1 . 
What will astronauts (宇航员) eat when a space trip takes years?
“Lots of fresh vegetables,” says Dr. Janet Williams, whose team has spent the last 10 years learning how to grow plants in a space station. And it’s a good thing that she has already started her work, because space gardening can be really hard.
As usual, astronaut George White looked into the closed plant room. He had planted Dr. Williams’s quick-growing seedlings in it, but none of the stems were showing. He opened the room to check and found the problem. The stems weren’t growing upward and the roots weren’t growing downward. On Earth, gravity (重力) helps a plant’s stems and roots to find “up” and “down”. However, in the space station, there was almost no gravity.
Dr. Williams suggested a solution: give the plants more light, as plants also use sunlight to find their way. And it worked. When the plants had more light, the stems turned up and the roots went down.
Now Dr. Williams was free to worry about the next problem: Would her baby plants live to flower? Can we grow food on a space journey?
Many plants died in the space station. Dr. Williams thought she knew why: the space plants were hungry for air. Plants live by taking up CO2 from the air. Since a plant uses it up in the air around, the plant needs moving air to bring more CO2 close to its surface. On Earth, the air is always moving. Gravity pulls down cold air, and warm air rises. And with these air movements, plants get enough CO2.
Many earlier experiments with plants in space had used closed rooms. Dr. Williams tried a new greenhouse that had a fan to keep the air move. The plants loved it. They flowered and even produced more seeds. Using Dr. Williams’s method, astronaut George completed the first seed-to-seed experiment in space, and moved one plant closer to a garden in space.
“And this,” says Dr. Williams, “is good news for long-term space travel.”
1. Why have Dr. Williams’s team tried to grow plants in space?| A．To produce fresh air for astronauts. |
| B．To help astronauts relax themselves. |
| C．To provide food for long space journeys. |
| D．To make the space garden more beautiful. |
| A．It caused the gravity to change. |
| B．It encouraged the plants to grow faster. |
| C．It helped the plants to grow in the right direction. |
| D．It showed the astronauts where to plant vegetables. |
| A．The light was too strong. | B．There was too much CO2. |
| C．There was not enough room to grow. | D．The air condition was not good enough. |
| A．the moving air | B．the closed room |
| C．the space journey | D．the space garden |
| A．They mainly live on fresh vegetables. |
| B．They have successfully built a space garden. |
| C．They invented a special fan for their greenhouse. |
| D．They have worked on space gardening for many years. |
2 .
Our most unusual sports from around the world Every country has a national sport and some popular sports are now played across the world. However, in most countries, people also play unusual sports, with strange or interesting rules. Here are our top five unusual sports from around the planet. Man vs. Horse Marathon This race takes place in a small town in Wales, about 200 miles from London. It’s called a marathon (马拉松), but it’s actually 35.4 km, not 42.2 km like a usual marathon. People race against horses across the hills and mountains. It started in 1981, but a human did not win until 2004. Camel Wrestling In Turkey, camel (骆驼) wrestling is a very old sport. The largest camel wrestling competition takes place every year and thousands of people come. In the sport, two camels fight against each other. Sometimes the camels do not want to fight and they run through the crowds, which can be dangerous. Dragon Boat Racing Every year in China, thousands of people watch dragon boat races. A dragon boat is a traditional Chinese boat with a painted dragon’s head on one end. There can be up to 36 people or more racing in each boat in the water. Dragon boat racing is also popular in some other Asian countries. Caber Toss In this sport, players compete to throw a large piece of wood called a caber as far as they can. There is no rule about the size of the caber, but it’s usually the size of a small tree. It’s an ancient Scottish sport. Visitors to the UK can check it out. Chess Boxing A good chess boxer needs to be both strong and smart. Players play a round of chess, followed by a round of boxing. There are eleven rounds in total. Chess boxing was invented in 1992 by an English comic book writer. The sport is more popular in England and Germany. |
1. What can we learn about Man vs. Horse Marathon?
| A．It is an outdoor sport. |
| B．It first appeared 16 years ago. |
| C．No human has ever won the game. |
| D．It follows the rules of a usual marathon. |
| A．It should be stopped. | B．It’s worth seeing. |
| C．It’s unfair to the animals. | D．It’s sometimes dangerous to watch. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．Man vs. Horse Marathon. | B．Dragon Boat Racing. |
| C．Caber Toss. | D．Chess Boxing. |
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
3 . All students have bad times. What do they usually do when they get into trouble?
My mom is like my friend. I talk about everything to her. Whenever I have some trouble, I can get good advice from her. I have another good friend — my diary. It knows all my secrets. Talking with my two friends always makes me feel better.
—— Linda
Laughing helps me when I’m upset. I usually watch funny movies and TV shows. I also love spending my hard time with my best friend Dave. He is humorous and always makes me laugh.
—— Peter
Every time I feel bad, I go climbing alone. The study says exercising can help cheer one up. And the beautiful view at the top of the mountain makes me forget all my troubles. Sometimes I shout at the mountain top. It feels fantastic.
—— John
1. Linda’s ________ knows all her secrets.| A．sister | B．teacher | C．diary | D．computer |
| A．quiet | B．funny | C．careful | D．serious |
| A．goes climbing | B．watches movies |
| C．talks with his friends | D．reads books |
| A．Linda often asks her teacher for advice. |
| B．Dave often helps Peter with his homework. |
| C．John likes climbing mountains with his friends. |
| D．Exercising can help people feel good. |
| A．Ways to get out of trouble. | B．Advice on making friends. |
| C．Ways to get on with parents. | D．Advice on forgetting trouble. |
4 . 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. |
5 . Look for your own way to do something with your kids this year. These ideas will help you and your family get into the activity when it comes to protecting the environment.
Whether (不论) it’s at your kid’s school, a neighborhood park, or other places, let your family take part in an activity to protect the environment on Earth Day. Make your friends or people around you join you together.
For kids who love to play in the dirt, gardening is a natural way to do good to the Earth. Get your kids to take part in planting trees, flowers, vegetables or other plants in your yard. If you choose something like a tree, it will grow year after year to make you know your hard work on Earth Day.
Save water to protect the Earth. Ask everyone to turn off water when they brush their teeth or wash their faces and hands. See who can take the fastest showers and still get clean. Use a broom rather than water to clean the floor.
Turn off lights when they are not in use. When you’re not using lights or electrical appliances (TVs, computers, air conditioners, etc.), turn them off!
1. What should a family do on Earth Day?| A．Plant a tree with other people. |
| B．A talk to their friends about Earth Day. |
| C．Provide some activities for their friends. |
| D．Take part in an activity to protect the environment. |
| A．Planting flowers. | B．Taking care of food. |
| C．Cooking with a little rice. | D．Washing cars with a little water. |
| A．Clean the floor with a broom. |
| B．Do your best to take a fast shower. |
| C．Turn off lights when you don’t use them. |
| D．Turn off the water when you don’t use it. |
| A．children | B．parents | C．teachers | D．workers |
6 . All young people dream of travelling the world. They are excited and very eager to see new sights. However, they have little idea how they would really do it if given the chances. Because their knowledge of geography is quite limited, they seldom know much about the places they wish to visit or how they would get there.
Already hundreds of thousands of Chinese student tourists are visiting these places—Wuyi, Lhasa, Lijiang, Dali, Vientiane and Phnom Penh. Indeed, these students will soon be the most travelled generation in China’s long history. The World Tourist Organization predicts that a quarter of a century from now the number of Chinese tourists going abroad will be twenty times what it is today. The largest percentage of these tourists will visit Southeast Asia. Not all Chinese who travel abroad will be tourists, however. More and more youths are deciding to volunteer their skills in this region, much like their peers in the Peace Corps and VSO.
Critical thinking skills required include planning for a trip and solving problems after the trip has begun. The focus is on how to read an atlas (地图集) to make travel plans and how to find ways of travelling. An atlas offers a wealth of information about geography and is one way to increase students’ awareness of their global environment. The use of an atlas especially addresses the needs of students with different visual and spatial (空间的) learning styles.
1. The main idea of the first paragraph is __________.| A．all young people wish to travel around the world |
| B．all young people like to learn the knowledge of geography |
| C．all young people like travelling but their knowledge of geography is quite limited |
| D．all young people are aware of the places they are going to |
| A．The number of Chinese tourists going abroad will be twenty times what it is today in about twenty five years. |
| B．The number of Chinese tourists going abroad will be twenty times what it is today in about ten years. |
| C．Students will soon be the most travelled generation in China’s long history. |
| D．Chinese people travel abroad to relax themselves. |
| A．watch TV | B．listen to radio news | C．read an atlas | D．plan a trip |
| A．Students know nothing about how to plan a trip. |
| B．Critical thinking skills are necessary when travelling. |
| C．Southeast Asia will be the most popular place in the world. |
| D．Young people will be crazy about Internet travelling. |
7 . With all the traditional media channels, including newspapers, magazines and television shows, shrinking (缩水), advertisers are worrying about how they can reach customers. Banner (横幅) ads for our devices are ugly and disturbing. To overcome various digital problems, the ad industry has been serving up a sneaky solution-making ads look less like ads and more like the articles, videos and posts.
This trend, called native advertising, has taken over the Internet; even the websites such as www.nytimes.com and Wall-Street.com are using it. On Facebook and Twitter, one in ten items is an ad; only the small subtitle “Sponsored (赞助的)” appearing in light grey type tells you which posts are ads.
Won’t these ads made to look like reported articles mislead people? Sometimes, yes. A study from the Interactive Advertising Bureau found that only 41 percent of general news readers could tell such ads from real news stories. And it’s getting worse. Advertisers worry that the “Sponsored” label discourages readers from clicking, so some websites are makíng the labels smaller and less noticeable. Sometimes the labels disappear entirely.
At a recent talk about the difficulty of advertising in the new, small-screen world, I heard an ad manager tell an impressive story. She had gotten a musical performance-paid for by her soft drink customer-perfectly inserted (插入) into a TV award show, without any moment of blackness before or after. “It looked just like part of the real show!” She said happily.
Look, it is great that native advertising works. But if advertisers truly believe in their material, they should have no problem labeling it as advertising.
For now native ads continue to be a fashion-with no laws governing them and no labeling standards. But that could change-the Federal Trade Commission has begun considering regulations. If the now generation of digital advertisers clean up their act according to the regulations, native ads might become more acceptable.
1. What can we learn about native ads from the text?| A．They have overcome the problems of banner ads. |
| B．They are clearly labeled as ads on websites. |
| C．They are a special type of articles. |
| D．They are used by all websites. |
| A．it’s difficult to advertise in the new, small-screen world |
| B．it’s difficult to tell native ads from what they have been inserted in |
| C．it’s easy to insert native ads into a TV award show |
| D．it’s easy to make the “Sponsored” label smaller and less noticeable |
| A．bright | B．discouraging | C．uncertain | D．time-dependent |
| A．How to advertise in the digital age. |
| B．Difficulties with native ads. |
| C．Truth in digital advertising. |
| D．What is digital advertising? |
| A．In a science fiction. |
| B．In an internet survey. |
| C．In a study report. |
| D．In a newspaper column. |
8 . Having a hobby is a great way for you to feel happy and meet new people. In fact, there are lots of hobbies that are good for you.
Hobbies are simply anything you do that’s for fun. You aren’t getting paid to do it; it’s something you like to do with your free time. For a lot of people these days it seems like their only leisure activities are watching television and staying on the Internet. That’s a pity, because hobbies — from rock climbing to collecting something — can have real benefits.
Hobbies often provide something that you might not get in your everyday life. They allow you to do something that’s just for you, and they can help you forget your daily problems and give you a lot of pleasure. If you can find like-minded people in your area, going outside can also be a great way to meet new people and experience new adventures.
If you are adding a new thing into your life, you have to take time and focus away from something else. The good news is that most of us have a lot of time we are not using well, either because we are spending a lot of time online or watching TV or just wasting time we could be spending on our hobbies.
Of course everyone is different and your personality does play a role in what sorts of hobbies you’ll like. Maybe you really like hanging out with friends, so you need to take a class or have an interest that you can do with a group. If you travel a lot, something that you can do anywhere is helpful; if you’re a homebody you might love to be surrounded by a cool collection.
The truth is that you may not hit the perfect activity for you right out of the gate, but you can have a lot of fun trying out new things and exploring what’s out there. Do some web searches, visit the library; don’t be afraid to try new things, and soon you’ll have a hobby that provides you with a lot of fun and stress relief, too.
1. Which of the following hobbies is good for you according to the writer?| A．Watching television. | B．Staying on the Internet. |
| C．Rock climbing. | D．Going out a lot. |
| A．why hobbies are important |
| B．what hobbies actually are |
| C．hobbies help you forget problems |
| D．hobbies help you experience new adventures |
| A．spend a lot of time online |
| B．watch a lot of TV |
| C．take a class or join in a group |
| D．collect something you like |
| A．pick up | B．run into | C．find out | D．turn to |
| A．find hobbies that fit us well |
| B．meet more people outside |
| C．have a lot of fun at home |
| D．visit the library in our free time |
9 . Teenagers who spend more than six hours online on school days are more likely to be lonely and skip school, according to an international study.
The study examined the home Internet use, well-being (幸福) and behavior of 296,000 15-year-olds in 41 countries. More than one in four spent more than four hours per day online outside of school. The study found lower levels of well-being among students who spent six hours per day online. They were twice as likely as teenagers spending one and two hours per day online to report that they felt lonely at school. These “extreme Internet users” were also especially at the risk of “behaving in problematic ways at school, such as arriving late or skipping class.”
The report said, “Lower levels of engagement (亲密关系) with school may be connected to less sense of belonging at school. It is also possible that skipping class and arriving late for school are the consequence of lack of sleep among extreme Internet users.” It adds, “Parents, school and health professionals can work together to watch and plan children's use of new media.”
The study also found that countries that invest (投资) heavily in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in schools have seen no “considerable” difference in 15-year-old’s achievement in reading, math or science tests. The study results suggest “limited” use of computers at school “may be better” than not using them at all. However, students who use computers “very frequently” at school “do a lot worse in most learning outcomes”. The report says, “In the end, technology can strengthen great teaching, but great technology cannot replace poor teaching.”
1. The international study showed that __________.| A．half of the students spent six hours online every day |
| B．extreme Internet users had lower levels of well-being |
| C．most of the students were late for school after extreme Internet use |
| D．teenagers spent much time online when they felt lonely |
| A．Result. | B．Excuse. | C．Reason. | D．Evidence. |
| A．Schools should invest more in ICT. |
| B．Proper use of computers is helpful at school. |
| C．Technology sometimes leads to poor teaching. |
| D．Computer users perform well in math at school. |
| A．An engineering textbook. | B．A personal diary. |
| C．A science news report. | D．A computer book. |
10 . Everyone knows London is an important city in England. London was once the biggest city in the world, but now there are many cities which are much bigger than it. London has a population of about 7, 000, 000 now. It is an old city and is famous for many things. Many tourists come from all over the world to visit its famous buildings and hear the famous clock, Big Ben.
Like many big cities, London has problems with traffic and pollution .Over one million people use the London underground every day, but there are still too many cars in the streets. The air isn’t clean, but it is cleaner than it was 100 years ago.
Perhaps the best things about London are the parks. There are five in the centre of the city. But for the children, their favorite place is Hamleys, the biggest toy shop in the world. They can buy the good toys there.
1. The population of London now is ________.| A．seven hundred thousand | B．seventy thousand hundred |
| C．seven million | D．seventeen million |
| A．食品 | B．住房 | C．出行 | D．污染 |
| A．It’s a toy shop. | B．It’s the best park. | C．It’s a busy underground. | D．It’s a clock. |
| A．More than 1, 000, 000 people use the London underground every day. |
| B．There are few foreign visitors in London. |
| C．There are some nice parks in London. |
| D．The problems in London are pollution and traffic. |
