery along the way is some of the wildest in all of China. Keep your eyes open as we race through this beautiful land. You might see a rare Tibetan antelope(藏羚羊)from your window.
Before we begin our journey, let’s learn about this amazing railway. It’s truly one of the great engineering wonders of the 21st century. When it was completed on July 1, 2006, the Tibet Railway set nine world records, including the world’s highest railway at 5,072 metres above sea level, the world’s highest tunnel(隧道)at 4,905 metres, and the longest tunnel ever built on permafrost(冻土).
As we travel higher, the air gets thinner and thinner. Soon there will only be 50 to 60 percent of the oxygen which we are used to breathing. But don’t be afraid. Each rail car has two separate oxygen systems. One system spreads oxygen throughout the train at all times. And each passenger can also get a personal oxygen mask just like those used in planes.
Here are a few more things to think about as our train leaves the station. The designers solved three main challenges when building this great railway. First, the high altitude(海拔)made the task difficult because there was no enough oxygen. Second, much of the railway runs across permafrost, a type of ground that keeps changing as the weather warms and cools. Finally, the railway goes through some of the most sensitive ecology(敏感的生态环境)in China. Great care was necessary to make sure of the smallest possible influence on nature.
All three challenges were met, making our trip possible. All aboard! The train to Tibet is leaving in fifteen minutes.
1. Where are the passengers?A.On a bus. | B.On a train. | C.On a ship. | D.On a plane. |
A.By telling a story. | B.By using a designer’s words. |
C.By introducing its world records. | D.By comparing the present with the past. |
A.One. | B.Two. | C.Three. | D.Four. |
A.The changing ground. | B.The polluted air. | C.The dangerous animals. | D.The hot weather. |