1 . The water hyacinth（水葫芦）grows in tropical countries where the weather is hot and wet. It has beautiful purple-blue flowers, but everybody hates it. Why?
Millions and millions of these plants grow in rivers and lakes. Sometimes the plants become so thick that people can walk on them. People cannot travel in boats on the water, and they cannot fish in it. The plants stop the water from moving. Then the water carries diseases. Farmers cannot use the water on their land.
Now scientists think that water hyacinths can be useful. The plants are really a free crop. No one has to take care of them. They just grow and grow and grow. What can farmers use them for?
Some fish like to eat them. Farmers can grow these fish in the lakes and rivers.
Workers can collect and cut the plants with machines. Then they can make fertilizer(肥料) to make their crops grow better. They can also make feed for their farm animals.
Now we burn gas from petroleum(石油) for energy. Maybe this plant can help to make methane gas (CH4) instead of petroleum. Methane gas can be made from plants. Then poor tropical countries will not have to buy so much expensive petroleum. Maybe in the future people will love the water hyacinth instead of hating it.
1. According to the passage, the water hyacinth can grow in________.| A．Russia. | B．Canada. | C．Thailand |
| A．No fish can live in the water with water hyacinths. |
| B．Water hyacinths are useless. |
| C．Water hyacinths prevent water from moving. |
| A．water hyacinths should be taken care of . |
| B．water hyacinths are hard to grow. |
| C．farmers can keep some fish in the water with water hyacinths. |
| A．People won’t use this plant in the future. |
| B．CH4 is a kind of gas that people can burn to get energy. |
| C．The tropical countries will get all of the energy from petroleum. |
| A．How to get the energy from this plant. |
| B．Two sides of water hyacinths. |
| C．We should grow water hyacinths at once. |
2 . Do you know that the color words have other meanings (意义) ? Now let me tell you.
First, some color words can be people's last names, such as Brown, Black, Green,White and Red.
Second, some color words have interesting meanings. For example, blue means unhappy. A green hand means you are new to something. Black sheep mean bad people in a group(队). Black coffee means coffee without (没有) milk. White coffee is coffee with milk. People tell a white lie (谎言) because they want to be kind(亲切). A white elephant is not an elephant but expensive (昂贵的) and useless(无用)things.
1. Which isn’t someone's last name?| A．Yellow. | B．Brown. | C．Black. |
| A．happy | B．blue | C．red |
| A．新手 | B．害群之马 | C．善意的谎言 |
| A．Color words are interesting. |
| B．Black sheep do not have a good meaning. |
| C．A white lie means expensive and useless things. |
| A．The other meanings. |
| B．Color words. |
| C．Brown, black, green and white. |
Country-western music is very old. It came from the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. It’s a mixture (混合物) of music from all of these places.
In West America, cowboys had to take care of the cattle alone for several months with no one to talk with. They had to watch them all day and all night because the cattle were nervous and sometimes ran away. Sometimes a cowboy’ s work was full of danger. When he was alone with the cattle in the open field, he drank strong coffee to stay awake at night and also sang songs to calm them. He sang about the stars and the moon, about his family and his friends. The cattle listened to the cowboy and went to sleep. They didn’t run away if he sang beautiful, peaceful songs. Sometimes they played the guitar when they sang . Later they also used violins.
In South America, many people came from England. Other people came from France and Canada. They enjoyed their own kind of music. When they visited their friends and families on holidays like Christmas, they usually sang and played country music.
American country-western music describes life. It talks about love, jobs, home and money. People in many parts of the world like western country music because everyone knows something about these ideas. Also, many fans of this music wear western clothes and dance together to country music . Many bands all over the world now perform country music.
1. Where did the country-western music come from?______________________________________________________________________
2. When did the cowboys sing?
______________________________________________________________________
3. What musical instruments do people use to play country-western music?
______________________________________________________________________
4. Why do many people like country-western music?
______________________________________________________________________
5. What do you think of the cowboys’ life?
______________________________________________________________________
Hello! I’m Tom. Welcome to my room! It’s big and tidy. I have a bed, a desk, a bookcase and some other things in my room. A computer is on the desk. My schoolbag is on the desk, too. My books aren’t in my schoolbag. They are in the bookcase. Look at my baseball, it’s yellow, and it’s under the desk. Where is my clock? It’s on the bed. A white model plane is on my chair, but it’s not mine. I know it is Tim’s. I call Tim at 826-2704. He answers（接） the phone. He will come to my home.
1. Where is Tom’s computer?2. Are Tom’s books in his schoolbag?
3. What color is Tom’s baseball?
4. What’s on his chair?
5. What’s Tim’s telephone number?
5 . The US astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir are two of the six astronauts who are now living and working in space on the International Space Station. They made history in October when they went outside the ISS to do a space walk. It was the first all-woman spacewalk.
Though it sounds like a relaxing walk, walking in space can be very dangerous because of the special environment. Usually, astronauts do spacewalks to fix（修理）or test things. And they should do everything slowly and carefully, because it’s too difficult to do it again in the space. This time, the two ladies spent 7 hours and 17 minutes fixing a broken battery （电池）controller. It’s Koch’s fourth spacewalk and Meir's first spacewalk. Thousands of space fans watched this meaningful event on You Tube channel of NASA （美国国家航空航天局）, especially young girls wanting to be astronauts.
Meir hoped she and Koch would encourage everybody, not only girls and women. "If you have a dream and want to make the dream come true, never give up on yourself during hard time! You should keep trying because the hard work certainly pays off(回报).” she said.
Besides, Koch will get back after finishing her 11-month task on the ISS in February 2020. Her fans can't wait to welcome her to return to the earth.
1. How many astronauts live on the International Space Station now?___________________________________________________________________
2. Was it the first time for woman astronauts to do a spacewalk?
___________________________________________________________________
3. Why did Koch and Meir walk in space this time?
___________________________________________________________________
4. How can we achieve our dreams according to Meir?
___________________________________________________________________
5. How long will Koch stay on the ISS?
___________________________________________________________________
6 . Lego Bricks（乐高积木）are popular with kids around the world. Not only are they fun but also they are educational. The colorful building blocks help children develop creativity, problem-solving skills and more. Now Lego is creating a new kind of bricks - Lego Braille Bricks（盲文积木）. They can help blind kids learn braille more easily in a playful way.
“Nowadays, there are thousands of audiobooks（有声读物）and computer programs, fewer blind kids like learning to read braille.” said Philippe Chazal, an official of the European Blind Union. “But having the ability to read braille seems really important when blind kids want to depend on themselves more or when they like to have a higher education and a good job in the future.”
“We strongly believe Lego Braille Bricks can help improve interest of blind kids in learning braille, so we're excited that Lego is making them real and bring them to children around the world.” Chazal added.
The Lego Braille Bricks will look like common Lego blocks. But they do have something different. The final set will have about 250 bricks, covering all the Braille alphabets（字母）, numbers from zero to nine and other symbols will be on those bricks. The first Lego Braille will come out in 2020.
As we know, all the kids enjoy learning something by playing. The new bricks are sure to be popular when they appear. We do believe it will be really helpful for blind kids over the world.
1. All the flowing are the reasons why kids like Lego Bricks EXCEPT （除了）_______.| A．Lego Bricks are interesting to play with |
| B．Lego Bricks may help kids be smarter and more creative |
| C．Lego Bricks can help kids solve all their problems |
| A．have nothing in common with Lego Bricks |
| B．be better than audiobooks and computer programs |
| C．offer blind kids a new way to learn braille |
| A．Lego Braille Bricks |
| B．hobbies of the blind kids |
| C．kid's dreams of learning braille |
| A．Reading braille is getting less important for blind kids. |
| B．Lego Braille Bricks are more than bricks. |
| C．Lego Braille Bricks will be great Christmas gifts for a blind kid this year. |
| A．Because the blind kids will find all the braille alphabets on them. |
| B．Because nothing can beat learning through play. |
| C．Because it will be easier to play with them. |
7 .
 At least 1 child dies in a house fire. About 293 kids are hurt by fire. |
| House fire 90 percent of all fire-related deaths are in house fires. |
 Escape plan 77 percent of families have no house fire escape（逃离） plan. Creating and following a plan really help you escape a house fire. |
 In 2 minutes When the alarm(警报) sounds, leave a family as little as 2 minutes. Fire can spread(蔓延) quickly in a house. |
1. From the posters, we may know that_______.
| A．there are 293 kids dying in house fires every day. |
| B．A great number of people lost their lives in the house fires. |
| C．fire alarms are more important than escape plans when houses are on fire. |
| A．90 percent. | B．77 percent. | C．23 percent. |
| A．follow the family escape plan at once. |
| B．turn off the alarm in as little as 2 minutes. |
| C．call 119 and then leave your house fast. |
8 . We all dream about life in the future. What do you think it will be like?
Predicting the future is very difficult. Who could imagine, in 1970s, for example, that by the end of the 20th century, computers would be as common in people's homes as TV sets?
Robots seem very new to most people. You may see them in some films. In the future, they usually help people do dangerous, difficult or boring jobs. We don't have to do things like washing the dishes and making the beds.
The earth will also be an easy place to live in. There will be fewer cars, less pollution and more trees in the future. We will have more free time. Everything will be free. We will be able to do shopping without money. Doctors will be able to keep us alive for a long time.
There will be more e-schools. Children will study at home on the Internet. They won't go to school every day.
In the future, will people fly into space and spend their holiday on the moon? Or will we live under the sea? Who can say all the things won't come true? I think anything is possible.
1. When did computers appear in people's homes as TV sets?2. What can robots do for humans?
3. Will the earth be a good place to live in the future in the writer's opinion?
4. Where will children study in the future?
5. Will people spend their holiday on the moon or live under the sea?
9 . When you are learning English, you find it not clever to translate an English sentence, word for word, into your own language. Take the sentence “How do you do?” for example. If you look up each word in the dictionary, one at a time, what is your translation? It must be a wrong sentence in your own language.
Languages don’t just have different sounds, they are different in many ways. It’s important to master the rules for word order in the study of English, too. If the speakers put words in a wrong order, the listener can’t understand the speaker’s sentence easily. Sometimes, when the order of words in an English sentence is changed, the meaning of the sentence changes. But sometimes, the order is changed, the meaning of the sentence doesn’t change. Let's see the difference between the two pairs of sentences:
“She only likes apples.” “Only she likes apples.”
“I have seen the film already.” “I have already seen the film.”
When you are learning English, you must do your best to get the spirit of the language and use it as the English speaker does.
1. From the passage we know that ________ when we are learning English.| A．we shouldn’t put every word into our language |
| B．we should look up every word it the dictionary |
| C．we need to put every word into our own language |
| A．if the order of words is different, the meaning of the sentence must be different |
| B．the order of words can never change the meaning of an English sentence |
| C．sometimes different order of words has a different meaning |
| A．is the same as “Only she likes apples.” |
| B．is different from “Only she likes apples.” |
| C．means “She likes fruit except apples.” |
| A．The order of words can’t be changed. |
| B．We should know the rules for word order when we study English. |
| C．It’s important for us to translate an English sentence word for word. |
| A．心情 | B．本意 | C．灵魂 |
10 . Bookstores are second homes for readers. Although many people can now buy books online, many readers still like the feeling in bookstores. They can touch(触摸) the books and smell the print.
In China, there are many special bookstores. Sanlian Taofen Bookstore became the first 24-hour bookstore in Beijing at the beginning of April. Popular Holdings in Shanghai is a film-themed bookstore. It has film books and posters. Eslite Bookstore in Taiwan often has activities like talks with famous writers.
At the same time, bookstores outside China can be very colorful, too. Scarthin Books is a small bookstore in the UK. It sells new and second-hand books. There are more than 100,000 books lying on the shelves of the store’s 12 rooms. Bart’s Books in the US is a good place to enjoy the sunshine(阳光) while reading books.
It’s an outdoor bookstore. Bookshelves are on the street. When the store is closed, people can still buy books. They just put money into the door’s coin box. Where can you find a café, bar and bookstore in just one place? The answer is probably El Pendulo in Mexico. Books line(排列成行) the walls of the store. On the second floor, visitors can order everyday meals in the café and drinks from the bar. In order to keep cool, there are green plants and trees inside. Does it look like a park?
1. ________ special bookstores inside China are mentioned(提到) in the passage.| A．2 | B．3 | C．5 |
| A．a 24-hour bookstore | B．an outdoor bookstore | C．small |
| A．Bart’s Books | B．Popular Holdings | C．Eslite Bookstore |
| A．talk with famous writers | B．order meals | C．enjoy the sunshine |
| A．12 rooms | B．bookshelves | C．green plants and trees |
