2 .

Gardening is a fun activity! It can also teach you about science and nature. One good way to learn how to garden is to start a school garden. Find teachers who want to help you start a garden. Then follow these steps. ● Decide where to put the garden. Will it be indoors or outdoors? You can start a garden indoors in a few boxes. Check how much sunlight your room gets. Windows that face south and west are good for growing vegetables, as they usually receive enough light. If the room doesn’t get enough sunlight, you will need to set up lights over your plants. For an outdoor garden, you will also need to see how much sunlight the space gets. Most flowers and vegetables need six hours of sunlight a day. ● Decide on the type（类型） of garden. Will you grow vegetables, flowers, or both? What is the purpose of the garden? Will it be a place for science Experiments（实验）, something that adds beauty to the school, or both? ● Design（设计） the garden. Where will the flower beds go? What will the paths（小径） look like? Draw a map of how you would like the garden to look. Then you can use it to build the paths and garden beds. ● Plant the garden. Dig the soil（土壤）. Then plant the seeds（种子） and water your garden. Watch your garden grow and enjoy the fruits of your work.

1. Which is the right order to start a school garden according to the passage?
①Plant the garden.             ②Design the garden.
③Choose the place for the garden.       ④Decide what to grow in the garden.

A．①②③④

B．②③④①

C．③④②①

D．④③②①

2. What is the most important when deciding where to put the garden?

A．Sunlight.

B．Weather.

C．Water.

D．Air.

3. What does the underlined word “it” refer to?

A．The flower.

B．The map.

C．The light.

D．The garden.

4. Which question could help us find out the writer’s purpose?

A．Did the writer want us to help him?

B．Did the writer invite us to his garden?

C．Did the writer show us his school garden?

D．Did the writer teach us something useful?

3 . Have you ever been in a class when all the students are kept in at lunchtime just because two or three students won’t stop talking? The teacher gets irate and suddenly everyone is in trouble instead of just the students who caused the problem. This is called “collective (集体的) punishment” and many students in Australia want it stopped in schools.

Some say that collective punishment teaches young people that their behavior has an effect on other people. As most of us want to be liked and “fit in” (顺应), all students then feel that they have to behave well.

Others say that this type of punishment causes students to feel angry with the students who are not behaving well. It destroys trust and good relationships between classmates.

But collective punishment can harm students who want to do the right thing. Teachers at my school say that some students become too disappointed to come to school. They are unhappy because their class gets class detention (课后留校) most days and is known as the “bad group”.

A parent at this same school believes that this type of punishment is useful because it helps teachers to know which students are not behaving well. She thinks that when a class knows they may be given a detention, the students who were doing the wrong thing will own up (承认).

Our school’s psychologist (心理学家), Miriam Koch, says that students who have learning difficulties and keep making trouble in classrooms often have poor social skills. Her opinion is that collective punishment can keep these students away from their classmates. She believes that it is best for teachers to use group rewards (奖励) and clear rules for students behavior to help develop teamwork.

1. What does the underlined word “irate” mean?

A．Silent.

B．Angry.

C．Lost.

D．Worried.

2. In what way is collective punishment good?

A．It gets students to work harder.	B．It brings students hearts closer.
C．It helps keep order in the classroom.	D．It helps form good teacher-student relationships.

3. How can collective punishment harm students who want to do the right thing?

A．They feel unloved.	B．They copy bad behavior.
C．They hate to go to school.	D．They avoid seeing people

4. Why does the parent find collective punishment useful?

A．It helps teachers to find troublemakers.

B．It makes students tell on one another.

C．It allows students to know one another better.

D．It gets teachers to help badly-behaved students.

5. What does Miriam Koch think of troublemakers in a classroom?

A．They want to get rewards.	B．They have good social skills.
C．They are not clear about rules.	D．They may get worse after collective punishment.

5 . 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.

2. What does Paragraph 3 tell us?

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.

3. What does the writer say about slow progress?

A．It often goes smoothly.	B．It still means progress.
C．It sometimes stops progress.	D．It always gives us a clear mind.

4. Which word is close to the underlined word “setbacks”?

A．Prizes.

B．Advantages.

C．Excuses.

D．Difficulties.

5. Which can be a proper title for the text?

A．Ideas about Making Progress	B．Keys to Speeding up Progress
C．Meanings of Having Confidence	D．Suggestions on Relationships

6 . 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.

2. What is the leader’s main job in the team?

A．Controlling the activity time.	B．Writing down the team’s ideas.
C．Making speeches for the team.	D．Helping the others make decisions.

3. What should you do after dividing the work?

A．Set a clear goal.	B．Work out a plan.
C．Decide everyone’s role.	D．Check the teacher’s examples.

4. What is the writer trying to do in the text?

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.

9 . 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.

2. In the writer’s eyes, why did Edison achieve 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.

3. What does the underlined word “disgraceful” probably mean?

A．Bad.

B．Personal.

C．Dangerous.

D．Interesting.

4. What does the writer advise the losers to do in a competition?

A．Express the regrets.	B．Forget the failure.
C．Share in the winners’ enjoyment.	D．Join in another competition.

5. What is the best title for the text?

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

10 . 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.

2. Which is the “big day” according to the text?

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.

3. What is the good way to end your presentation?

A．To repeat topics.	B．To show thanks.
C．To make suggestions.	D．To share main ideas.

4. Which question could best help us find out the writer’s purpose?

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?