1 . Count your blessings（祝福）, we’re told, but it’s just not in our nature. We’d rather count our problems. We’re so used to focusing on bad news that we tend to pay no attention to what’s going well. As soon as we solve one problem, we take the progress for granted and find a new cause for alarm. Every now and again it doesn’t hurt to think how good we have it. Start counting:
Free time
As much as we complain about being busy, the typical American has more free time than ever—more than five hours per day. If you feel too busy, it’s probably only because you’re doing so many other things than work. Experts say there’ll be even more free time in the future.
Peace
Wars and terrorist attacks will always make headlines, but it’s remarkable how many of the world’s 6.7 billion people now live in peace. In recent decades, though the population has been growing, the number of wars around the world has declined. In some earlier generations, a quarter of the male population died violent deaths. Over the past century, even counting the world wars, a person’s chance of dying from war was less than 2 percent.
American dream
While some people are struggling to keep their homes, the vast majority of Americans still have plenty to be thankful for when they walk through the front door. In 1950 the typical new American house had one floor with 1,000 square feet, two bedrooms, and one bathroom—and even that bungalow was beyond many people’s means. Today, more than two thirds of Americans own their homes, and the typical new house has two floors, at least three bedrooms, two and a half baths, and more than 2,200 square feet of space for the family.
The reader’s revolution
In 1970 barely half the people in the world were literate, and many of them could afford only a few books. Today, more than 80 percent of the world’s people can read, and 22 percent have access to the greatest library in history. The Web provides classic books and reference works free of charge.
More wilderness
Once you travel beyond the cities, you’ll find plenty of open space and peaceful forests. Many of the woodlands cleared by settlers have returned now that the land is no longer needed for agriculture.
The modern cars
Cars give off greenhouse gases and create maddening traffic jams, but consider what else they do. Compared with the models on the road in 1970, today’s cars burn less gasoline per mile and emit 98 percent fewer pollutants. That’s why, despite the doubling of the number of cars, there’s much less smog in the air. The basic car today offers more comforts and safety than the luxury（豪华）cars of old.
阅读短文，填表格，每空一词。
| Title | Six reasons to be thankful |
| Problems | We tend to focus on our problems and ignore what’s going well. Even with problems solved immediately, we still |
| The blessings we should count | Today Americans have more free time than ever. |
| The number of people dying of wars has declined despite the | |
| Owing a two-floor house with at least 3 bedrooms has been within the | |
| More reading materials are available to readers and more than 80% can read. | |
| More land for agriculture has made | |
| The basic cars are much |
2 . Do you shop online with websites like Taobao? When you make an order on Taobao, the money you pay doesn’t go directly to the seller. Instead, it goes through Alipay, which keeps your money for a while. Then Alipay gives the money to the seller.
This is called “third party online payment (支付)”. There is a transfer station (中转站) between sellers and buyers to make online shopping safe. Buyers don’t need to worry about paying for products and then receiving nothing. Sellers also don’t worry about receiving no money after sending out products. These transfer stations are usually set up by payment service companies (公司) such as Alipay, Tenpay and Yeepay. Among them, Alipay is the biggest in China. It has more than 270 million active users.
While most online sellers and shoppers like the third party online payment, banks don’t. That is because companies like Alipay are fighting over money with the banks. Users can make money through Alipay. So lots of people choose to put money in Alipay rather than in banks.
But WeChat payment is not the same. It doesn’t have a transfer station. When paying through WeChat, the buyers’ money goes directly to the sellers. That’s why so many people are excited about receiving and handing out hongbao.
In a word, the two forms of payment are trying to make online shopping easier. Which one do you prefer?
36． 37题完成句子；38题简略回答问题；39题找出并写下第四段的主题句；40题将文中画线句子译成汉语。
1. A transfer station between sellers and buyers can
2. Alipay has
3. Why don’t banks like the third party online payment?
4.
5.
What will the house of the future look like? Could it have gardens on its walls, or a pool with fish for dinner? Architects believe that they are all possibilities. The only thing for sure is that the houses will be as green as possible.
The tree house
Many architects in the world would like to build a “tree house”. Like a leaf, the surface of the house collects sunlight during the day. The energy can be used to heat water, produce electricity, and even create fresh air for the home. The “root” of the house is deep under the ground. It uses the soil (土壤) to control the home’s temperature.
The Lizard house
Like a lizard (蜥蜴), changing colour with the weather is the most important design of a lizard house. When it’s in the bright sun, the cover of the house will turn dark to protect it from strong heat. During dark days, it turns white and takes in as much light and heat as possible to produce energy.
Meals at home
The future of food production (生产) will be one part of the house design. Gardens may appear on the outside walls of the house. People can plant tomatoes, carrots and green tea on them. So every day in the morning, you just need to walk outside and collect your meals.
Learning from the past
Looking to the future isn’t the only way to be green. Sometimes, ancient techniques can also help cut down energy use. For example, a chimney (烟囱) in the future house can be a useful air-conditioner because it is easier for hot air to go out at the chimney.
1. How many kinds of future houses are mentioned in the passage?2. What can we use the energy to do for the tree house?
3. What is the colour of the lizard house on sunny days?
4. Where can people plant tomatoes, carrots or green tea in the future house according to the passage?
5. According to the last paragraph, how can we make future houses green?
4 . Cooking should be considered as art just like any other activity which requires skills and knowledge. It is often said that students are supposed to learn scientific facts as well as how to prepare meals. The following will explain why cooking should be taught in schools.
Cooking is an important skill in life.
Schools are supposed to teach knowledge to the students so that they can lead successful independent lives when they are out of school. Also, they can step into the world knowing how to make a living.
Cooking helps discover future career.
When schools offer cooking lessons, students will show an interest in it and might take cooking as a career. This will give them the chance to perfect their basic skills and be creative in the kitchen.
Cooking avoids wasting money.
One of the main reasons why cooking should be taught in schools is that the students always use a lot of money to buy ready-made food, while in the real sense they could prepare a nice meal with less cost by buying the required ingredients.
Cooking betters math learning.
Schools do not just teach how to prepare delicious meals. Students are also taught to follow the instructions in a standard when mixing ingredients. If it is “add 1/4 spoon of salt”, students should only add that amount. So there is no more or less.
Cooking Should Be Taught in Schools. | ||
| Opinion | Students should learn scientific | |
An important skill in life | ●Students can lead independent lives successfully when at home ●Students can depend on themselves for basic living after graduation. | |
Discovering future career | ●Students might take cooking as a career. ●Students can | |
Avoiding waste money | Students can prepare nice dishes with less money to buy the required ingredients. | |
Bettering math learning | Students are taught to follow the instructions in a | |
5 . After appearing as a special event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games, Wushu, widely known as Chinese Kungfu, will make its first appearance as an official（官方的）sport at the 4th Youth Olympic Games in 2022.
It’s a long-awaited breakthrough（期待已久的突破） for IWF（国际武术协会）, which made applications（申请） to IOC（国际奥林匹克委员会） in 2001, 2008 and 2011, but failed. The first two applications were refused at the very beginning. The third application made it to the final voting for taking part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games but missed out once again.
Over the years, both IWF and CWA（中国武术协会） have done a lot to make improvement with strong support from the State General Administration of Sport of China（中国体育总局）. The Administration not only offers technical （技术的）support, often sending experts or teachers to help their Wushu training camps, but also generously（慷慨）provides a great deal of Wushu equipment（设备）for free.
Every year, many local Wushu groups are sent abroad to put on Wushu shows, trying to improve the influence of Wushu in foreign countries. Through their continuous efforts, Wushu has become widely popular across the world, especially among young Wushu fans. Studies show that, today, about 120 million people are attracted to Wushu around the world.
China successfully included Wushu as an official Olympic sport in January, 2020, which helps to make it more international quickly.
A total of 48 athletes from across the world will compete in four Wushu events: men’s and women’s Changquan and men’s and women’s Taijiquan.
| News: Wushu Is Included in Youth Olympics | |
| News lead | ●Wushu will |
| News body | ●IWF made applications to IOC three times but didn’t ●In order to ●Through continuous efforts like putting on Wushu shows abroad, Wushu has been widely ●48 athletes from across the world will join in the |
What time is it? There are many ways you can find out the time. You may have a watch on your wrist (手腕). You can look at a clock on the wall. You can listen to the radio, watch TV or ring a number on the telephone to get the time. But do you know the history of how people tell the time?
It has not always been easy to know the time. A long time ago people looked at the sun to tell the time. They could tell the time of the day by looking at the sun in the sky: morning, afternoon or evening.
Around the year 1400, people began to use the hourglass(沙漏). It’s made of glass with some sand in it. It’s wide at both ends, but narrow in the middle. The sand ran from one end to the other in one hour. At the end of every hour, people turned the glass over and began again.
Hundreds of years later a machine called clock was invented. After that people made small clocks, so that they could carry them in their pockets. Then, during World War Ⅰ men started wearing their watches on their wrists. It was more easily to tell the time. Now almost everyone wears a wrist watch.
The history of telling the time | |
| People could tell the time by | |
| Around the year 1400 | People used the hourglass which was made of glass with some sand in it. The sand took an |
| After 1400 | People |
| During World War Ⅰ | People wore watches on their wrists. It was |
7 . To be successful, do volunteer first
Perhaps you’ve walked past homeless people who are living on the streets. Or maybe you’ve come across stray dogs (流浪狗) and wished you could give them a home. So what can you do to help these people and animals? The answer is volunteering. Volunteering means spending some of your free time, your energy or your talent in helping others.
Dec.5 is International Volunteer Day. The United Nations (联合国) announced the special day in 1985. It calls for more and more people around the world to volunteer to help those in need.
People volunteer to help others in many ways. (A) free, away, traditional, to, give, your, is, time, the, way. Volunteers visit homes of old people and orphans (孤儿). Compared to traditional volunteering, skill-based (以技能为基础的) volunteering asks for certain professional knowledge or special training. For example, in China many children volunteer to become narrators in museums. They receive history and communication lessons before so that they can tell the stories behind a masterpiece (名作) to visitors. Besides, a person can volunteer to protect the environment, such as volunteering to plant trees and clear rubbish.
Although volunteering takes up our time, it shows our care for others. (B) When people benefit from your help, you will find your life becomes more meaningful and happier.
1. What do volunteers mean?Volunteers are those people
2. 将(A)处的单词连成一个陈述句。
3. What’s the Chinese meaning of the underlined word “narrator”?
4. 将(B)处划线句子翻译成汉语
5. What volunteer work can you do?（至少写出2条）
8 . The popularity of tea has risen around the world. It is said that tea was first found about 5, 000 years ago. Tea plants are commonly found in East and South Asia. In many of these countries, tea has been known to have a medical purpose and different types of tea have different health benefits. In recent years, the knowledge of these health benefits has spread to the Western world. One of the tea that has gained popularity in the West is green tea, which certain studies have suggested it can help to reduce blood pressure and control weight.
Cultures with a long tradition of tea drinking have even turned into an art of form. The tea pot is just as important as the tea itself. Some cultures recommend the drinking of clear tea, meaning just the tea itself without anything added. In other cultures, the tea drink has been added other things, including sugar, different types of milk and herbs（香草）. The pack of tea into bags has made the drink more convenient, it has raised its popularity to new heights.
The | |
| Its founding time | About 50 |
| Its health benefits | Reducing blood pressure and |
| Its drinking | For some, drinking clear tea without anything being added. For others, adding sugar, different types of milk as |
9 . The earth is a ①['bjuːtɪfl] place. There are forests and rivers, mountains and fields. Some places are very hot, and some are very cold. There are many different plants. Some are large. Some are small. All the plants need sunshine and water. ②There are different animals on the earth. Some live on the land. Some fly in the sky. Some live under the water. There are also many people like you and me on the earth. The Earth provides us with air, water and food. ③It is our home.
But there is a lot of pollution today. We burn (燃烧) things to make energy (能量). This pollutes (污染) the air. We put the rubbish into the sea and under the ground. ④This may pollute the earth and kill animals and plants. We must stop doing these things. It is ⑤i________ for us to protect the earth for our future.
1. 词汇：根据音标['bjuːtɪfl]在①处填入正确的单词2. 对②处句子的划线部分进行提问
3. 根据文章内容回答问题：Are there any animals under the water?
4. 根据上文判断③处It指代什么：
5. 将④处的句子翻译成汉语。
10 . When we say someone is in a blue mood. It means he or she is unhappy or sad. Are you feeling a little blue? Here are some fast and easy ways to cheer you up.
Do exercise.
When you exercise, your brain gives out a chemical called Endorphins(内啡肽). This chemical makes you feel happy. That is why exercise is good for you.
Have a talk.
If something or somebody is troubling you, don't quarrel(争吵) with other people to relax yourself. It is a good idea to have a heart-to-heart talk with a friend or a family member. Tell them your feelings. A chat is a useful way to make you feel better.
Have some hobbies.
For example, playing pop music, drawing something or listening to your favorite music will make you smile. Act like an artist. Draw, paint or make something. Being active and creative makes you feel more satisfied and less nervous.
Laugh more
Laughing is the best way to improve your moods. Children laugh about 400 times a day. Adults only laugh about 20 times a day. What happens? Experts say if we laugh more, we will be happier and healthier.
Think positively.
Close your eyes and imagine a beautiful scene or a time. Never think about anything terrible that you can't change. What's more, leave your flat and go outside. Sunshine and fresh air are good for you. Be a kid for a day. Play games, watch comedy movies or read jokes online.
Ways to cheer you up | |
Do exercise | ●It is good for you to do exercise. ●The chemical your brain |
Have a talk | ●Don't quarrel with others to ●Having a heart-to-heart talk can make you feel better. |
Have some hobbies | ●Doing your favorite things will make you smile. ●Being active and creative makes you feel more satisfied and less |
Laugh more | ●We will be happier and ●Children laugh 400 times a day. |
Think positively | ●Close your eyes and imagine a beautiful scene. ●Leave your flat and go |
