1 . Embroidery (刺绣) is an important traditional art form in Chinese culture. The most famous embroidery styles are Su embroidery from Suzhou, Shu embroidery from Sichuan, Xiang embroidery from Hunan and Yue embroidery from Guangdong. Shu embroidery has the longest history of all.
Since modern machines can make cheaper embroidery products today, fewer people buy hand-made Shu embroidery products. There are also very few young embroidery workers. So the skill is endangered.
Meng Dezhi, a national-level inheritor (传承人) of the art form, has been making Shu embroidery for over forty years. She used to work at the Chengdu Shu Embroidery Factory. But in 2005, the factory closed down and Meng lost her job. Wanting to save the art, Meng wanted to have her own place and teach Shu embroidery to others.
It’s hard work. Embroidery takes time and patience. Workers need to divide each silk thread (线) into more than ten or even thirty pieces. Each piece is thinner than a single human hair. Meng was once invited to make a logo for Qixi Festival. It was a small logo, but it required the use of 45 types of sewing skills and 35,000 stitches (针).
Meng is teaching in different universities and communities to save Shu embroidery. “I feel that it’s my duty to pass on Shu embroidery skills to young people, to make it be famous all over the world.” she said.
1. How many embroidery styles are mentioned in the passage?| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
| A．Because embroidery takes time and patience. |
| B．Because Shu embroidery has the longest history. |
| C．Because the Chengdu Shu Embroidery Factory closed down. |
| D．Because there are fewer people buying hand-made Shu embroidery products. |
| A．By making more logos for companies. |
| B．By making more Shu embroidery products. |
| C．By encouraging young people to learn the skill. |
| D．By teaching in different universities and communities. |
| A．A hard job. | B．A traditional art form. |
| C．Embroidery needs protecting. | D．A famous embroidery inheritor. |
2 . Recently, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) studied 600,000 15-year-olds around the world. Let’s look at the result.
Girls | Boys |
| 1. Feel less confident than boys. | 1. Feel more confident than girls. |
| 2. Be good at solving the problems with friends and can understand people’s ideas better. | 2. Be good at getting used to new situations even when under stress. |
| Six percent of students from all over the world are always feeling sad. Among these unhappy students, two thirds are girls because of their shyness. | |
| What they worry most: ◎Schoolwork ◎Relationship with their parents ◎Appearance | |
| A．Teenagers | B．Boys | C．Girls | D．Children |
| A．36,000 | B．24,00 | C．30,000 | D．12,000 |
| A．a book review | B．a travel guide | C．a novel | D．a research paper |
3 . The Search-for-Lost-Birds list has come to public attention recently. It lists ten kinds of birds that have not been seen in the wild for at least fifteen years. The list is calling on (号召) people to search for the endangered birds on Earth.
There could be several reasons for the long disappearances of the birds on the list. Maybe there have been no studies in areas where they live. Maybe people don’t know where or how to find them. Maybe there are changes to their natural homes because of human activities.
This year, four expeditions (考察队) are planning to find eight kinds of birds. If they find any of these lost birds, they will try their best to protect them and help their populations grow. This has happened with birds like the Madagascar pochard. The number of this once-lost kind of bird is now increasing.
1. How many kinds of birds are on the Search-for-Lost-Birds list?| A．Four. | B．Eight. | C．Ten. | D．Fifteen. |
| A．Changes of the living areas of the birds. | B．Suggestions on how to protect the birds. |
| C．Reasons for the disappearances of the birds. | D．Steps of building natural homes for the birds. |
| A．It has not been found till now. | B．It needs to live close to humans. |
| C．It provides protection for other birds. | D．It has a larger population than before. |
4 . Clothing is an important part of any culture and each country in the world has its own traditional clothes. Chinese culture has a history of more than 5,000 years, so the traditional Chinese clothing also has a long history.
★ Hanfu
Hanfu is the traditional clothing of the Han people. It first appeared in China more than 3,000 years ago. But it disappeared with the beginning of the Qing dynasty (朝代). Now more and more young people start to enjoy wearing it. Wang Yue, a mother of two, was a fan of hanfu. She said each suit had its own cultural background and learning about it gave her a better understanding of traditional culture.
★Tangzhuang
Tangzhuang is a type of Chinese jacket. The Tang dynasty was famous in the world, so the overseas Chinese were called “Tang people”, and their clothes were called “Tangzhuang”. Tangzhuang is made in different colors, the most common are red, dark blue, gold and black. It shows good luck and wishes.
★Qipao (Cheongsam)
Qipao is a traditional Chinese dress. It first appeared in China in the 1920s. Qipao is made of silk, and Chinese women like to wear it because it can show their beauty. Song Meiling loved Qipao by nature. She always wore different qipao for different seasons.
1. Why did Wang Yue like hanfu?
| A．It had a long history. | B．It had many different colors. |
| C．It could help her understand the culture. | D．It was the clothing of the Han people. |
| A．The overseas Chinese. | B．A type of Chinese jacket. |
| C．The people in the Tang dynasty. | D．Good luck and wishes. |
| A．Few people enjoy wearing hanfu now. | B．Tangzhuang is popular only for its special color. |
| C．Qipao first appeared in China in the 1920s. | D．The traditional clothing named after famous people. |
| A．To remember history of traditional Chinese clothing. |
| B．To find out the differences of traditional Chinese clothing. |
| C．To show the culture of traditional Chinese clothing. |
| D．To show people’s love of traditional clothing. |
5 . Young people enjoy different kinds of drinks, though they know how bad drinks are for their health. What about you? What will happen to you if water takes the place of all drinks?
Chris Bailey, a popular blogger (博客作者), tried this out. Here is what he has found.
First, you lose weight (体重) faster. Yeah, you do! You don’t have to exercise but just keep away from drinks for 9 days. It is the same as running for 8 kilometers a day! So write down your resolution on a piece of paper and put it up on the wall. And you will see the result soon.
Sometimes when you have to stay up late for a test, a cup of tea or coffee is usually by your side on the desk. But do you know 75 to 85 percent of your brain (大脑) is water? Nothing else! Just by drinking water, your brain can work efficiently. You may remember things quickly and well.
What’s more, water washes out something bad in your body. So drinking enough water can stop you from getting old soon. If you want to look young and beautiful as long as possible, drink a glass of water right now! Keep on doing it for longer, and you will be surprised to touch your soft and clean skin (皮肤).
Lastly, you save money! How much money do you spend on coffee and juice every week? Water is much cheaper than other drinks. Drink 5 glasses of water every day, or spend money visiting doctors. Think about it!
So, what are you waiting for?
1. Why is Chris Bailey mentioned (被提及)?| A．To show he is popular. | B．To take his findings as an example. |
| C．To describe his first try. | D．To discuss his health problems. |
| A．高效地 | B．持续地 | C．主动地 | D．反复地 |
| A．65 to 75 percent of the brain is water. |
| B．Keeping on drinking water makes hair soft and clean. |
| C．Staying away from drinks for 9 days helps lose weight. |
| D．The money spent on coffee is less than that in visiting doctors. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
6 . Why is 2024 a special year? Because it is a leap year.
What’s so special about that? Well, we have a leap year every four years. And it has 366 days, not the usual 365. In a leap year, we have 29 days in February, while in a usual year we have only 28 days.
Why do we have a leap year? We have a leap year so we can keep the calendar in step with the seasons. The calendar is a kind of clock for the year. But how long is a year? A calendar year is 365 days. But a true year is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds long. That’s the time it takes the earth to go around the sun. So every four years we have one more day, and we put it at the end of February, the shortest month of a year. Then we have a Leap Year.
1. It’s 2024 this year. When is the next leap year?| A．2020. | B．2028. | C．2032. | D．2036. |
| A．for the year | B．for a leap year | C．for two years | D．for the usual year |
| A．a day | B．a year | C．shorter than a year | D．longer than a year |
| A．12. | B．3. | C．8. | D．4. |
7 . There are four seasons in a year in China. Each season has three months. Spring comes from February to April. It is a good season. It’s often very warm, but sometimes it is rainy in spring. Everything begins to grow. The grass and trees turn green, and beautiful flowers come out. I like spring best.
Summer comes from May to July. The weather is hot, and sometimes it rains heavily. People like to go swimming and go to the beach during summer holidays.
Autumn is from August to October. The weather is very nice. It’s not too cold or too hot. It is a harvest season.
November, December and January are winter months. It often snows in winter. Some children like to make snowmen and throw snowballs. The Spring Festival comes in this season. So many people like it.
1. How many seasons are there in a year in China?| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
| A．Warm and rainy. | B．Cold and snowy. | C．Hot and rainy. | D．Not too hot or too cold. |
| A．Go swimming. | B．Climb mountains. | C．Fly a kite. | D．Go on a picnic. |
| A．Because they can go skating. | B．Because they can make snowmen. |
| C．Because they can throw snowballs. | D．Because the Spring Festival is in this season. |
| A．The weather in spring | B．Different seasons in China |
| C．My favourite season | D．Winter activities |
8 . People read books less often these days. With the invention of the Internet and computer games, and most recently, smart phones, it seems that reading books is no longer a popular activity. However, I believe that books are an important part of our lives.
Books offer an outstanding wealth (财富) of learning and at a cheaper price than taking a course.
Books can make people cleverer because heavy readers have greater knowledge of how things work and who or what people were.
Everything in today’s society needs to be read. Imagine trying to do something simple, for example, read the instructions (说明) on a medicine bottle. If someone could not understand that, he or she will become very sick or even die.
Some people say that reading is a waste of time and that we can do better things with our time. Even if we don’t read books, we still read lots of information every day, and reading books can strengthen our abilities. Reading is one of the greatest things we can do in our spare time.
With a book, you can travel anywhere you want, do anything you want, and talk to anyone you want. Reading is very important in our lives, no matter what your age is. So I think people should read books.
1. People read books less often these days because _________.| A．reading books is a popular activity |
| B．people have known all the knowledge |
| C．books aren’t an important part of our lives |
| D．of the invention of the Internet and computer games, and smart phones |
| A．spare time | B．working time | C．dining time | D．sleeping time |
| A．Books can’t make people cleverer. |
| B．Reading is a waste of time. |
| C．Reading is very important in our lives, no matter what your age is. |
| D．People read books more often these days. |
9 . Homework is a problem for students all over the world. As a student, you have a lot of homework to do every day. It’s a major part of a student’s school day. It’s the best way to review what you have learned in class. Here are several things you can do to make homework easier.
Be sure you understand the homework
Write your homework down in your notebook. Don’t be afraid of asking questions about it. It’s much easier to ask the teacher during school time than to try to remember later that night!
Use your time at school
Many schools have study halls. They are designed to allow students to study there. The more homework you finish at school, the less you’ll have to do that night.
Take a break
It’s difficult to hold your attention for too long. Sitting for too long without relaxing will make you feel very tired. Taking a 15-minute break every hour is a good idea for most people.
Make a plan
Most students have between 1 and 2 hours of homework a night. If it’s a heavy homework day, you’ll need to spend more time on it. It’s a good idea to make a homework timetable, especially when you want to enjoy sports or other activities.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．Why is homework hard to do? | B．How much homework should students do? |
| C．Why should students do homework? | D．When should students do homework? |
| A．Make a plan for your homework. | B．Try to finish your homework at school. |
| C．Do homework without taking a break. | D．Write your homework down in a notebook. |
| A．Refuse to do the homework. | B．Do it without sleeping. |
| C．Ask the classmates for help. | D．Make a homework timetable. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
10 . Reading is a good habit, but the problem is, there’s too much to read these days, and too little time to read every word of it. There are hundreds of skills to help you read more in less time. Here are two skills that I think are especially good.
Preview if it’s long and hard. Previewing is especially useful for getting a general idea of heavy reading like long magazine articles and business reports.
Here’s how to preview.
●Read the first two paragraphs and the last two paragraphs carefully.
●Then read only the first sentence of the other paragraphs.
Previewing doesn’t give you all the details (细节). It keeps you from spending time on things you don’t really want or need to read.
Skim (略读) if it’s short and simple. Skimming is a good way to get the main idea of simple articles, like popular magazines or your daily paper of sports and entertainment.
Here’s how to skim.
●Get your eyes to move fast. Skim them across each line.
●Pick up only a few key words in each line.
Everybody skims differently. You and I may not pick up the same words when we skim the same piece, but we’ll get a similar idea of what it’s all about.
1. How many skills does the writer introduce to help us in reading?| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．Read every word of it. | B．Read all the details. |
| C．Pick up a few key words. | D．Preview the article. |
| A．Previewing. | B．Skimming. |
| C．Repeating. | D．Retelling. |
