1 . The world uses about a thousand million (百万) tons of water a day. Water is a human right and everyone should have their share. Yet more than 700 million people around the world have trouble getting clean, safe water.
Treating wastewater is a good way to provide fresh water for us. And it also helps the environment by keeping waste out of rivers and oceans. 80% of wastewater around the world is not treated at all, and it is running into oceans. But now we have got the technology to treat and reuse the wastewater.
While 75% of our planet is covered with water, only about 2% is fresh water—that comes from rivers, lakes, ice and snow. The rest, 98% of the water, is in seas and oceans. It is too salty to drink. Then desalination businesses come in. More than 19,000 factories have been built around the world, mostly in coastal countries. They process (加工) more than 92 million tons of water every day. But the technology they use requires a lot of energy.
Scientists are working to create a less costly technology. They want to produce 20 times more clean water and make sure everyone has enough. But for now, the world still faces each day with not having enough water for everyone.
1. How many people have trouble in getting clean water around the world?| A．Under 10 million. |
| B．Only 19 million. |
| C．About 92 million. |
| D．Over 700 million. |
| A．storing waste in ice and snow | B．letting waste run into oceans |
| C．keeping waste out of rivers and oceans | D．sending waste to coastal countries |
| A．needs much energy | B．saves much money |
| C．satisfies everyone | D．causes pollution |
| A．Water should be a human right. | B．The water problem is still serious. |
| C．Our planet is covered with water. | D．Everyone has enough clean water. |
2 . Dolphins are one of the cleverest animals in the world. We may hear of many stories about how dolphins save people out of water.
Dolphins often eat fish and some other sea animals. A dolphin with a weight of 200kg to 250kg will eat 10kg to 25kg of fish every day. They like to swim with other dolphins and usually hunt in groups.
Dolphins have very good hearing. They use it to find things under the water. Many scientists also believe dolphins can even talk to each other through a special whistle (哨声). People from different areas don’t speak the same language. Just like people, dolphins’ whistles have many kinds. One day we may understand dolphins’ whistles, and then they will be able to tell us about themselves.
Dolphins live in the sea, but they are not a kind of fish and they don’t lay eggs. They have babies in the same way as cows and cats do, and give their babies milk. A female dolphin has a baby every two to three years.
Dolphins are very friendly. Sadly, there are not many kinds of dolphins left. People killed them for many years for food and other things. Now it’s time to stop this and perhaps there will be more of them in the years to come.
1. If a dolphin weighs 240kg, how much of fish may it eat every day?| A．5kg. | B．16kg. | C．30kg. | D．35kg. |
| A．By taste. | B．By smell | C．By hearing. | D．By touch. |
| A．Save people out of water. | B．Talk to each other. |
| C．Give babies milk. | D．Lay eggs. |
| A．Dolphins are a kind of fish. | B．Dolphins eat fish and some other sea animals. |
| C．People may understand dolphins’ whistles some day. | D．Dolphins usually hunt in groups. |
| A．What dolphins eat | B．Where dolphins live |
| C．How dolphins are swimming | D．Something about dolphins |
3 . 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 |
| 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. |
| A．Basic civic values. | B．Social study processes. |
| C．Skills for information collecting. | D．Processes of decision making. |
| A．The students. | B．Social study skills. |
| C．The chances. | D．Community service programs. |
| 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 |
4 . Dubai is a city of big business, expensive hotels, skyscrapers（摩天楼）, and shopping malls. In the early 20th century, Dubai was a successful trading port. People from the world stopped in Dubai to do business. But it was still a small city, and most people lived as fishermen and businessmen. Then in 1966, oil was discovered. This brought a lot of money into the area, and soon Dubai began to change.
Today Dubai is one of the world’s most important business centers. In fact, each year the city gets its money mainly from business, not oil.
Recently Dubai has attracted more and more visitors from abroad. They come to relax on its beaches, and every year, millions visit just to go shopping!
Dubai is also one of the world’s fastest growing cities. Many tall buildings are built in months. The city also has many man-made islands. One of these, the Palm Jumeirah, is like a palm tree（棕桐树）and is very beautiful.
The city is still an amazing mix（混合体）of people from different countries. The people from 150 countries live and work in Dubai, and foreigners now outnumber Dubai natives（本地人）by eight to one!
Many people welcome the city’s growth. But an increasing number of Dubai natives worry about the speed of change. As a Dubai native says, “We must always remember where we came from. Our kids must know we worked very, very hard to get where we are now, and there’s a lot more work to do.”
1. Why did people stop in Dubai in the early 20th century?| A．To relax. | B．To buy oil. | C．To go shopping. | D．To do business. |
| A．Dubai has created many man-made islands. |
| B．There are many foreigners working in Dubai. |
| C．Many international visitors come to Dubai every year. |
| D．Dubai now gets money mainly from selling oil. |
| A．To be smaller in size than another group. | B．To be more in number than another group. |
| C．To be bigger in area than another group. | D．To be smaller in area than another group. |
| A．We should always visit Dubai. | B．We should learn from foreigners. |
| C．We must always remember our past. | D．We must only think about the future. |
| A．Dubai is growing very fast. | B．Dubai was a big city before 1966. |
| C．Many tall buildings are built in months. | D．Many tourists come to relax on Dubai’s beaches. |
5 . All over the world, people enjoy sports. Sports are good for people’s health. Many people like to watch others play games. They buy tickets or turn on their TV sets or may be online to watch.
Sports change with the seasons. People play different games in different seasons. Sometimes they play inside the room. Sometimes they play outside. We can find sports here and there. Some sports are rather interesting and people everywhere like them. Football, for example, is very popular in the world. People from different countries cannot understand each other, but after a game they often become very friendly to each other.
1. Sports are good for ________.| A．the players | B．people’s health |
| C．the coaches | D．people who like sports |
| A．buy tickets to watch the games | B．watch the games on TV |
| C．watch the games on the Internet | D．A, B and C |
| A．the same game | B．different games |
| C．any games | D．all kinds of games |
| A．Table tennis | B．Baseball | C．Football | D．Skating |
| A．people from different countries all | B．people from the same country |
| C．people who do the same sports | D．after a game, people from different countries |
6 . Many middle school students don’t know how to spend their free time. When they have holidays, they always have nothing to do. Some may play computer games all day long and some may stay in bed and sleep all day. They are not good ways. Here are some suggestions.
If you don’t like to stay at home, you can do some sports. In this way, you can keep healthy. If you like to stay at home, you can enjoy some music. You can play some indoor games like chess. You can also plant some trees and flowers in your garden to make your home beautiful. It is also a good way to keep a pet and talk to it. Just have some hobbies and you will feel happy during a long holiday.
1. How many suggestions does the writer give if you want to stay at home?| A．Three | B．Four | C．Five | D．Six |
| A．To keep healthy. | B．To make more friends. |
| C．To make our studies better | D．To know about the world. |
| A．Money | B．Friends | C．Hobbies | D．Trees |
| A．What to do when you stay at home. | B．How to develop your hobby. |
| C．How to spend your free time. | D．How to keep healthy. |
What can be red or green, round or sharp, big or small, and more importantly, loved or hated by someone? Yes, the answer is chilies (辣椒).
Many of us in China enjoy adding chilies to our food, but did you know that this spicy vegetable could also be dangerous? A 34-year-old US man recently ended up in hospital after eating a Carolina Reaper, the spiciest chili people have known so far. After taking just a single bite of one, the man suffered from serious headaches in the following days, reported BBC News.
In fact, eating spicy food causes a stomachache and a headache. But if chilies are harmful, why do people like to eat this vegetable? So what makes people love chilies so much? The human body is influenced by natural chemicals that produce “a sense of happiness”, noted BBC News.
And chilies do good to people in another way. Scientists found that the death rate of those who eat spicy food once or twice a week is 10 percent lower than those who eat it less than once a week. The death rate is 14 percent lower for those who eat spicy food six to seven times a week. This encourages people to eat more spicy food to improve health and bring less death risk at an early age. So, don’t worry if you love spicy food. It seems that chilies are actually good for us.
1. What is the main idea of the Paragraph 2?| A．Eating chilies can be dangerous. | B．The US man died in hospital. |
| C．US man often had a headache. | D．The Chinese enjoy eating chilies. |
| A．chilies do no harm to people | B．the chilies is a kind of vegetable |
| C．they can get personal enjoyment | D．chemicals in chilies make them mad |
| A．酸的 | B．苦的 | C．有害 | D．辣的 |
| A．The more chilies you eat, the longer you must live. |
| B．Scientists encourage us to add chilies to our food. |
| C．We should eat chilies seven times a day. |
| D．Proper spicy food may improve our health. |
| A．a menu | B．a magazine | C．a story book | D．a novel |
8 . Li Shizhen (李时珍) was one of the most famous doctors in Chinese history. He was born in Qichun, Hubei in 1518.
Both of Li Shizhen’s father and grandfather were doctors. Li Shizhen’s grandfather was a country doctor who travelled in the countryside with a bag of herbs (药草) and medications and cured (治愈) people. His father was a doctor who wrote several books.
Li Shizhen used to help his father in his medical practice when he was young. Li Shizhen’s father wanted him to enter politics (从政). Li Shizhen studied for the exams and passed the country-level examination, but he was never able to pass the imperial examination.
When he was 33, he cured the son of the Prince of Chu and was invited to be an official in that court (宫廷). A few years later, he became an official at the Imperial Medical Institute. Even though he fulfilled his father’s dream, he didn’t want to continue working for the court. One year later, he left the court and returned to be a doctor again.
Li Shizhen was famous for his book, Compendium of Materia Medica (《本草纲目》). He spent 27 years writing the book. Unluckily, Li Shizhen died before the book was officially published. It is such a successful book. Now it is still one of the most important medical books in China.
1. What did Li Shizhen’s father want Li Shizhen to do?| A．To be a doctor. | B．To write a book. |
| C．To be a prince. | D．To enter politics. |
| A．his grandfather | B．the son of the Prince of Chu |
| C．an official in that country | D．a famous doctor |
| A．Working for the court. |
| B．The book, Compendium of Materia Medica. |
| C．His long travelling. |
| D．Curing a lot of people. |
9 . Grown-ups are often surprised by how well they remember something they learned as children but have never practiced ever since. A man who has not had a chance to go swimming for years can still swim as well as ever when he gets back in the water. He can get on a bicycle after many years and still ride away. He can play catch and hit a ball as well as his son. A mother who has not thought about the words for years can teach her daughter the poem that begins “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” or remember the story of Cinderella or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
One explanation is the law of overlearning, which can be stated as follows：Once we have learned something, additional learning trials（尝试）increase the length of time we will remember it.
In childhood we usually continue to practice such skills as swimming, bicycle riding, and playing baseball long after we have learned them. We continue to listen to and remind ourselves of words such as “Twinkle, little star” and childhood tales such as Cinderella and Goldilocks. We not only learn but overlearn.
The multiplication tables（乘法口诀表）are an exception to the general rule that we forget rather quickly the things that we learn in school, because they are another of the things we overlearn in childhood.
The law of overlearning explains why cramming（突击学习）for an examination, though it may result in a passing grade, is not a satisfactory way to learn a college course. By cramming, a student may learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likely soon to forget almost everything he learned. A little overlearning, on the other hand, is really necessary for one’s future development.
1. What is the main idea of paragraph 1?| A．People remember well what they learned in childhood. |
| B．Children have a better memory than grown-ups. |
| C．Poem reading is a good way to learn words. |
| D．Stories for children are easy to remember. |
| A．presenting research findings |
| B．setting down general rules |
| C．making a comparison |
| D．using examples |
| A．a result of overlearning |
| B．a special case of cramming |
| C．a skill to deal with math problems |
| D．a basic step towards advanced studies |
| A．It leads to failure in college exams. |
| B．It’s helpful only in a limited way. |
| C．It’s possible to result in poor memory. |
| D．It increases students’ learning interest. |
10 . When you are feeling unhappy or forget how great you are, there are six ways to make you feel good about yourself.
◆Look in the mirror and say to yourself, “I’m a special person and there’s no one in the world like me. I can do anything!” It may not sound so good, but it really works!
◆ Do something nice for someone. Helping others always makes you feel good.
◆ Smile! Be friendly to people you meet. Look for the good things in your friends and family.
◆ Learn something new! Have you always wanted to decorate (装饰) your own room or learn how to swim? Go for it! New challenges (挑战) are fun and give you a sense of accomplishment when you have finished.
◆ Read and start a diary. Turn off the TV and let your imagination fly! Write down your thoughts, dreams or anything you want! Writing always helps to express your feelings.
◆Stay with your family. We all need our family time. Talk with your mom and dad or maybe even your cousins.
1. This passage may be taken from ________.| A．a science book | B．a storybook | C．a magazine | D．school rules |
| A．feel nice | B．be confident | C．be special | D．be remembered |
| A．成就感 | B．忧伤感 | C．挫折感 | D．信任感 |
| A．Always looking for the good things in others. | B．Staying alone at home as much as possible. |
| C．Learning something new and finishing it. | D．Keeping a diary to help express your feelings. |
| A．Do your best | B．Always smile to your life |
| C．It’s never too late to learn | D．Six ways to make you feel good about yourself |
