The Nile River is the "Father of African Rivers". The Nile is 6,671 km long. It is the longest river in the world. The river runs from south to north, beginning in the mountains of Burundi and ending in the Mediterranean Sea.
The Nile played an important role in the development of ancient Egypt. It ran through ancient Egypt, bringing water to plants and a wide river to ships. The river was full of fish and the banks were full of good things for ancient Egyptians to eat.
Each spring, snow on the mountain tops would become water. That was a very good thing. When the water passed by, it left behind good soil. Plants could grow well in the black and rich soil. The Egyptians called it "the gift of the Nile".
The Nile provided other gifts for ancient Egyptians. Papyrus (纸莎草), used for everything especially in making paper, grew along its banks. It provided water for cooking and bathing. There were also different fish and water birds. Wild vegetables could be found along with bird eggs. Although Egypt is in the middle of a desert, life along the Nile was wonderful.
1. Where does the Nile River start?2. Why was the Nile important to ancient Egypt?
3. What was the "the gift of the Nile" for the ancient Egyptians?
4. Where did papyrus grow?
5. What does the writer think of ancient Egyptians' life along the Nile?
2 . Like many words, "smart" has lots of meanings.
For example, "smart" can describe a well-dressed person. We can also use "smart" as a verb, meaning "to feel pain". But the most usual meaning of "smart" is "to be very good at learning and understanding things". So when students do well at school and get good grades, we say they are "smart".
Being smart, however, goes out of classrooms. People can be smart in different ways. If they have been in school for many years and have learned a lot, people may call them "book-smart". Such people often know the names of great thinkers, scientists and other famous people in history. They know facts and information that other people don't know. However, sometimes such people are not smart when it comes to life skills. Then, people who are good at solving life problems are "street-smart". They may not have read many books, but they have the ability to use their experience.
Then, it may surprise you that "getting smart" is not good. "Getting smart " means "being rude or impolite". It's very common to hear parents say to their children, "Don't get smart with me." And that's not the only "smart" expression that can get you into trouble. We often use "smart" with "off" together. In class, there is a student who has a really smart mouth. He gives the teacher smart answers in class too many times. The teacher may say, "Do not smart off in class!"
1. If you cut yourself and it hurts a lot, you can say, "_______!"| A．I'm book-smart | B．I'm street-smart |
| C．That really smarts | D．I have a smart mouth |
| A．Because they haven't read many books. |
| B．Because they have a really smart mouth. |
| C．Because they don't get good grades at school. |
| D．Because they sometimes can't solve life problems. |
| A．Leave me alone. | B．Don't be rude to me. |
| C．It's none of your business. | D．Don't pay attention to me. |
| A．When to use "smart" | B．Learning to be smart |
| C．Is being smart good or not? | D．Different meanings of "smart" |
3 .
Do you have healthy habits? | |
| Yeah! I think my habits are very healthy. Every day I get up early and go to bed early .Every morning I eat breakfast and eat well. I eat fruit and vegetables every day. And every day I play soccer for two hours with my friends. |
| No, I don't. I get up late so I have no time to eat breakfast. For lunch, I usually eat lots of hamburgers. I know they are not good for me but I like them. I never play sports. In the evening, after I finish my homework, I usually play computer games. I go to bed late, at about eleven o'clock. |
| Yes. My habits are very good. I never eat unhealthy food. Ice-cream tastes good but I never eat it. It's unhealthy. Every day I get up at six o'clock and go to bed at eight thirty. I eat well and play sports every day. I run with my father for half an hour in the morning. So I'm very healthy. |
1. Mary with her friends________ every day.
| A．goes to school | B．does her homework | C．plays soccer | D．has lunch |
| A．Hamburgers. | B．Vegetables. | C．Chicken. | D．Fruit. |
| A．9:00 | B．10:00 | C．11:00 | D．12:00 |
| A．Because she doesn't like it. | B．Because it's not healthy. | C．Because it doesn't taste good. | D．Because her parents don't let her eat it. |
| A．mother | B．friend | C．brother | D．father |
4 . Are fables (寓言故事) and fairy tales (童话故事) different or the same? They are both stories for kids, but fables are stories for adults as well.
A fable is a story, passed_down from grandparents to parents and then to children.People can learn much from it.The characters are mostly animals and nature.They can talk and act like humans.The most famous fables were written by a man called Aesop.There are around 600 fables in Aesop's Fables.The Fox and the Grapes and The Tortoise and the Hare are two examples.
Fairy tales are usually stories for children, often about magic characters such as fairies (仙女) and giants (巨人). Sometimes the characters are animals.We are able to enjoy these fairy tales because about 200 years ago, Brothers Grimm traveled all around Germany and collected these stories before people forgot them.There are many fairy tales in Grimm's Fairy Tales, such as Cinderella and The Frog Prince.
1. What does the passage mainly talk about?| A．Famous fables and fairy tales. | B．The skill at reading fables. |
| C．The reason why adults can read fables. | D．Differences between fables and fairy tales. |
| A．流传 | B．分享 | C．编辑 | D．记录 |
| A．People can learn nothing from fables. | B．There are about 60 fables in Aesop's Fables. |
| C．Children usually love fairy tales. | D．Aesop collected fairy tales before people forgot them. |
①The Lion and the Mouse ②Snow White ③The Tortoise and the Hare
④The Fox and the Grapes ⑤Cinderella
| A．①②③④⑤ | B．①③④ | C．①②④ | D．②③④⑤ |
5 . Mr. Smith is a teacher. Yesterday he did a survey of what his students did on their last weekend and this is what he learned.
Linda went to see her grandparents. Her grandparents live in the countryside. They are very old. But they don’t like to live in the city. They want to have a quiet life. Tom helped his parents do some housework. He cleaned the room, took out the trash(垃圾), washed all the clothes. At noon, he helped his mother cook lunch. Mary looked after her little brother because her mother was ill. Her father had to look after her mother in the hospital. Mike studied history at home. He isn’t good at history. He thinks it is too difficult for him. His father helped him. Both his father and his mother hope that Mike can be good at all his subjects. They want him to study in a famous university one day.
1. What did Linda do last weekend? She __________.| A．helped her parents | B．went to see her grandparents |
| C．wants to have a quiet life | D．likes to live in the city |
| A．looked his little son | B．helped cook lunch |
| C．had to look after Mary’s mother | D．washed all the clothes |
| A．his father | B．his mother | C．his mother and father | D．his teacher |
6 . Rock climbing(攀岩) did not become a sport until late in the 1900s. But now it has become a popular outdoor activity. While rock climbing may still be necessary for mountain climbing, most people just climb low mountains for fun. If you have ever done rock climbing, you will know that it is not a very easy sport. Both indoor and outdoor rock climbing need practice. What most people don't know is that rock climbing is one of the sports that depend on your body and mind(意志).To climb successfully, one must use wonderful skills(技能). One of the important rules is to always have three parts of your body on the rock face. Another important rule is that your arms only hold you close to the rock face while your legs are pushing you up, the closer you are to the rock face, the easier it is to climb.
Rock climbing is a wonderful sport. Once you start to learn how to climb, you'll find more fun. People who like games such as chess playing or problem-solving may love rock climbing, because they are nearly the same in the way of thinking. For anyone who wants to get into beautiful shape(体形), rock climbing is a fun and good way. Anyone who enjoys a difficult game and loves the outdoors should think of taking rock climbing as a new hobby.
（一）根据课文内容回答问题
1. Is rock climbing a very easy sport?
2. How many rules do you learn in the passage?
（二）将划线的句子译成英语或汉语
3.
4.
（三）请给文章拟一个适当的题目
5.
Lisa is writing a letter to his pen friend John. She wants to tell him something about her weekends. She usually gets up at six, but on weekends she gets up at eight. She goes to bed late on weekends, because she watches TV for three hours. After getting up, she eats breakfast. At around seven thirty she goes to the music club. The class begins at eight ten. There the teacher shows them how to play the guitar. At noon they have lunch in the club. At four in the afternoon she goes home. She takes a shower at around half past four. Then her father gets home from work. She usually plays chess with him. She is very happy on weekends.
1. Who is Lisa’s pen friend?2. Why does Lisa go to bed late on weekends?
3. Where does Lisa have lunch on weekends?
4. What time does she go home?
5. 给短文拟一个适当的题目
8 . My name is Jackie. I get up at 7:00. For breakfast, I have some bread and eggs. Then I walk to school with my friends.
At 9:00, we have our first class-English. Then we have art, P.E. or French (法语). I like French best. At 10:30 a.m. we can play sports or talk. At 10:45 a. m., it is our free reading(阅读)time.
At 11:50, I go home for lunch. I have hamburgers and milk.
At 1:00 in the afternoon, I get to school. On Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, we have geography. On Friday afternoons, we play chess in the classroom.
Our class finishes at 3:00 in the afternoon. Then I do my homework.
At 5:00 p.m. I watch TV.
We have vegetables and chicken for dinner at 6:00 in the evening.
At 8:30 p.m. I go to bed.
1. When does Jackie watch TV?| A．At 3:50 p.m. | B．At 4:50 p.m. | C．At 5:00 p.m. | D．At 6:30 p.m. |
| A．Bread and eggs. | B．Hamburgers and milk. |
| C．Fish and salad. | D．Vegetables and chicken. |
| A．Jackie goes to school with his friends. | B．Jackie has his first lesson at 8:30. |
| C．Jackie has lunch at school. | D．On Thursday afternoons, Jackie can play chess. |
9 . Can you imagine walking in, sitting next to a stranger and asking for the latest news or putting a recent novel down next to someone's coffee and asking for their opinion before giving yours?
But more than 300 years ago, this kind of behaviour was encouraged in thousands of coffeehouses all over London. In 1712, the Starbucks site(位置) today was occupied(占据) by Button's coffeehouse Inside, poets, writers and members of the public gathered around long wooden tables drinking, thinking, writing and discussing literature into the night. On the wall, near where the Starbucks community notice board now stands, was the white marble(大理石) head of a lion with wide-open mouth. The public was invited to feed it with letters and stories. The best of the lion's digest(文摘) were published in a weekly edition of Joseph Addison's Guardian newspaper, named “the roaring of the lion”.
Today, few people know Button's. It's just one of London's forgotten coffeehouses.
London's first coffeehouse was opened by a Greek named Pasque Rosee in 1652. While a servant for a British merchant in Turkey, Rosee developed a taste for the exotic(异国情调的) Turkish drink and decided to import(进口) it to London. People from all walks of life came to his business to meet, greet, drink, think, write, and joke.
1. Where was the white marble lion head?| A．In the backyard of the Starbucks. |
| B．On the Button's long wooden tables. |
| C．In Joseph Addison's Guardian newspaper. |
| D．On the wall of Button's coffeehouse. |
| A．Every day | B．Every week. | C．Every month | D．Every year |
| A．Turkish coffee. | B．Black coffee. | C．White coffee | D．Sweet coffee. |
| A．People could hardly found a coffeehouse in 1712 in London. |
| B．Starbucks， Button's and Rosee's were famous coffeehouses of London in 1700s. |
| C．Button's was usually noisy and crowded at night 300 hundred years ago. |
| D．Only businessmen enjoyed the exotic coffee at Pasque Rosee's. |
10 . Like you，plants need good things like food，water，and minerals in order to grow. Usually they get these important nutrients(营养) from the rich soil(土壤) in which they're planted. But there's another way to grow plants that doesn't use soil. It's called hydrogenic gardening.
“Hydrogenic” means “working with water. ” In a hydrogenic garden，plants grow with their roots in water， not in dirt. The water is filled with special food for the plants that gardeners have carefully measured and prepared.
Hydrogenic plants grow quickly. In ordinary gardens，plants need time and energy to grow long roots that search the soil for food and water. In a hydrogenic garden，plants can use their energy to grow tall instead. And because there is no soil， there are no weeds and few insect pests(害虫). Gardeners don't need to spray(喷洒) plants with dangerous chemicals. Both the plants and the environment stay healthy.
Scientists hope that，one day，hydrogenic gardens may be able to help hungry people all over the world grow enough food-even in countries that have bad soil，or weather that is too hot，too cold，or too dry. And astronauts hope to take hydrogenic gardens with them to the spaceship they fly to Mars，so that they will always have fresh vegetables，and the fun of growing a garden without dirt.
1. What's the meaning of the underlined word “dirt” in the second paragraph?| A．soil | B．water | C．insect | D．food |
| A．Plants need water and other nutrients to grow. | B．There are no weeds inhydrogenic gardens. |
| C．Hydrogenic plants cannot grow in too hot weather. | D．Astronauts hope to take hydrogenic gardens to space. |
| A．Plant growing. | B．Space farming. | C．Scientific watering. | D．hydrogenic gardening. |
